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Last updated: Monday, July 6, 2009

In the growing environment of netbooks, smartbooks and other small computers, a new contender will emerge this summer — the under-$300 CrunchPad tablet. The upcoming launch was reported by the San Francisco Business Times, which said Michael Arrington, who runs an influential technology blog called TechCrunch, will announce the Internet-only browsing device late this month or early next month. ‘Dead Simple Web Tablet’ Arrington began discussing the need for an inexpensive Net-browsing tablet about a year ago, at which time he asked TechCrunch readers for help in creating a “dead simple Web tablet.” When he couldn’t find a company to take on the task, he spearheaded the effort himself. “These prototypes are real,” Arrington told the Business Times, adding that he will soon be making “some really big announcements.” The same publication also reported that he has incorporated a company called Crunchpad with 14 employees in Singapore. The main idea behind the CrunchPad is that it’s designed only for Web surfing, e-mail, music and watching online videos. There will be no hard drive or keyboard, although a user could add peripherals through a USB port. The device is Linux-based and boots up directly into a WebKit-based browser. According to a report in Friday’s New York Times, the CrunchPad will be 16 millimeters thick, the screen will be a minimum of 12 inches and flat with the surface of the aluminum case, and the product will be available in various colors. The Times also said the device will run on the Intel Atom chip, which is commonly used for small computing devices, and will support Adobe Flash. Unlike super-secret projects that populate techdom, Arrington has been tracking on his TechCrunch blog the progress of the CrunchPad from its original concept design through various prototypes. ‘Solution in Search of a Problem’ Arrington, a lawyer by trade, has a…

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Under-$300 CrunchPad Tablet Expected This Summer

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