The nonprofit is "almost" committed to putting the Arm-based chip in the next-generation XO-2 laptop, which is due for release in 18 months, said Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC. The XO-1 laptop currently ships with Advanced Micro Devices' aging Geode chip, which is based on an x86 design.

OLPC's goal is to extend the battery life of the XO-2 laptop while building in more functionality than is in the XO-1, said Ed McNierney, chief technology officer at OLPC. OLPC officials said Arm-based integrated chips will draw less power than x86 integrated chips while building in functionality such as graphics and wireless networking.

"Our current XO-1 uses an average of 5 watts of power, and while most people think that's amazingly low, we think it's our biggest problem," McNierney said.

While x86 chips potentially could cut their power consumption, Arm-based chip makers have been paying more attention to low-power and power-management features on chips, McNierney said.

"We're seeing some very impressive system-on-chip (SOC) designs that provide both fundamentally low-power demands and the kind of fine-grained power management ... in the XO-1," McNierney said.