The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC), a nonprofit organization, and Pixel Qi Corp., an innovator in low-power displays, have signed a permanent and royalty-free cross-licensing agreement that will allow both organizations to use the most advanced screen technology.

“A huge barrier to getting computers to mass use in the developing world is limited access to electricity. Pixel Qi is designing new screens for OLPC that will keep laptops going even longer between recharges and excel in long-form reading while providing color and video. Furthermore, we are not aware of any blanket technology license of this scale of current and future inventions by a commercial firm to a non-profit humanitarian effort and hope to set an example for other corporations to follow,” said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child.

As a result of the agreement, OLPC receives full license to all Pixel Qi “3qi” screen technology, including 70+ patents in process and all current and future intellectual property developed by Pixel Qi for multi-mode screens. Pixel Qi is leading the design of new screens for OLPC’s next-generation XO laptops. The agreement also calls for Pixel Qi to receive full license to the dual-mode (indoor and outdoor) display technology used in the XO.

“OLPC’s focus on the need for low-cost, low-power devices led me to invent power-efficient LCD screens that are optimized for reading. Commercial tablets, notebook computers and smart phones have precisely the same needs. This is one of the few examples in which cutting-edge computer technology first deployed for developing nations benefits the developed world as well,” said Mary Lou Jepsen, founder and chief executive of Pixel Qi.

Tags: Pixel QI, OLPC