Remember the JooJoo, which seemed at least semi-exciting until the iPad came out? Cnet’s Rafe Needleman has an update on Fusion Garage’s plans for its tablet, which involve building an Android version with cloud-syncing capabilities.
Tag Archives | JooJoo
JooJoo: So-So
Engadget has reviewed the Fusion Garage JooJoo tablet, and for a device that once had some good buzz, it sounds…devastatingly disappointing. The user interface is gnarly; it doesn’t run Flash (supposedly a big selling point) well; the battery conks out after 2.5 hours. Couple that with the fundamental limitations imposed by by the fact that it’s browser-only device that only works when Wi-Fi is available–it can’t run apps–and it’s unclear why any tablet fancier would spend $499 on this rather than on an iPad.
Given the shipping delays the JooJoo already suffered, it’s also unclear why Fusion Garage decided to ship it more or less simultaneously with the iPad rather than postpone the launch a bit longer so it could whip the software into more respectable shape.
We’ll never know for sure what this gizmo would have been like if the strange soap opera that led to it shipping as the JooJoo rather than the CrunchPad hadn’t transpired. But you gotta wonder: Maybe Michael Arrington is lucky that he was unwillingly disassociated from it months before it shipped…
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5Words: JooJoo is Interesting But Pricey
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CrunchPad, JooJoo, Whatever
I like writing about gizmos a lot more than soap operas, so when the dream that was the CrunchPad crumbled into a spat between former partners, I sort of lost interest. For the record, Fusion Garage, which decided to pursue the Web-tablet project without TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington, announced its plans today. The CrunchPad is now the JooJoo. It’s $499 rather than $300. And the company will be taking preorders at TheJooJoo.com starting on Friday. That’s assuming that Arrington’s “imminent” legal action doesn’t put a crimp in the release schedule.
If you had high hopes for the CrunchPad, what we’re witnessing is the equivalent of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak squabbling on the eve of the Apple II’s release, and Woz firing Jobs. Or something like that. Anyhow, it’s kind of embarrassing. Bad JooJoo, you might say.
Fusion Garage unveiled the JooJoo this morning in a Webcast which I missed–but which was apparently made up of equal parts product demo and sniping at Arrington. The device has a 12.1″ touchscreen and Wi-Fi (but no 3G). I wish the company well. But what do you think the chances are that the JooJoo will be remembered as anything other than “that gadget was going to be the CrunchPad, and which never amounted to anything?”