Portugal buys 500,000 Intel Classmate PCs

The Portuguese government has announced that it is buying half a million Intel Classmate laptops to give to children starting in school.

The Magellan Initiative will see children in elementary school given the PCs as part of a plan to make the internet central to Portuguese education. Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates announced the plan with Intel’s chairman Craig Barrett.

"This new collaboration with Intel underscores Portugal's commitment to advance quickly toward a knowledge-based economy," Sócrates said.

"By equipping our schools with state-of-the-art computing technology and Internet connectivity, we hope to hasten the transition to economic models that benefit our citizens."

Barrett closed the deal on a visit to Portugal and Intel is also building a "Competence Centre" in the country to expand the use of mobile computing.

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