Announced today was the JooJoo the latest in the internet/tablet device arms race. It’s a tablet with the world’s largest touchdscreen for a tablet at 12.1 inches. It has built in Wifi and is built for one thing…surfing the web. The specs for a device like this are very nice. It contains an Intel Atom processor running at 1.6ghz, 4gb of flash memory and should surf the web plenty fast, but as you’ll see in the video below I think there are a couple of problems with this device.
1. It does not have 3G built in
If you want to take this device online you have to hook it up to a WiFi hot spot. I realize 3G is a tremendous power draw on a device (if you surf the web on an iPhone via 802.11 over 3g you should see 50% longer battery life), but when you are talking about an internet device it should be able to get on the internet anywhere.
2. It’s only running on an Atom 1.6ghz processor
Atom processors are great for battery life, but for a device like this with Multi-Touch and a screen as large as a 12.1 inches you need a really solid machine to push around Flash, HD Video, amongst other things. I realize the GPU handles a great majority of Flash content, but you’ll notice in the video when he starts to scroll top to bottom or left to right it gets a bit choppy.
3. The “operating system” is proprietary
I realize this is an internet computer, but it is running a webkit based “operating system” and will not be compatible with FireFox plugins, Google Extentions, etc. Essentially all of the functionality of this device is going to have to be built my JooJoo which doesn’t sound too fun.
4. It’s $499
You read that right. A device with no operating system, no 3g and running on an atom processor for $499.
Hardware is a tough market to compete in. Palm tried it earlier this year and is seeing their device for under 50% of their original subsidized price. You usually take a loss on the hardware in hopes of selling software for it (see the Amazon Kindle, Sony PlayStation 3, etc). With the JooJoo it is entering a crowded space with the likes of Dell, IBM and as of tomorrow the entire Media industry including Time Inc.
