CrunchPad tablet morphs into the $499 JooJoo

Following on from the very public falling out between TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and hardware partners Fusion Garage, the CrunchPad now has a new name. The 12.1-inch tablet will now be known as the JooJoo. Fusion Garage’s founder, Chandra Rathakrishnan, also went on the record to say that the device was already being worked on before Arrington approached them. He also claims that there was no contract between them.

The specs are mostly what we already know, it has a 12.1” capacitive touchscreen display and includes a 4GB SSD. It boots straight into the browser and runs a UNIX-based operating system. It includes Wi-Fi but no sim-slot for 3G. Battery life is quoted to last for around 5 hours. Pre-orders start from December 11th and will cost $499. Initial deliveries will begin in 8-10 weeks. Demos of the JooJoo are expected later this week.