It is rather interesting that a number of new Slate style tablet devices seem to be warring even before they are officially launched, or even proven exist. The two most frequently rumored are definitely the CrunchPad and the even more elusive Apple Tablet. While the Apple Tablet may or may not even exist, we’ve at least seen offical prototypes of the CrunchPad, and it seemed to be generally near completion until all any new info surrounding its release has halted in the last few months.

The CrunchPad shot up the popularity ladder in the Portal shortly after being added, and held the number one spot for a good period of time. Despite seemingly no one calling the CrunchPad a UMPC, lots of traffic clearly interested in the CrunchPad was landing on the CrunchPad’s Portal page.

The CrunchPad has only recently been supplanted by the likes of the Archos 9 [Portal page] and the Viliv X70 [Portal page]:The CrunchPad is a project started by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch. In July of 2008, an article titled “We Want A Dead Simple Web Tablet For $200. Help Us Build It.” written by Arrington, went up on TechCrunch. To date that article has produced 1,235 comments in the comment section of the article alone and also countless numbers of articles from other sites in response. Between that time and a month or two ago, the CrunchPad has received quite a bit of attention with various prototypes spotted and a good deal of news and search attention. Note the news reference volume in the graph below which shows how frequently the CrunchPad is searched for (compared to Archos 9 for context):The most recent news that seemed to decry an imminent release of the CrunchPad was that Michael Arrington had teamed up with a small company in Singapore called Fusion Garage for the design, and there is another entity apparently called CrunchPad Inc. which may or may not be involved in getting the device produced (or could possibly be a renaming of Fusion Garage itself).

But much of this news is from back in July. There were reports (read: rumors) that stated that a CrunchPad event may be held at the end of July, or in August, launching or otherwise officially declaring the final CrunchPad device. That date has since come and gone, and here we are, a few days from November, and it seems like all has been quiet on the CrunchPad front. So where in the world is Carmen Sandiego the CrunchPad?

Perhaps the CrunchPad has been waiting on Pixel Qi’s technology to develop? This is just a guess, but I don’t see anyone else taking a shot at the question.Pixel Qi is a company (sometimes referred to as the name of the technology itself) that is working on a type of screen technology that promises to bring inexpensive power saving e-ink like screens to mobile computers using existing LCD manufacturing processes. The Pixel Qi site has a small update box that has this to say:

We have passed early reliability testing with flying colors and are still on track to start mass production of our screens in late Q4 2009.

And while it might seem obvious that Pixel Qi would let people know if they have been working on screens for the CrunchPad to generate interest in the technology, and the device, the following was written on the Pixel Qi blog on October 17th under an article titled “Pixel Qi Screens debuting in Tablets”:

While we are supplying screens for tablets (and ebooks, and netbooks too!) and are starting production shortly, including supplying limited volumes earlier than our official mass production start – we can’t say when these products will be announced and sold retail.

Sorry not to be able to reveal more, but our customers: the netbook, ebook and tablet makers really need to announce their products on their schedules.

With a few CrunchPad articles mentioning a November release, I’d say that it is at least possible that the CrunchPad devlopment and the Pixel Qi screens are coinciding, and maybe the CrunchPad hold-up is due in part to Pixel Qi screen technology still working its way out the door.

Alternate theories? Please feel free to share below.

When we guessed the specs of the Crunchpad back in April we based it around what we thought was the best that could be achieved. It appears we may have got the pricing in the right ballpark but woah!, wait a minute, we’re now hearing that it will weigh a hefty 1.2kg. Take it from me, that is way too heavy for consumers. My Gigabyte Touchnote (similar specs to the Crunchpad) weighs the same and it’s not a device I use on the sofa or in the bed. Anything over 1KG is simply not comfortable.

Not only that but we’re now hearing that the Crunchpad will have 3G built-in. 3G? Why? This is supposedly targeted at the sofa or office desk. What Crunchpad customer isn’t going to have Wifi available at the sofa? 1.2kg makes it too heavy for toting around as a web reader too so why the high-speed data? A low-end 3G modem is going to cost $30-$50 to the parts cost. Again, Why?

The third shock of the article is the price. $399.

With specifications and potential price-creep like this, the Crunchpad isn’t going to get much in the way of praise when it launches. We’ve seen it many times before in the UMPC market and UMPCs still don’t sell in huge numbers today despite being available for under $500 now. In fact, I’ve got specs of a 10” Atom-based tablet in front of me right now that matches closely with the Crunchpad. In quantity it’s available for $320. Despite the excellent value I still don’t expect it to sell very well.

Having said all that, there’s every possibility that reporting mistakes have been made here especially considering the article title is ‘Worlds first tablet PC.’ The Crunchpad organisation knows what’s going on around them and they won’t be giving out too many finalised details at this stage.

Update: As we expected, the information is unauthorised. Mike Arington is mad too but he does like to get dramatic at times. It’s all part of the SEO show folks!

Source: Straitstimes. Via Slashgear.

All specs and details now in the Crunchpad product page.

Update: Poll now closed, to see results head over to this post.

Just a quick poll to see which devices people are waiting for. There are seveal very nice devices that are still on their way to the market. See the following links below to review the devices before making your choice (also feel free to fill your own answer into the ‘other’ area). Please only vote once.

Crunchpad | Asus Eee T91 | Archos 9 | Always Innovating Touchbook

We’ve been following the interesting developments of the CrunchPad, which aims to bring an intuitive and inexpensive web tablet into the hands of consumers. When it was first announced, the idea seemed wild, but as time goes on, the CrunchPad is looking better and more concrete every time we hear about it. Previously we’ve seen an earlier prototype of the CrunchPad on video, but we are now seeing for the first time, an all new, beautiful looking device that TechCrunch says is almost ready for production.

They moved to an aluminum case in place of plastic, vying for strength at the cost of increased price, but it also allows the device to be more thin, bringing the overall thickness to just 18mm. After watching a recently unveiled demo of a slightly older prototype, I’m really hoping to see the CrunchPad’s software evolve further. The idea is wonderful, but if they don’t craft the software with masterful precision, I’m doubting they will get the experience they are targeting if they are relying on a passive touchscreen.

Head to TechCrunch for more images.

Update: All specs and details now in a new Crunchpad product page.

I was one of the ‘doubters’ that questioned the Techcrunch Tablet. I questioned what Mike Arrington said in his first information post. “If all you are doing is running Firefox and Skype, you don’t need a lot of hardware horsepower, which will keep the cost way down.”  We all know that’s not true because rich Web browsing is one of the most CPU-demanding applications there is. Now, 8 months later, you’re looking at an Intel Atom powered device with a 12” capacitive screen. The $200 price target isn’t looking so achievable now and I’m sure they’re now having a big battle with the weight/battery life equation. The article doesn’t give much away so lets take a fun minute or two to make some estimations about weight, battery life and price.

More images at Crunchgear

Lets assume they’ve dropped a 1.1ghz or 1.3Ghz Intel Atom inside with the SCH (UL11 or US15) chipset. The 800Mhz version won’t provide enough headroom for YouTube, Hulu and Skype in my opinion so it has to be the 1.1 or 1.3Ghz versions. From our testing with various MDs we know that these can idle, without screen but connected to the internet, in a minimum of 3W of power. The 12” screen will add a big power drain to that though. Unless they’ve gone with a Pixel-QI or similar low-power screen, you can add 2-3 Watts to the overall power envelope bringing the average drain close to 6W. Real-world battery life will have to be above 2hrs to get anyone’s attention (remember they are targeting in-home use) so a 15wh battery is likely. Given that, the weight is going to be about 700gm. As for price, if they can shift a 50,000 or more, they’ll probably be able to hit $399. I’m basing this on the fact that the Benq MID, a device built on almost exactly the same Intel and Linux technology but with a larger screen) sells for Euro299 from TIM, the mobile carrier in Italy. So here’s my guess on the missing specs:

• Intel Atom 1.1Ghz
• 512MB Memory
• 4GB Flash
• 15wh battery providing 2.5 real hours (‘up to 4 hours’ in marketing-speak!)
• Weight 700gm (the maximum, in my experience, for a one-handed experience.)
• Price (USA) $399
• Reminder, these aren’t official specs.
• Availability July 2009.

So despite having a 12” screen, it could come in at a very portable 700gm, about the same weight as most UMPCs. Is it a UMPC though? Considering that it won’t be any larger than the PepperPad (image right. The PepperPad was built for the same target market, but failed to get much interest in consumer markets) It’s going to be a tough decision for Techcrunch and a big risk due to the better capabilities of similarly-priced netbooks and Mike knows that (see one of his comments in this article where he says it ‘may never happen’) but the device looks slick and there’s a lot of Techcrunch fans out there. Source CrunchGear Software design: Fusion Garage More comment at Techcrunch who say that more information will be available in about a week. Note, the name ‘CrunchPad’ comes from one of the photos of the packaging. This may be a project name.

I can’t really let the day finish without mentioning the Techcrunch Crunchpad. Although it’s a relatively  big and non-mobile tablet, there’s a few things to mention.

Mike Arrington’s original focus for the design was web activities so it’s not suprising he’s gone for a PC-based solution. Web-based activities are getting to be some of the most CPU-intensive daily tasks that people do so a strong CPU is a must-have. The VIA Nano is, clock-for-clock, likely to be much more powerful than an Atom so a  good choice for processing power but with it’s relatively high thermal power rating, it’s going to need some cooling. That means fans and airflow space in the chassis. Not a good sign for bedtime browsers! Having said that, the low-end of the VIA Nano range at 1Ghz might be just right and I’m sure there’s scope for lowering it further if necessary. This would be a nice win for VIA if they can pull it off.

Why didn’t Techcrunch go for an ARM-based solution? It would allow for a much smaller and longer-battery life design. Maybe it’s because the high-end of ARM isn’t quite up to performing at the sort of levels that consumers expect? 5-10 seconds per web page load is probably just out of the reach of one of the latest ARM-based platforms.

The battery life is going to be a problem too. With a 4-cell, 2200mah-per-cell (a high-end, heavy-sounding  2p2s 7.2v) battery pack he’ll be looking at the  4-hour range with that huge screen. The backlighting budget will probably run to 5W and I’m sure that when you’ve added the relatively high-end CPU in and connected it to a Wifi hotspot, you’ll be draining 10-12 watts average. Possibly more when you’ve got flash content taking up CPU cycles. As many others have commented today, it might be better to settle with a 1024×600 8.9″ screen and maybe reduce the battery capacity to  save weight. It wouldn’t be perfect in portrait mode but landscape mode would be fine and you’d probably save 2W in backlighting and 300gm in weight. Overall though, you would probably lose battery life. It’s a tough balancing act.

Aesthetics play an important role but as we can all remember from ‘Origami’ in 2006, so do keyboards. I could write for hours about that but I’ll just say that if you need sales numbers, you’ll probably want to think carefully about the form factor and include,somehow, a  physical keyboard. The T91 or T101H from ASUS might bite Techcrunch in the bum unless they can get excelent on-screen keyboard software and some good early reviews about it.

All in all I think Techcrunch have set themselves tough targets for the device. While not impossible, I suspect it will be more expensive than planned, will have so-so battery life and could be a little too heavy for most people. They’ll need to convince an investor that they can sell hundreds and hundreds of thousands in order to hit the parts budget and that convertible netbooks or MIDs won’t be a threat.

Fingers crossed for Techcrunch though. I’m enjoying watching the project, am hoping it tends towards a 9″ device and I and wish Techcrunch and VIA every success with it.

If you weren’t aware that TechCrunch are planning to make a cheap tablet-style internet browsing device, a MID if you like, you might wonder what the hell the author of this anti-netbook article is talking about. In my opinion, it’s a rather hopeless attempt at putting down netbooks in order to prepare some space for a new web-browser product they are planning. it’s terribly off-target and badly-researched – "A typical Netbook has a 7 inch screen, an Intel Atom or Via Nano processor" (There hasn’t been a 7" netbook hit the blogosphere for months and as for the Nano-powered devices, we’d like Mike Arrington to show us one!) and "iPhone or iPod Touch, with a tiny 3.5 inch screen, has a vastly better browsing experience than any Netbook (it’s faster too)."  Give the article a read here.

I’m all for the TechCrunch tablet and MIDs like it but now that I’ve seen how badly educated TechCrunch are about the computer hardware market, it gives me more reason to believe that they don’t understand exactly what hurdles they are up against with their MID. I’ll never forget what TechCrunch put in writing before: “If all you are doing is running Firefox and Skype, you don’t need a lot of hardware horsepower, which will keep the cost way down.”