[Engadget (post is pulled) via photorumors]

POWERFULLY SIMPLE: INTRODUCING THE INCREDIBLE OLYMPUS PEN E-PL1 CAMERA

Simple Operation + High-Quality 12 Megapixel Images + HD Video + In-Camera Creativity + Interchangeable Lenses = Total Compact Multimedia Package

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., February 3, 2010 – The new Olympus PEN® E-PL1 is truly greater than the sum of its parts, with a surprisingly small camera body packed with technology normally found in bigger, bulkier and heavier professional Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) cameras and High-Definition (HD) camcorders. This third-generation PEN is built for shutterbugs who always wanted better pictures and considered a DSLR, but were intimidated by the bulky size and complex interface. The new camera’s simple design and easy interface enable consumers to easily create amazing images never dreamt possible. It will make you wonder how Olympus managed to put all of these powerful features inside such a compact camera for only $599.99.

The E-PL1 equals an affordable and powerfully simple all-in-one package that travels with you to capture life in the high quality that your memories deserve.

“Many of today’s consumers want a camera with the professional still image quality of a DSLR and HD video in a compact body that’s as easy to use as a point-and-shoot,” said John Knaur, senior marketing manager, Digital SLR, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “Thanks in part to an image sensor that’s approximately eight times larger in size than what’s inside the average point-and-shoot camera, the E-PL1 delivers outstanding high-quality images. Add the flexibility of high-quality interchangeable lenses, the convenience of a built-in pop-up flash, in-camera creative features and technology designed to produce images effortlessly, and the E-PL1 is the total consumer-friendly, multimedia package.”

EASILY PEN YOUR STORY WITH A BRAND NEW PEN

This third generation of the Olympus PEN series combines powerful features in an easy-to-use package that will make capturing your life more fun. The new direct record button makes taking videos easier than ever and the new Live Guide functionality makes it simple to learn photography techniques without requiring the skills of a pro shooter.

New Direct Button for HD Movies
Recording HD movies with the E-PL1 is simple, thanks to an easy-to-reach red “direct button” (red record button) on the back of the camera body. If you’re about to snap a photo and you realize a video would capture the spirit of the scene even better, simply press the record button and instantly you’re capturing videos! Easily toggle back and forth between capturing stills and videos by using your index finger to press the shutter button or your thumb to press the red record button. Having the ability to shoot still images and videos opens up a world of imaging possibilities.

New Live Guide Sets the Scene Before You Shoot
The E-PL1’s new Live Guide interface simplifies great photography and gets the results you desire at the touch of a button. Want more vivid or muted color in your shot? Want warmer or cooler color? Want a brighter or darker subject, or a sharper or softer background? Or maybe you want to capture the fast-moving action of your subject with a little artistic blur, or perhaps freeze the action? Simply select Live Guide and press the up and down arrows on the back of the camera to slide through numerous photographic effects. Make adjustments and watch the LCD as the effects are made live – before the image is captured! Don’t worry about learning technical things like f-stops, shutter speed and white balance; jump right in by composing, adjusting exposure and more before the shot is taken.

Seeing the results before snapping the image ensures you are getting the shots you want, and it will change the way you photograph. Shooting Tips are also included with Live Guide, so you can leave the manual at home.

Automate Everything
Live Guide is just the start of automated technologies on the E-PL1 designed to free you up to focus on your subjects instead of focusing on your camera’s settings.

➢ 19 Scene-Select Modes: From portraits to sunset shots, the E-PL1 is equipped with 19 Scene-Select modes for effortless picture taking, including Fireworks, Sunset, Children, Macro and Panorama, to name a few. Capturing beautiful portraits is easy with the ePortrait Mode that enables you to smooth your subject’s complexion.

➢ Intelligent Auto (iAuto) Mode: When you don’t want to use the scene-select modes, the iAuto mode automatically identifies what you’re shooting and adjusts settings for you to capture the best result depending on the situation.

➢ Face Detection: Reduce the chance of blurred subjects in images by recognizing up to eight faces, tracking them within the image area, and automatically focusing and optimizing exposure for sharp portraits.

➢ In-Camera Panorama: Capture three images and stitch them together to create one amazing, seamless panoramic picture. Or use the included OLYMPUS [ib] software to stitch up to 10 images together for the ultimate panorama.

➢ iEnhance: With this mode the warm yellow and orange colors of a sunset are heightened to a dramatically lifelike color that’s truer to what you see with the naked eye. iEnhance can be used in any mode, and automatically engages when using iAuto to enrich color in any subject.

➢ Share: Just connect the camera to an HDTV with an optional HDMI cable and use your TV remote to control playback functions and navigate the camera’s menus from the comfort of your personal front-row seat. The E-PL1 records to SDHC (Class 6 recommended) media cards that can be plugged directly into many devices and accommodate large files, including videos.

New Powerfully Simple Pop-Up Flash
The E-PL1 is the first camera in the Olympus PEN series with a built-in pop-up flash that makes it easy to illuminate low-light subjects, reduce red-eye and fill in dark areas. The camera is also compatible with a range of optional external flashes, including the Olympus FL-36R and FL-50R, which can be controlled wirelessly by the E-PL1 so you can dynamically control lighting as your photography skills grow.

PRO-QUALITY IMAGES

How do professional photographers capture the stunning images you see in the pages of glossy magazines and coffee-table books? Talent matters, of course, but you also need the right equipment. Rest assured that the E-PL1 has everything you need to produce vibrant, professional-quality images: a large image sensor, in-body Image Stabilization, Imager Autofocus, the proven Olympus Dust Reduction System and the TruePic™ V Image Processor.

Big Sensor, Not a Big Body
At the heart of the E-PL1 is a large-size image sensor that’s the same sensor as the one inside the Olympus E-30 and E-620 DSLR models. The only difference between this sensor and what the pros use is that this big sensor is inside the much smaller body of the E-PL1. This high-performance 12.3-megapixel Live MOS image sensor (eight times larger than the average point-and-shoot camera sensor) delivers excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity, and a state-of-the-art amplifier circuit to reduce noise and capture fine image details in both highlight and shadow areas.

Stabilize All of Your Lenses
Instead of selling more expensive lenses that have image stabilization inside them, Olympus takes a different approach by having image stabilization built right into the body of the E-PL1. This means that any lens (Micro Four Thirds™, Four Thirds and any third-party lens) attached to the E-PL1 will deliver blur-free images thanks to three modes of In-body Image Stabilization that automatically compensate for camera shake, including in low-light situations or when shooting without a tripod. Since the PEN cameras are the world’s smallest interchangeable-lens cameras with image stabilization built inside the body, you can take the E-PL1 with you and capture great images, and it won’t weigh you down.

Track Your Subjects Wherever They Roam
The E-PL1’s Continuous Autofocus (C-AF) Tracking and Autofocus (AF) Target Registration locks your subject into focus and constantly adjusts focus and brightness whether you or your subject is moving. With this mode, a simple push of the shutter release enables you to keep moving subjects in focus – tracking them from left to right and from front to back – within the frame, automatically ensuring that even active subjects, like kids playing sports, are captured clearly.

The E-PL1’s Imager Autofocus in Live View enables you to compose, focus and capture the shot quickly and easily without ever taking your eyes off the camera’s large, 2.7-inch full-color, high-contrast HyperCrystal LCD for an easy, seamless viewing experience when shooting still images or videos. The LCD also provides a wide viewing angle of 176 degrees, which ensures that images can be composed from even the most obscure angles.

This Camera Leaves Others in the Dust
If you’re just starting out with a camera that has interchangeable lenses, you don’t have to worry about dust spots on your sensor ruining the perfect image every time you change lenses. Spend more time shooting with the E-PL1 and less time worrying about dust with the proven Olympus Dust Reduction System that produces spot-free photos with the exclusive Supersonic Wave Filter™, a patented ultrasonic technology that vibrates to remove dust and other particles from the front of the image sensor, capturing them on a special adhesive membrane every time the camera is turned on.

True-to-Life Color
The E-PL1’s Live MOS image sensor is complemented by Olympus’ TruePic™ V Image Processor, which produces clear and colorful photos using all the pixel information for each image to provide the best digital images possible. The image processor is noted for accurate natural color, true-to-life flesh tones, brilliant blue skies and precise tonal expression; it also lowers image noise in photos shot at higher ISO settings (ISO 100 to ISO 3200), enabling great results in low-light situations.

EASILY EXPAND YOUR CREATIVE HORIZONS WITH BUILT-IN EFFECTS

Express yourself with in-camera creative features. Professional images are rarely unedited images. Video and still image pros use computer-editing software to render their images with effects that set their shots apart from the pack. Olympus appreciates that you may not have hours to spend retouching your images at the computer, so the E-PL1 incorporates editing effects inside the camera to save you time. Whether you apply in-camera creative effects while shooting an image, or apply them later to images captured without the effects, all are inside the E-PL1, so you can achieve dramatic results on the go without a computer or editing software.

The E-PL1 has six in-camera Art Filters, including a new filter called Gentle Sepia. This filter gives your images and videos a soft, warm sepia cast similar to historical images from the early days of photography. The sepia tones are softer and the blacks are a true black, unlike traditional sepia images. The new filter joins Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pin Hole, Grainy Film and Diorama (the filter that makes everything look as small as the E-PL1).

With the E-PL1’s Multiple Exposure function available for still image capture, you are free to tell a visual story your way. The image capture options enable you to shoot one shot, then another and combine them in real time, or capture both shots separately and combine them within the camera later. Take a shot of your significant other, and overlay your self-portrait on top to figure out what your kids will look like. If you have kids already, overlay your kid’s face on top of a shot of his or her favorite cartoon character for laughs. Your ability to manipulate space and time makes this new creative multimedia device a veritable time machine.

You often can achieve greater photographic expression by framing a scene in a unique way. The E-PL1 provides four aspect ratios that serve as masks to frame your image to the desired proportions, including the standard 4:3 aspect ratio that is suited to an 8 x 10-inch enlargement; the 16:9 aspect ratio that will display beautifully on a widescreen television; and other popular aspect ratios, such as 3:2 and 6:6. The Multi-Aspect Shooting further expresses your creative vision when combined with in-camera Art Filters and Multiple Exposures.

With the E-PL1, you have your own living library of still images, HD video and audio to remix at your command. In playback mode, you can seamlessly mix stills and movies inside the camera to create a multimedia slideshow, and dub in one of three built-in dramatic background music options to provide a soundtrack for your cinematic creation. With so many creative options, there’s no limit to what you can create. Choose whether or not you want to play back just pictures, just movies or a combination; also control playing back the whole movie or just a clip.

OPEN SYSTEM EASILY GROWS WITH YOUR ABILITY

With a basic point-and-shoot camera, you get one lens built into the camera. One lens, that’s it. And it’s likely a small lens, which doesn’t allow a lot of light through to hit the image sensor. So, you may have a difficult time in low-light conditions. And without the option of adding more lenses, you’re limited to what that one point-and-shoot lens can do. The E-PL1 solves these issues by accepting a variety of lenses to maximize its functionality. Whether shooting still images or HD video, you can add everything from an extreme wide-angle fisheye lens to a super-telephoto lens for a wide range of expressive options.

The M. ZUIKO DIGITAL Micro Four Thirds lenses are designed to be more compact and portable like the E-PL1. Choose from the ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens (28-84mm equivalent in 35mm cameras) sold with the E-PL1, the ED 17mm f2.8 lens (34mm equivalent), the new super wide-angle zoom ED 9-18mm f4.0-5.6 lens (18-36mm equivalent) or the high-power wide to telephoto zoom ED 14-150mm f4.0-5.6 lens (28-300mm equivalent).

If you want to have even more options, the MMF-2 Four Thirds System Lens Adapter makes the E-PL1 compatible with all Olympus ZUIKO Digital Specific™ lenses and other Four Thirds System lenses from Sigma, Panasonic and Leica. Olympus OM film-based lenses can be attached to the E-PL1 with the MF-2 OM Lens Adapter, and there are third-party adapters developed for lenses from most other manufacturers.

SOFTWARE AND ACCESSORY OPTIONS WHEN YOU’RE READY

The E-PL1 incorporates an accessory port for connecting the optional VF-2 live-finder, a detachable electronic viewfinder, or the new optional SEMA-1 external microphone adapter set (which includes the EMA-1 adapter, the ME-51S stereo microphone and a cord) for those who want to capture enhanced audio with any microphone that has a 3.5mm plug. These optional accessories easily slide into the camera’s accessory port and hot shoe.

Consumers who wish to hold the E-PL1 up to their eye rather than use the LCD will appreciate that the optional VF-2, which provides 1.15x magnification and a 100 percent field of view with sharp resolution, brightness and contrast. The viewfinder refreshes quickly to minimize image ghosting on fast-moving subjects. It also rotates up to 90 degrees to enable photographers to look down into it, which is useful when shooting subjects from challenging angles. The built-in diopter adjustment and high magnification offer easy viewing with and without glasses.

The E-PL1 offers OLYMPUS [ib] software that includes photography workflow, browsing, editing and unique photo-organizing functions. You can organize your photos by person with automatic face-recognition technology, by location with a Geotagging function or by event. You can easily view photos on an HDTV or on the camera’s LCD with the Photo Surfing or Slideshow functions. The name [ib] stands for image bridging, image browsing and image brightening. The software will be available for Windows operating systems only.

Underwater Housing for Aquatic Adventures
The new camera’s compact design makes it the perfect companion for all of your dive trips. The PT-EP01underwater case has been specially customized for the Olympus E-PL1 and is waterproof to a depth of 40 meters (approximately 130 feet). With its durable, high-quality polycarbonate construction, this Olympus housing protects the camera from water while also cushioning it from knocks and bumps on land. The housing enables viewing from either the camera’s LCD screen or an optional electronic viewfinder. The flash connectors allow optional use of up to two UFL-2 underwater flash units via fiber optic cable. A nonremovable front lens port accommodates multiple Micro Four Thirds lenses.

New Exterior Design, Same PEN DNA
The E-PL1 streamlines the Olympus Micro Four Thirds PEN series form and is available in three new body colors, including Black, Champagne Gold and Slate Blue. Thanks to its compact size (4.51″ W x 2.84″ H x 1.63″ D excluding protrusions) and light 10.4-ounce body, the E-PL1 won’t weigh you down when you’re on the go.

AVAILABILITY

The Olympus E-PL1 will be available in March 2010. It includes the E-PL1 Body, M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zoom, USB Cable, Video Cable, Li-Ion Battery Pack (BLS-1), Li-Ion Battery Charger (BCS-1), Shoulder Strap, OLYMPUS [ib] software CD-ROM, Manuals and Registration card.

U.S. Pricing / Product Configurations
E-PL1 Body with M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zoom Lens
Estimated Street Price: $599.99

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Specs

Here are some new facts I gathered from the meeting. First, the device runs a 1.6GHz Atom processor with 1GB RAM. The guys at JooJoo said they weren't ready to reveal specs yet, but I saw the bootup sequence—a standard BIOS setup that displayed what it was booting to—and saw the specs. Chandra, CEO of Fusion Garage, says that the demo hardware was basically the final hardware, so it's easy to put two and two together.

As for the graphics card + CPU combination, it's probably an Nvidia Ion chipset. They claim that it handles 1080p YouTube video fine—we only got to see a few seconds of 720p and 1080p HD YouTube video because the internet connection was acting up—so it's probably an Ion. But the HD video we tested looked just fine on its 12-inch, 1366x768 resolution screen. Again, the Ion chipset is just an educated guess, but there are few other hardware options that can handle 1080p video smoothly, and an Atom CPU by itself (which we did see) can't do it on its own.

There is a headphone jack, a microphone jack, a built-in webcam at 1.3 megapixels, a charging port and a USB slot. The external card slot present in the prototype isn't going to make it to the final version, but they are thinking of making it available to put a 3G card in there in the future. No TV out/HDMI out yet, but they are thinking about that. There are built-in speakers for playing back audio without headphones, and they're decent enough that you can actually listen to them, but you'll want to plug them in to speakers for any kind of extended video consumption.

Performance

The tablet actually handled pretty well, with browsing web pages, transitioning between tabs (windows) and opening up new web pages working fine. There's an accelerometer in there to detect between vertical and horizontal orientations.

The body is solid, sturdy and graced with a bright 12-inch screen. The back is curved and made of a plastic that feels nice in your hand, and the whole thing doesn't seem too heavy to prop up on a bed or a toilet.

In short, it's an actual web browsing tablet that you'd be perfectly fine using.

The software

The entire system is basically a gateway to your browser, which is based off WebKit, the same code that powers Safari and Google's Chrome. It's fast, and handles gestures (pinching to go back a level, swiping to move up and down) just fine. There are other gestures that will be included in the final build, like two finger swiping for going back and forth in history and a bookmark swipe, but we didn't get to see that. But, you can't zoom into text. That's partially because the pinching is already used for going in and out of your windows into the home screen, but also partially because the screen is 12 inches. You don't need to really zoom into text on a laptop-sized screen of 12 inches. And they also said they may make LARGER sized tablets as well, with 12 being their smallest size.

JooJoo's keyboard looks like this, and takes up only a portion of the screen. It's usable, but you don't want to use it to bang out a blog post; this is mainly for consuming media.

Fusion Garage's concept for the product is that the "internet is the application", which means you can't save photos or files locally and you can't access any of the 4GB of storage to do any user level stuff. The most you can dictate is how much each internet application (e.g. Gmail or Google Wave) can have for a local cache.

It does support Flash as usual, except when you play HD Flash it'll force you into fullscreen mode to render better/faster. And if you want to read PDFs, it'll force you into Google's web-based PDF doc reader. So it handles PDFs, but not "natively".

Your home screen is composed almost entirely of icons—shortcuts—to web applications. The screen is customizable with your own applications, eventually, and has a weird feature where it displays a different color background whenever you go back to it. Fusion Garage is thinking of taking this out, or swapping it with some other feature.

As for multitasking, Fusion Garage says that they will have specific APIs available to webapps to incorporate in order to pass notifications up to the user. For example, if Twitter refreshes in another window and you're watching a YouTube video, a popup will show and tell you you have something else going on. The APIs will be available at launch, but it's up to websites to support them.

How good is it?

Despite its weird birth issues this past week with all the Arrington trouble, the JooJoo is surprisingly solid. You can tell Fusion Garage spent a good deal of time polishing the hardware, by the fact that they managed to include a 12-inch screen that's decent enough to not have lousy viewing angles, plus support 1080p HD video playback.

The only trouble right now is software, which is only about 75% done. Fusion Garage plans to ship devices about 8-10 weeks after preorders, which start this friday. If FG can manage to finish the software and get it to a point where it's transparent to the user who just wants to get online, $500 isn't too outrageous a price to pay. Decent netbooks are around that price, and it's about the price you'd expect Apple to charge for their tablet, if not even more. We'd of course be very happy if it were down at $300 or $400, but it's basically a new device in a new market, and you'll have to hand over a little extra for being an early adopter.

So right now we're at a wait and see status. The JooJoo seems good, from our time with it, but it really needs to be taken home and thoroughly tested with different webapps, watching a lot of HD video and streaming music. At the very least, we'll see how much of that 5-hour battery life stands up to constant use. You can pre-order it yourself this Friday, but, since there's some legal troubles on the horizon, you probably want to wait until the whole thing clears up first before putting any money down. [JooJoo]

1. It's called the JooJoo. Chandra, the CEO of Fusion Garage, says it's an "African term that stands for a magical device."

2. The JooJoo will be a web-only tablet. Basically, it's like Chrome OS in that everything is done with online webapps, but you use a touchscreen instead of a keyboard. You'll have a 4GB local cache for storage, but don't think of it as real storage.

3. There's a lot of controversy involved. Arrington of TechCrunch asserts one thing, while Chandra of Fusion Garage asserts another. The short of it is, Fusion Garage booted Arrington out of the process recently because they claim that Arrington failed to deliver any of the promises he was supposed to, like hooking them up with VC funding and helping to market the device.

Fusion Garage claims that there was no contract between the two parties, and Arrington says that it's basically "in the lawyers hands now".

4. Here are the specs: A screen-only tablet that measures 12-inches, has a capacitive touchscreen, runs its own operating system (that's basically just a browser) and boots in 9 seconds. It will also have a 5 hour battery life, run Wi-Fi only (no 3G) and come in only one color, with 4GB internal storage.

5. It will cost $500. Chandra said Arrington's claim of a $200 or $300 tablet was unfeasible and unrealistic, and compared it to smaller devices like the iPhone and netbooks.

6. It's going to be available for pre-order this Friday on their website.

7. Nobody in the tech community has seen it yet. We're going to get hands-on time with it soon, and will let you know how it feels firsthand.

8. The green screen shown in the webcast might be a trick of the camera. Chandra said, in the webcast, that there was nothing wrong with the screen, and that the colors look fine. But for a screen to look entirely green in a shot, it means that there might be seriously limited in its viewing angles.

9. We don't know when it will ship. Or even if it will ship, seeing as there's litigation between Fusion Garage and TechCrunch over it. So you might want to hold on to that $500 until they figure out when the device will launch.

10. No matter what, there's some bad feelings involved with the device. If Arrington is in the right—even if it is just ethically or spiritually and not legally—you may have a hard time justifying to yourself that you're giving money to a company that did something underhanded. But if Arrington is in the wrong, you still have the tinge of weirdness hanging in the air when you're using it.

And isn't Apple about to dump one of these on the market next year?

9:22: The stream was active for a second—I got a screencap of it above—but it looks like they shut off the video.

9:23: In case you're not familiar with the story, hit up this link while the webcast is still preparing, and check it out. Basically, Fusion Garage, on behalf of their shareholders, decided that they wanted to cut TechCrunch out of any involvement (besides a crappy advisor role) after the two parties had developed the thing together. Think of it as if your wife one day told you that she'd be raising your kid by herself, and your involvement was no longer needed.

9:28: It's sad, really, since the CrunchPad was supposed to be one of the first (if not the first) cheap tablets that was designed just for web browsing and "consuming" content. The perfect bed/toilet computer, essentially.

9:29: I mean, even if it does end up being released under a different name by Fusion Garage without TechCrunch's involvement, would you buy it? Or would you be loyal, in principle, to TechCrunch, since they're the ones who actually came up with the idea?

9:30: It's a tough decision. Would most people care about petty stuff like this if the final product was good? Would most people even KNOW about it? Probably not.

9:31: Though, we'll get to hear FG's side of the story today. Who knows if TechCrunch's side was the entire truth. It'll probably end up being somewhere inbetween.

9:34: It's starting. Chandra is saying this webcast is a good way to address misconceptions introduced by Arrington's TC post.

9:36: "I'm a dreamer of big dreams." And he's a engineer.

9:36: Chandra is going over his past as an engineer. He's saying he's upset by all the posts on him from the last week.

9:37: "Fusion Garage is the only actual do-er in this story."

9:37: Since 2008, they tried to make a browser-based operating system that supported a "thin, tablet-like touchscreen device."

9:38: In his first meeting with Arrington, he explained what FG was developing, and how his OS would be the key to making the "vision a reality". Mike Arrington would introduce them to investors, secure funding and introduce them to hardware vendors. He would want to make a deal so TechCrunch could acquire the company so that Mike would have controlling interest. They had many talks about the acquisition, but nothing solid ever came out of it.

9:40: Mike was "unable to deliver", in February 2009. Without further development, including a finished prototype, nobody would provide funding to bring a product to market. He then takes a shot at the birthday cake photo.

9:40: "If the project was going to go forward, it would be up to Fusion Garage. It was clear that Michael was not able to deliver."

9:40: They finished their hardware prototype, and did all the engineering challenges by themselves—as you'd expect.

9:41: Chandra said that he secured funding through "his" network, instead of through Michael Arrington. It seems like this might be the thing that triggered the booting of Mike—the fact that TC couldn't deliver funding or connections.

9:42: Chandra is saying that there was no agreement for an acquisition by TC. There were talks, but no agreement. He's saying Fusion Garage owns all IP and proprietary rights for the production. The OS developed entirely by them. "TechCrunch didn't contribute a single line of code."

9:43: FG provided Arrington terms for being an advisor role, but was turned down.

9:44: The product will be introduced this week. And they call it Joojoo.

9:45: The reason why they call it Joojoo was because it's an "African term that stands for magical"

9:45: The device boots in 9 seconds.

9:46: All icons on the site are "web services", and the screen is really really green.

9:46: You can get online, to the internet, in 9 seconds.

9:46: It has a 12.1-inch capacitive touchscreen. "The largest screen of any device in its class on the market."

9:47: No physical buttons other than the on-off buttons.

9:47: Joojoo has no preloaded applications, Windows or menus. It will accept sliding and scrolling gestures with your fingers. And it can be used as a digital book. "The internet is the application", similar to Google's Chrome OS.

9:48: "Unfortunately Arrington's dream of $200 or $300 price for something like this was unrealistic. Nothing worthwhile can be delivered to market at that price." How are they pricing it?

9:48: The Joojoo is more than 3x the iPhone 3GS's screen. How about netbooks? Those have "noncapacitive touch and a poor web experience".

9:49: Joojoo "provides the best in class internet experience for everything we do." And it can "watch full HD videos," as well as read magazines and books. It weighs 1.1 kg.

9:50: It's going to be $499.

9:50: Preorders are available this friday on the Joojoo website. It'll be sold online only, without retail until the near future.

9:50: Q&A Section:

9:50: Q: "Please respond to Arrington's post."

9:51: A: "There is no legal case filed today. We are very confident in our position, and we believe we own all the IPs."

9:51: A: There are no contracts of any kind between us and TechCrunch.

9:51: Q: "What do you say to Michael saying you ambushing him out of the blue."

9:51: A: Chandra says, basically, Arrington failed on everything he promised he would do (funding, getting connections), so FG had to "move on on their own."

9:52: Q: "Other companies have tried to introduce tablets to the market and failed. Why is your device different?"

9:52: A: Tablets today run the full Windows operating system. They're expensive, and heavy, and it wasn't a form factor that could deliver the way you would like to use. "We believe we can make a big difference." Then he goes over the features like a 12.1-inch screen and the fact that they "don't boot to an operating system."

9:53: There have been verbal discussions about a possible acquisition, but "nothing was delivered on Michael's part." There weren't any verbal assurances, except for Michael saying that he wants to acquire the company.

9:54: Q: "What exactly was the offer you made to Michael that he refused?"

9:54: A: "Michael promised a lot of things, but he did not deliver. We offered the possibility to work with us, and be part of this. Despite us doing everything, software, hardware, funding. But Michael turned down the offer."

9:55: Q: "Can you comment on Google Chrome OS."

9:55: A: "They see things in relation to Netbooks, but we believe that Netbooks' use cases aren't what they should be for what you want to do."

9:56: Q: "What kind of offline capabilities does the machine have?"

9:56: A: You can use your Gmail, for example, using a local cache. You'll synchronize when connectivity is available.

9:56: Q: "Does this product have any real chance to succeed without TechCrunch's marketing?"

9:57: A: If you define marketing as doing a blog post, then no. Michael has been "talking about this for the longest while." He really wants to hammer home that Arrington didn't deliver on any kind of promises.

9:57: Q: "What are the specs?"

9:57: A: "It has a 12.1-inch screen, 4GB SSD, but most of the storage is stored in the cloud."

9:58: Q: "The screen was extremely green. Is that normal?"

9:58: A: "It's a trick of the camera. I'll show this in 1 to 1 demos, and the screen is fine, and the colors are fine."

9:58: Q: What is the battery life?

9:59: A: 5 hours. Wi-Fi only.

9:59: Q: Do you have any relationships with content providers?

9:59: A: No. We're in discussions with companies.

9:59: Q: Will there be any Joojoo accessories?

10:00: A: Yes, we'll announce them in the next couple weeks.

10:00: Q: Will we be showing complete demos in 1:1 meetings?

10:00: A: Yes.

10:00: There will be one color at the moment.

10:00: "We think there will be a lot of demand for this product."

10:01: Fusion Garage has raised 3 million to date since 2008.

10:01: "Thank you so much for your time today. I look forward to seeing many of you over the coming weeks."

10:01: That looks like the end. I'll be getting a hands on with this thing as soon as possible, so check back for that.