The NewsDemon Blog

Techcrunch and a Singapore company are hoping to have Crunchpad, the world’s first true PC tablet, ready for release by November of this year.

The Singapore start-up company Fusion Garage is racing to be the first in the world to bring an almost mythical creature – the touch screen tablet computer – to the market.

According messages on USENET newsgroups, the tablet device is designed for users to consume content rather than create it, similar to a netbook. The operating system was developed in-house by Fusion Garage and the device will have no storage space and will instead run programs hosted on servers: so-called cloud computing. The OS is a customized version of Linux and it was developed specifically for this device.

The CrunchPad touch screen internet tablet will launch by November, just in time for the Christmas buying rush. The company has teamed up with Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch, to help get the product out of the door. Earlier, Arrington had promised an event to unveil the CrunchPad in late July or early August.

It would lack any form of storage as it is focused on using web based services for all the tasks.

Newsgroup discussions further reveal that it will reportedly include both Wi-Fi and 3G access, a custom OS based on Webkit and one USB port. At 13 inches by 8 inches and at 2.6 pounds, it will supposedly look and weigh less than a MacBook Air.

Main Specs:

* Connectivity: WiFi & 3G, with option for mobile broadband
* Dimensions: 12.77 x 7.83 x 0.74″
* Hardware: 1.6GHz Atom & 1GB RAM
* Peripherals: 1x USB port built-in, for keyboard or mouse
* Price: Unconfirmed, estimated US$399 (approx. S$575)
* Screen: 12″
* Software: Webkit browser/operating system, developed by the Fusion Garage team
* Weight: 1.2kg