There and back again!

Posted in Uncategorized by Rohan Shravan on January 12, 2011

Hello All,

Adam has already reached some of its owners. While our friends in US and Europe might have to wait bit more since we are awaiting CE and FCC approvals (passed all the tests), I thought I should give more details on Adam. Posted below are some of the images taken from Adam. Camera quality is really very good, and if you are into photography, Adam might come in handy. The swivel nature would allow you to scan documents as well and auto-focus function will help in that a lot! But beware, Adam is a big device when compared to a camera, and you’ll have to hold Adam with more stability. Those (like me) who are a fan of macro mode, would simply love Adam. One thing which you can notice is, Adam does not have flash. IMHO, flash is only useful in 5% of the cases. You use flash when light is low, and end up with glares and washed out regions. So make sure you have good lighting around when you use any camera (I hope those will photography experience will comment on this and we can learn more on this new topic).

FCC and CE. Though for a company doing business IN the respective countries can’t sell product without these certifications, global business does not have any such restrictions, and over all these contradiction makes things confusing. For example, as a customer you can buy a product without these certifications online. We will opt for the safer side and wait for the final confirmation and then ship it to you (little more patience please ).
At CES we all learnt about Honeycomb. At Notion Ink we were aware of this project and could guess what modules were being improved, and made Eden so things are compatible. As such there are no official (as per our record and few online sources) there are no hardware restrictions, and when Honeycomb is available, we will send updates as soon as possible. For Motorola to have access to Honeycomb, NVidia first MUST have access to make it stable on Tegra and resolve any issue. They give to us OEMs what is called, a BSP (Board Support package) and then only OEMs can work on it. As of now Honeycomb is a work in progress, and would take little more time than we think for its public availability (for an instance, Android took almost 18 months to become stable on various Tablet platforms).
Eden requires lot more than traditional Android elements. For example, even simple things like 3 leaves requiring Keyboard focus, does not exist in Android. These are ‘view’ features and this is exactly what is getting a lot of improvement on Honeycomb (along with a lot more things). We are expecting a lot of graphic improvements. For instance, on the Panel system you can see that the animation though is fast is not smooth. Reason is, that the parameters chosen were for a small screen, where you 5% movement is only 0.125 inch (say), but on a tablet it’s around 0.5inch.
Times ahead are far more interesting because Notion Ink is just not software, it stands for design, for new hardware and for innovation. And if Google is doing innovation on Software front, what would Notion Ink be doing on other fronts??

(I just arrived, off to some rest now!)

With Warm Regards

Rohan Shravan

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Sovereign John said, on January 26, 2011 at 00:34

“http://www.slashgear.com/notion-ink-adams-email-app-code-origins-in-question-25128252/”

Notion Ink Adam’s email app code origins in question
- Chebbinator said, on January 26, 2011 at 00:37
  
  @Sovereign John The author has clarified that there has been no patent infringements – he wants to work with NI to make it better.
boybarbados said, on January 26, 2011 at 00:22

One more ADAM Review Video
boybarbados said, on January 26, 2011 at 00:19

sorry for repost , don’t know where my post went on the blog
boybarbados said, on January 26, 2011 at 00:14

A nice review video
GuruR said, on January 24, 2011 at 06:15

Anyone got an ADAM?
Wally West said, on January 23, 2011 at 02:16

Dear Fans, Followers, Freaks, Lovers, Friends, Worshipers, Pessimist, Optimists, Dreamers, and Many others too numerous to mention.

I have been trying to understand how a electronic device called Adam has brought so many different types of people to the same place..We come here from all over the world, however I really don’t think our national origins have much to do with it. I guess it is the nature of a blog that creates this phenomena. The subjects discussed here must have a great deal of interest to those involved. I have been tempted to spend less time on the blog. To just sit and patiently wait for my Adam to arrive. Here I am again though, reading, and for who knows how many times, writing. Perhaps it is partly because a need for a way to pass time during the waiting for Adam. Adam is not in our hands, but a number of us have put down a nice little chunk of cash so that we may be one day be holding him. We have invested. Another group of us are eagerly waiting to do the same. Still others are waiting on the fence. To see how it all pans out.

We must know that Adam consists of a number of components that were not designed by Notion Ink. Different designers and manufactures have produced the vast majority of the parts that make Adam. The shape and style of the outer case are of Notion Ink origin and the choices of which components were used were made by NI. The basic operating system (Android) comes from another source. Eden the UI and Genesis are from Notion Ink. Decisions about connectivity were made by Notion Ink and directly effected by the components that they chose to use. Please don’t misconstrue what I’m saying as a belittlement of Notion Ink in any way. Notion Ink is to take enormous credit for bringing all the pieces together that make Adam, Adam.

How long will Adam the device, be a part of your life? Will he last two years, before you feel the need to upgrade? Perhaps to Adam 2 or maybe by then Adam 3? Will Notion Ink be still doing business two years from now? I am hoping so and think most here would say they hope so. We all should be aware that 90% of all new business’s fail within five years. Most here would love for Notion Ink to be the exception. There are many who have developed a true sense of loyalty to Notion Ink. Some because the youngsters starting the company are from the country they live in and love. Some because they want to see the little guy show the big guys that they can do a better job. I’m am underdog supporter in most cases myself The reality is for, Notion Ink, this is going to be an uphill climb. I think a lot of the reason for the second guessing, trepidation, and frustration here, stems from the fear of Notion Ink’s failure that lurks in the unconscious and conscious minds of so many that frequent the blog. Most are truly intelligent enough to know the odds.

You now may ask, what are you driving at with this little essay, and so many words that sound negative. I just want us to be aware of where we are in the process. What we have chosen to be a part of by being involved.. What kind of odds in general that Notion Ink is up against. Why they must have a dream to follow to have any hope of beating the odds. They need a solid work ethic and open minded thinking to go with that dream. Why if we want to to help Notion Ink succeed that we must hang in there and try to muster a small bit (Mustard Seed) of faith. We have to understand this company, Notion Ink, must learn to walk before it can run. You all have been small children near your starting point. You all have fallen in your first attempts to walk. Sometimes the Adult in your life had to put you back on your feet. Coax you to try again. Now, we here, can be supportive or walk away. No one is forcing us to stay. There is nothing wrong with a good heart felt criticism. There is nothing wrong in asking for an explanation. After all there will be issues. All here on the blog and the other forums can prove to be a great help to one another and Notion Ink. Especially after the Adam’s arrive. We will then discover Eden the software and learn more of Adam the hardware. All the early adopters are much in the roll of beta testers whether they like it or not. We can be helpful or we can just be a crying bunch of complainers. I am in no way saying the fate of Adam and Notion Ink rests in our hands. Notion Ink’s choices, honesty, hard work, and luck will be the biggest determining factors. How they communicate with buyers, and support their products will mean the most. The spirit in which they deal with us the consumer will have a lot to do with how much we have to do with supporting them. In the end the real pressure to produce is Notion Ink’s. We can always go somewhere else if we choose.

With all of this said, I am totally behind and supportive of Notion Ink and Adam their product. Unless given a damn good reason not to be. I will speak up if I think something is wrong. I will give praise when something is right. I will dream with and follow that dream as long as it is a dream worth following.

Today I have a bit of praise to give. My estimated shipping date of February has been moved to January 31st.
naveen said, on January 18, 2011 at 12:53

I think Notion Ink will be a lost case if this trend of uncertainty continues!

Apple is the market leader for a reason, sad that start ups don’t learn from others mistakes/successes.
Zaif said, on January 17, 2011 at 00:27

Are these pics from the production model? If yes, why does the EXIF data say: “NVIDIA, Development Platform” instead of “Notion Ink, Adam”?
Taylor said, on January 16, 2011 at 01:01

A Hobbits tale, by Bilbo Baggins
Prantha said, on January 16, 2011 at 00:15

Hi folks:

Try not to worry so much. Let Rohan have a few days off to rest. (Besides, the FCC is a pain in the butt – and they always take longer to do things, despite their promises!)
Kam said, on January 15, 2011 at 21:53

Rohan, one big suggetions. Provide updates on timely fashion. look at where Samsung and many other companies fail at….
louis said, on January 15, 2011 at 19:52

#1 Punctuality (hah)
rdostaly said, on January 15, 2011 at 18:30

Copied and pasted from Engadget:

We don’t see it in the FCC database yet but Notion Ink’s charming Rohan Shravan just penned a post on the company’s blog with news that Adam has official clearance from the US government. That’s right, after several delays the tiny startup will finally condense its occassionally vapory molecules into a solid slab of shipping tablet starting “around Wednesday” after the hardware receives its FCC tattoo. A tablet good enough to earn a Best of CES 2011 honorable mention at an event absolutely flooded with tablets from a who’s who of consumer electronics companies. While our first impressions of the production unit were positive, we’re holding off on making a final judgement until we’ve had the chance to perform a full review. Having said that, Adam’s final NI3421A01 product code is so nerdy — 3421 are consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci series — that we’re almost tempted to place an order ourselves. Almost.

[Thanks, John]
Gabriel said, on January 15, 2011 at 18:22

I really undertand to Rohan. It must be soooo difficult to design, to bulid, to sell and to deliver a new tablet from scratch. I just want to point out this thought to the concerned family in this difficult days especially for those that had the lucky of being able to preorder.