Intel CEO Paul Otellini showed off a low-cost notebook PC the company has developed for educating students in emerging markets and said the company would provide training to 400,000 teachers in Mexico by 2010 as well as provide PCs to 300,000 teachers by the end of 2006.

The notebook he demonstrated Wednesday at the World Congress on Information Technology conference in Austin, Texas, is called the Eduwise. The portable PC contains its own built-in handle to make it more portable and includes a small strap at the bottom that snaps the notebook closed.

Intel has been expanding its efforts to gain share in emerging markets against rival Advanced Micro Devices, while is also helping poor countries bridge the so-called digital divide. On Tuesday, Intel pledged $1 billion toward this effort (see Intel Plans $1B for PC Divide).

Intel and AMD have been promoting different efforts to provide low-cost portable PCs in developing countries. In AMD’s case, it’s a $100 laptop that also comes with a built-in handle along with a hand crank that helps give juice to the battery.

AMD, along with Google, is backing the One Laptop Per Child program spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab (see Q&A: Nicholas Negroponte).

Finding the Right Price

The Intel Eduwise laptop is more likely to sell for about $400, although Intel spokesperson Mike Green said the company would try to target price ranges 20 percent below the least expensive PC-and-monitor combination in the various regions where it is selling its low-cost PCs.

A $400 price would not be cheap, even for the United States, where computer makers like Dell sometimes sell PCs for that price or less.

However, the Eduwise notebooks include some sophisticated features.

Students who use the Eduwise notebooks in class will be able to view a teacher’s presentations on their screens. The teachers will be able to control what the student has access to and can interact with the student individually when giving tests and offering feedback.

Wireless pen attachments will also enable students to use the notebooks to do handwriting and take notes.

The Eduwise PCs look unusual, with their light blue and silver color. Built-in handles are also unusual for notebook computers, although some models have included them, including the Toshiba T1000, one of the first laptops on the market.

Intel plans to introduce other designs for the low-cost PCs. The Santa Clara, California-based chip maker intends to offer six geographically tailored PC designs in the next two years.

Training Goals

Mr. Otellini said Intel’s goal is to train 10 million more teachers in the next five years on the effective use of technology in education, with the possibility of reaching another 1 billion students.

“Our job now is to harness the combined potential of full-featured technology, high-speed connectivity, and effective education to speed the gains for the next billion people—and the next billion after that,” he said in a statement.