JooJoo tablet arrives in Europe as 'poor US sales' speculation is denied

After a dramatic entry into the world and speculation about ultra-low sales figures in the US, the now infamous JooJoo tablet is landing on European shores.

The tablet formally known as the CrunchPad was once hailed as the next generation of touchscreen computers - a device that worked without a physical keyboard, contained no hard drive and booted directly to a browser to surf the web.

A JooJoo spokesman said reports of poor sales arose from unsubstantiated claims by a blog in the US and that sales figures were not yet available.

The JooJoo was (according to TechCrunch) originally the brainchild of technology blog editor Michael Arrington. It was built by Fusion Garage, a company based in Singapore and run by CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan.

The sleek, streamlined, portable touchscreen device remains a desirable invention, but after a public airing of dirty laundry, an ongoing legal dispute between Michael Arrington and Fusion Garage, and the later than expected launch date (the device started shipping just a few days before the iPad in the US), it is difficult to imagine the device becoming a blockbuster.

Nevertheless, consumers in France, Germany and England waiting to get their hands on a tablet that has built-in support for Flash, a refined appearance, a 12.1 inch screen, and is optimized for web browsing, might be tempted by the JooJoo - which will arrive in Europe almost a month before the iPad goes on sale.

The JooJoo is available in France, the UK and Germany from April 27 for a price of €359 from http://www.joojoo.com/store.

In depth reviews of Fusion Garage's JooJoo can be found here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/05/fusion-garage-joojoo-review/

And here:
http://gizmodo.com/5421614/fusion-garage-joojoo-tablet-hands+on