Last July, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch wrote a post declaring that he wanted "a dead simple and dirt cheap touch screen web tablet to surf the web" and since no one else seemed to be working on such a device, he decided to do it himself, with the help of TechCrunch readers. Now it seems the project is nearing completion.
The CrunchPad is a linux-based touchscreen tablet using a browser-based UI. When you turn the unit on, it boots right into the webkit-based browser. There's a pop-up virtual keyboard for entering URLs and such (you wouldn't want to do any significant typing on it) and scrolling is via swiping the screen. When Arrington first visualized the project he was shooting for a $200 price point, then discovered that a $299 price was more realistic; however no price for the final hardware has been announced. The launch prototype is just 18 mm thick, with an aluminum case. For more details see Arrington's latest CrunchPad post.
Beyond the fact that this sounds like a nifty item, it's been fascinating to watch the process of bringing the product to life through a series of posts:
- Prototype A (August 30th, 2008)
- Prototype B (January 19th, 2009)
- Prototype C (April 9th, 2009)
And here is the launch prototype:
Arrington says we'll be hearing more about the CrunchPad in July.
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
Esther Schindler
If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly
claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century
pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin
Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?
jfruh
Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith
mikelgan
What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive
Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.
Finally a real reader
This is the ebook reader I've been waiting for. Bonus if you can 'net surf and change TV channels with it.Why bother
You can get a netbook for less that can do all this can do as well as be a full-fledged PC and run your favorite app.I'm interested
I own an EEE PC, but I'm also interested in this. The screen size looks larger, and I'm hoping that it will run faster.