• TechCrunch Shows Off Web Tablet Prototype

    TechCrunch Shows Off Web Tablet Prototype

    Techtree News Staff, Jan 19, 2009 1728 hrs IST

    Dubbed the CrunchPad, the low-cost $200 touchscreen web tablet boots up directly into the browser

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Back in July, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch had written about a low-cost $200 web tablet with a touchscreen. Intended only for surfing the web and other web services like VoIP and Instant Messaging, this lightweight touchscreen tablet was expected to be based on Linux OS, Firefox Browser, and Skype (for IM and VoIP).


 


Dubbed the CrunchPad, the prototype focuses only on the browser; thus, very low-end hardware is used to give a desktop-like browsing experience. Skipping the operating system, the idea is to skip resource-hogging applications in the OS and to boot the tablet directly with the Firefox browser. However, TechCrunch now believes that the price of this affordable and lightweight web tablet might be pushed to $300 though they aim at $200.


 


CrunchPad is powered with a VIA Nano Processor and has a 1GB RAM, 4GB Flash drive storage, and a 12-inch 1024x768 pixel touchscreen. CrunchPad also features an accelerometer for automatic screen rotation, a built-in camera, WiFi, and a four-cell battery. The prototype currently runs on Ubuntu Linux with a custom Webkit browser.


 


The inclusion of a good quality resistive LCD touchscreen might shoot up the CrunchPad price by $100. Quite a buzz was created by the $200 price point, and Arrington came up with an update after six months which almost led to the fading out of the news about TechCrunch's web tablet.


 


A fully functional Web tablet for browsing the web without any resource-hogging application is truly wonderful, and a 12-inch touchscreen web tablet is must-have gadget for netcrawlers and geeks at the $300 (Rs. 14,500 approx.) price point. Let's hope that a better and slimmer version of the CrunchPad comes out soon.


 


 

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