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Sales of the XO in the US have so far been limited to a scheme called Give One Get One, where an XO laptop could be purchased for $399. This price included a donation of an identical laptop to a developing nation. The scheme was intended

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to run for two weeks, but was extended after sales exceeded expectations.

Negroponte claims expanding sales in the US has always been part of the foundation's plan. "To have the United Sates be the only country that's not in the OLPC agenda would be kind of ridiculous. There are poor children in America," he says.

"The second thing we're doing is building a critical mass. The numbers are going to go up, people will make more software, it will steer a larger development community."

The laptop will be sold in the US by an organisation called OLPC America, which has already appointed a director and chairman.

No details have yet been announced on a release date or price, and the foundation has not been available for comment.

If last week's CES was anything to go by, however, the devices are sure to be popular. We saw dozens of the brightly-coloured laptops in use by exhibitors, delegates and journalists alike.