CrunchPad, perhaps, to get released before long
It is worthwhile to mention, at the very outset, this is rather unfinished news and its source is the recent episode of Steve Gillmor's "Gillmor Gang" podcast. Michael Arrington, famed creator of CrunchPad or the hardware prototyping initiative, dropped or uttered with seeming casualness the news there that he's not sure where the rumor of cost being too high came from, since costs continue to plummet. Is "$300 to $400" price range he's quoting well? To many persons it seems to be higher; nevertheless many have also stated already that it still sounds pretty good for a 12-inch touchscreen device.
Michael Arrington was also found to mention of "soft revenue" and "sponsorships" on the device, similar to the revenue Firefox gets from its Google search box,. However he seemed to be set while adding that it won't bear upon the user experience. Apart from these, Mike states categorically that they're working on making it "perfect," and that there should be some big news about the device coming before long.
Let us throw some lights on both CrunchPad and Michael Arrington more. CrunchPad is a hardware prototyping initiative created by Michael Arrington, Louis Monier, and Singapore based design studio FusionGarage, that aims to build a low-cost tablet PC for Web surfing.Initially in 2008, $200 was mentioned as the price-point goal. In the first half of 2009, $300 was mentioned as more likely. By the end of July 2009, news stories said the actual price when it ships in November 2009 would be about $400, putting it in potential competition with netbooks and low-end laptops
The project had its commencement in July 2008, initially aiming for a $200 tablet, and showed a first prototype (Prototype A) a month later.
J. Michael Arrington is an entrepreneur and founder/co-editor of TechCrunch, a blog covering the Silicon Valley technology start-up communities and the wider technology field in USA and elsewhere. Magazines such as Wired and Forbes have named Arrington one of the most powerful people on the Internet.
Perhaps the news gets finished now. Isn’t it?
