Fusion Garage Apparently Implodes: Grid10 MIA

Tragicomic tablet firm Fusion Garage has lost its PR company, frozen sales of its Grid10 slate and has left pre-order customers waiting for their purchases for months, in what looks like it could be the company's final gasp. After significant downtime over the weekend, Fusion Garage's site and online store now merely says "We are running out of stock" when trying to place a new order; meanwhile, the firm's PR agency has dumped them over zero communication with existing customers.

"Unfortunately, none of our efforts have resulted in any communication from the company to the customers. Given all of this, we don't have any other choice but to cease working with FG effective tomorrow." Fusion Garage PR company

In the Fusion Garage forums, meanwhile, pre-order customers and the few to have already received their Grid10 tablet have turned up news that the company's lawyers have resigned over lack of payment. It appears the company is unlikely to deliver either the price-slashed Grid10 or the replacement tablet to existing JooJoo owners, as promised.

Fusion Garage came to notoriety after the CrunchPad debacle, with the company initially intending to work with TechCrunch on a low-cost web tablet and then striking off alone instead. The fruit of that decision, the JooJoo, was roundly panned by reviewers and reportedly only a handful of units were sold.

The company returned earlier this year, running a teaser campaign ahead of the eventual launch of the Grid10 tablet and Grid4 smartphone, each Android-based with a heavily customized UI. The Grid10 was meant to begin shipping in earnest at the beginning of October, while the Grid4 was expected sometime in Q4; neither of those milestones were achieved.

[via Engadget]