Ask yourself this: What would I use a tablet for? Regardless of the recent drama surrounding the Crunchpad’s untimely end – and the disappointing Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet taking its place – it seems that the entire tech industry is …

Ask yourself this: What would I use a tablet for? Regardless of the recent drama surrounding the Crunchpad’s untimely end – and the disappointing Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet taking its place – it seems that the entire tech industry is …

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Who needs tablet computers anyway? | Royal Pingdom

Ask yourself this: What would I use a tablet for? Regardless of the recent drama surrounding the Crunchpad’s untimely end – and the disappointing Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet taking its place – it seems that the entire tech industry is …

Ask yourself this: What would I use a tablet for? Regardless of the recent drama surrounding the Crunchpad’s untimely end – and the disappointing Fusion Garage Joojoo tablet taking its place – it seems that the entire tech industry is …

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Who needs tablet computers anyway? | Royal Pingdom

Okay, well here we go. Michael Arrington says he filed a lawsuit yesterday against Fusion Garage over the CrunchPad / Joojoo situation, and he’s helpfully provided a copy of the complaint, which alleges false advertising, breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of business ideas, fraud, and unlawful business practices. You’ll notice that list doesn’t include any breach of contract or intellectual property claims — a fair departure from what Michael said he’d be suing over, but not entirely surprising since it doesn’t seem like there was any contract here at all. Let’s take a quick skim through the rest of the complaint, shall we?

Continue reading TechCrunch sues Fusion Garage over the Joojoo — we break it down

TechCrunch sues Fusion Garage over the Joojoo — we break it down originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TechCrunch sues Fusion Garage over the Joojoo — we break it down

News and opinion about US politics from a liberal perspective.

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AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Robert Reich …

Fusion Garage is launching what would have been the CrunchPad as the JooJoo, but TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington has already filed a lawsuit. Fusion Garage is launching the JooJoo web tablet today, but the device — formerly known as …

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JooJoo aka CrunchPad launched today, and Arrington sues …

The CrunchPad is dead, long live the CrunchPad. Looks like the CrunchPad isn’t quite dead and buried after all as Fusion Garage responded to its legal battle with TechCrunch by announcing the Joojoo – which is basically the CrunchPad …

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T Jantunen.com » CrunchPad now known as Joojoo

Call it the CrunchPad . Call it the JooJoo tablet. I suspect Michael Arrington could have another word for it. Whatever the name, Fusion Garage.

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CrunchPad Renamed JooJoo, Priced at $499 – Tech Support Forums …

We spoke too soon; the CrunchPad is not dead. While the device’s ultimate fate is still to be decided in courtrooms by lawyers, Fusion Garage has decided to go ahead and roll the product out. They’ve changed the name from CrunchPad to JooJoo, but otherwise…

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Fusion Garage Selling JooJoo (CrunchPad): $499, This Friday

The strange saga of the CrunchPad is getting even stranger: although Fusion Garage has a press conference scheduled for Monday, the company’s apparently been hinting to some members of the press that the split with Michael Arrington was no surprise, and that TechCrunch didn’t actually contribute anything of value to the CrunchPad. As you’d expect, that’s got Arrington on the warpath. In a post titled “CrunchPad Litigation Imminent,” he offers up an email from Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan and two letters dispatched from his lawyers to both Fusion Garage and would-be CrunchPad ODM Pegatron that paint a much different picture: Chandra calls the split “out of the blue,” Pegatron won’t produce anything without TechCrunch’s “explicit approval,” and there was apparently even talk of merger between Fusion Garage and Arrington’s CrunchPad, Inc. That certainly puts the timeline into dispute, but Mike’s various CrunchPad intellectual property claims are far less solid, and unexpectedly weak — even if you completely accept Arrington’s side of the story, his CrunchPad dealings don’t reflect his reputation as a bulldog Silicon Valley attorney. Let’s break ‘em down:

• Arrington claims he’s the “outright owner of the CrunchPad trademark,” but that’s simply not true: the CrunchPad trademark was only applied for on November 17, the same day Arrington says Fusion Garage notified him of the split. Oops — and even stranger because Arrington’s said the CrunchPad was due to be launched on November 20. Why wasn’t this sewn up months ago?
• Assuming there isn’t some secret CrunchPad patent application we don’t know about, the only major IP rights we can see TechCrunch asserting to the CrunchPad device have to do with the copyright to the code , and that’s a total mess. Since Arrington apparently didn’t draw up a contract giving him sole copyright to the CrunchPad’s code, he and his lawyers are arguing that TechCrunch and Fusion Garage are “joint owners” to any rights, and that’s just about the weakest position Arrington can be in. Joint copyright owners are legally considered to have equal rights to the entire product, and unless there’s a written agreement (see how that keeps coming up?) saying they both have to sign off, each joint owner is allowed to non-exclusively sell the entire thing without the other’s approval. In our experience it’s pretty rare for joint copyright ownership to be an ideal business arrangement, and we can’t imagine how Arrington got to within three days of launching the CrunchPad without hammering out the details of who owned what.
• In fact, the most notable thing about the letter from Arrington’s lawyers to Fusion Garage is that it doesn’t contain any contractual language whatsoever — it only references emails and conversations between the two companies. That’s particularly odd because the letter to Pegatron says TechCrunch will be suing for breach of contract, so you’d think Arrington’s attorneys would be laser-focused on his contractual rights if he could assert them. Then again, you’d think Arrington would have known better than to start this project without doing the appropriate paperwork first, so really anything’s possible.

Now, we could be totally wrong about all of this: we haven’t heard anything directly from Fusion Garage, and there very well could be contracts we haven’t seen. But for right now, we’re absolutely mystified as to how Michael Arrington — who, again, is an attorney — found himself in this position, and we’re still mildly convinced this is all some kind of stunt. We’re sure there’s more drama to come, stay tuned.

Michael Arrington says CrunchPad litigation is “imminent,” provides more details — but where’s the contract? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michael Arrington says CrunchPad litigation is "imminent," provides more details — but where’s the contract?

Previous reviews haven’t been all smiles, but we’re finally able to pick up Nikon’s Coolpix S70 and see for ourselves. On form factor alone, it’s a pretty alluring build — even the faux leather front is tastefully done. While the tap-to-focus feature is a nice addition, we’re less enthused about the OLED screen’s viewing angles when outside — and seeing as we’ve go no other way to see the memories we’re framing, that’s pretty disappointing. We’re still putting it through its paces before we dole out full impressions, but in the meantime, enjoy our unboxing and hands-on photos.

Nikon Coolpix S70 unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nikon Coolpix S70 unboxing and hands-on

We’ve got a couple special guests joining us live on the Engadget Podcast today: Michael Gartenberg and Chris Ziegler will be on hand to talk about Nokia’s present and future products and strategy. On top of that, we’ve got a ton of tablet talk coming at you — everything from the CrunchPad to the next-generation of magazines. It’s going to be a wild one — we’ll be live around 2:45PM EST, but the chat below is open now, so settle on in!

Continue reading The Engadget Podcast, live at 2:45PM EST!

The Engadget Podcast, live at 2:45PM EST! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Podcast, live at 2:45PM EST!

Michael Arrington may have declared the CrunchPad dead, but that’s not stopping his former partners at FusionGarage, who’ve scheduled a video conference with CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan so he can “share his side of the story.” Chandra will also be demonstrating the 12-inch capacitive web tablet — which, somewhat amazingly, will be the first time we’ve ever seen proof that the elusive device actually even exists and functions. We’re definitely curious to hear what Chandra has to say and how he rebuts Arrington’s grandiose and melodramatic tale of woe, but let’s be honest — we’re also at least mildly suspicious that this whole mess is just a calculated PR stunt. Stay tuned.

FusionGarage plans media event to tell its side of the CrunchPad story originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FusionGarage plans media event to tell its side of the CrunchPad story

Michael Arrington may have declared the CrunchPad dead, but that’s not stopping his former partners at FusionGarage, who’ve scheduled a video conference with CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan so he can “share his side of the story.” Chandra will also be demonstrating the 12-inch capacitive web tablet — which, somewhat amazingly, will be the first time we’ve ever seen proof that the elusive device actually even exists and functions. We’re definitely curious to hear what Chandra has to say and how he rebuts Arrington’s grandiose and melodramatic tale of woe, but let’s be honest — we’re also at least mildly suspicious that this whole mess is just a calculated PR stunt. Stay tuned.

FusionGarage plans media event to tell its side of the CrunchPad story originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FusionGarage plans media event to tell its side of the CrunchPad story

Michael Arrington may have declared the CrunchPad dead, but that’s not stopping his former partners at FusionGarage, who’ve scheduled a video conference with CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan so he can “share his side of the story.” Chandra will also be demonstrating the 12-inch capacitive web tablet — which, somewhat amazingly, will be the first time we’ve ever seen proof that the elusive device actually even exists and functions. We’re definitely curious to hear what Chandra has to say and how he rebuts Arrington’s grandiose and melodramatic tale of woe, but let’s be honest — we’re also at least mildly suspicious that this whole mess is just a calculated PR stunt. Stay tuned.

FusionGarage plans media event to tell its side of the CrunchPad story originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FusionGarage plans media event to tell its side of the CrunchPad story

Continue reading SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them

SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them