SAN FRANCISCO - LOW-COST computers meant to usher poor children worldwide into the digital age are being mass produced in China as United States nonprofit One Laptop Per Child strives to deliver on its promise.

The first of the XO laptops being built at a Quanta Computer facility in Changshu are destined for Uruguay, marking a milestone for the charity group founded by Mr Nicholas Negroponte in Massachusetts two years ago.

'Against all the naysayers ... we have developed and now manufactured the world's most advanced and greenest laptop and one designed specifically to instill a passion for learning in children,' Mr Negroponte said.

A challenge for the organisation has been that governments have not backed effusive words of support with willing flows of cash to buy laptops for children inside their borders.

It is hoped that a Give One Get One (G1G1) campaign starting on Monday will boost orders by providing an incentive to people in more prosperous countries.

For every laptop donated for a child, the donor gets a laptop. The original price was to be US$100 (S$150) per laptop but nearly doubled as costs climbed after Mr Negroponte launched the initiative in 2005.

Telecom firm T-Mobile USA is offering people a year of free access to its nearly 8,500 wireless Internet hotspots in the United States if they become G1G1 donors.

The world's largest video game maker, Electronic Arts in Northern California, said this week they are giving the original SimCity to OLPC to put on laptops for free.

The SimCity franchise debuted in 1989. Players build communities from scratch, laying out roads, housing, factories, shops, tax codes, power plants and more in order to create places where citizens can work and live happily.

Acting as virtual 'mayors', players must be ready to deal with disasters such as earthquakes, fires and floods.

'Players learn to use limited resources to build and customise their cities,' said EA vice-president Steve Seabolt.

'There are choices and consequences, but in the end, it's a creativity tool. The game should prove to be an incredibly effective way of making the laptop relevant, engaging, and fun.' SimCity has been used in US schools.

The list of companies backing OLPC with cash, technology or other resources includes Google, Intel, eBay, Advance Micro Devices, and News Corporation. -- AFP