Notion Ink partners with Texas Instruments

Press Release

Notion Ink partners with Texas Instruments

21 January 2012, Bangalore

Notion Ink has partnered with Texas Instruments (TI) Incorporated for its next generation Adam II Tablets. Adam II will be using OMAP44xx processor along with other TI components like Wi-Link 7.0 and Phoenix Audio Power Amplifiers. Adam II will also leverage the power optimizations achieved using mature combination of TI’s integrated power-management IC.

Designed specifically for best Power Performance and Multi-tasking Experience, Adam II will be based on Google’s IceCream Sandwich Operating System.

The OMAP44xx platform’s smart multicore architecture pairs its main CPUs with several differentiated features including programmable accelerators, hardware composition engines and a dedicated ISP. Imagination Technologies’ super-fast PowerVR SGX5xx GPU and enhanced memory architecture add still more functionality while an OMAP-specific distributed composition architecture enables advanced image and video layering for crisp, HD visuals. These elements and more are the force behind the OMAP44xx processor’s ability to enable fast and fluid multitasking while maintaining ultra-low power consumption.

Adam II will release the world’s first Modular Based Software Architecture which will further expand the scope of application development and use nearly every single hardware feature in a “user customizable” application. Drag and drop features will enable easy application modification and Open Source Module will further expand the use cases and tablet deployment. Node operations like in Blender, and “Application Authoring Tools” are primarily aimed at non-programmers for composing applications, games and use-case flows in a drag-and-drop fashion, utilizing visual editors and behavior-based logic system.

This System will help consumers, professionals and students become productive as they will be able to use the tablet as a logic analyzer, medical imaging device, signal acquisition and processing, 3D modeling and multi-media.

For more information about TI OMAP processors, visit www.ti.com and follow this blog for Adam II.

Rohan Shravan

129 thoughts on “Notion Ink partners with Texas Instruments”

  6. Now that’s news!! Good job, the entire workforce behind NI, and Rohan’s support!! We Adam-loyals are waiting with bated breath for more!! More so, with the tech upgrading itself with such frequency!! And seconding Roopesh Nair, do the Adamites who stuck with NI and supported you all through thick and thin get some leverage on the Adam II?? 😉

  10. Very exciting, cannot wait to do a review on this one! I am a tech junkie through and through. Cannot wait to see what comes this time.

  13. I hope your comment regarding “some leverage fro “Adam I” users is something beyond a 10% discount. I invested in your company because I believed in your ability to execute based on the development of your hardware platform. What I failed to realize was the inadequacy of your ability to match that hardware with viable software; so, for the past year my “Adam I” is nothing more than something I have to continually explain to my wife why I bought a $400 paperweight. Contrast this with my second tablet purchase, a HTC Evo View 4G which has superb hardware and a true (paid) development team that make software which makes the tablet a joy to use. Right now, we’re all waiting with baited breath for a volunteer developer (Mr. Deadlocked) to give us something usable, something NI should have had from the start. My only warning to Adam fans is to not get sucked in by “Adam II” hardware until an independent third-party verifies that the shipping software and firmware make it a tablet worth owning; if I hadn’t been so desperate to get a Android tablet I would have never invested in your product. Prove me wrong about this and take care of your “Adam I” customers and you may regain some respect.

  14. True. And let’s face it the name Adam is kinda “red-flagged” nowadays (I don’t mean this in an injuring but objective way). It might be a good idea to start over with something different. Just an idea.

  16. Roshan S,

    TI OMAP+Modular SW architecture sounds very interesting. While everybody eagerly awaits for the next generation of Adam to be out, would it be possible for you to shade some more light on screen specifications for us. PixelQi was a leap forward in terms of the introducing innovative technologies but whenever I see any other tablet, its the first thing that slaps me in the face though, the resolution. I hope you are already thinking ahead of everybody but any hints will be useful at this point.

    Regards,
    ND

  20. I am really pleased with this. Great work! It sounds like you have done what you promise: Good hardware, innovative application to the new world of tablets. That is pretty exciting.

  23. Well said. Adam seems to be a decent piece of hardware. I don’t use mine enough because the software platform isn’t good. NI would have been better off with Vanilla Android.

    NI should be paying someone to develop their ICS release ASAP for the current Adam users.

  25. Rohan, do you realize that this question could be used by angry users and provoke a rant contest (and who would blame them?)? You like to play with fire :-). I’d say that the device is working, but not as good as one would expect. No camera, market access out of the box. Of course the ROMs developed by the awesome people from TR help, but still…

  26. So, partnering with Texas Instruments in the same way you partnered with Google on Android? So are you saying that somewhere out there someone at Texas Instruments is going, huh?

    A non-dev drag-and-drop app builder has yet to write anything useful in the history of computing. This has never been done well, even Google just pulled the plug on their magical-app-builder and now NI is gonna try.

    This has “squandering of resources in a vain attempt to become relevant” written all over it. How about getting ICS ported to Adam by someone in-house and partially fulfilling your first tablet promise instead.

  27. specs look good. Good Luck!! will be real happy if current Adam owners can get a discount….

  30. Mr. Shravan,

    Thank you for asking. I, like many Adam owners no doubt, expected that an Android tablet with hardware specs equivalent to the original Motorola Xoom would eventually run a true Android tablet OS (Honeycomb) or at a minimum upgrade it to Gingerbread. I’m not interested in a tablet that can only run Froyo and I guess it’s my fault for thinking that the NI development team would have delivered on producing customized versions of either of those two Android platforms. While there are volunteer developers who have “cooked” ROMs for the Adam using both Gingerbread and Honeycomb, NI never lived up to the standard of developing/customizing the Android OS for their hardware beyond the initial release of Froyo/Eden, always citing various development issues or problems with the Google code or the proprietary nature of drivers from Nvidia. Now NI has a very limited paid staff working on an ICS release but we have since learned that NI is largely focused on “future projects” while leaving most of the ICS development to volunteers on tabletroms.com. Contrast all of this drama with my HTC Evo View 4G experience: I opened the box in December and found that it booted directly into Gingerbread, within 10 minutes of using the tablet without any problem whatsoever I got an OTA update to Honeycomb, which also went flawlessly. Granted HTC is a very large corporation with resources much greater than NI, but I am in the end upset that I let a good story (your company development story), a few pre-production glossy pictures of the Adam hardware and the Adam advertised specs drive me to invest $400 in a device which has shown to have such poor software/OS support. Yes, the Adam worked right-out-of-the-box with Froyo/Eden but it’s stuck there unless I want to tinker with hobbyist-developed ROMs or wait until these poor souls, Mr. Deadlocked and his team of volunteers, achieve success with an ICS port, and even then I ask, where is NI? Why can’t they support this product instead of a bunch of well-meaning and well-intentioned volunteers? And now NI comes forth with the “Adam II” and what am I supposed to think? Given the worldwide state of the economy do we all really have another $400 to invest based on some new specs and a few glossy photos (all yet to come)? I think not.

    Respectfully,

    Chris R.

  31. Hi,

    I understand your view, but the fact that ICS is not done in-house is not correct. We haven’t released the ICS build till now. There is an update button in settings, unless that gets active all ROMs are alpha ROMs. We also need to get the community up and engaged. Mr Deadlocked is not alone, and it’s not that we don’t have special relations with them, but I don’t find I fair to publish or share our relations with TR.

    Give me some time and I should be able to get what you need.

    There will be another blog for Adam II and this blog will always work on Adam I, so you should expect long continued support for Adam I. Another blog is for opening up the development purpose. Opening up would mean that even you would be able to buy chips and build your own tablet from scratch (specially if you don’t want to invest). The way we look at our new generation is, that everyone want’s to do something different, everyone want’s to get involved on the social scale (nothing else defines success of Facebook).

    And as a young company we should embrace this fact. I believe opening up can only help us ensure that when II comes out, there is nothing which we are hiding behind the glossy photographs.

    Warm Regards

  32. Hi Rohan,

    Despite all your optimism, and perseverance and vision, what we, the customers, have in our hand is a device that had promised much but delivers little. There are fake ipads galore with much lesser pricetags that run android 1.1 or whatever but appear less despairing compared to the adam I have lying dormant for months, simply because they don’t promise much.
    I am relatively tech savvy (5/10 maybe). Give me a couple of days and I can probably figure out how to best work with what I have got. But I haven’t got a couple of days to give to your dream of a tablet. I really DON’T care for hacking away at the device because I have other things to do.
    I have till now updated the adam 3-4 times, and to be fair, each of the updates have added to the number of things I can use adam for. But I have never been able to “inhabit” the device for the same reason. I don’t want to have to reset everything the next time so all I do is play angry birds on it till I am bored and then wait for the “final, complete and ultimate” software update. This SUCKS!
    The device itself is lovely and very easy to carry around. I still like the design. But the software…
    Please, I don’t care what you do with the $500 I dropped for the adam 1, but please, don’t let the new device go to hell because of #$%#$ software. That’s EMBARASSING. Software should be easy to fix before releasing a product.
    And don’t be hoping that i will shell out for a second device until this one is working…

    Warm Regards,

  33. @saurabhvats @crodgers79 bitter but only the truth…..

    Rohan, your vision of opening up and getting social is great but what needs to happen first is, as a driver of the company, you should make sure that the basic things are delivered to the public that are promised (for lack of a better word) or speced-out while marketing the device. If this first step would have been achieved successfully then there was a solid base that you could have utilized. Current situation merely supports your future thoughts about the II and what not. As a Adam owner I am happy but not satisfied if it makes sense.
    Until NI gets their ducts in row, its a unwanted risk of jumping to a new device as the whole experience of having a success history is missing. Not that NI shouldn’t plan for a new device but to second @saurabhvats and @crodgers79 opinions, work on the current situation and close of the stinky open cans otherwise group of next unsatisfied customers is just around the corner waiting for you to do god knows what………

    Regards,
    ND

  35. Hi all, only commenting to make it easier to follow comments.
    No words to express my thoughts and feelings yet.

  36. Good to hear Adam II is in the works, but …

    For me, it’s all about the display. I bought the Adam because of Pixel Qi. Like most I’m somewhat disappointed in the display, especially the viewing angles. For my next tablet, I want a much better Pixel Qi – like display. I want to not be embarrassed to compare my tablet side-by-side with ipad3.

    As to OS, stick with standard ICS. Make Eden optionally or not at all! BTW, I have been happy with Cromnia BETA3 for several months now. I see no reason to play with ICS until a formal release.

  37. holy cow!!…..this is the motherload of all posts 🙂 :)….this is what i had been waiting for…one teeny meeny request though…..pls change the nomenclature to something else….adam II sounds so apple

    and now the wait begins…can you pls tell us how far u guys are with this 2nd generation tablet and when can we expect it to be kinda ready…i know its asking too much….but m very excited

    Thanks Rohan….keep it up

  38. well what can i say adam 1 worked out the box (nothing that i could see wrong with) but i never received what i paid for or what the adam was supposed to have ie what was said on the web site,

    its easy for people to say what they like about a product, make it sound better than it is. so the big ? is will i be bitten again ( probably)

    the best thing to do is give adam ll once made to a few people ( ie Mr deadlock) to do a review on as a independent and see if its what NI say it is first.

    theirs an advert on the tv in England called RONSEAL and there catchphrase is DOES EXACTLY AS IT SAYS ON THE TIN. thats all we as customers of the adam l – ll want to hear does exactly as it says on the web and box.

  39. Exciting stuff, and good partnerships.
    I think partnerships are what its all about in this world, they are what keep things open.
    If you are Apple or Microsoft then sure you can do it all yourself but then the enduser is locked in.
    NI obviously have some form of private partnership with TR, and I’m glad.
    NI have some partnership with Kivy, and PixelQi, and Amazon, and Nvidia, and now TI.
    Partnerships means we help each other to grow. NI is still growing.
    Did I make a mistake buying into Adam? DEFINITELY NOT!
    What I have is an open tablet that is still growing.
    When it was being planned android was at Eclair and people said (I remember the quote) “lets have some of that Froyo goodness”. Then just after being released people demanded Gingerbread, then Honeycomb, now ICS. Rohan has done a good job on a first release product and the partnerships are still functioning. Yes we’ll have ICS on adam, but I promise you somebody here will be asking for Jellybean soon.
    So with respect to Rohan, from the very first post (look it up) he’s wanted to be the next Steve Jobs in regards to innovation and forward thinking, and good on him.
    Just please, oh please, don’t write adam 2 like this “Adam ][”
    Lol
    adam (lowercase still) with a raised power of 2 maybe because technology more than doubles with new product iterations…
    Looking forward to more, keep the information coming 😀

  41. +1 for the name, though I still think that picking something different from adam could help.

    Now let’s talk about some serious sh*t: where is Jellybean Rohan??

  42. That’s good to hear. I would rather prefer a OMAP 5xxx SoC when it comes out. It’s worth delaying the AdamII until OMAP 5xx comes out else it would be like buying a Tegra 2 when Tegra 3 is about to be released in few months.

  43. Benefits or not I have my Adam from first pre-order. I’m still extremely satisfied. Count me in for pre-ordering the ADAM 2. Despite all negative press about adam, there is still no alternative on the market with all of its specs. I looked at allmost all of the tablets, and not one even tempted me to trade in my Adam. Thx Rohan, you brought something joyfull to my life. Keep up the good work.

    PS: Many thanks also to the ROM developers who make ADAM extra exciting

  44. I hate to be a downer, but I do have a question, not trying to be a smart axxxx
    but does TI know they are a partners with Notion Ink?

    Unlike the partnership with NVIDIA in which was more of you used their processors, but didn’t get any support from them. From a users prespective Notion Ink and Nvidia weren’t

    will this mean that things like the FM receiver on the Adam, that never got drivers won’t happen in ADAM 2 ?

    does this mean that when a new version of Android comes out TI will issue drivers and support to Notion Ink so that a group of indepdent developers don’t have to write the kernal and other drivers themselfs. but instead Notion Ink will release updates with the full support of TI.

  45. Yes, since NVIDIA abandoned tegra 2 users basically by not releasing drivers for honeycomb or ICS.

    what would make anyone think that once android 5 comes out, that Nvidia would release drivers for the tegra 3 chipset ?

  46. I am not sure where you get the partnerships are still functioning, It looks like all the genesis parteners were abandoned, Nvidia hasn’t released anything in support to Notion Ink. PQi and Notion Ink have bad monthed each other, Rohan himself laid the blame on production problems directly with PQi, that is not a sign of a partnership that is working.

    In fact I can not see evidence that a signal partnership is still working, other then Tabletroms and Notion Ink.

  49. And the Prince of Liechtenstein might sue! “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Adam_II,_Prince_of_Liechtenstein”

  50. HI Rohan,

    The Wi-Link 7.0 also has fm radio in it. Will the implementation come with this enabled. One more query is there any way to enable fm radio in adam I. When is release planned for Adam II?

    Regards,
    Hema V R

  51. I have my Adam 1 and have hacked around a bit, so I appreciate the open philosophy – but it took 3-4 months before I got a usable Adam. Still, I do enjoy it and use it for work frequently. But PLEASE – finish the job you started by getting the Adam 1 working on ICS as soon as is possible.

    Can you give any kind of idea when ICS will be ready to go? I’m not talking about a beta, but a full working version of the software designed and released by Notion Ink. I will probably play with the beta when TR’s gets it done, but I will not be purchasing anything else from NI unless you can prove to me (and other Adam owners) that you will finish the job you started, not just jump away to the next thing in line.

    So basically, whether I ever support NI again depends on whether a full release version of ICS is provided by Notion Ink as an official update.

  53. Unfortunately, honeycomb was closed source. So NI couldn’t have put out a honeycomb ROM. Had nothing to do with resources. Hopefully NI is able to deliver on ICS on Adam 1. And hopefully they go with stock ICS as at least an option.

  54. I hope this comment makes it tthrough moderation, if it does, I just want to exprss what a downer it was awakening from a dream and having to scramble around to arrive at a reality that matched the dream. Some very talented people have and continue to work in attempts to make the Adam competitive give and viable but reality is all about software and that was what I was looking for with Adam & Eve and Genesis. Good luck Tablet Roms and NI with the Adam2 software development as that is what I will be buying into.

  60. Great decision. Nvidia is best avoided. I expect that it will be much easier, also, to run a full-fledged Linux distro on this platform, and hope NI explores it as an option — especially if (as Rohan said elsewhere) they want this machine to be usable for real work, not for entertainment only.

  61. Rohan,

    For the open community model to succeed, word of mouth is very important especially earlier birds like us who had bought Adam I. Leaving behind disgruntled customers is no way forward in this model. I understand that NI cannot stuck itself to Adam I but promises for Adam I are to be fulfilled to the extent that it satisfied majority of the customers.

    I wish good luck with your Adam II and I am sure it will succeed.

  63. this post came today and comments are already started pouring in fast. you know exactly how to tease the customers. i didn’t buy the adam 1 but if the price is reasonable of the adam 2 i will definitely get it.

  65. With the Adam I reading a PDF in landscape is a much better experience than in portrait (I have the LCD screen), but the files being letter size they show more in portrait. I hope the look is the same no matter what rotation you have your screen at with Adam II. I know I moved to custom ROMs fairly early and find that the Marketplace is a mandatory addition if you ask me. I hope the Adam II will have Marketplace stock. Adam II power-wise engineering is an awesome idea. I know when I put my Adam I to sleep mode (or time does it) sometimes the system will reboot instead of awakening from sleep, now that frustrating!

  66. “With the Adam I reading a PDF in landscape is a much better experience than in portrait (I have the LCD screen), but the files being letter size they show more in portrait. I hope the look is the same no matter what rotation you have your screen at with Adam II. ” — I don’t see how that is possible, unless the screen is square. Necessarily the portrait mode, showing the full width of the document, will show things smaller than landscape. Perhaps it will be more readable with a higher-resolution screen but it will not be the “same”.

  67. Thanks for the update and All the Best for the Adam II.

    For the first time you are mentioning this device for medical / health professionals.
    When i started to follow your blog, and did the first pre-order, I was a medical student. Now when i have become a Medical Officer, still I miss the same thing – Stylus. I tried many, but none worked perfectly to write a prescription (or taking notes).
    Hope this time I get a screen on which stylus works fine.

  69. Hi Rohan

    I wonder if it’s possible for Notion Ink to enter the Windows8 market in the future too since the first Adam also focused on quite a few pro features that would be even more useful on a full desktop system rather than a mobile platform.

    best

  71. Window 8 on ARM doesn’t have nothing to offer that Android doesn’t have and it’s a walled garden like Apple. Why would we want another Windows on anything? 😐

  72. Rohan it is a very good decision to move to OMAP. The OMAP community is much more matured and open compared to Tegra is my understanding. But going forward, it will also be wiser for a small company like Notion Ink it choose platform which is closer to what google does; given the fact that all the OMAP based devices got ICS update much sooner that other platform based devices, it seems to be a wiser decision.

    And yes NVIDIA has a great reputation of not continuing support for some old products. Remember the Garmony vs Ventana debacle ? Also what about Quad-core chips introduced by NVIDIA. The full power of Dual-Core Tegra is still not utilised to its fullest potential. Android is not optmised to run on Dual-core even to this day. People don’t realise this fact. It is the marriage between HW and SW that brings the smoothness that IOS has.

    I hope ADAM2 is better. Yes Notion Ink and the community is a whole new world of possibilities. In order to do stuff you need smart people. Go back to your college, IIT-Kharagpur, hire some smart chaps. Tell them what you have done, inspire them and hire them.

    As far as ADAM1 is concerned I dont think there is any replacement to it in the market. Yes the software sucks. Notion Ink knows what they need to do. As plato once said, “Never discourage anyone… who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” But for normal customer’s you need to give them what you promised. I love the concept of having separate blogs for Adam1 and Adam2. Good luck Notion Ink !

  74. Nice to hear that Rohan. I’ve few suggestions

    1.Don’t launch ADAM II in a hurry.
    2.Sell ADAM II in retail outlets like Reliance Digital,Croma,Bestbuy.
    3. Please allow customers to choose the OS to be pre-installed. Else allow users to install other Oss easily. You might be aware that Mark Shuttleworth has announced Ubuntu for Tablet pcs. Even though the final version will be out by 2014 we can expect an announcement later this year as per Jane Silber [Canonical CEO]. It would be a wise decision if NI allows installing other OSs [Ubuntu,Windows8]

    All the best Rohan and Notion Ink.

    Your long-term supporter
    Sai Ranjan

  76. [a la Oprah] YOU get a pre-order link! And you! And you! And you!…. hahaha, no really, we get a thank you, a pat on the back, and the option to spend more money on NI

  77. before you jump into conclusions, you might wanna read other people’s comment more carefully.
    i didnt even mention it had to be win8 on ARM, instead, I was suggesting more of a higher performance wintel product than just a mobile grade or a low powered ARM based device.
    there are good things about those higher performance ones that emphasize more on the professional features which I was originally saying about Adam.
    just one obvious example: doing professional level image making with full desktop version photoshop/sketchbook pro on a wacom panel
    there are many other reasons why professional uses need a wintel device.

    and these are just some thoughts, I didn’t say they SHOULD either

  78. Been keeping up with the Adam but haven’t had much to say. I ended up buying the . Funny thing us if you go to Motorola’s forums, see people were complaining about Honeycomb.

  79. I was waiting for Adam II to buy, but … WHY you use OMAP4 + old PowerVR?

    [Q1 2011] OMAP4430 @ 1.0 GHz + [Q4 2007] SGX540 @ 304 MHz = Kindle Fire and RIM Playbook
    [Q4 2011] OMAP4460 @ 1.5 GHz + [Q4 2007] SGX540 @ 384 MHz = Galaxy Nexus
    [Q1 2012] OMAP4470 @ 1.8 GHz + [Q1 2010] SGX544 @ 384 MHz = Adam ??

    Past System-on-Chip Performance (IMHO)

    CPU: Exynos 4210 > Snapdragon S3 > Tegra 2 > OMAP4430
    GPU: Mali-400 > Adreno 220 > Geforce ULP > PowerVR SGX 540

    Future System-on-Chip Performance (Rumors)

    CPU: Exynos 4412/5250 > Snapdragon S4 = Tegra 3 > OMAP4470/5430
    GPU: Mali-T604 > Adreno 3xx = Kal-El+ > PowerVR SGX544

    TI OMAP will still last 😦 Texas Instruments OMAP 5/6 + Power VR Series 6 looks promising, but it will be released only at the end of the year.

    What tablets to choose?

    Lenovo IdeaPad S2 = Snapdragon MSM8960 S4 + 1280 х 800 display
    ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 = Tegra 3 + 1280 x 800 display
    Lenovo IdeaPad K2 = Tegra 3 + 1920 х 1200 display
    ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF700T = Tegra 3 + 1920 х 1200 display

    I wanted a tablet with a Pixel Qi, but not just a e-reader

  81. There must be something unique about the hardware or it’ll just be another also-ran.
    – I like idea of detachable keyboard like Asus
    – see Samsung Galaxy note
    – standard battery life is 10 hours. Why not use a better battery and go for 50 hours?
    – and don’t Roger the display, mirosel, pixel qi or wait for a better non-backlit technology. spec on new pixel qi screen do not seem significantly improved over Adam screen.

  82. Unless the benefit for Adam 2 is a steep discount of 50-70% I am not in as Adam 1 is not what I expected. As a company NI(or any manufacturer) can give this benefit. So NI can count only 10% from Adam owners. My next Android tablet would be one who can promise Android’s latest release with in a month. Currently there are none.

  84. Read as can’t offer such a steep discount. iPad 3 is rumored to have a quad core although I am not in favor of ios there will be a lot of catch up in Android to bring quad Core to market by all OEMs.

  85. Hi Rohan,
    This is is great news. Wish you all the best.
    Can you please share some information on the screen options this time. I believe Pixel Qi already has an 1280 x 800 screen. A higher resolution full HD 1080p screen would be better though especially considering the the imminent release of iPad 3 with retina display.

  86. Rohan
    You said “Give me some time and I should be able to get what you need.” I have given you a year and 1. I still can’t use the android market. 2. My battery life is not even half of what you promised. 3. I can’t use the camera correctly. 3.Very few apps that work. 4.No SPECIAL FEATURE that you made a huge deal out of. 5.You mentioned a connection with google that never panned out. The list can go on. Most people don’t want to hack their tablet every 3 months. And when you do it’s still half baked.

    Bottom line is you over promised and under delivered in a HUGE way. You have done this from the very beginning. Here is another example back in September on your blog:

    Official (“update button”) Ice Cream Sandwich update in November after Google’s launch in late Oct.

    It’s January and we still don’t have it.

    If you want to be a legit company you can’t outsource your work out to somebody else. Imagine Motorola letting the public know that somebody else is writing the code for their device. That sounds so Mickey Mouse.

    There are so many choices for tablets why would somebody purchase from a company that has not followed through on their promises? You had a golden opportunity and had me believing in this pipe dream but, your window of opportunity is very narrow now. If it was only one person upset I would discount that person but it’s many you have disappointed.

  87. I totally agree , i have at several times been supporting the NI team for being so transparent and have been giving the benefit of the doubt.But now…. It has faltered one too many times,Trust is now a tricky thing that has to be earned for NI and Rohan.

    On the sideline Rohan, it might be in your best interest to keep information broadcast at a minimum and to be honest you are pushing Adam 2 for a processor that will be probably ages behind in another 3 months and going by NI’s previous launch i think you would be looking at CES time frame 2013,which will make adam 2 ancient , though i am not a believer in chip sets as far as tablets and phones are concerned i am just bringing this up since you are posting 44xx and sounds you are pretty excited about it.

    Just some of my thoughts coz i would really like to see NI succeed 🙂

    Use reliance or amazon or flipkart ,so you don’t have to worry about logistics ( remember you are an engineer thats why so many people love you here ), people would be happy to even shed an extra 25 $ for the tablet rather than paying 50 $ for fedex which just does not look good.

    Thin, lean,mean and cheap is what everyone wants the price point is just not there beyond the 300$ mark for tablets ( With Ipad and the cheap 100 $ chinese tablets and Aakash if you need to stand out it is going to need a lot of rethinking ) Adam 2 should NOT be just yet another tablet just for the heck of it.

    from what i read the experience from Adam UI has indeed made some heads turn,get back to your drawing board and harness your engineering excellence, that is the only difference between you and the bunch of other tablets out there who are just cranking out a tablet and wont be able to do it if not for Android, your guys are a pack apart and honestly i do have a lot of respect for what you do.

    From
    who was an ardent fan who was disappointed

  88. A miscommunication has occurred here. I’m not talking about smaller or larger, I could zoom the portrait view so it was the exact same size as it would be in landscape, but the reading experience is not the same IMO. A simpler experiment could be, load up a video, watch a bit in landscape, then watch a bit on it’s side in portrait. To me in portrait there just some about it that is messed up, feels weird on the eyes. My player doesn’t automatically sense orientation, so it could be said, “who watches their TV/Movies sidesways (no one really), but we do read out PDFs that way. This is what observation I trying to relay. I don’t think it’s just me. I know some people have more sensitive eyes then others. I had a friend who couldn’t see the different between 60 HZ and 75/85 Hz on a CRT monitor and so wanted to leave it at 60 Hz because it gave his wife a headache and therefore he got more time at the computer then she did. She most likely saw the different, but didn’t have enough computer know how to explain and fix the problem. Well the problem I’m having in portrait mode is something I don’t have words for, but have noticed. I chalk it up to whatever you need to do to the crystals to get the best viewing angle out of the screen, but this has introduced new problems of which I trying to explain. I don’t want to buy an iPad3, but from the rumoured specs I would be tempted. Without the try before you buy situation with the Adam I’m hoping that my concern can be understood, either addressed or not, and that I can be informed prior to any possible future purchase (be it iPad3, Transformer Prime, Adam II or what have you).

  89. Truly said.

    NI take back my paperweight adam….it reminds me everyday of a loss of trust, disillusionment of 2 years long gasbags, and my naivity and impulsiveness.
    Adding more salt to the wound is that now i can buy a Samsung galaxy tab with the same price i bought Adam. So Rohan you can imagine the wtf moments i undergo. And mind you I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE TO BLAME FOR MY DECISION TO BUY ADAM. There was a trust and as a token of support and a future dream I bought it (first time i did online prebooking). Now my finger is burnt….never ever am i going to buy/prebook from a startup….not even Aakash.

    YOU CAN REDEEM YOURSELF IF YOU BRING AN EXCHANGE PROGRAM FOR US PO1 USERS….BUT NOT LIKE FUSIONGARAGE, WHO FAILED SECONDLY WITH THEIR GRID TAB. There is a huge lesson here if you are willing to learn. The gridtab is going towards oblivion. Hope adam 2 doesnt end up like that.

    Whether you do something concrete about the exchange program or not, its up to you. Frankly i am not bothered. But it will do a lot for those disgruntled PO1 users.

  90. For a typical response:
    Omg

    a practical response:
    So?
    Make my adam1 worth the money first.
    Or Should i add more gas from a user view? Like omg have you looked at the corning glass future vision of transparent displays- will adam2 have that? How about the samsung oled window display like? How about dslr like camera? Lolz

  91. Sorry for this: an eye opener read all the comments in Engadget. you need to fight that dispopularity with Something CONCRETE

  93. After development of the prototype please make real life trials for different networks ,different countries etc.You can load all the highest downloaded apps in the market and make trials to check battery life ,sluggishness ,incompatibility issues etc etc.I would like Adam 2 to be tested for battery life ,GPS , Wifi,OS bugs and incompatibility with apps rigorously even before giving any sort of public demos and boasting about any features.5-6 hours battery life ,inadequate Wifi reception is totally unacceptable when ultra books and ipads proving (not claiming) 6-10 hours battery.

    I own a Droid Razr also and you can see a lot of people complaining about battery life ,sluggishness etc in the forums..Motorola a well established company, a legend in communication business is like this.So notion ink still in its child hood is far more better .

    This is the case with transformer prime(GPS issue) ,nokia lumia (battery issue) and many products.Hastiness
    in releasing products and in adequate quality checks/tests (in real life conditions not in the factory) will always give result like this.

  94. Well, one obvious difference with portrait is the order of the subpixels is different (r,g,b vertically rather than horizontally). Another could be the viewing angle is worse. I don’t have the LCD model, but with my PQi model, I find portrait more readable with the thicker side of the adam on the left side, than on the right side. That is certainly something to do with the viewing angle, which is rather poor in the PQi model.

  95. ps – I enjoy reading e-books (kindle etc) in portrait mode. With pdfs, most of what I read are 2-column journal articles, which are unreadable at full-width in portrait mode, and if I zoom, the scrolling is annoying. So I tend to use landscape for those.

  96. +200%. I know you can’t undo the old sales but do think of existing clients while you try to win the new ones. As without the adam1 supports their wouldn’t be this day for adam 2 to exist.

    Good luck for adam2, hope this time it all goes to plan.

  97. Rohan, While I understand that you must keep the specifics limited, I appreciate this answer as it has some actual content.
    Tablet ROMs is a great group of development horsepower, I am sure you are leveraging their efforts. We are all looking forward to a stable delivery from Notion Ink in the very near future. Hopefully including a working camera?
    Thanks for all your efforts!
    Luck,

  98. Having been a fan here, I know most of us have been unhappy about battery life of Adam. Please read the article here “http://www.talkandroid.com/reviews/apps/galaxy-nexus-rom-review-codename-android-v1-1-4/#.Txz7Q4GtjEc”.

    The knowledgeable author talks about the marked improvement of battery life with “Codename Android 1.1.4”,
    “Franco Kernel v 13.1 Nightlie” and “Faux123 Tuna Kernel v10”.

    I am yet to try this. If any one has tried this on Adam, please share the results.

  99. Rohan you have not lived up to your promise and so called vision you sold us with Adam 1.

    I am very much dissapointed with the performance of my unit and waiting desperately for some form of ICS to run on it so i can get rid of it even at half price and recover my loss.

    My friends and close relatives are using ipad2 and other android tablet and i feel ashamed to even take out Adam in front of them.

    Last few months I have been very vocal to my friends to avoid NI until they start delivering something concrete and I intend to be more vocal.

    The way I see it NI and your developers are responsible for ICS for ADAM not Tablet roms , nor volunters , nor any arrangement you might have with them.

    We all have been very patient with you being an indie company but its time you own up and take responsibility of delivering.

  100. I’m unable to understand why NI’s developers are unable to do the job at hand faster than the Tablet Roms guys. What exactly is the arrangement between you guys? These are signs customers should not take for granted. Adam 1 was a failure and if you guys cannot rectify the software issues of Adam 1 on your own, it’s aptly clear that Adam 2 will not be any different. Don’t take us for granted like you did the last time, Rohan. And do publish my comments. I’m commenting because I believe you guys have the passion and potential to bring out a good world class product. Regards.

  101. I agree, why go with the previous generation? OMAP5 is intended for tablets. Otherwise why not go for Tegra 3 – quad core +1?
    I think Transformer prime looks amazing – if they can sort out the Wifi and GPS issues.

  103. Best buy would never take a chance on Adam II after the problems with the adam 1,

    They only carry products that have support and are likely to work and not be returned in mass.

    based on what happened with adam 1, you could never convince Best Buy to take a chance on adam 2.

    The adam will not be in a large retail outlet in the USA ever under the current management, it would take selling the company to someone else that has financial backing to stand behind the product.

  104. billreyn1967, if notion ink was a partner with Google as they had stated, they they could have, it is becuase they arn’t partnered with google, but instead just relying on opensource releases to get access that they couldn’t release a stable product

  105. I would love to be able to complain about honeycomb, it is one thing to have problems with a platform, it is another thing all together to never even get it

  107. First great move on the deal with TI for the Adam 2 but I will not buy another Adam. The Adam 1 is a failure. We still do not have access to the market. I have to rely on tablet roms for a hacked way of doing it. Your internal developers, what are they doing? Tablet Roms seems to be pumping out things faster then your own stuff, you should consider hiring them full time. My battery life sucks and the wifi sucks.

    I really wanted NI to succeed and it still can but not with my money.

    Like a previous poster said, its embarrassing to bring out my Adam. I have a modified HC on it which makes it look nice but still doesn’t have the full functionality it should have. It still has a lot to do with software, if you can pull off this ice cream sandwich crap that would be great.

  108. Excellent point themave. There was no connection with google. I think they’ll have a harder time getting people to buy into the Adam 2. Hopefully people go into it with eyes open.

  109. I would have gone with ZiiLabs ZMS-40 because then you wouldn’t be so tied in what software can be run because of the graphics. Using the Jaguar platform and the Pixel Qi display they could have made a fantastic product.

  110. hi rohan

    i felt cheated when i saw the galaxy tab and the apple ipad.

    didn’t you know that your product was inferior to these before releasing it to the market.

    the design sucks. and the quality of the material used is bad.

    pl improve the design and make a lighter tablet to grab the market.

    pl take this criticism as constructive as i want you ppl to kick the best out of business.

  111. +1, Srinath!
    The first Adam was very bad. The PQi-screen is the worst screen I’ve seen since the first LCD-screens… A tablet is a screen with a computer behind. The most important thing in a tablet is the screen, and it has to be top-notch!
    I will not buy the second Adam, because I feel cheated by Notion Ink.

  112. Rohan,

    I hope you take notice of all the comments here (the majority strongly negative) and do something concrete for the early adopters. Without our support you would not be in this position of developing the next generation adam tablet.

    I, like countless others am very disappointed in the adam. I took the risk buying it and if it had the capabilities you promised then it would have been a fair decision. Having not delivered on many aspects i would like to see a complete exchange, new for pathetic old tablet.

    The screen is terrible quality (LCD) and not being fully functional after such a long time is disgraceful. I know Indian software guys are good and the best move overseas but surely there are competent programmers left in Bangalore who can come up with software updates to restore or actually provide the functionality this tablet should have had out the box.

    Please don’t cry yourself to sleep with all the negative feedback. I’m glad you are partnering with a larger company that can help to take you to the next level but you really need to step up and actually deliver. We have heard enough of your ideas and dreams (these only exist in your head and we are not seeing any of it).

  113. Hi everyone,

    Buying an Adam was alway a bet. Expectations and the resulting disappointments perhaps stemmed in part from the fact that it cost nearly as much as some of the other well-known brands. But do remember that when it was announced, it was among the few that boasted of hardware that seems commonplace today. Even today not many tablets give you full HDMI out, two USB ports and one mini-USB.

    The frustrations experienced by people can be attributed to the following:

    1. Long and unpredictable time taken for delivery. This caused much anguish and left people in no mood for compromise once the finally got the tablet. In NI’s defence, this is a startup company launching its first product. So people needed to keep ‘pre-order’ highlighted in their minds or wait around for others to test the water. The psychological impact on the market can however not be denied.

    2. No Market/Gapps/Genesis. Sideloading apps works but hardly. Those not in the US did not have Amazon either. So they were pretty much left to find apps from internet sites and that was not fun. The promise of Genesis never materialised and being left without any source for apps was very limiting. Now people did have the option to get rooted ROMs like EdenX and Beast that had Market but there was some uncertainty about warranty etc. Most importantly, the average user would never be comfortable with things like flashing, de-bricking and using custom ROMS. S/he just wants things to work. So the appeal of the tablet then becomes restricted to those who can work with go-betweens and delight at “making things work.” The argument that Google Market was for phones does not hold good any longer and arrangements should have been made to incorporate it into Eden.

    3. Eden. Eden worked, and the second version worked better. It did everything but did not exploit Adam’s hardware fully. But we would have to agree that other brands such as Samsung and Motorola similarly have limitations to usability. After a while all you have is a device lying around that can do a, b and c. If you want d, e and f you still have to get into customisation and the vendor is not going to help you there. Once again, the wonderful guys at TR gave us EdenX, Beast, Cromnia and now ICS (Cromnia being my favourite) but NI should have worked further (through the website and this blog) to formalise the relationship (going bravely where others wouldn’t go) and offer information about these ROMS to lay users in a clear and user-friendly way. Here again, power users knew what to do but average users were left grappling.

    4. Pixel Qi. It works and those who invested in it can make innovative uses of it to save battery and work under strong light/ out in the sun. However, possible scenarios need to be explained on the website or through a detailed user manual. Otherwise people are left hunting for clues on blogs, websites etc. In the absence of a voice telling you all that it could do, all you were left with was the feeling that it was not as good as Amazon Kindle.

    Summary: Adam with EdenX/Beast/Cromnia gives you 99% (taking 1% off for being error-free) functional tablet that can do a great many things. I can give a great presentation using a HP HDMI to VGA adapter, I can hook the Adam on to my external monitor and do my work. I can use an average mouse and keyboard with my Adam. I can take decent pictures and video using Adam. I can watch flash videos and surf virtually anything on the internet and much more. However, all this needs apps, workarounds and knowhow that needs to be made available in a crisp and accessible form to common folks. (I am returning to this market of the average user as that is where you get to sell in bulk). Adam is pathbreaking in many ways but most people simply don’t know how to get there. If the market NI is aiming at is power users or geeks, little needs to change, but if you want to create a buzz the kind Apple has you need to work on packaging, presentation and support. There were great inventors who made things that could do things people couldn’t imagine. But it was precisely because people couldn’t imagine by themselves that you needed someone to tell them about what they could do.

  114. Ok just taking a break from all the negative for a sec.

    I have two rooted, honeycomb pixelqi adams. They work pretty well and my wife and I use them every day for heaps of things – some days I don’t even bother booting up my laptop, and I’m looking forward to the beta of ICS, but anyways, I am wanting to tell you about “stickit” in the marketplace.

    Stickit is a video player that lets you place a running video, resize it, and drag it anywhere on the screen while you’re doing other things. Its the first instance I’ve seen of the equivalent of functional windows on android, because everything else I’ve seen says “I’ll take your whole screen – thanks”.

    Here’s something that you can use to watch videos, in many formats, in a floating resizable window, while you’re doing anything else. I’m just blown away.

    I read about this in a review from android police and bought it. only costs $2. Brilliant.

    peaceout adamfreaks

  115. Sounds pretty cool indeed, thanks Phillip! I think I’m gonna try this one.

    Cheers 🙂

  116. Adam 2 saga is going to be very interesting. Every Adam1 owner will not jump to the wagon this time. Early adapters bought Adam1 seeing the spreadsheet hardware imagining the possibilities that Adam could do. Also, it was one of the best hardware that time. This time, other Adam followers who did not buy Adam1 might not just simply buy because of the negative impressions from service, quality, software related issues. If Rohan doesn’t swing the magic wand with outstanding features on Adam 2, people might not just be conviced as it was last year. He taught customers a lesson to be cautious. I am very curious what he is going to show us with his Adam 2.
    Waiting, waiting, waiting, and I will wait and see!
    Good luck.

  117. I was an early advocate for NI and was looking forward to my Adam more than any other electronic item in a long time. After waiting too long for it, I canceled my order and bought a Xoom. Boy am I glad I did. I really feel for all of you that stuck with NI. It seems like they have taken every opportunity to disappoint. I don’t anticipate this reply to make it through the filters since none of my previous posts have ever made it through. I think once the Adam II comes out, it needs to be sent to all reputable reviewing sites (engadget, cnet, etc) and only after a positive review should anyone take the plunge.

  119. Hi Rohan,
    Its been over 6 months of complete disappointment with this purchase, probably if adam was an animal it would have been used to the cage (box) by now.. you get my drift. I am in the UK and believe if it was a local purchase here I might even have claimed mis-sold compensation.
    90% of the adam owners are disappointed with the product and services, can you answer me as to what are we supposed to do with the product in hand before you start boasting about new product when your first product is not even in working order as promised. Keep your ideas of new products with you until you don’t fix the present situation in hand. this is utter disappointment for me.
    GET THE ADAM-I WORKING FIRST BEFORE YOU LET YOUR BIG IDEAS OF ADAM-II OR WHATEVER YOU WANNA CALL IT OUT. I AM ONE OF VERY CROSSED AND DISAPPOINTED ADAM OWNER.

    NEW BUYERS PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM NEW STARTUPS UNTIL THERE IS A REVIEW OTHERWISE ITS JUST WASTE OF MONEY AND UNWANTED/UNFULFILLED HOPE, do not trust promises, PROMISES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN….

    by the way tried to sell and would not even get 200 quids on ebay….. disappointing.

    mod’s be sport and post this comment….

  120. Rohan,
    I would like to read more about your plans for adam 2, considering how much adam 1 has become part of my everyday work/study/recreation cycle, I can’t wait to see the innovations of the next generation. Please post more details, and soon!

    Off topic, fascinating article on the legal battles over mobile technology:
    “www.androidpolice.com/2012/01/25/editorial-android-may-be-winning-or-not-losing-battles-against-apple-in-court-but-dont-expect-an-end-to-the-lawsuits-any-time-soon/”

    Peaceout adamfreaks

  121. Hi Phillip!

    Great article! Thanks for the reference!

    While my experience with the Adam is somewhere in the middle ground, you seem to be one of the most satisfied Adam users, in contrast with other owners like adamfreko and several others. I disagree with adamfreko that he represents 90% of Adam purchasers, but it does appear from the many recent negative postings that those who are unsatisfied are more vocal than those of us who like our Adams.

    My interest has gone up considerably with the Alpha release of ICS. Even though the camera still doesn’t work at all, and there are several other items still missing, I have found this to be a very useful tool once more.

    One of the greatest improvements is that Bluetooth now works as expected and my Logitech keyboard now works flawlessly with my Alpha ICS Adam. Installing the Gapps update gives me access to the Google Apps market and almost everything I’ve downloaded works. (There is one major exception. Video related apps like Netflix appear to work until you actually try to watch a movie. Then all you get is a black screen as the play bar progresses across the bottom)

    I have great expectations for the continued development of ICS for the Adam, and would appreciate hearing more from folks who are enjoying their Adam One (OOOh, a literary reference to Old TV ;-0 )

    I would also encourage those folks who say they don’t use their Adam to download the CWM update, the Alpha ICS update and the Gapps update from the Tablet ROMs site. Rename the CWM zip file to update.zip and follow the simple instructions posted on Tablet ROMS below the links to those files. Once you have the Google market installed you will find a bunch of useful free apps for your Adam.

    One point I will make. My Adam test machine locked up the other day and was completely foobar until I re-installed Alpha ICS and Gapps. I had to re-install all the apps I had previously downloaded. So, I encourage you to use the backup facility provided by the ClockWorkMod and backup your system and apps to the external SD card so you can recover from possible failures.

    And remember: This is Alpha software running on first run hardware, so you expect this to be an adventure! (as opposed to a quiet stroll through the park)

    Luck,

  122. adamfreko: See my reply to Phillip. I strongly suggest you take about 2 hours this weekend and install the Alpha software from Tablet ROMs. I think you will find it a much more useful tablet that is was before.
    Luck,

  123. I would like to say that despite many disappointments my Adam is working very well since the time of AC3. I have tried most of the roms created by tabletrom guys. The latest ics (deadcreme) works very well. Given that this only alpha the performance of Adam is very good. I am just hoping that Notion Ink will release the updated version with hw acceleration, camera etc soon.

    Rohan has already mentioned that he will continue to support the adam1 users and hopefully he keeps his promise.

    I have been reasonably happy with may adam and it is functional enough for me use it on a daily basis. I would like to wish all the best to Rohan and the team but I would like him to keep this channel of communication open because it is the only way for us to know what is happening.

  124. To build some positiveness here I think it will worth while to mention how I use my Adam on daily basis

    — Day starts with checking personal emails (Gmail app) and corporate emails( via TouchDown app)
    — Kindle is a savior on an hour and half commute to NYC
    — Not much of use @ work but handy watching youtube @lunch
    — Dropbox made syncing school study material and I dont carry laptop at all as almost everything readable using Acrobat Reader/Office/Aldiko…..
    — Not a huge fan of games on tablets but its great to fly some birds on a descent screen
    — Browsing experience is descent so far just that I am not so good at typing with thumbs but gets thing done when needed

    I can brag about it all day but the bottom line is that I don’t feel need of a laptop now a days for routine housekeeping stuff.

    Cheers,
    N_S_D
    @AC3

  126. I would like to Hv one tablet and i think this’ll be best for me….
    somebody please tell me the specification of adam 2 and when it’ll be available….

  127. @dwarf4242
    Hi!
    Good response to adamfreko, I started to respond but didn’t think I could add anything helpful so I stopped, but I’m glad you commented.

    In all of this its worth noting that I am still running the very first honeycomb that came out. I never did get around to AC3, which by most accounts is pretty good. I admit that occasionally my wife complains if her adam doesn’t switch off properly (no warning, just power down) but considering the early HC release I don’t find it surprising.

    I’ve gotta say I am REALLY LOOKING FORWARD to the beta of ICS, but others, like you Dale, have found even the alpha to be ok.

  128. @HVENSKY, I Amsterdam
    so appreciative of your comments that I was motivated to respond And pu in my 2 cents as every point you make are validated by my own experiences. Not being able to deal with my disillusionment I gifted my Adam PQI and would.up with a Transformer/HP touchpad combo that still leave me waiting for a reader tablet with a respectable battery life. I am hoping that one of the new Asus tablets might work but LCD screens. don’t work for me. I still feel that Rohan has created a network best suited to provide tne electripnic assistant that I long for. A1 was a gteat Intro but the hype and expectations were for a product not possible with the hardware/software constraints that in manyways still exist today. I just wish for a platform that can evolve; able to grow and incorporate the evolution of software created for it and not a rooted ferocity. An OS that is organically and not transmutated AKA Android.

Leave a comment