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CrunchPad Being Re-branded As JooJoo

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the long-way-from-$200 dept.

adeelarshad82 writes to tell us that Fusion Garage seems to be ignoring the drama surrounding the "CrunchPad" and is planning to launch their "JooJoo" tablet this Friday at midnight. Unfortunately, the device will be a long way from the imagined $200 price point, weighing in at a hefty $499. "The JooJoo comes in black and has a capacitive touch screen, enough graphic power to deliver full high-definition video, offline capabilities, and a 4GB solid-state drive, though 'most of the storage is done in the cloud,' Rathakrishnan said. He promised 5 hours of battery life. In a demo during the webcast, the device powered on in about 10 seconds, and showed icons for web-based services like Twitter, Hulu, CNN, and Gmail, though the JooJoo will not come pre-loaded with any apps, Rathakrishnan said. Scroll through them with your finger as you would on the iPhone. In terms of the ownership drama, Rathakrishnan said that TechCrunch editor Arrington has created an 'incomplete and distorted story.'"

46 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. There's a device that's going to annihilate it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The HitlerHitler

    1. Re:There's a device that's going to annihilate it by mlingojones · · Score: 4, Funny

      The HitlerHitler

      Really? Godwin's Law already? It's the FIRST POST.

    2. Re:There's a device that's going to annihilate it by Petrushka · · Score: 4, Funny

      The HitlerHitler

      Well, it's better than Vista.

  2. Where I stopped reading... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...though 'most of the storage is done in the cloud...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Where I stopped reading... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I stopped at the new name...."JooJoo" I'm guessing this guy doesn't have much of an understanding at least of how naming should be done for the US. JooJoo sounds too...well, foofoo/gay.....

      No, it doesn't. It sounds like bad luck, or some kind of insult towards Jewish people. Both seem like a bad idea.

      Hell, that is about as bad as that company "Wang" a couple of decades ago. Did they not have any idea of the connotations of "wang" in the US?

      You know, Mr. Wang probably didn't think it was a bad idea to name his company after himself.

    2. Re:Where I stopped reading... by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Funny

      JooJoo sounds too...well, foofoo/gay.....

      Just think... they paid somebody a lot of money to come up with that name.

      Hell, that is about as bad as that company "Wang" a couple of decades ago. Did they not have any idea of the connotations of "wang" in the US?

      That didn’t stop the Nintendo Wii.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    3. Re:Where I stopped reading... by dreamer.redeemer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly what I thought... 'sure, they'll steal a whole product without a moment's hesitation, but I'm sure my data will be perfectly private and safe with them."

      --
      the most powerful intellect is that unbounded by indubitable preconception
    4. Re:Where I stopped reading... by Trepidity · · Score: 3, Insightful

      No doubt so the Elders of Zion (who live in the clouds) can read your data. ;-)

      --
      10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
    5. Re:Where I stopped reading... by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, it doesn't. It sounds like bad luck, or some kind of insult towards Jewish people. Both seem like a bad idea.

      In the Producers they named a musical "Springtime For Hitler" in a secret plot to piss people off and lose money. Perhaps that's part of their strategy to so devalue the Crunchpad that the Techcruch guys will drop their lawsuit.

    6. Re:Where I stopped reading... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wait a minute. I'm a manager, and I've been reading a lot of case studies and watching a lot of webcasts about The Cloud. Based on all of this glorious marketing literature, I, as a manager, have absolutely no reason to doubt the safety of any data put in The Cloud.

      The case studies all use words like "secure", "MD5", "RSS feeds" and "encryption" to describe the security of The Cloud. I don't know about you, but that sounds damn secure to me! Some Clouds even use SSL and HTTP. That's rock solid in my book.

      And don't forget that you have to use Web Services to access The Cloud. Nothing is more secure than SOA and Web Services, with the exception of perhaps SaaS. But I think that Cloud Services 2.0 will combine the tiers into an MVC-compliant stack that uses SaaS to increase the security and partitioning of the data.

      My main concern isn't with the security of The Cloud, but rather with getting my Indian team to learn all about it so we can deploy some first-generation The Cloud applications and Web Services to provide the ultimate platform upon which we can layer our business intelligence and reporting, because there are still a few verticals that we need to leverage before we can move to The Cloud 2.0.

    7. Re:Where I stopped reading... by maxume · · Score: 2, Funny

      Enough people pronounce Wii, we, and wee the same that Wii really isn't a particularly bad name (that it is a homophone of a pronoun gives it an everyday quality that helps it deal with the urinary connotations).

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    8. Re:Where I stopped reading... by flynt · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's not my bag baby, honest!

  3. Retarded Name by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The technology would have to be extra special to make up for the price point and name. JooJoo? What were they thinking?

    1. Re:Retarded Name by KnownIssues · · Score: 5, Funny

      It was better than the other name they threw around in brainstorming sessions--the NigNig.

    2. Re:Retarded Name by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That’s basically the same thing I said about the Nintendo Wii.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    3. Re:Retarded Name by qortra · · Score: 3, Funny

      The technology would have to be extra special

      It is special - didn't you notice, there's no keyboard!

      I once took the steering wheel off my car and tried to sell it for twice the price. Nobody bought it, but I think that's just because I screwed over a blogger right before I put it up for sale.

    4. Re:Retarded Name by the_wesman · · Score: 4, Funny

      jar jar was taken

      --
      calling all destroyers
    5. Re:Retarded Name by uglyduckling · · Score: 2, Informative

      It's not at all ambiguous. Midnight December 11th is 2009-12-11 00:00. This is clear because Midday December 11th is 2009-12-11 12:00. "Half past midnight" December 11th is 2009-12-11 00:30. There's no ambiguity at all.

  4. Price by teslafreak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At $200 I would be all over this (even though it sounds like it was bred from a bit of dirty business dealing). For $499, I would rather buy a laptop and have the keyboard.

    1. Re:Price by rho · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Unless Apple makes one, then a lot of folks will think $500 is just right.

      --
      Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
    2. Re:Price by Duradin · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I doubt Apple would release something with a measly 4GB storage (the smallest "current" touch is 8GB at $199) and a pitiful 5 hour battery life for a device of that size.

      A 64GB touch is $399. Having one scaled up to that size with some beefed up specs would make $500 a reasonable price point.

    3. Re:Price by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There may be a few fools who are easily parted from their money, but I predict this product is a flop. The trend is towards smaller and *smarter* devices, not towards further dumbing-down. The name "joo-joo" seems quite applicable, because monosyllabic nonsense names describe this product to a tee.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  5. Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't see the pure tablet play working, not from JooJoo, not even from apple - it's always going to be a niche, and a small one.

    The one way I can perhaps see it working is if you either build in a collapsible keyboard, or let them work with bluetooth keyboards and have some way to attach it making a kind of temporary laptop. There are just too many uses of a computer where the ability to type for long periods is needed, to get away without a real keyboard in a larger form factor. There are already netbooks with touch screens and that just seems way more practical.

    JooJoo has issues outside the name though, the price point does not seem great for what it does.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by PCM2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah, but e-book readers are apparently the hot item for the Holidays this year. If you can sell a device with a slow-refreshing screen that only does 16 levels of grayscale and supports no applications except a document viewer and (maybe) a stripped-down Web browser for $260, why wouldn't people be willing to buy a more fully-featured device for a similar price? I've been in the market for some kind of tablet as a secondary computing device for a long time, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

      Note I said "similar price," though. At $500 this thing is definitely too expensive to succeed. Spending more than a few hundred dollars on a device that will never be more than a satellite client seems more than a little prodigal -- but something like a Nokia n810 with an 8" screen would be welcome if the price was right.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    2. Re:Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 2, Informative

      "If you can sell a device with a slow-refreshing screen that only does 16 levels of grayscale and supports no applications except a document viewer and (maybe) a stripped-down Web browser for $260"

      You forgot about the fact that the slow-refreshing screen uses basically no static power. The end result is that such devices have INCREDIBLE battery life.

      --
      retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
    3. Re:Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by Abcd1234 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, but e-book readers are apparently the hot item for the Holidays this year. If you can sell a device with a slow-refreshing screen that only does 16 levels of grayscale and supports no applications except a document viewer and (maybe) a stripped-down Web browser for $260, why wouldn't people be willing to buy a more fully-featured device for a similar price?

      Unless said "more fully-featured device" has an eink display, I think the answer to that is obvious.

    4. Re:Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You forgot about the fact that the slow-refreshing screen uses basically no static power. The end result is that such devices have INCREDIBLE battery life.

      Over and over I hear how important this is. Why is it important?

      Just how many two-week-long vacations on desert islands do you take in a year? Otherwise, how hard is it to plug in your e-book reader overnight? Surely a lot of people read books in bed and would have no trouble putting their reader into a cradle before rolling over and going to sleep?

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    5. Re:Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by omnichad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not as important as resolution. If you've seen one of these in person, you know that e-ink has print-like density. It's sharp and clear. It's the "no eye fatigue" that makes the screen worth paying for. Low battery usage is just icing.

    6. Re:Tablet market seems like the ultimate niche by PCM2 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Really? I've never found the screens to be "print-like." The contrast is kinda poor, for starters. And at 167ppi, though grayscale, the resolution doesn't seem to match that of a laser printer, yet alone professional printing presses.

      My Nokia 770, on the other hand -- the predecessor of the aforementioned N810 -- has a backlit, full-color 4.25" screen at a whopping 225ppi. Text on this thing is razor-sharp. The battery life ain't great, but like I said: I don't really see the problem.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  6. Conspiracy! by pwnies · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The entire marketing drama behind all this was all a ploy. Call me crazy, but think about it: Market a new device that does some amazing stuff at a ridiculously low price. So low that you could never make a profit. Wait til all the news sites pick it up. Then stage a coup. During that coup have a takeover, and re-release the device at a sensible price under a different name. Free marketing.

    Brb gotta go make a tin foil hat now.

  7. Price alone shows "crunchpad" was vapor idea... by nweaver · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The CrunchPad model only made sense at the low price: something inexpensive and universal.

    But the low price never made sense. Apple doesn't make much money on the iPod touch, and they have all the huge economies of scale, and its still costs $200 for the 8 GB model. Add in a MUCH larger screen and bigger battery and of course the price will balloon.

    --
    Test your net with Netalyzr
    1. Re:Price alone shows "crunchpad" was vapor idea... by argent · · Score: 2, Informative

      Apple doesn't make anything that doesn't get them at least 30% margins.

  8. Re:Price point???? ARRRGHGGGH!!! by nacturation · · Score: 4, Informative

    People who use the phrase "price point" instead of "price" need to be shot in the head.

    Shoot this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_point

    --
    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  9. Re:Price point???? ARRRGHGGGH!!! by natehoy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, buzzwords are always a lose-lose proposition. Time for a paradigm shift!

    --
    "This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
  10. Bad Juju by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Funny

    I feel bad things for this company's future. Bad Juju, bad Mojo.

  11. Re:Boycott? by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Big assumption. We basically have two no-names calling each other doodie-heads. Who knows who is right or wrong? If contracts were signed, then let them battle it out in court. Blog posts and PR releases have no legal weight.

  12. Cautious by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I do like the Fusion Garage explanation of the situation. I look forward to Arrington's response.

    1. Re:Cautious by atamido · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Ooh, just found this in the Google Cache of Fusiongarage's blog (blog is now removed).

      From January 19th, 2009

      There is an air of excitement permeating through Fusion Garage at the moment. Michael Arrington of Techcrunch just wrote an update on the Techcrunch Tablet Prototype B.

      It’s our software that is running on the tablet as demonstrated in the videos embedded in the article. We continue to work with Louis Monier on the feature set and the user experience. We are thrilled with this progress and would like to take the opportunity to thank Michael and Louis for giving us the opportunity to work with them on the Techcrunch Tablet.

      Its early days yet but we are big believers of the Browser As An Operating System and the Techcrunch Tablet Initiative.

      A nice way to begin 2009 here at FusionGarage !

      And then February 4th, 2009

      The collaboration with the Crunchpad project happened as a result of meetings we had with Mike Arrington and co, subsequent to TC50. We worked closely with Louis Monier in getting the software in shape for the hardware prototype B. We continue to work with them in getting the software in shape to make crunchpad a easy to use device. This is where we stand as of prototype-B: (Details over at TechCrunch’s update )

      Then from the PCMag piece today,

      Simply put, however, Arrington was unable to deliver, Rathakrishnan said. As a result, Fusion Garage completed the development of the OS, hired the necessary expertise to complete the hardware side of the equation, solved remaining technology issues, and worked on arrangements with OEMs.

      Fusion Garage secured funding from its shareholders, which now totals $3 million, he said.

      Rathakrishnan acknowledged that "many conversations" did take place with Arrington and that Arrington set up CrunchPad Inc., which would have been a vehicle for distribution of the device, but "ultimately nothing came out" of that. No contracts of any kind were ever signed, he said.

      "TechCrunch didn't contribute a single line of code," Rathakrishnan said. "It was Fusion Garage that brought the device from the dead."

      That doesn't sound very consistent with the blog posts.

  13. As much as I hate Apple by alanbcohen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    After Apple abandoned me and tens of thousands of other Apple ][ and ][+ owners almost thirty years ago, I have no love for those crooks. But I could get an Ipod Touch with twice as much memory at half the price and several times the battery life. At the $250 price level, the larger screen would have been worth it; at $500, no way.

  14. Re:JooJoo is the Cantonese pronounciation of... by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yahoo! Answers agrees with you. Maybe it's not so bad after all. Announcing the Penis Pad (formerly Crunch Pad)! It's touch sensitive!

  15. Yes by hallucinogen · · Score: 2, Funny

    Joo = yes in Finnish yesyes Well, at least they didn't name it "ei ei" :p

  16. Video conference by tulmad · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you saw any of the video conference (live blog at http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/fusion-garage-crunchpad-video-conference-liveblog/), that dude even looks like a scheister.

    --
    "In case of emergency, break glass. Scream. Bleed to death."
  17. I thought JooJoo was a loner by ClosedSource · · Score: 2, Funny

    Get Back.

  18. If this succeeds at $499, I'm leaving Earth by haruchai · · Score: 3, Funny

      because it'll prove, once and for all, that there's really no intelligent life down here.
    And the new name sucks ass. Will the call the kid's version the PooPoo?

    --
    Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  19. I'm getting sick and tired of... by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...your fascist application of that stupid Law. I swear - you're worse than Mussolini!

    --
    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  20. Didn't the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... by snap2grid · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...call a disaster a "whole joojooflop situation"?