TechCrunch Releases CrunchPad Tablet (Netbook?)

TechCrunch is in the mood for some modding. Perhaps they’re sick of waiting for new netbook announcements after the rush of CES 2009, or perhaps they’re always this impatient.

Regardless, in the spirit of innovation, the dissatisfied but capable masses over at TechCrunch have announced the CrunchPad, a netbookish tablet-style device. Here’s a pic of the concept…

…and here’s one of the first prototype from back in August:

Gotta love the Red Bull and Cheetos thrown in there. Don’t be too bummed by the turnout just yet, though. The device is far from finished, and should look a lot better in the near future.

They initially developed the idea with high things in mind – to “get a new type of device into people’s hands for as cheap as possible, for around $200.” That number was later bumped up to $299 for the sake of realism but it looks like the CrunchPad has some cool features anyway.

It’s intended to be a web tablet that boots right into a browser. It should play videos, lay in your lap comfortably, connect to the internet, and do it all swiftly and ergonomically. Sounds like… a netbook?

Since they’re designing the CrunchPad in netbook style, that means the CrunchPad won’t include the heavy duty parts of the OS it selects. Hopefully it should drive down the price by running on low-end hardware, and do so without sacrificing too much performance. They announced Prototype A back in August but now they’re out with a better, higher-functioning one: Prototype B.

Now that’s more like it. We may have a few months to go before we can get our hands on the CrunchPad ourselves, but for now, we offer the best of luck and wait with bated breath for more info.

Be sure to check out this video of the CrunchPad in action.