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Nuance reportedly buying Swype for $100 million
It's only been about a year since Nuance traced Swype's finger gliding input method with QuickType, but it seems like the firm is ready for the real deal: Michael Arrington says it's nabbing the Seattle-based startup to the tune of $100 million. With competition heating up in the voice command space after Apple's Siri assisted iPhone upgrade, Nuance could be stocking up on more traditional input methods, or at the very least edging out the potential for more competition. There's no word just yet if Swype will replace or fade away in lieu of the firm's own traceable input brand, but we'll be sure to let you know if we hear something official.
Facebook phone rumors resurface, Mark Zuckerberg fails to deny them
Let's try to untangle this Facebook mobile phone mess, shall we? Mark Zuckerberg has recently sat down with Michael Arrington of TechCrunch -- the source of the original rumor -- to try and dispel some of the confusion that has arisen as a result. The first thing the Zuckmeister says is that Facebook isn't looking to build its own OS or hardware and is absolutely opposed to competing with the likes of the iPhone and Android. What Zuckerberg wants is deeper social integration, positing the question, "What could we do if we also started hacking at a deeper level?" While there'll be no single answer or solution for all phones, Mark firmly believes that social elements have to be designed in from the start: On phones we can actually do something better. We can do a single sign-on if we do a good integration with a phone, rather than just doing something where you go to an app and it's automatically social or having to sign into each app individually. Those are the two options on the web. Why not for mobile? Just make it so that you log into your phone once, and then everything that you do on your phone is social. Notably, he fails to deny rumors of such deeply integrated devices being in the pipeline, and Bloomberg has trotted out a trio of insider sources who claim INQ Mobile has been engaged to produce two smartphones with just that purpose in mind -- you know the same INQ that already makes Facebook-heavy handsets, so this could very well be little more than a rebrand. One is said to feature a QWERTY keypad and a touchscreen while the other is an all touch affair, and both are reputedly headed for an early 2011 launch in Europe, followed by a late 2011 arrival in the USA. AT&T is the carrier that's closest to picking them up, we're told, though deals haven't been finalized on what could be sub-$100 phones after subsidies are distributed. So, whatever happens, we're staring down the barrel of a couple of glorified featurephones with deep social integration. Kin 2.0, anyone? Anyone?
HP Slate killed? Rumor mill says 'yes'
Last night TechCrunch reported that, according to an unnamed "source briefed on the matter," HP had stopped development of the Slate in its tracks, killing off the project entirely. Why? Well, according to the source, HP isn't thrilled with Windows 7's performance on the tablet. The Slate -- which was officially unveiled in January by Steve Ballmer himself -- had a rumored price of $549, and was supposedly launching in June. So, what should we make of all this? Well, there's probably some major chaos over at HP with the news of the Palm acquisition, so we wouldn't be surprised to hear some shaky -- or even incorrect -- information coming out of the company right now. On the other hand, HP killing off the project doesn't sound completely out of the realm of possibility to us. We've reached out to HP for comment, but they've yet to get back to us. We'll let you know when we hear something more concrete. Update: Here's the response we just go from HP -- "We don't comment on rumors or speculation."
Joojoo tablet gets its first batch of press shots, $30 dock accessory
Up until now, the only official shot of the Joojoo tablet was that seductive snippet of the corner. 'Course, you got a pretty good look of the thing if you bothered to watch our sit-down with Fusion Garage's Chandra Rathakrishnan, but it's still a pleasing sight to see the company push out a nice gallery of press shots to really tickle the senses. We aren't exactly sure if these guys have Cameron's approval to use Avatar screen shots to promote their product, but at this point, we wouldn't put anything regarding the Joojoo beyond the realm of feasibility. Oh, and if you were wondering how you'd eventually use this thing as an at-home movie viewer, the $29.99 dock accessory pictured above is the answer. One word of caution, however: given all the drama surrounding this thing, use that pre-order button at your own risk. P.S. - Our good pal Chippy is suggesting that the only possible CPU / GPU tandem that could result in the claimed 1080p support and 5 hours of battery life is the Atom Z530 and the GMA500, both from Intel. Hopefully we'll hear something official in short order. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] %Gallery-80151%
Engadget talks Joojoo, Arrington, 3G, and more with Fusion Garage's Chandra Rathakrishnan
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!
Joojoo tablet hands-on (video)
Marked more by its story than its design, the Joojoo tablet is somewhat of a mythical (and controversial) beast. So when we got a phone call to see it for ourselves with Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan, we jumped at the opportunity. Turns out it's quite a capable little device, and chief among its feats so far seems to be smooth 1080p YouTube playback. Seriously, we were quite impressed with just how crisp and lag-free it was, at least for the Avatar trailer we tested. Throw in a Webkit-based browser with Silverlight and Flash support (why hello there, Hulu), and yeah, we're pretty pumped. Read on for more impressions. %Gallery-79825%
Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet rises from the ashes of the CrunchPad
Fusion Garage has finally come clean with its side of the story in regards to the CrunchPad debacle, and just unveiled its new Arrington-free version of the device: the Joojoo. The way Fusion Garage tells it, the device was already in the works at the time of the original TechCrunch post about the idea, and that Michael Arrington and co. made zero contributions to the development of the device -- and apparently don't have any sort of contract to prove otherwise. The device is much along the lines of what we'd been hearing: it runs a UNIX-based OS, boots straight to a web browser (otherwise no apps at all), weighs about 2.4 pounds and features a 12.1-inch capacitive touchscreen. There are no physical buttons on the slate outside of the on-off switch, which taps into a 9 second boot time. Under the hood there's a 4GB SSD, WiFi (no 3G), an accelerometer and about 5 hours of battery life. Pre-orders start on December 11th, with a dream-shattering $499 pricetag bringing this thing back into the realm of reality. We're supposed to see demos of the Joojoo in the wild this week, and another shot of the device can be found after the break.
The CrunchPad disappears in a puff of vapor
Michael Arrington's CrunchPad has never had a particularly firm basis in reality, and although we'd been promised that the inexpensive browser-based tablet would be launching soon, the sky's come crashing down: Mike says Fusion Garage, the company he hired to build the CrunchPad, has reneged on their deal, and that he's about to file "multiple lawsuits." What happened? Well, it's not exactly clear: according to Mike, the CrunchPad was ready to be launched on November 20, but on November 17 Fusion Garage decided to cut TechCrunch out of the deal and sell it directly. Oh, it's a sad tale, especially since Arrington claims a wide variety of industry heavyweights were lined up to support his tablet -- including development assistance from Intel complete with sweetheart pricing on Atom CPUs, a "major multi-billion dollar retailer" who offered to sell it at "zero margin," and even venture capital firms "waiting to invest in the company." Making matters worse, Mike's no longer buds with Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan, who he thought he'd be friends with "for the rest of our lives." Tear. Now, we're not sure we've heard the last of the CrunchPad -- if anything, Michael Arrington is irrepressible -- but we can't say we're surprised the first chapter has ended in such fantastic fashion. We're assuming several major Hollywood studios are already lining up to buy the rights, and we've heard unconfirmed reports that George Clooney has signed on to star for free because he believes in the project so deeply.
CrunchPad is 'steamrolling along,' will cost between $300 and $400
We're not super familiar with the term "steamrolling along" as it applies to device launches, but apparently it's good news for Michael Arrington's CrunchPad tablet. Mike dropped the news on a recent episode of Steve Gillmor's "Gillmor Gang" podcast (like "Gilmore Girls," but with less inter-generational drama), saying that he's not sure where the rumor of cost being too high came from, since costs continue to come down. The "$300 to $400" price range he's quoting is a bit higher than we'd heard previously, but it still sounds pretty good for a 12-inch touchscreen device. He also made mention of "soft revenue" and "sponsorships" on the device, akin to the revenue Firefox gets from its Google search box, and added that it won't impact the user experience. Outside of those tidbits Mike says they're working on making it "perfect," and that there should be some big news about the device coming shortly. Video is after the break, CrunchPad discussion starts at the 39 minute mark.
Michael Arrington's CrunchPad still not available, maybe never will be?
Here's a report mixed with a cold hard fact and some wild speculation. We'll start with the factual bit: despite promises of an August unveil and November availability, and despite lots of leaks over the summertime, Michael Arrington's CrunchPad MID tablet thing still isn't upon us, and on top of that we haven't heard a thing about it in months. The wild speculation relates to the question of why, with Silicon Alley Insider conveying a string of possibilities ranging from the likely (wildly escalating hardware costs making the product unprofitable) to the somewhat less likely (it's waiting for Chrome OS). We wouldn't be the least surprised if the promised sub-$300 price-point just isn't feasible, but neither would it be a shock to learn that it's simply on hold until this whole economy thing finally picks up some steam. Or maybe it's the Illuminati; you never know just what they're up to.
AT&T exec confirms iPhone tethering on the way
How's this for a telephone game: Technologizer's Harry McCracken reports that AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega told Michael Arrington that the iPhone will be allowed to work as a tethered wireless modem for notebooks. It will be available "soon." Allegedly. Our own Mike Schramm noted possible correspondence from Steve Jobs himself in late August suggesting that talks were already underway with AT&T. We all know it's technically doable. Both NetShare and iModem take care of tethering quite nicely. The sticky wicket is getting AT&T's permission: the strain could be too much for the telco's 3G network to bear. At this point, we don't know if AT&T's plans to allow tethering include any rate increases or bandwidth caps. Got any theories? Let us know by leaving a comment.
