Perhaps it's the comeback that wasn't meant to be -- Fusion Garage has apparently silenced its radios for over a week on Twitter, and more than a month on Facebook. Potentially worse, its website is now unreachable, displaying only a "Database connection error." Although its Grid10 tablet was set for a delayed October 1st release, some folks over at The JooJoo Forum and on Fusion Garage's Facebook page are reporting that they've yet to receive their tabs, weeks after placing orders.

We've fielded more than a few concerned tips saying the same, and sadly, that's just the tip of this iceberg, as there's also been mention of slow correspondence from the company, with wishy-washy responses about what's going on. One forum poster mentions eventually hearing back from its public relations agency -- this after contacting FG for order details -- with an indication that a refund is on the way.

We've reached out for an official comment but received nothing but silence. That said, we're hearing we aren't the only ones having a hard time getting in contact with Fusion Garage's executives, leaving us with a sinking suspicion that there will be no third go 'round for the house that Chandra built. Ordered a Grid10 yourself, or still waiting on your free JooJoo replacement? Let us know about your experience in the comments below.

Update: We have a comment from Fusion Garage's PR agency:

Update 9:50AM ET (12/18): Thanks to Josh in the comments who has noticed that Fusion Garage's website is live again, albeit barely breathing. It's devoid of anything other than scattered pictures and text, and notably, its "Store" is all but unreachable. Rest assured, we'll let you know if we hear any new developments from the parties involved.

Update 10:57PM ET (12/18): Fusion Garage's store is back up, but orders aren't exactly open. Clicking through to any given product's page shows the message "We are running out of stock. Thank you." [Thanks, Liam]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Fusion Garage CEO and JooJoo creator Chandra Rathakrishnan has certainly discussed the iPad before in talking up his own tablet, but nothing could have quite prepared us for the bit of bombast he unleashed on the occasion of the iPad's international launch. While he started out with the usual line that the "JooJoo delivers the entire Internet -- including Flash-based websites," he soon took things to a whole new level, saying that "we don't see the need for an app store," because "an app store sells stripped down versions of actual websites" -- stripped down websites like Brushes, KORG iElectribe, and Real Racing HD, we suppose. Believe it or not, however, Rathakrishnan didn't let things sit there, and apparently went on to describe the iPad as just "another storage device with web capabilities." Of course, there's at least a chance Chandra was actually paying the iPad a compliment, since a "storage device with web capabilities" would be a pretty big step up from the JooJoo.

FusionGarage may have thrown a few PayPal rules to the wind with its early Joojoo pre-orders, but it looks like they may have paid off for the company (assuming they actually go through). In an interview with SGEntrepreneurs, Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan says that orders for the device actually went up following Apple's iPad announcement, although he unsurprisingly didn't reveal any actual numbers. Chandra did drop a few other interesting details, however, including word that the company with soon announce a partnership with a "major mobile phone player" that has a "significant" market share in Southeast Asia, and who will also supposedly take care of the manufacturing cost of the Joojoo. That's on top of an announcement of a new round of funding, which apparently totals somewhere south of $10 million. Still no word of a firm ship date for the device, of course, which still stands at the same 8-10 weeks that it did more than a month ago.

[Thanks, Daniel]