Archive for: joojoo
- September 12, 2011 1:00 pm
It appears the increasing competition (and recent HP Touchpad $99 firesale) is getting to Fusion Garage, makers of the infamously terrible JooJoo tablet and now reborn Grid10. Speaking of which, Fusion Garage contacted TIMN this morning to inform them of two critical announcements pertaining to their new Grid10 tablet.
- The Grid10 has been pushed back until October 1st as it needs necessary Flash certification and a short time to test re-test the device.
- The price on the Grid10 has been lowered from the initial $499 to $299.
We’re not going to beat around the bush. The Grid10 and it’s new-ish OS look awesome. But only a true hands-on will unearth the inner workings of this newcomer. Given Fusion Garage’s first attempts were abysmal at best, we’re already feeling a bit worried. Nonetheless, we’ll gladly give the device a chance when the time comes.
Anyone ready to forgive Fusion Garage for the JooJoo?
Lawsuits and bad sentiment be dammed, the JooJoo and it’s creators will not give up. While their first stab at this whole tablet thing was pretty pathetic, the company hopes that version 2 will be a much bigger hit. Helping to accomplish this goal is the abandonment of their own, in-house OS in favor of the latest and greatest flavor of Android (we hope the latest at least…).
The only differentiating decision that will surely set the JooJoo 2 apart form other Android tablets, however, is the lack of any Android Market access. Instead, the Fusion Garage team will be tweaking Android to tie into many different web services such as Gmail and Facebook, leveraging the open web and ignoring stand alone, native apps.
Sounds risky enough. Just one question: Does anyone want a tablet without dedicated apps these days…?
Regardless of what a few specific individuals (read: Fusion Garage exec’s) say, the JooJoo by Fusion Garage is pretty much a bomb — in stock form that is. What if you could order one with a different OS — one with a bit more functionality, say OS X? Them you’d have something, right? Well, I’m not too sure what exactly would make the JooJoo hardware “lust worthy”, but slappin’ OS X on it and giving it another go couldn’t help, that’s for sure.
The image above depicts such a tale of two cities, though is void of any real information to pass along. Though we have to ask — Would you really drop $500 on a JooJoo when an iPad is leaps and bounds better in the tablet world? Yeah, I didn’t think so…
The JooJoo has faired a bit better overseas than here in the states. It just hasn’t seemed to catch on here. Then again, when facing a $400+ debit going towards your finances, which would you rather have — honestly? In the U.S. it’s unanimously been the iPad. But maybe a little hackery fun can change your views, hmm? In the JooJoo forums, some talented folks have managed to put together the necessary code to get Windows 7 up and running over the JooJoo’s stock UI. Windows 7 isn’t as finger friendly as even the JooJoo’s stock goods, but then again, it’s a full blown desktop OS on a relatively capable tablet.
In other news, if you’re in need of a space heater, word is that the JooJoo strains itself considerably running Redmond’s OS of choice. Better get out those oven mitts if you’re going to play ball. Hop inside for a video of the Windows 7-on-JooJoo action…
The JooJoo claims it’s better than or at least equal to the Apple iPad because of it’s support for Adobe Flash. Generally, this is a pretty big bragging point to make note of. However, in the JooJoo’s case, the reliance on a lonely Atom processor and beta build of Flash (designed for desktop PC’s mind you) means the overall experience is lacking. Adobe apparently isn’t too thrilled in being so closely associated as a “JooJoo partner” and as such, has released an official statement on the matter.
JooJoo has no direct relationship with Adobe and has not worked with us as other manufacturers have to ensure a great Flash experience. By attempting to use a public beta release designed only for desktop use, we’re not surprised by the lackluster performance and disappointing browsing experience.
Silicon and device platforms from companies who have worked with Adobe as part of the Open Screen Project are setting the bar for a great Flash experience on this exciting device category and we encourage you to check out devices from Dell, HP, Lenovo and other partners.
The most insulting though somewhat humor laden aspect of it all is that Adobe recommends users looking for decent mobile Flash usage check out other actual Open Screen Project partners like Dell, HP, and Lenovo and their respective tablets. The zinger: None of those manufacturers currently have competing tablets on sale. Ouch! Even non-existent hardware is being recommended over the JooJoo.
FusionGarage has made claims in the last few days that Flash performance is indeed in need of an upgrade. With that said, hardware acceleration for Linux isn’t yet supported which in turn is the reason why Flash on the JooJoo just isn’t so great. Looks like FG either needs to dump the desktop version of Flash or get out the Chinese because they’re going to need to camp out at HQ for a few weeks to get it all working the way it should.
Is anyone surprised?
Engadget
I won’t deny one bit that 24 hours ago, my outlook on the JooJoo by Fusion Garage was this — crap. From the meager hardware specs to god awful UI, it had failure written all over it. On top of it all, an untimely delay meant the whole plan of beating the iPad to market was lost. A delay is never a good thing. But Fusion Garage went back to the drawing board and at least made the best of what they had, turning this seemingly downtime filled delay into a workshop of sorts and bringing the UI into 2010. Just look at it. The updated UI is exponentially better. So much so that I’d almost overlook the so-so hardware.
Some may still knock it for the overly simple UI appearance. But that’s what get’s me. It’s simple yet nice to look at. Of course, greatly improved input support and multi-touch tweaks aplomb. The only software issue now withstanding is all about apps. What does Fusion Garage have to offer?
Anyone thinking another look at the JooJoo is warranted? As far as writing off FusionGarage and their once crap gadget, a believer I have *mostly* become.
Nexus
The JooJoo, CrunchPad, wonder tablet — call it what you want. Since the much publicized falling out between TechCrunch’s Mike Arrington and Fusion Garage’s Chandra Rathakrishnan, the JooJoo’s future has been rehashed many a time. On one hand, you have this small company putting out their own in-house creation against countless other tablets as well as the big gun Apple iPad. After seeing countless reviews full of videos and pictures, I have come away pretty unimpressed. For $500 — the same price as an iPad — you have yet another proprietary device that runs a proprietary OS that will require a completely separate SDK with all new apps. I’m not saying the JooJoo is going to fail, I’m just saying that for the price, and seeing the competition, there isn’t really all that much that drives me towards it and choosing it over any other of the options on the market.
The big deal with the JooJoo however was it was going to get an early lead on the iPad with a late February release. That early lead has since fallen with the new launch date slipping all the way back to March 25th — within days of the iPad. Now that the early lead is gone, does the JooJoo stand even less of a chance? Personal opinions aside, the JooJoo is still a unique device, offering up a slightly different spin on the standard tablet computer. It’s just that now that all the ducks are in a row, the battle has become increasingly heated.
Do you think a developer eying the market is going to be wooed by the JooJoo? Or does Apple’s App Store and numerous different platforms (iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad) make the ROI too hard to resist?
Wired
[Image Source]
- February 3, 2010 10:21 pm
Were you on team TechCrunch/Michael Arrington or team FusionGarage in the whole CrunchPad JooJoo drama? It doesn’t really matter how you feel as the JooJoo is coming to market. Fresh of the press, FusionGarage went live today with word of a manufacturing deal with CSL. The good thing for FG is that all up front manufacturing costs are paid for by CSL in exchange for a “single digit percentage of sales”. Well alrighty then.
I’m just going to come out and say it — after watching the demo movie that FusionGarage CEO “Chandra” was featured in back in December, I’ve come away with my impressions. The JooJoo looks like shit. Michael Arrington should be glad he doesn’t have any ties to this piece of junk. The biggest thing that caught my attention right away was the horrible navigation. The UI was smooth…if you could get it to register your finger touches.
To be fair, it could very well have been pre-production hiccups in the software. Let’s hope they removed such things as if it is even remotely like the demo video, it’s going to suck (read: fail) epicly. Anyone else less than enthused about this?
But the real cherry on the cake is a more recent development. Apparently humility (and common sense for that matter) isn’t a stong suit of Chandra’s as he openly mocks the iPad and even goes as far to say that the JooJoo inspired it — a “rip off” of sorts. I really don’t have any words to come back at. I mean, no one in their right mind is going to look at the JooJoo and then look at the iPad and instantly see a copy & paste situation. I don’t at least. Am I missing something?
I’m by no means a super iPad supporter geek. I wasn’t that impressed honestly. But to compare the JooJoo and iPad is like comparing your typical urban street whore to the rich, prissy bitch who lives next door. Both more or less do the same thing. It’s just one is put together much better than the other…
Color me slightly optimistic, but reports around the JooJoo today (remember, the CrunchPad that evaporated into vaporware only to re-emerge as crapware) have it not only on track, but enjoying increased pre-orders since the iPad announcement, a new round of funding, and a South African carrier deal in the mix — quite the buffet of luck if you ask me.
As far as the increased pre-order claim, Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan didn’t actually post any numbers for us to look at so his claims are unverified at this point. With that said, being able to actually track whether or not JooJoo pre-orders did rise after Apple’s mid-week bonanza last week is next to impossible without said numbers.
Moving on, Chandra has also stated that he and FusionGarage are committed to starting shipments of the JooJoo in February. That’s fine and dandy and all but those who have pre-ordered so far have been met with the same 8-10 week shipment date that’s been around for well over a month now. If I were you, I wouldn’t put down any money until these things actually make it into the streets. They call “vaporware” by it’s name for a reason.
As for the new round of funding and carrier deal in the mix, could the JooJoo be the poor mans iPad that costs the same as an iPad?
Engadget
[TechPluto]
