CrunchPad coming in November with built-in 3G connectivity, says Straits Times
By Ross Miller 
posted July 30th 2009 11:22PM
posted July 30th 2009 11:22PM
[Thanks, David]
posted July 30th 2009 11:22PM
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Hmm. Was hoping for the $300 pricetag. $400 is a bit steep. I wish they kept the same design that they put on top of the lego stand.
whats funny is the original article arrington made was how he wanted a dirt cheap tablet under 200. then it went to 250. then 300. now itll be something like 450 even though the price of screens and processors have gone down significantly since he announced it.
Looks good. It better have a DVD drive and a kick ass gpu though. And I hope it doesn't have only one USB port. Does the keyboard slide out the bottom or is it on the back? I hope it's not on the back 'cause then you'd have to keep flipping it over to see what your typing.
Steve. No DVD drive. No keyboard (except on-screen).
GH?
Steve +1
I thought 300 was the perfect price for the crunchpad. 400 just seams a little too steep for a pad that only supports web browsing. So I was wondering if Arrington was still planning open source on this. I can build one myself if I only had the software. Im a fabricator, not a software designer.
looks very interesting. the design looks very good.
But why do they persist on using an Intel Atom??? I might consider it a tiny little bit at that price point if it used that new pineview Atom with some graphical power....
Personally for something such as this i think Tegra would have been far more appropriate. People are running Android/chrome/Moblin on netbooks to get away from having to use that stupid overpriced/outdated Atom..
Roughly AU$550 for something which is not close to being a necessity.... THIS IS NOT a phone you cannot price it at that nobody will buy it, am i supposed to carry a normal phone + this 8+ inch device around with me for multimedia?? It does not even have TV-Out. Good-bye CrunchPad... Truly only the crap companies crash and burn in a recession.
Any word on the screen resolution? Other than that, $400 is pretty good.
How large is it?
large enough to be a huge iPhone.
I don't know if there are any real specs on this thing yet, just concept images and mockup test models. More importantly, I think the only way they'll be able to make this thing a huge sucess is if they sell it for that price, but with no subscription model. Charge the customers 400 dollars up front, but limit them to a certain amount of data, and have the same business plan as the Kindle with Whispernet.
Does anybody click the links any more?
From the article.....
Dimensions: 12.77 by 7.83 inches, and 0.74 inch thick
Awesome! Cant wait to get one.
What OS is it running?
Custom lightweight build of Linux.
Linux? That's unfortunate.
@Steve
How is it unfortunate? Linux itself is more than capable of handling things like web browsing, word processing, and image editing. Sure there aren't many games, but just how many people are going to buy what is essentially a netbook sans keyboard to game on?
@steve: Tell that to all the douches who buy games on their iphone and call it a portable gaming device
It's just a browser on top of some form of Linux. A video on youtube showing someone using it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP-0Nce5oTQ
Good job Michael! Looking forward to ordering when ready (regardless of whether Apple's iPad is out by then).
Not gonna happen not with those specs or that concept pic anyways...
Here is the link for the article from The Straits Times http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_410527.html
Why would u post that link when it's right there in the article. The read link? But maybe I'm missing something. Not trying to be an ass or anything.
I could see myself using that to review drawings a lot more than the 11x17 sets we typically use.
this thing probably infringes on a bunch of patents from microsoft, alcatel-lucent, apple, IBM, texas-instruments, etc.
will be funny to watch them get sued.
oh and
-non-ergonomic design that doesnt run any applications and only runs pos firefox.
-keyboard is horrible and cant type anything easily.
When did you try out the keyboard, hm?
Yeah, cause lawsuits are so hilarious. Oh, and nobody cares. You obviously have some weird bias against it.
Somehow this offends you...
i just hope it's got a wacom digitizer and then we got a third party cintiq which is waaaay cheaper.
At this price point: very unlikely.
the day it recognizes handwriting is the day i will report this to Alcatel-Lucent for patent infringement. You can thank me for it never having the ability of being a wacom digitizer.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-04-04-2507619152_x.htm
get a life....
Did the creator of this thing beat you up in middle school or something?
I've heard all the hype of this thing and the purported ~$300 pricepoint. Something I'd be willing to spend for a device like this.
As soon as I heard "3G", "mobile broadband", and "$399", well, not anymore.
I don't see why anyone'd plunk down $400 for this and then spend $60/mo on a data plan to go with the device. This, especially when other 3G-equipped netbooks such as the Acer Aspire One can be had for approximately $350 at your local RadioShack.
It started as a "simple WiFi tablet to browse the net" and it's now been blown out of proportions with adding on frivolous features like 3G.
Sorry, Crunchpad, but I'll put my money elsewhere.
@Dakota
You know, you really don't have to buy 3G service, just use WiFi. 3G is nice option for those who are willing to pay for it. Acer netbooks do not have touch screen.
Tablets are not for everyone. But I will be seriously considering this one! I can always tether my Palm Pre for internet connectivity. Great for watching movies on the airplane - the keyboard does not get on the way.
I hope this is capacitive touchscreen (the render shows that the screen is flush with the border), but as always, renders do not represent final product.
Dakota does have a point though on the added cost to the addition of 3G on this device. I would make a couple of models that gives you the choice to have 3G or not.
But I'm still paying for an unneeded option.
Stuff that really, well, shouldn't be there in the first place. This was touted as a device for simple WiFi surfing, not full blown internet anywhere.
person doesn't need to spend $60 for 3G, they could get MetroPcs or cricket. Or they could already be a current 3G subscriber, and want another device to use it on.
I just realized how dumb my statement was. First off those other service providers are only $40 a month. But this is an internatonal product, right? So that wouldn't help everyone. Sorry goodbye.
I agree, who are these people who are willing to pay $60 for a 3G account for a tablet, that arent at least paying $60/mo for a 3G account for their cellphone? Not only that, but wouldnt a 3G account for a *real laptop* come first?
I dont get the tablet form factor anyway. I would much rather have a keyboard and hinge to keep the screen up then hold it with one hand and do input with the other.
When I'm riding the train watching videos in my iPhone, all I can think is 'there has to be some way to mount this thing so i dont have to hold it for an hour..."
wow, from hail to fail in one easy step. what happened to simple and cheap?? this is no longer an impulse item, this is more expensive than some laptops.
tablet screen + wifi + onscreen kbd + ability to sync bookmarks = make it so
What the $400!!!! First it was going to be $200 then they threw in a better lcd which was going to bump up the price to $300. I'm skeptical about the estimated price in this article, but mostly because I can justify $300 for this but $400 is pushing it.
And the built in 3G is a curiosity, I thought the crunchpad was aimed at home use where one would already have Wifi.
Ill wait to see what Apple offers
Apple will come out with something similar but with less features, a closed OS, and a $1200 price tag.
@teller
Totally... I mean, I hate how closed OS X is... we need something open-source like Windows/WinMo... not closed like the Darwin core of OS X and iPhone OS.
Oh, wait, you know how the jailbreaking team does its magic? In part by utilizing some of the thousands of open APIs in Darwin. Oh, and most basic utilities are just recompiles of tried-and-true Unix/Linux/BSD utils.
Me, too. I'll wait. I really like the looks and price of this CP. But if the Apple version runs 65,000 apps, paying double or more for the Apple tablet is OK by me. I want more than just hardware. This CP has nice borders and looks comfortable to hold. I wonder if it's got some sort of a built-in stand for desk viewing. The stand needs to work in portrait or landscape mode. I hope the battery life on these tablets are in the six hour range for video watching. Though I'll settle for at least two-full length movies plus several more hours of music or games.
I don't think tablets are going to fail this time around. The technology part is ready except for battery life.
@bondsbw,
You realize this runs on Linux, right? You know, where the WHOLE OS is open source, and not just some pieces lifted from other open source projects?
Comparing it to Windows has nothing to do with this. Get back to me on the supposed openness of OS X when I can legally download a copy for free (including source), modify it to my heart's content, and load it on third party hardware.
OS X is a pretty good product, but talking about how open it is just makes you delusional.
400 is pushing it.