Michael Arrington, founder of the influential tech blog TechCrunch, has been talking for a year about building a touch-screen tablet for Web surfing. Now, it appears that the CrunchPad is about to become a reality.
The San Francisco Business Times reported Friday that Mr. Arrington has incorporated a separate company called CrunchPad. Later on Friday, he told us he would hold an event at the end of July or the beginning of August to make a big announcement about the CrunchPad, and the tablet would be for sale “as soon as possible.”
Mr. Arrington is a former corporate lawyer who became a blogger — not exactly the résumé of a hardware developer. “I just wanted this, and no one will build it,” he said.
The purpose of the CrunchPad will be very simple: surfing the Web. Turn it on and up comes a browser. It is nothing more than “an Internet consumption device,” for reading, checking e-mail or watching video, Mr. Arrington said. It will not have a hard drive or keyboard, though users can plug it in to a keyboard if they wish. It will cost less than $300, he said.
The CrunchPad will be 16 millimeters thick with a screen of at least 12 inches that is flush with the aluminum case, and it will come in different colors. It will run on an Intel Atom chip and support Flash, which the Apple iPhone cannot.
Parole Fatti Pensieri