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Michael Arrington Denies Rumors of Vaporware CrunchPad

Paul Lilly — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:30:26 -0600

The tech talk for much of the year has centered around upcoming tablets from Apple, Microsoft, and TechCrunch co-founder Michael Arrington, but to date, not one of them has come through. Will we ever see a next-gen tablet from one of these three? We certainly will, says Arrington, who insists that his CrunchPad tablet is "streamrolling along."

Arrington added that the upcoming CrunchPad will sell for between $300 and $400. It will sport a 12-inch touchscreen and come equipped with an Intel Atom processor (what else?).

Even though Arrington is adamant about an imminent release, some journalists wonder if the expected price tag won't render the CrunchPad irrelevant from day 1.

"While the project apparently isn't dead, I do still think there's a chance it will be DOA. For $300 to $400 I don't really see why anyone would buy a dedicated Web device instead of a fully functional computer," wrote Brad of Liliputing. "By the time the CrunchPad is available, you might even be able to pick up a touchscreen tablet style netbook in the $00 range. You can already get the Eee PC T91/T91MT for around $500 to $550."

Arrington did say he's exploring ways to cut back production costs, some of which include negotiating soft revenue and sponsorship opportunities.

Image Credit: TechCrunch via The New York Times

Phantom Lapboard Seeks to Evade Vaporware Status by Shipping this Year

Paul Lilly — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:56:55 -0600

If the Phantom Lapboard sounds familiar, it's because we covered the promising product earlier this year. After spending some hands-on time with the peripheral, it was clear Phantom had a winning design on its hands, provided the company could address the dropout issues with the mouse and other annoyances associated with the rodent. Whether or not the final version represented an improvement over the unit we played with was supposed to have been answered back in June when it was scheduled to be available in limited quantities.

June has come and gone, but the Lapboard is nowhere to be seen. Has it dropped off the face of the earth to become vaporware just as the Phantom Console did over two years ago? Not yet, and maybe not ever. Unlike the Phantom Console, which left Phantom's website as if it never existed, the company is still talking about the Lapboard. In a recent blog post, Phantom Development Consultant John Landino says Phantom has come up with inventory funding and paid for its first shipment of Lapboards, which the company hopes to start shipping in its yet-to-be-opened game store before the end of the year.

It's hard to argue with anyone who might be skeptical about this latest update, but remember that the Optimus Maximus was once well on its way to becoming vaporware before it started shipping.

Holographic Storage Gets Delayed to Late 2009, Just One Step Closer to Vaporware

Paul Lilly — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:04:14 -0600

While InPhase Technologies and its holographic storage solution has a long ways to go before it reaches Duke Nukem status for a laughably late product, the promised technology is beginning to smell a lot like vaporware. The company has been promising a holographic drive since early 2005, and now nearly four years later, InPhase has pushed back it's first drive ship date until late 2009.

On paper, the technology looks tantalizing. By altering the angle of lasers, data stored as holograms can be read or written and can co-exist in the same physical space. This translates into huge amounts of data to the tune of 800GB and even 1.6TB discs, according to the company's 3-generation roadmap.

The technology requires highly sophisticated and precise optics, development of which has been at the heart of the delays. InPhase had intended to ship it's first $18,000 drive in December, but in sorting out a last minute development problem, the company instead ended up laying off part of its workforce. Rumors suggest that as many has half of InPhase's staff may have been given a pink slip earlier this year.

So here's the big question: Which will come first, Duke Nukem Forever or holographic storage? Hit the jump and give us your prediction.

Image Credit: InPhase Technology

Opitmus Maximus: Keyboardus Disappearibus

Paul "One4yu2c" Lilly — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:45:38 -0500

Remember when Duke Nukem Forever was going to revolutionize the PC gaming landscape? After ten years in the making, we’re chanting Viva la Patience instead. Or how about WinFS, the highly anticipated successor to Microsoft’s NTFS file system that ended up a no-show in Vista? That one still has a chance, but I’ve given up waiting for OCZ’s Cryo-Z, an affordable phase change cooling unit for the masses. And speaking of affordable, whatever happened to the $100 PC? Bueller, Bueller, Bueller…

There’s a term for these promised technologies and products that never see the light of day, and it’s called Vaporware. Longtime stalwarts of Maximum PC’s forum dating back to the Delphi/Commport era might recall a user by the name of Logik! He used to say “It’s all hype until it ships,” and I can’t help but think of him when I read a news blip about Art. Lebedev Studio’s Optimus 103 (recently renamed Optimus Maximus). Now going on two years since I first read about it, this concept keyboard sporting programmable OLED displays on each key still holds widespread appeal. Imagine playing Supreme Commander or your RTS of choice with each button showing off a snazzy picture of its function, and then switching profiles to your productivity suite when it comes time to work.

A picture's worth a thousand words, but if this sexy gem ever sees the light of day, it'll command $1,500!

Sounds groovy, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s starting to smell like vapor. To this day, no one has ever seen a prototype, or at least no one in the media has ever laid eyes on one. Instead, we’ve been shown 3D rendered images that are so well drawn, many people believed them to be actual photos when originally posted. But they’re not, and the question remains, is there or will there ever be a real deal?

Manning a booth this year at CeBIT, Artemy Lebedev and company had the perfect opportunity to show off a prototype and squelch any doubters. Instead, they may have created some among the remaining hopeful. Artemy keeps a blog on the Optimus project, and when queried as to why the no show, he responded that “we don’t show the prototype on the CeBIT because no prototype can compare in beauty with the product that will be shipped this year.” That ranks right up there with the check is in the mail. He also posts that their OLED manufacturer is undergoing some major financial woes, setting the stage for yet another delay. The setup sounds all too familiar, but if they do eventually come through, it’ll be worth the wait, just like it was when people finally got their hands on a Go-L computer. Oh wait…