Posted by admin | April 19th, 2010
Even though “iPad” must have been a weird new name for a gadget, the oddness doesn’t just end there. Interested or annoyed with the oddity of Apple gadget names, prepare to hear that another company “joined” to the “Pad”.
The idea of a new entrant to the emerging tablet space is not yet widely debatable although it must have seemed almost unbelievable that one small, thin gadget from Germany could make it big in the market, while some critics believe it would only have its downfall as the CrunchPad. A Berlin-based German company Neofine, has held a launch event for 100 journalists: seemingly looking identical on the outside, WePad is everything iPad is not.
To start with, WePad is packed with memory slots and SIM cards, two USB ports, plus an integrated webcam and multitasking. WePad operates on its WePad OS on a Linux variation that supports essential programs such as Flash and Java. It also supports access to the Android Marketplace through its WePad “meta-store”. Relevantly, all the applications available in Android can also be offered by WePad. With its readily available Internet access, you can easily chat with friends, check your emails, or just get engrossed in some of your favorite YouTube videos.
Interesting to mention, WePad sees its “originality” as freedom of getting the Internet “Our” way. People think that life is all about I and Me … When you’re locked in, you get the internet their way. It’s the opposite of free. Being told what you can see, what you can buy, and all the things you can not do – somehow, that just seems so 1984.”
WePad just starts amazing the public by the fun it offers. Neofonie has been inventive enough to incorporate digital newspapers and magazines through their WeMagazine. These newspapers and magazines that you’ll see in iPad are exactly the same as those seen in prints. Getting the updates that you usually get from the daily papers being thrown in your doorsteps can now be accessed through the handy WePad. Even news can be exciting. Indeed, WePad can also be considered as the perfect media-consumption device – this time with more medium to choose from. Moreover, because of this feature more and more publishers are already getting interested in giving their titles to the device. In fact, Gruner + Jahr, a publisher of a domestic magazine flew all the way to Europe with their intention of giving their title to be part of the device. Even one of Europe’s most prominent newspaper magazines is also having some negotiations with the WePad team, already. But all of these are yet-to-be shown…WePad does not exist yet…
Given all these promising and incredible features, WePad may be a perfect device especially for people who are truly lovers of gadget. It is perfect, if it works. As of now, WePad is still a worth-coveting gadget in the making. It is not utterly available yet. During the launching, the Neofonie CEO Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen showed a mere pre-recorded video of the tablet’s interface, running not its WePad OS, but a prerecorded interface video on a Windows 7, as reported by TechCrunch.
The expected soft launch of WePad is supposedly in July. Von Ankershoffen expects to start selling from August. Reservations or orders for WePad are already overwhelming as early as now. There in fact about 20,000 pre-registered orders already, according to the company’s CEO. The price for WePad is €449 for 16Gb with WiFi or €569 for 32Gb with additional 3G and GPS.
If everything goes well, the company expects to sell tens of thousands and more. As for now, the gadget is still subjected to errors, criticisms, and public expectations, as it still has so much to prove. As much as WePad claims its success, We will wait and see…
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