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WeTab boss Helmut Hoffer caught posting five-star Amazon reviews under fake name, resigns
Uh oh. WeTab's Managing Director, Helmut Hoffer, has just resigned his position after being caught using a fake identity to post positive, five-star reviews for his little MeeGo tablet. Hoffer, who originally faked the WeTab's (then known as the WePad) UI when introducing the tablet to the press, posted a review on Amazon's German site under the name Peter Glaser, a popular member of the Chaos Computer Club. A second glowing review was posted under the name Claudia Kaden -- an account apparently registered to Hoffer's wife. Of course, now that he's been outed, Hoffer admits that it was a mistake not using his own name and says he posted the reviews without the knowledge of the company. Naturally, this isn't the first case of egregious astroturfing that we've seen -- eh hem, Belkin -- and it certainly won't be the last. This guy's just the latest to get caught.%Gallery-104261%
Neofonie and 4tiitoo WeTab hands-on (update)
We'll be honest: the first time we heard a company named Neofonie was making a tablet, we figured someone was up to no good... but having just experienced the 11.6-inch MeeGo machine for ourselves at IDF 2010, however, we think it's safe to say we were dead wrong. The WeTab may not have pinch-to-zoom (yet) but we never missed it once while browsing webpages and tiled apps on the large capacitive screen, using one of the most intuitive, practical touchscreen interfaces we've ever had the pleasure to try. Get a brief glimpse at the device in our gallery below, and find more after the break. Update: Though the internet at large has reported for ages now that the tablet's made by Neofonie, that's not quite correct. As it turns out, a company named 4tiitoo is responsible for the fancy UI, and the hardware itself (like the ExoPC) are actually made by Pegatron. Update 2: Extended impressions (and video!) after the break. %Gallery-102086%
WeTab tablet spotted running MeeGo at IFA
Remember the WeTab? Or the WePad, perhaps? While we can't say we had much confidence in ever seeing the tablet again after a seemingly endless series of false starts and delays, it has turned up at IFA, and with something of a surprise no less -- it's running a customized version of MeeGo. Those customizations look to keep things mostly in line with the interface we saw during the device's WePad days, but it does seem to be a bit more responsive, and is seemingly in a nearly final state. Of course, it's not quite final enough to avoid another delay -- it's now apparently set to roll out in "late September." Head on past the break to check it out in action.
WeTab street date pushed back to mid-September
WeTab, WePad -- whatever name you use, it's obvious that the gang at Neofonie doesn't exactly run the tightest ship. (And yes, we're still feeling a little stung from the product launch, where they tried to pass off Windows 7 as Linux.) If Amazon.de is to be believed, it looks like the €460 ($566) wonder won't be available now until mid-September. This isn't exactly the sort of thing that inspires confidence in pre-order customers, but who knows? Maybe some amusing behind-the-scenes drama is unfolding as we speak. You know how we love our schadenfreude. [Thanks, Sebastian]
WePad renamed WeTab to 'clearly differentiate' itself
The WePad has already had to cross a few hurdles and overcome some skepticism on it's way to a release, and it's now undergone another big change -- it's just been renamed the "WeTab." According to the company, that's been done in order to "clearly differentiate our products within the international market for tablet computers." No other changes, from the looks of it, and the company says that pre-orders of the device are not affected by the name switch-a-roo -- although we suppose you can cancel if you're fiercely averse to anything named "Tab." Coincidentally, it seems that the tablet has also recently gone up for pre-order on Amazon.de, with it demanding the expected €449 for the 16GB WiFi version, and €569 for the 32GB 3G model -- still no promised ship date, unfortunately. [Thanks, Mike]
