According to a Friday statement by Fusion Garage, a “manufacturing error” in the JooJoo Internet tablet, which was scheduled to ship to the consumers by February-end, has resulted in a nearly month-long delay in the shipment of the device until March 25.

Elaborating further, the manufacturer said that the problem affecting the 499-priced, 12.1-inch capacitive touch-screen device - earlier called CrunchPad – largely “centers on fine tuning the touch sensitivity of the capacitive screen.”

The delay in the shipping of the JooJoo tablet means that the device will now ship close to its reportedly potential rival - the forthcoming Apple iPad tablet computer. That the JooJoo tablet is possibly a candidate for the “iPad rival” position has been substantiated by the Fusion Garage CEO Chandra Rathakrishnan, who has revealed that inquiries about the device have been increasing ever since the iPad has been announced.

The key features of the JooJoo tablet include a 4GB Solid State Drive; Wi-Fi; USB 2.0 port; Webcam; built-in microphone; and full Adobe Flash support – including HD Flash, after the official release of Flash 10.1.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to recompense for the inconvenience that the consumers who have pre-ordered the JooJoo tablet will have to face, Fusion Garage has announced that they will be provided a “free JooJoo accessory” – most likely the $29.99 JooJoo tablet dock.