MIT Media labs and a 5 partners (including Google) have designed a laptop which will be ultra cheap. The mission is to take the information and knowledge revolution to the third world. They call it an "education" project rather than a "laptop" project. This super-cheap laptop will cost US$100 and will be made available to students in developing nations (Not directly sold, but only through various NGO's). Ars Technica has a review on this laptop here. Some pictures are also available here. MIT has emphasized that these laptops will NOT be available to the general public.

Simputer is an Indian company based in Bangalore with a similar mission. They are doing well, taking the revolution to the villages in India with their low-cost portables.