The WePad of german company Neofonie made a lot of noise when it was announced some weeks ago. I was a bit surprised that it was called “the iPad killer” and that most commentators where quite enthusiastic about it, although there was no prototype and the whole thing was more like a concept than a real product.
Today Neofonie had a press conference in Berlin, where they gave an insight about their plans and allowed a glimpse on the WePad. And the interest was big:
(via WePad on Facebook)
Then, Neofonie-Boss Hoffer von Ankershoffen showed off the WePad (which was only running a video of the UI, not the WePad UI itself, see bottom of this article):
(via touchmemobile on twitpic)
Here are the updated specifications as they where twittered by androidpit.de and others who were present (updates in green):
| Specifications | Neofonie WePad |
|---|---|
| Processor(s) | Intel Atom N450 Pineview-M 1,66 Ghz |
| RAM | ??? |
| Screen | 11,6-Inch / 1366×768 / multitouch |
| Storage | 16GB / 32GB NAND Flash |
| A/V Input | Webcam (1,3MP), built-in Microphone |
| A/V Output | Stereo Speakers, HDMI-Port |
| Network | WLAN (n) / Bluetooth 2.1 / optional 3G |
| Connectors | 2 x USB |
| Sensors | Ambient Light Sensor / Motion Sensor |
| Battery | Lithium-Ion Polymer |
| Extras | SDHC Cardreader / SIM-Slot/ Multi-Pin Connector / optional GPS / supports Flash / runs Adobe Air, Java, and Linux Apps (??)/ optional broadcomm crystal hd card (tbc!)/ 1080p Full HD optional / Standard SIM Card slot (no micro slot) / No SIM lock / distribution online, through carriers and through media houses/ WePad MetaStore for WePad Apps / WePad OS |
| Price Range | 449 Euros (606 $) for 16GB and Wifi model / 569 Euros (767 $) for the 32GB, Wifi, 3G, GPS, Full HD Model |
| Manufacturer/Vendor |
Here’s the updated specs sheet directly from Neofonie: Specifications sheet WePad (with new rendered images)
The WePad can be preordered by April 27, 2010 and they will start shipping around August for everybody. In May there will be a roadshow, where the WePad will be presented to a wider audience.
People attending the press conference reported, that there is no horizontal scrolling and the display is reflective (they only showed one single prototype). Some were quite sarcastic and still called the WePad a publicity stunt. Most commentators where disappointed about the high price. Some said that it won’t be able to compete with the iPad with these prices. Androidpit.de said that the WePad has not a true Android OS, but Android apps can run on it. I will keep you posted what that really means and if there is a Android Market or not. Until now, I am not convinced yet…
Youtube video hands-’off’ the WePad (good video, showing case and that it’s only running a video)
Youtube video of two men looking at the WePad (that displays a video of the UI)
Picture gallery of the press conference on newgadgets.de
UPDATE I April 12, 2010: touchmemobile and ambientr report, that the OS was not shown live on the WePad. They only showed a video of the UI running on the WePad. Nobody has seen the real performance of this device yet.
UPDATE II April 12, 2010: Specifications of the screen, added specs sheet link
UPDATE III April 12, 2010: Added another video link
UPDATE IV April 12. 2010: The WePad prototype they have shown at the press conference ran an ordinary Windows! That was clearly visible in video sequences from Reuters. In the center of the screen a Windows error message popped up, which the most of us know well enough to identify. Here’s a screenshot of that sequence:
Screen shot from a Reuters video from german Yahoo site, see seconds 6 to 8. Another video from RTL2 shows the ugly error message at 0:30.
UPDATE V April 13, 2010: According to german tech blog netbooknews.de, the WePad is manufactured by taiwan-based company Pegatron Corp…
UPDATE VI April 13, 2010: Ok, this is the last update, but you got to see the reaction of Hoffer von Ankershoffen, when he realizes that there is that nasty little error message on the screen:
I am laughing my ass off – this thing was running on WINDOWS? hopefully they provide a linux version pretty soon, or else this is going to be ridiculous
[...] details about the WePad: New details about the WePad: Price and Availability [Updates: Windows!?!] OMG! Windows! "The WePad prototype they have shown at the press conference ran an ordinary [...]
what I don’t get: why take the time to customize windows for the pad, when they could just have started the real work of running linux? (it’s OK when the UI isn’t ready, just show the video under linux…)
seems like a waste of resources…
Watch the video that I accedently made: http://www.touchmemobile.de/2010/04/groser-wepad-fake-journalisten-angelogen/
The Neofonie PR Person said, that only the touchscreen was deaktiviated and that he would have to digg into the code to aktivate it and the software… he said nothing about windows… and did not show anything live… he kind of lied to us all…
Germans are coming! Continue to laugh your ass off, but watch carefully what’s going on anyway!
This is not magical!!!! AWESOME!!!!
Looks like it just is google/Android and almost all is relatively “plain-jane” as in it doesn’t appear to be where they are trying to hide anything from the User and they aren’t trying to use new technology that can cause serious stability problems. It’s just a complete Pad based packaging of really good software that is built on years of already tested and working software.
One needn’t make a massive change in paradigm of use, force users to stop doing what they want, prevent use of data between applications on the same machine without charging you cloud fees to make a great product. Looks like WePad is just the right thing.
I have an iPad… I’ll get tired of not being able to do what I need to do with it and hack it and put with my Audrey and Agenda VR3 in the hall of shame.