TechCrunch's internet tablet gets a new prototype
By Laura June 
posted Jan 19th 2009 11:55AM
posted Jan 19th 2009 11:55AM
TechCrunch's Michael Arrington has pulled together a squad to make this whole simple, cheap, internet tablet thing he started talking about in July, 2008 happen for real. Their goal is to make a tablet that browses and plays flash videos really well (pretty simple stuff) that costs around $200. Built by a team led by Louis Monier -- former CTO of Alta Vista -- "Prototype B" is a 12-inch touchscreener with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Internally, the "CrunchPad" has a Via Nano CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of flash memory, a 4-cell battery, and WiFi, plus a camera. In terms of software, the prototype runs a full install of Ubuntu with a custom browser. They estimate the total cost of the device at just over $200 to produce, and that a commercial model would realistically cost about $300. They don't seem to be heading toward production anytime soon, so don't cross your fingers, but you'll undoubtedly want to see if it's any good for yourself in the breathtaking video after the break.
[Via jkkmobile]
[Via jkkmobile]
So its a nettab. Did he say this has a fan which it shouldn't. Which to me implies this is prototype. Hopefully it is because that screen wasn't that nice. A bit more storage wouldn't break the bank either.
Oh! It's a prototype! I had no idea even though the guy in the video said so 30 times!
Yet another pathetic comment from bill cant fart. I can't hear the video on these speakers so be quiet and get a life. May be you won't be so useless in life one day. You + These speakers = Useless.
From what I have read, Prototype B, is about twice as thick as they want it to and won't include some of the ports they show. They made it that thick to account for shock and heat for the time being.
I think it is pretty neat and rather impressed how far they have got, I do think there are some issues... at 3 lbs I'm not sure how many people are going to want to hold this thing in one hand tilted towards them.
Sorry. Next time i'll try not to hurt your speakers' feelings.
Yo, JoshTops! Where's the EngadgePad?
Why can't Bill fart, bill cant fart?
If you ignore price, you can already get this kind of device, but in a much nicer form. But you know what, it's not worth it at any price unless you have a real clipboard or "will you take fries with that" kind of scenario. Aside from ebooks (where a real ebook reader would be much nicer), there are few scenarios where you'll be browsing without typing. If they're suggesting this should be cheap so it can be yet another gadget lying around the house, I can only wish these guys failure because that's the last thing the world needs, yet another gadget with its own maintenance and wasteful materials, etc. This coming from a guy who is a touch screen freak and has had a Fujitsu B2130 (cute), Samsung Q1 Ultra (very bad implementation), Toshiba M200, etc.
Nice one... But 300 bucks is a bit more. In that much, you can get and Aspire one and mod it with a touch screen....
Holy crap... this past Friday, I was searching for something like this - essentially: a big, inexpensive Nokia n810 - and not finding anything. I wanted something that could hang on the wall of various rooms and wirelessly display passive information (weather, calendar, news feeds, photos, etc...), but could also be taken down and used to surf the net. A full blown computer is overkill, and most things in the "web pad" space are much smaller (e.g. the aforementioned n810) or somewhat smaller and under powered/featured (e.g. the shogo sg 80 picture frame).
This concept needs a healthy dose of industrial design, but otherwise looks promising.
Not showing full screen on those streaming videos was kind of a missed opportunity.
Looks like some scifi device from '90
and to me looks nice!
I think you be pulling your hair trying to write on this thing. It seems a lot less intuitive than XP. And I wouldn't recommend XD with anything other than very short notes. Vista was way better than XP, but Window 7 takes pen input into the next level. I would love Ms to add Window7's pen input into their mobile devices.
The problem with any version of Windows is that the license fees raise the total cost of the device.
Looks solid and 300 doesn't sound bad. It looks like it needs to be put on a diet though... Hopefully once it gets past the prototype phase of development it will be slimmed down..
The other video makes it clearer that this is probs running some variation of ubuntu.
Yes, it is. I overlooked mentioning that and I'm going to update the post now. Thanks!
This thing is crying out for Windows 7
This thing is crying out for Panther
This thing is crying out for Windows 7.
... makes me wonder how many people have multiple post IDs. This has happened 3 times in the past couple days.
Not bad as a prototype, but I find it a little underwhelming.
I understand it's a prototype and they want to get it thinner, I just don't see it as very compelling though, with Asus about to come out with a convertible tablet with higher specs - if the slides from CES are to be trusted.
A complete lack of physical keyboard limits the usefulness IMHO. I'm certainly not going to do any kind of long form writing on this. Heck, even replying to an Engadget post would be irritating, unless I'm going for an ironic "FIRST" post. :)
I remember Arrington's bit rant against netbooks, and giggle because many of his arguments are present in this thing.
Haha, yeah I was thinking the same thing. This is just a gimped netbook without a keyboard, nothing really interesting imho. Too big, too heavy, too little battery life...not to mention ugly as heck...
I think the bigger point here is that this device is both needed and is cost-feasible to make now. With high likelihood Apple is going to come out with an iPod Tablet later this year. And when they do, their hardware design, manufacturing, and most importantly application platform are going to make it a really impressive product.
In fact this type of device would be the killer app for a variety of applications beyond web browsing, like reading books: http://www.squawkingtech.com/2009/01/if-techcrunch-can-build-a-299-tablet-apple-can-too-and-it-will-be-a-netbook-kindle-killer/
Yeah and it will come with unicorns AND make breakfast too.
Gosh I'm tired of all these "Oh mighty Apple please build the things we could already have for us!" post...
Cool gadget
Hats off to them for actually doing it. Give it a better screen and make it thinner (as they are planning to do). Very nice.
I don't have a problem with an onscreen keyboard. A physical keyboard would bulk it up and make it look old. As demonstrated with the iPod Touch and iPhone, an onscreen keyboard is way more flexible (and entirely useable).
Make sure it runs Google Earth. Needs at least a 3mp camera, facing away from the user. Email and wifi capability. Cheap as possible, don't need no steeenking colored plastic. If so, I'll take one.
I think what alot of people seem to be missing with this concept is firstly that its a CONCEPT! it might look butt-ugly in slightly see-through cream plastic, but think about it with abit of product design put into it and slimmed down.
So basicly what you've got is a slim LCD panel in your hand, without it being a tablet pc (which are not that cheap) or being a convertible laptop that tries to be both. Something you can keep down the side of the sofa or lieing around the house.
You've got INSTANT access to a full web experience. Personally I'm a desktop user, but when I'm at home there are times when I want web (that's not on my G1's small screen) without ethire having to go to my pc or boot up my lappy.
This fits that requirement perfectly.
Well... here's your "internet tablet"
Does anyone still want one?
So... we've got smart phones, internet tablets, laptops and desktops. How many different places do we need internet?
Well, given the amount of military research money going into what amounts to Utility Fog 0.03b, aka distributed sensing, apparently some won't be satisfied untill we have web access in the very air we breathe.
Good enough for me -- change from clear to black, start cranking these out of a garage and I will buy one (or more)!
If they make the touch-screen keyboard go out to the edges, this is EXACTLY what I want. It's all about the keyboard.
They said that this was going to be an open source laptop. Does anyone know where the source is?
The source is all around the internet. Linux core, Ubuntu interface...
I meant what hardware are they using. Where is the design for the case? How how do they route their cooling system? Where can I download the U.I? What capacitive screen are they using? This is more than just software. And its more than just hardware. Let's face it if you want the source for any opensource project you can always look at a 1 and 0 and there you have it. You just need to arrange it. It the order of that arrangement that's useful.
Perhaps you could scan the comments on the read page. They talk about what screen they use, interact with their fan base, and generally are very open with the specs. Maybe it would be best if you asked that question there?
Can't see the video at work. Does it explain the legos attached to the back in that picture?
The Legos are all part of the "prototypiness". They built a stand out of Legos as a temporary solution.
DO WANT.
Why isn't Android on this?
This sounds very exciting, but by the time they go into production, the
ClassMate convertible Tablet ($499) could be closer to that price too.
Apart fom ebook reader, a tablet with accelerometer can do some really phun things:
http://www.algoryx.se/algodoo.html
http://se.youtube.com/watch?v=qa9xn-xYQQk