Nonprofit group hikes price of "$100 laptop"

"We are not disclosing any orders until we have a final computer," Snell said. "We are in talks with dozens of countries."

The foundation has said it may sell the laptop on the commercial market as well, though at a higher price.

If the project is a success, it could pressure the rest of the computer industry to start offering similar machines.

The XO laptop uses a microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.N) and Linux software developed by Red Hat Inc

(RHT.N).

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has said that it is testing the machines to determine whether they are capable of running its Windows operating system.

Chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) recently teamed up with the foundation saying the two might collaborate on a second generation version of the XO laptop.