This weekend, the agreement was announced that will formalize the purchase of one million Magalhães computers by the Venezuelan government. Several news, and even some statements by the controversial president Hugo Chavez, gave as probable the adoption of the model developed by Intel in partnership with the Portuguese manufacturers JP Sá Couto and Prológica as ICT support for the schools in Venezuela. The confirmation ends up being made by Chavez himself in a ceremony with the Portuguese economy minister, Manuel Pinho, during the signing of several bilateral cooperation agreements.
Chavez assured that the agreement for the purchase of the computers will be signed soon and admitted that in December it is likely that the first batch of equipment is already landing in Venezuela. He also revealed the number of computers he plans to buy.
Aimed at children between the ages of six and ten, Magalhães was first shown to Chavez by José Sócrates. The leader will have liked it and now plans to distribute it free of charge in schools in Venezuela.
The distribution of the equipment in Portugal will take place as of this month and will be free for children from the first level of school action. For the rest, Magalhães, based on the second generation of Intel’s Classmate, will have a price between 20 and 50 euros.
Related News:
2008-09-01 – Magalhães will be the school computer in Venezuela
2008-08-07 – Magalhães Laptop… in pictures
2008-07-30 – JP Sá Couto and Prológica partners with Intel to produce Magalhães notebooks
