Budget computer vendor CherryPal has announced the availability of a new $99 netbook. The device, which has a 7-inch display and a 400Mhz ARM processor, is designed to run Windows CE and Linux.

The system is aimed at developing markets and is branded as the CherryPal Africa, a reference to charitable work that the company has been doing in collaboration with the Paajaf Foundation in Ghana. CherryPal touts the little laptop's energy efficiency and describes it as "small, slow, [and] sufficient." In addition to the 400Mhz processor, the device also has 256MB of RAM and 2GB of flash memory.

"At Cherrypal, we're extremely conscious of the so-called 'digital divide'," said CherryPal founder Max Seybold in a statement. "We're constantly looking for ways to bridge that gap, and the Cherrypal Africa is a huge step in the right direction. Plus, everyone who has tried it has absolutely loved it!"

At just over half the price of an OLPC XO laptop, the $99 CherryPal is an impressive example of how declining component costs can make mobile computing technology more accessible to the developing world.