Yesterday we mentioned that Google had stated that the $150 Augen tablet and $100 smartbook included a number of unauthorized closed-source applications (Market, Gmail, etc.).
Now Engadget reports that Augen has issued a press release stating the apps were installed on the devices for “testing purposes” during development, and were accidentally left in the production version of the operating system.
Augen says that it and Google have come to an understanding that, though it can’t do anything about the products that have already shipped, it will remove the controversial apps from future production runs of its products and it is working on getting the proper licensing to put them back in.
Not that these devices are any great shakes as hardware when it comes right down to it. For about the same amount of money, you can get a 2 to 3 year old refurbished Asus Eee, which will probably be significantly faster and more capable.
It’s amazing how much coverage this half-assed device keeps getting. It just goes to show how much of a market there is for Android tablets.
While writing the review for “The Book”, I found a website that profiles small companies (Manta) and according to them Augen only has 5-9 employees.
Sounds like they’re getting in way over their heads if you ask me.