Supposedly legit WePad video gives us a case of the JooJoos

Ok, so the 11.6-inch WePad was launched running a video and not the real UI. Big deal, at least now we know it'll run Windows 7 in a pinch. In an attempt to save face, the lads at Neofonie posted a video showing what appears to be a real-live working WePad in action. Unfortunately, touch is not yet enabled so the navigation is accomplished with a USB mouse assist. Having been burned once, we're not sure what we can believe about this €450 Atom N450-powered slate. See the video after the break.

Update: Video was removed.

[Thanks, Mauro]

[AnalogMachine Posted Apr 16th 2010 12:19PM]

Is he using his finger nail?? And that should be a capacitive touchscreen??!! o_O

[kenny goo Posted Apr 16th 2010 12:24PM]

Mouse = weak sauce.

[Raaj Posted Apr 16th 2010 12:53PM]

@SeveringGecko
really? Has it been established in a legal court that it was Fusion Garage that has stolen the IP from TechCrunch or vice versa? I guess because Fusion Garage was an Indian (non-American) company, they must have "stolen" the IP from poor Arrington.

People rationalize stuttering on Apple products (my iPhone3G stumbles occassionally) but God forbid a non-Apple product stutter once in a while!!! That would be its death sentence. This is the kind of bias I am pointing out. Engadget could not wait till the Wepad came out to judge it... they had to associate it with the specter of another failed product even before it had a chance to come out. Great journalism!

[suicidebob Posted Apr 16th 2010 1:18PM]

@Raaj

So you have a chip on your shoulder cos your Indian or whatever?

Fusion Garage is a horrible company, they made a horrible product, the people behind the company have a questionable history. That's all you need to know.

Yeah, plus you never bought one. So don't whinge about Engadget not 'supporting' them, you never either.

All talk, but you never put your hand in your pocket, cheapass

[JFH Posted Apr 16th 2010 1:46PM]

@suicidebob

Your reasoning on supporting products or not is hilarious.
Your comment about the indian dude is just plain ignorant.

[WhatsThatSmell Posted Apr 16th 2010 4:57PM]

@JFH
How is it hilarious? Ever heard of "putting your money where your mouth is"?
Nice touch on the political correctness.
That Indian dude is vehemently defending a ridiculously flawed product which just happens to be from an Indian company. It's no stretch to consider that his stance is somewhat colored by that little factoid. Well, come on, based on what we've seen no sane person would come forward defending Fusion Garage's bad Juju.

[Ruthless Posted Apr 16th 2010 12:56PM]

@hated one Hell no! Why would I replace my fully working iPad for something which.. Doesn't actually work?

People gave the JooJoo rave reviews before the launch, but slated Apple about the iPad's weaknesses. Till this day, I don't know anyone who has brought a JooJoo. I doubt that many people will be buying the Wee Pad. Except for those senior citizens with bladder issues.

[Jackhole Posted Apr 16th 2010 1:18PM]

@ Thomas Ricker: Sorry, but you completely failed on this one. Did you even watch the entire video? Did anyone? Touch UI is there and working well. Did you even go to the company website where all the pertinent info/specs is available? Obviously not.

http://wepad.mobi/en
Specs: Runs a custom Linux OS that will also run Android apps.
http://www.neofonie.de/files/product_specifications_WePad_1004014.pdf

[Bauer Posted Apr 16th 2010 3:53PM]

@Jackhole: It is you who needs to pay better attention to the video. Yes, there is apparently a touch display, but it is very obviously a resistive touch screen, not the capacitive multitouch display that this thing is supposed to have. Look how the guy uses his fingernail to operate the pad and how you can see the typical "ripples" that you get on resistive touchscreens when you press a button. So they are supposedly 2 months away from releasing this thing and they don't even have the final display yet.

Why do people get fooled by this thing so easily? I think I am in the wrong business. Selling bridges could be much more lucrative.

[Jackhole Posted Apr 16th 2010 4:23PM]

@Bauer : At least I watched the *entire* video. The author apparently didn't make it past 1:28. I don't know what type of display the demo unit has in the vid. But I didn't see the guy using a fingernail to make selections on the right, nor to make various other selections, nor to type on the virtual kb during the Google search.

Look I'm not here defending this thing; that wasn't the point of my post. Honestly I could care less about the 1st generation of any of these devices.

It just irks me when a supposed 'journalist' throws some half-assed 'article' up as 'news' w/out doing the proper research, because they can't get past the thick bias they have for a certain company that pays the rent around here.

[WhatsThatSmell Posted Apr 16th 2010 5:09PM]

@Jackhole Like it or not Apple is big news. Practically all recent posts on Apple have a slightly passive-aggresive hostile tone and a lot are just downright snarky. And yet they're being accused of being iFanboys. See Engadget? This is what happens when you straddle the fence, your balls are right over the pointy things. Get off the fence Engadget - cuz being 2-faced just gets you hatred from both sides of the fence.

[sharkync Posted Apr 16th 2010 2:19PM]

Case of the JooJoos - you're killing me.

[Gicalgary Posted Apr 16th 2010 2:31PM]

Ahh.. Now I see why a USB port is important on a tablet.. For the mouse!

[Kiron Posted Apr 17th 2010 1:15PM]

This thing looks nice, get touch working right and you sold me on one.