JooJoo Revived As Resellers Swoop; 2nd-Gen Android Fusion Garage Slates Due 1H 2011

Fusion Garage might be looking to their second-gen tablets – expected to arrive in the first half of 2011 with Android and a custom UI – but rumors that the original JooJoo had been axed seem to have been premature. The company has announced a reseller agreement for the original tablet, which will see Japanese firm ASTEC bumping JooJoo's storage to 16GB and then doing what's necessary to "customize joojoo for business applications."

Meanwhile alternative operating systems are also being explored. While the JooJoo currently runs a custom Linux OS, reselleres "are expected to utilize alternative operating systems such as Linux and Microsoft Windows."

The current JooJoo will be removed from direct-to-consumer sale on November 19, and the next-gen line of tablets will neither use the brand name nor be backward-compatible. "We have learned a lot and will carry forward insight gained from joojoo to our new generation of products" CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan claims, though the company will continue to support the first-gen device.

[via BGR]

Press Release:

FUSION GARAGE EXPANDS SALES CHANNELS FOR TOUCH-SCREEN TABLET DEVICES

Company Signs Vertical Market Reseller Agreement for joojoo with Osaka, Japan-Based ASTEC Co. Ltd.; ASTEC to Customize joojoo for Business Applications

SINGAPORE–(11/18/10)–Fusion Garage, a designer and developer of touch-screen computing devices, today announced it has expanded distribution channels via a vertical market reseller agreement with Osaka, Japan-based ASTEC Co. Ltd. Through the agreement, ASTEC will customize Fusion Garage's first generation Internet tablet, joojoo, for corporate applications. Fusion Garage will upgrade Joojoo's internal storage capabilities to 16 gigabytes and ASTEC will customize joojoo's operating system for business applications. Resellers, such as ASTEC, are expected to utilize alternative operating systems such as Linux and Microsoft Windows in joojoo.

Fusion Garage is also in discussions with other resellers and systems integrators to distribute joojoo in vertical markets such as medical, transportation, logistics and others that take advantage of its 12.1 inch form factor. The growing interest from vertical market resellers is anticipated to consume the remaining Joojoo inventory by the end of this year. As a result, Joojoo will no longer be available for direct-to-consumer sale via the Fusion Garage website as of November 19 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). Fusion Garage remains committed to its joojoo customers and will continue support the device. Additional information on customer support will be available in the coming weeks.

Simultaneously, Fusion Garage has announced plans for a next generation product line which will include a new operating system built in part on Google's Android OS. The new Fusion Garage products will not be backwardly compatible with joojoo nor will they carry the joojoo brand name. Those products are expected to reach market in the first half of 2011.

"We are very pleased by the rapidly increasing vertical market interest in joojoo," said Fusion Garage founder and CEO, Chandra Rathakrishnan. "Companies such as ASTEC are able to do some very innovative customization of the product and enable joojoo to be used in business applications that go beyond our consumer focus. At the same time, this marks the end of joojoo as a product and a brand for Fusion Garage. We have learned a lot and will carry forward insight gained from joojoo to our new generation of products that we will introduce in the first half of 2011."