We had a chance to sit down and talk with
Chandra Rathakrishnan of Fusion Garage yesterday for a more in-depth discussion than our
previous meeting provided, and we learned a few interesting tidbits about both the
Joojoo, as well as the company's
highly public troubles with
Michael Arrington (before the
latest move). Amongst the more juicy items discussed, we got further technical info on the Joojoo itself, including the fact that the system has 1GB of RAM, a separate GPU for graphics processing (which Rathakrishnan says is capable of at least iPhone level gaming), and an interesting
slot along the side. Just what kind of slot, you ask? Well apparently there are plans for a 3G equipped version of the Joojoo on the horizon. Chandra says we won't see it in Q1 2010, but the second version will appear on the market during the next calendar year. Additionally, the company is supposedly in talks right now with media publishers -- an interesting note considering that the Joojoo looks surprisingly like those Time Inc. and Condé Nast
digimag demos we've
seen recently. Chandra also claims that the company is working on deals that could lead to subsidized versions of the tablet, even without the inclusion of 3G. Of course, given the current legal status of the device, you can add all this speculative talk to a growing list of question marks.
There's plenty more in the video, including some further insight into the confusing situation with Michael Arrington over the creation and ownership of the device, and more clarity on how exactly that rumored Atom CPU is handling 1080p playback without stuttering. It's pretty darned interesting, actually. Check out the full chat after the break!
posted December 11th 2009 3:02PM
@ll0yd HDMI outputs
@McPOW via the nonexistent video out port? besides the claim in the video was that 1080p playback was demonstrated on the actual device.
wow - really?
What I got from the interview was that Chandra was being open about what he could be, while covering his ass (legally) when it came down to it. Josh was clearly trying to address the #400 gorilla in the room, while still maintaining the focus on the technical specs of the machine.
This is an impressive piece of kit. If my income was a bit more disposable than it currently is, I'd jump on this. FG has some issues moving forward, but their tech is alright... Arrington CLEARLY misread this whole scenario. Just cause you think your in the right, does not mean you are.
.conal.
@cherryboom What just happened?
I came across the link to this story on Techmeme. I am now reminded why I took Engadget out of my stream of news sources.
Why is Engadget giving this guy the time of day? The interviewer talked more than Chandra who said absolutely nothing. I don't know any more about this product than I did 10 minutes ago. I use the term product generously.
By the way. What's up with this fugly web site makeover?
@ClobberHead
Well it's an exclusive, and yes you do know more about this subject and even the object, it's pieces of the puzzle and it's even possible that parts of his statements will be used during the courtcase (if there is one, nilay said in the podcast there's no actual evidence of it, and someone here suggested it might be a PR stunt)
And what sites do you think are good sources? WSJ? lol @my own suggestion.
Oh and yeah you are right about the ugly makeover, everybody uses browser addons and scripts to fix it.
Josh, you guys are a gadget site and this is a gadget. Keep up the good reporting on gadgets. People are smart enough here to make an educated decision and don't need you as a baby sitter. Notice how Arrington or anyone else isn't actually making any statements about how this device sucks. Which means, it's probably actually pretty good. I'm ordering one.