12″ CrunchPad to support capacitive touch!

by LCH on April 9, 2009

TechCrunch decided to go with the flow and post more details and pictures of the CrunchPad. In this recent post, TechCrunch gives us some tantelizing details:

“What you see is a prototype, equipped with an Intel Atom processor and a 12″ capacitative [sic] touchscreen. Looks a little different than it did last time, doesn’t it?”

Capacitive touch you say? All right! I’m hoping we’re potentially talking multi-touch here. That would be tremendous. My mind is whirling because an Atom processor-based system with multi-touch just might, I say might, be twisted into a very compelling Windows 7 Tablet. Why? Because smooth touch scrolling is supported in multi-touch systems. We’ll have to wait a little while to see what the device actually supports though.

According to the blog post:

“As for more details, they’re in flux or double-top-secret at the moment, but you can expect a full disclosure during the next week, along with video of the new text input and all that other good stuff.”

Can’t wait.

Please Share This Blog Entry:
  • FriendFeed
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks

295 Other Comments

{ 294 comments }

SamualJ April 11, 2009 at 10:22 pm

Yes, if Apple can sell iPhones at $199

why not “Apple would make something for $300″

It of course can.

The only problem is that most Americans dont realize that they have to pay $2500 later in CONTRACT.

It’s Same as an American owning home for $1000 a month, instead of paying $800 in rent

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Steve M April 11, 2009 at 10:50 pm

If you build it, they will come…

…an’ if ya’ slap on a set of wheels on it and a strip o’ solar film, with the TARP $$$ you’d land (you know; like Tesla), you could blow ‘em out for $29.95 each…

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Mike Murdoch April 12, 2009 at 12:03 am

for Spanish I would try http://www.clasilistados.org
It’s only for Spanish speakers in the USA

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

bartik April 12, 2009 at 1:00 am

Any chance this will have a VNC/RDP client ?

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Brett Morgan April 12, 2009 at 3:13 am

+1 on buying one in Australia

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Aviv April 12, 2009 at 6:49 am

commenters, instead of adding all these ‘features’ that you think you need (3G, expansion slot, etc.) please understand this: an object such as this needs to be about simplicity and price-point
simple = cheap
cheap = more sales
more sales = market share

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

loof April 12, 2009 at 7:45 am

THis is pretty darn cool.

I think it’d be cool to use this as a remote control of media center PC via VNC.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

ArabCrunch April 12, 2009 at 9:17 am

CrunchPad Shipping Soon?…

Update: More pics at the end of the post.
Update 2: More bigger pics.
Update 3: From CrunchGear Look at the end of the post.
Update 4: Look at end of the post.
Update 5: From TC Look at the end of the post.
Seems like TechCrunch’s “Cr…

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

HD4Fun65 April 12, 2009 at 10:17 am

This is a fantastic product if it had one feature – which it may have and I didn’t notice – Photo Frame.

If this product was a photo frame when not in use as the tablet, that could display photos around the house and quickly be picked up and used for the web tablet, it would solve most peoples needs.

I would by a couple for my house. Price that would be acceptable would be $300 – $399 List price

Good luck and I would really like to see it in production.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

KRISH April 12, 2009 at 11:34 am

WHEN IS THIS AVAILALE ? I AM INTERESTED IN LOOKING TO DISTRIBUTING THE PRODUCT AFTER CHECKS IN THE UAE MARKET

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

albertothomas April 12, 2009 at 4:41 pm

I am sure I am selling something very similar to this in my shop?

http://teaworks.co.uk/product-view.html?p=201

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Need IT April 12, 2009 at 6:23 pm

I need this now! When can i buy one?!?!?!?!!?!

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

JohnH April 13, 2009 at 7:17 am

Sign me up for one – and if it has a USB host port and an open software development platform sign me up for 10!

1) People who see this as “not as good as a netbook” don’t “get it”. This is a single purposed device – used for reading, viewing and listening. The netbook is a multi-purposed device (i.e. general purpose computer).

2) People who said “tablet PCs tried before but failed” don’t “get it” either. (a) those tablet PCs tried to be full functioned PCs to justify their cost. This doesn’t fall into that trap (see the first comment). (b) Web 2.0 and Web Apps have come on a long way and there really is a lot of useful and usable content for a web only device.

3) With a USB host and a fully customizable linux stack sign me up for ten! Also, make a smaller version – say 4″. I can think of at least ten vertical marketplace devices I could inexpensively build by adding hardware via the USB port and creating a custom UI (heck, I’d likely do the UI using Web 2.0 technologies).

So, please build them and release them soon!

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Mochan April 13, 2009 at 7:18 am

I honestly don’t see the point of this. I already have this product you are mentioning, except mine fits in my pocket, and it goes by the name, “iPhone.”

Even the iPod Touch is what you just described, only smaller and more portable, but no less usable as a surfing device, and it’s a lot cheaper than your ballpark figure of $300 (which to be honest is not a smart selling price if it costs about $250 to make). It’s also a lot easier to enter data into, and does a lot of other stuff to boot.

No disrespect, but you’ll have to be a lot more competitive than what you just described if you really want this to take off.

The only competitive advantage it has over the iPhone is that it’s got a big screen, but the small screen of the iPhone/Touch has *never* been an issue especially with how usable the Safari browser is. Quite a lot of people would prefer the portability of the iPhone over the large screen of this item, especially since Safari mobile really makes the small screen a non-issue.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Aaron Fulkerson April 13, 2009 at 11:52 am

Arrington this is fking awesome. GJ man. I love how this evolved communally.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Morty April 13, 2009 at 2:42 pm

Great this project is moving, it’s also one of my “things I want to buy”. And it has been for many years now(Since about ‘95-96 actually). Can’t understand why nobody has made it already. I still want one.

A thing that makes buy one a no-brainer is pdf support.

And if one is to be a little more adventurous on the feature front, steal an idea from the Touch Book( http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9011409662.html), an internal USB connector. Making it easy to upgrade the memory with a USB key. It’s more convenient, and don’t spoil the slick design. Combined with pdf support, it would make a better suited tool for many peoples usage than to-days e-books. As it’s in the same price range, it would easily tap into that emerging market.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Kai April 14, 2009 at 8:09 am

where’s the official announcement??? I want to buy it now! It’s ideal for baby boomers who still wanna connect but don’t really want to go into the whole pc usage thing.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Feeding the Puppy April 16, 2009 at 12:24 am

Real world objects: going the way of the MP3…

Last summer, I posted here about the guys at Techcrunch asking their community if they could get together to create a cheap touchscreen web tablet (because there wasn’t anyone else seemingly producing one). Well, Wired’s Gadget Lab reports that there…

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Kofoed April 17, 2009 at 5:21 pm

This thing is great !

You have invented a NetSreen (register the name today!)

I always wated this, a NetScreen for coffee table browsing, with one added feature: a driver instalation for conecting any other device of my selection. If it can serve as an ordinary flat screen, mass productions and sales are possible.

Good luck

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Jay April 17, 2009 at 6:11 pm

Would be killer if I could also read PDFs
looks swwwwwwwweeeeeeeet

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Shaun April 19, 2009 at 4:26 pm

I’ll take 3! Seriously, where can I buy this? I want it I want it I want it I want it I want it!!!!!

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

scuba_steve April 21, 2009 at 8:47 pm

PDF PDF PDF PDF

No dice for me unless it handles PDF.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

data April 22, 2009 at 12:27 am

http://www.youtube.com/view_pl…..DB71010D47

\//

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

nathan April 24, 2009 at 12:17 pm

im afraid that Netflix microsucks lapdog, it only works on mac and windows, at least last time i checked.
also tech crunch junkies are not the only geeks that want to get their hands on this. I am dying to get this.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

nathan April 24, 2009 at 12:25 pm

you do not understand the significance of this product. think of this like a 12 inch itouch, with out the taint, or rotting apples, and cheeper, and custumizable, and…… The geek in me requires me to get my hands on this at any cost.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

nathan April 24, 2009 at 12:28 pm

TOUCHSCREEN.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

nathan April 24, 2009 at 12:30 pm

he said he changed it to atom

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

nathan April 24, 2009 at 7:22 pm

1200000 questions…. but ill ask only one. will it come in black?

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Justin Gerard April 26, 2009 at 3:25 pm

Gimme ultracapacitors…

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Cile April 27, 2009 at 11:58 am

Resolution is to small for web browsing and it costs too much…

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Marco April 29, 2009 at 6:25 am

In a market like the Italian one, where tech gadgets are quite loved (see the sell trend of mobile phones), this pretty thing would become as popular as the iCellphone. Just… not that closed-source!

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Brad K. April 29, 2009 at 9:03 pm

I own a chumby.

Two reasons: You can’t take a chumby with you (its tethered to power) and its nearly useless without wifi access.

This could do e-books and light processing anywhere and sync up when it gets into a wireless area.

This is what I’ve been waiting for.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

K One April 30, 2009 at 9:31 am

Now that would be some supercool hologram …

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

K One April 30, 2009 at 9:31 am

Seconded the question …
Michael, are you?

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

K One April 30, 2009 at 9:33 am

I wonder if Google had any role to play in placing those buttons on the G1 …

If touchscreen is sufficient, why did they put five buttons on the face?

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Andy May 2, 2009 at 8:18 am

I’d be VERY interested if I could get one of these to access my desktop remotely in an integrated way.

I’m thinking things like an NX client and ssh mounting.

Although I could talk myself out of that, I guess. especially with things like google docs and gnump3d.

ok, I AM very interested. It will probably come down to keyboard usability in the end for me.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Derek Schwartz May 4, 2009 at 10:27 am

Hi. I’m one of the IT guys at a construction company. We go through Lenovo Thinkpad laptops and Blackberry devices at an astonishing rate, since construction workers defy logic when it comes to taking care of things.

If you could manage to release a hardened version of this device (similar to a Panasonic Toughbook, but without the price premium), I’m sure that my company would pass them out like paper notepads.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Peter May 6, 2009 at 3:32 pm

You can get it built in china for considerably less. If you use an ARM CPU and WinCE or Linux, your bill of material when building in volume would probably end up around $100-$150. There were many similar devices on market (T-Mobile SimPad, Pepperpad, Hoeft&Wessel thingy, etc) and I’ve owned a couple of them. They were heavy, not that great in battery and kinda slow. The weight comes from a battery that actually last some while with a big backlit screen.
You should also consider the typical conversion rate from BOM (cost of components) to sales price. For consumer electronics it’s in the range of 2x to 3x, largely due to having to do it, shipping, distribution, customs, retail margin (ouch), VAT, returns, etc. So a $200 BOM would mean at least $400 retail.
Still, I love devices and it looks neat, so let’s hope it’ll make it to the market Fingers crossed…

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Kris May 12, 2009 at 5:46 pm

I can’t wait! I pretty much am waiting for a minimum of 10 between myself and a friend for use with our home automation control panels throughout the house. Perfect fit – just need a network, browser, and a touch screen. Camera is a huge bonus. We have been looking for something exactly like this to hit the market for a while. Any idea on a release?

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Tokr May 16, 2009 at 3:30 am

I would pay $500 right now for one of these.

i “need” something better then my netbook to read newspapers on whilst lying on the couch!

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

scroll wheel May 19, 2009 at 10:50 pm

hardware scroll wheel is a must, or even scroll line like laptops.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Boris Estulin May 21, 2009 at 8:36 am

My name is Boris Estulin, and I am a software developer in Princeton, NJ.
I am VERY interested in the CrunchPad device that you are developing.

How can I contribute? Is it possible to get a prototype?

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Tony May 21, 2009 at 1:33 pm

What I want most in this Apple Tablet is the ability to write with a stylus. I think more clearly when writing by hand and am just waiting to find something to replace my aging Palm!

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Bob Basques May 22, 2009 at 12:16 pm

I’m interested in a device like this for use in the field for emergency management operations and response. Are you entertaining the idea of hooking up with development partners yet? I have customers standing by (NOW!) for something like this with the price points quoted. Our expertise is on the geographic side of the equation, so GPS and a highish rez camera would be additional pluses.

This comment was originally posted on http://www.techcrunch.com/)“>Techcrunch

Comments on this entry are closed.

Additional comments powered by BackType

Previous post:

Next post: