Glimpse to iTablet

Today, former Crunchpad, now called Joojoo, is unveiled.  And it won't be available for another 8-11 weeks, according the a news event unveiled and covered by Engadget reported.  It's no longer called the Crunchpad because of a legal dispute between Michael Arrington who first came up with the vision to develop a $200 Internet pad and Fusion Garage who Arrington picked to partner with.  If you want the gory legal details, you'll have to find it yourself.  It's interesting but ultimately, not worth knowing about.


Here are the specs the Joojoo unveiled by Chandra Rathakrishnan of Fusion Garage :

• Intel Atom Chip
• 12" Touchscreen
• HD movies
• 4GB storage
• Wi-Fi only - 3G access in the future is possible
• Accelerometer
• 5 hours of battery life - I am guessing it's less.  More like 4 hours.  My Macbook does better.  
• 2.5 pounds.  Heavy for a tablet.

Simple and straight-forward.  Almost downright boring.  Now, here are what I expect Apple's iTablet to be:

• Chip - unknown at this time but I don't expect Atom
• 10" Multi-touch
• 32-64GB SSD
• HD movies out with access to iTunes
• Wi-Fi with 3G option
• Acceleroter
• 10-15 hours of battery life.  This might be what Steve Jobs settle for but I think Apple will likely aim higher
• Runs a new variant of OS X or just the iPhone OS.
• Access to 100K apps in the App Store.
• 1.0-1.5 Pounds

This is easily a good look at that the iTablet competitors will look like.  I don't know what Joojoo runs on but it seems like something Chrome OS is claiming to do.  Other competitors will run Android or Windows.  The fact that Joojoo, it means "magic", can be rushed to the market in about two years' time is very impressive.  However, from the look of things, it feels a bit rushed.

Oh, the Joojoo will debut for $500.  Personally, I'll wait for the iTablet. And if by chance there really is no iTablet, I'll be sticking with my iPhone or get a new iPod Touch.  I'll also consider an Android tablet before I give the Joojoo a second look.

Why?  A number of reasons.

• It isn't an iTablet.  I've been spoiled by the iPhone and Android and knowing what I know is possible, the Joojoo falls short of that.  
• $500 for a keyboard-less netbook?  No thanks.  What ever happened to the $200 Internet pad?
• The legal issues between Arrington and Fusion Garage is going to be messy.
• Rushed.  Not a lot was said and to me, that's a bad sign.
• More legal issues - I get the feeling that there are patent lawsuits coming.  Call it my "blink"-esque feeling.

More at Engadget on the Joojoo and the live conference.

Note:  There is one that can change the game a bit and make Joojoo more survivable in the soon to be crowded MID market.  It runs Atom and it's possible that like the netbooks, it's hackable.