Notion Ink's "Adam"

[Mad_Man_Moon]

http://www.notionink.com/ http://www.notionink.in/

Notion Ink are a "plucky" Indian start-up, hell bent on releasing a piece of tech that has been the delight of consumer electronic shows and blogs since they first promoted their product nearly two years ago made of wood (think it was maybe in 2009, but then definitely at the 2010 CES).

The device is an Android tablet (some boos at the back there, fair do's) running on a 1GHz Tegra 2 chip, with the Pixel Qi screen as a top rung option.

You might have heard us (mainly me and Nicholas) spewing about the Adam and Pixel Qi in the Pixel Qi thread over here. I thought this device needed a thread of its own.

Simply, it's a screen that works well under direct light, using a transflective design. However, it also allows the user to switch the screen to reflective mode, which turns the screen black and white, and is basically like any other e-reader out there.

Bonuses of the platform include; great visibility in sunlight, even better in reflective, less eye strain, powerful processing easily capable of running 1080p out of an HDMI slot, expandable memory by microSD, all the other tablet extras, and three USB ports (one mini).

It frankly looks like the turning point, when it gets released.
As Rich reported in the main room, they've signed an exclusive deal with longbox.
Which hopefully means that we'll have some pretty accessible comic book readers coming very soon.

Happy times!

Here's the wikipedia link, which I'm sure will probably be the most up to date source of information ongoing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_tablet

I'm pretty sure that I can speak for Nicholas when I say that at least the two of us on this here forum will be buying in to this technological freak ... CAN'T WAIT!

[Mad_Man_Moon]

Amongst other stuff mentioned in this post from their wordpess blog, there's also logo competition winners and final working version posts:

From "Week-End Special – Part VIII":

Hello there!

Its was a real short week for us here at Notion Ink!

Some short up-dates first:

• Little about the EAP results. We had far too many entries from such brilliant companies and individuals that it wasn’t making sense that we limit the EAP to only 200 people. Hence we have extended it to more. So now there is EAP 1 and EAP 2 where we have 200 in the first one and around 200 more in the next one. Look at the chart below for the EAP 1 selection and country average:
  
• In the EAP 2 we have around 46 countries! EAP was multi pronged test for us. Production Validation, Logistics (handling shipments, etc. for so many countries), test of the support system, work on the feedback before it reaches masses (ones which we can quickly fix) and sending out messages to all that we have arrived! (Interestingly India is missing from the EAP 1, but has its presence all over the EAP 2 selections)
• News on SW: Adam will have FULL Office Suite!

Now few images.

<<<Follow the wordpress link to see the slideshow>>>

Those were all the images which we have for this blog, and actually gave you an idea of what we are also going to talk about.

Here we have your Mother Board and on top you can see the NVidia’s Tegra 250 power house. You can also see here the RAM, ROMs and other circuitry. We have spoken about sharing those Power Charts, but we havent yet! Nearly all here are clocking something around 28 hours a week for their sleep. For us in the core team is around half of that! Whole team is extremely busy, so please give us more time in creating those interactive charts.

Right, you can see your Magnalium Tool Chassis (upside down) which holds a lot for you! This whole structure is around 36gms and is responsible for providing shear resistance. LDC fits inside, so it’s designed to be compatible for both the LCDs (Transflective and Normal, they have some constructional difference). PQ is around 5.2mm in thickness and we had to use the same for the normal ones, else they are available in 3.6mm height as well. The left side of this image is where it holds the CAP-SENSE buttons (your 4 touch keys). The top portion is where you will find your Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS antennas. On top of the LCD you have the Capacitive screen and then the Glass. In the manufacturing process you join the touch-screen on LCD (with either high strength glues or optical bonding) and then attach this section to the Top Glass. So the black border you see is actually the Glass area used to stick this 3 part set on the Magnalium Chassis.

On your left here is a weather app, which acts like your screen saver as well (in full screen). There are some cool animations which are really stunning specially for thunder-storm! This is the panel implementation of the same.

Total more than 20 customized applications are coming your way. Not the stretched mobile apps, but custom-made for your Adam! One for each occasion, crafted with a lot of effort and patience. Email, Calendar, Office, Paint, Gallery, Settings, File Browser are some of the very special ones to mention here, along with the whole Panel System. For the Panel system there is an OPEN GL Engine which extracts the juice out of Tegra and delivers in beautiful and smooth animations.

(I prepared a different post for this week, where I was to take Adam apart and introduce all but one components, but then I read the comments and there was a larger emphasis on the images, so here we are)

I guess times ahead are far more interesting than I thought they would be! The response to Adam is ecstatic. It’s really wonderful what all you have done for Adam and how everyone is picking up on your words. There is a lot more left before we can even start thinking that we have reached our vision, but the starting is not bad at all.

I have spent nights preparing for the day when finally we can stand in front of all of you and explain what Adam is, why is it not a tablet, how it works, what is still left to be done and how future generations are going to evolve. It still moist my eyes in joy when I think of that day, and we are really close. There are only few moments in your life when you speak a word called satisfaction and you know what it means! And I know this is it!

With Warm Regards

Rohan Shravan

[Mad_Man_Moon]

Here's an excerpt from a recent Graphic.ly email update on their Android version:

1) Android Beta: Folks have been yelling at us about an android app. By yelling, I mean seriously, phone calls, IMs, emails and sky writing about the need for an Android app. Well, we listened. As we always do, we are releasing our app early. So far it only is the reader and the collection. So what does that mean? You have to buy (or download free ones) in another app. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GRAPHICLY ACCOUNT WITH COMICS IN IT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS BETA.

And, fill out this short form that outlines all the important things about the Android Beta: http://hac.im/bt4i7O

Hopefully it is scalable (I think that the normal application is, I'm guessing some of the fundamentals are the same), then there should be little issue with Android tablet users and GLY.

Anyone care to try?

[Nicholas Smith]

Yeah I will, see how it runs on the ol' G1

[Mad_Man_Moon]

Oh!

I forgot to pimp this app:
http://www.pressreader.com/

Which has a direct connection to this website:
http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/viewer.aspx

It's such a good thing.
Once I get my Adam, I'm installing this.

[Mad_Man_Moon]

Pre-orders tomorrow, anyone .... hoooo boy:

http://www.slashgear.com/notion-ink-...er-9-08118382/

भारत जाओ !

[Charlesknight]

All in all, I’m very suspicious of Notion Ink. The website lacks any actual photos of the device, and beyond the two video demos (the last one was almost 4 months ago), we’ve barely seen the thing in action. All the software renders on the website are clearly from emulated instances (if not completely fabricated), and the renders of the Notion Ink have been examined by numerous comments who have pointed out that there are inconsistencies in the proportions of the device from image to image.

I’m not saying the Adam doesn’t exist. The device Rohan showed off was clearly something very similar to what Notion Ink claims to be selling, but what’s the reality? We just don’t know, and honestly, I don’t throw down $500+ for a device I’ve never actually seen in production form.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/12...spicion-anger/

[Charlesknight]

The Notion Ink Adam Should Be Triggering Your Scam-A-Meter Right Now

This isn’t an “I Told You So” post; that’s for John to write if it comes to that. This is a “What The Hell Are You Doing?” post. There are simply way too many red flags to order a Notion Ink Adam right now. I’m not saying it’s vaporware at this point, but if nothing else, it’s truly a case study in how not to launch a product.

Even the most devote Adam loyalist must have questioned what went down today. The Adam’s pre-ordering was plagued by website issues, surprise terms and conditions, a huge shipping fee, and a return policy that stated loud and clear that Notion Ink doesn’t believe in their product.

We’ve been mighty skeptical about the Adam for some time now but we’re not alone. Engadget caught them this morning swapping renders which changed the size of the screen/bezel. That was just the start of today’s surprises.

Once the pre-ordering started those lucky enough to get an email allowing them early access and a January 9th shipping date discovered a bunch of surprises. The website was often down. The storage size of the tablets weren’t listed. The shipping charge was $50. The original contact phone number was 1-800-123-4567. The original terms and conditioned included a 25% restocking fee and made buyers pay for shipping back to India. The 25% restocking fee was later removed, but replaced with 5% cancellation fee that would apply even if a person canceled their order before the Adam shipped. There was more!

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/12/09...ter-right-now/

[Mad_Man_Moon]

Well, we're all aware that it's not a scam, but I don't like their returns policy.

I'm going to wait and see if they respond and rescind some of this.
The guys really have done a good job up until now, and it's made it through the FCC.

And, really, if all else fails, I've still got my eyes on a tm2t from HP (I'd be in dreamland if they could put a pixelqi screen in that), so if this goes south then I'll only be buying that in the new years sales.

[Mad_Man_Moon]

The response:

Introspection
Posted in Uncategorized by Rohan Shravan on December 10, 2010

Dear All,

Last night had been on the brown and dry grass for us! Let’s look at where we are and why things are the way they look now:

• Notion Ink ships from China. We promised global pricing. That would mean no direct conversion of USD to Euros. That should apply on shipping rates as well. DHL shipping price from East Coast USA to West Coast USA for 2lb is $36. Notion Ink’s shipping rate is $50 flat for every country. Here is a reference for you all: http://www.dhl-usa.com/resources/Sta...Guide_2011.pdf Charge to Notion Ink for shipping to Russia is 1161 RMB which turns out to be $180! Now One Global Price would mean One global price. Europe has seen a lot of abuse when it comes to product pricing. We have tried to streamline this. (Do check the fuel surcharge, remote area service, address correction and other terms in the reference document.)
• Global Warranty: Notion Ink’s warranty policy represents singularity. Unlike for other firms where cross border purchases or international purchases ensures that the warranty benefits are lost, we have proposed singular solution where irrespective of where you are and even if you migrate, policies remain same. http://images.apple.com/legal/warran...rranty_v20.pdf This would be where the warranty does not extent to the most important part of the device which is battery. Notion Ink provides 180 days for batteries.
• MasterCard: Notion Ink has already applied for MasterCard and theirs is the longest process. Officially we were told that it will not take more than 2 weeks, but now they need 3 more weeks for the same. Visa and other integrations took us 3 days.
• Transaction Issues: CCAvenue is a reputed firm here in India. Worlds biggest Transportation Firm, Indian Railways, is dependent on them, and handles millions of transactions a day. Users in USA are facing difficulty because their banks are detecting fraud (extremely weird) and the server timed out in most of the cases when users were re-directed to their payment page. Our personnels are on it and querying them to know the reason.
• Return and Refund Policy: Lets look at this page for a moment: http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Im....html#topic-21 This is one of the better policies followed by any company, others are much worse. For Toshiba, the number of days are 10. Let’s take a look at this one:
  http://www.dell.com/content/topics/g...tion=018#total return policy of dell, restocking fees of upto 15% applicable. Upon receipt of your return, Dell will issue a credit or a refund of the purchase price paid, less shipping and handling and any applicable restocking fees subject to this policy. Ship the products at your expense, and insure the shipment or accept the risk of loss or damage during shipment.
• FCC: We shared the information that it is expected in early 20s. Even if it gets delayed, it will be in December, and this is specifically the reason why first Adam will only be shipped on 6th January.
• I believe our team did an error by mentioning the policies in few readable lines. You will see the complete document reflected on the website in couple of hours from now.
• Pixel Qi has already sold out and the 3G variants are the next. Even though the stats for purchases is extremely good, everybody at Notion Ink is dis-heartened and sad because of all the confusion that erupted because of Mr. Murphy.
• The Pre-Order vs CES. We do realize the lack of ‘more’ videos and hands on demo or review by our fellow technical bloggers, and deeply respect those who want to wait for the same. CES is where we intended to demo, show everything and allow for review, else there is no point for a good CES event. Pre-order was essentially for those who wanted to pre-book before Adam go out of stock (which it has already started for some variants). But now reading your comments it feels extremely unfair on our part in not releasing videos, run through and other important thing you need to know.
• In-depth video will be released on 18th December, and till then you can hold on continuing your purchases.

We at Notion Ink love all of you, and we have tried to be completely impartial to the system, but seems it is too difficult to keep everyone happy. Earlier we discussed how we are open to your ideas, listen and implement them as well. I would be spending rest of the day in reading through your comments and understanding how exactly you want us to deviate from industry standards.

With Warm Regards

Rohan Shravan

Slashgear's report on it:

Notion Ink has responded, blaming MasterCard’s long application process for their absence in the payments options, and suggesting that Indian card processing company CCAvenue was seeing problems with declined payments from US customers and server time-outs. The company says it is also planning to demo Adam on video and in-depth on December 18th.

As for the FCC filing, it seems Adam is still yet to receive approval – that’s expected, the company says, in the latter third of December 2010. The return fees, they argue, are on a par with what Dell charges for restocking.

In short, Notion Ink suggests holding off on ordering if you’re cautious, which fits in with our advice as well. We’ll update as we hear more.