Notion Ink Adam (the one with a PixelQi display) gets final specs, price and date

[thomman]

when I saw this thread with "104 replies" I thought Adam is generating such huge buzz.. looks like the thread has now become Mirasol + Amazon thread

[SimonSays]

Interesting.. but seems as some of these ereaders are starting to be just more like tablets or smaller versions of a laptop or even hdtv screen. Why go so big when you could just use your computer to do the same job? I thought purpose to go smaller was to make it more portable? I just don't get it- maybe I am not cool enough or something

[Marseille]

Originally Posted by SimonSays

Interesting.. but seems as some of these ereaders are starting to be just more like tablets or smaller versions of a laptop or even hdtv screen. Why go so big when you could just use your computer to do the same job? I thought purpose to go smaller was to make it more portable? I just don't get it- maybe I am not cool enough or something

It's not about cool. You either have the need or you don't. Laptops aren't a great form factor for multimedia unless you generally always have your laptop when you're consuming multimedia, and even then... Reading a book on my acer aspire means either reading at a desk or some awkward gymnastics in a less formal setting. It's too bulky, heat issues abound, the balance is all wrong and it's more generally uncomfortable to hold -- and that's an important piece of the puzzle. It's about more than specs.

In regard to movies, there are times when you want something portable enough, but now, with HDMI out and some decent low powered GPUs that can really handle HDTV, you can take your portable player from a setting where you need one, then plug it into an HDTV in a setting where you don't need one seamlessly and keep your total amount of media transfers and streaming down.

Adam isn't an ereader. It's a multimedia tablet on which ereading is a fairly comfortable task. Some people are going to prefer a dedicated reader. Others would prefer a more functional item, without having to wrestle a laptop into submission. This class of items means people like me are finally going to get served. If you don't fall into the class of people that wants this particular combination of features, that's okay too.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by athlonkmf

What ad campaign? All apple did for the ipad is one keynote. Just because every site on the web hyped it up doesn't mean the ipad had a huge ad campaign.

It will as time goes on though.

They know just the Apple fans that buy all their products will snap up all the initial runs of the iPad, so it's a waste to advertise it now when it will sell out for a while anyway.

Ads will start after the first couple of runs sell out and they need to get people in stores to try them out and walk out with one.

[A4-]

Originally Posted by badbob001

Are you asking for more resolution or a larger screen?
[snip]
It would really be something to have an 8" Mirasol display with a resolution like 1600x1200 (250dpi).

That's exactly what I'm hoping to get. (high resolution)
And since the screen is color you have 3 subpixels per pixel, so in one direction you have 750 dpi (anti-aliassing) when reading text.

[dmaul1114]

Originally Posted by SimonSays

Interesting.. but seems as some of these ereaders are starting to be just more like tablets or smaller versions of a laptop or even hdtv screen. Why go so big when you could just use your computer to do the same job? I thought purpose to go smaller was to make it more portable? I just don't get it- maybe I am not cool enough or something

The form factor of a PC or laptop sucks for reading.

If you're reading more than novels, a small 5" or 6" screen isn't going to be enough. E-ink may not be enough. Lack of ability to mark up easily isn't enough etc.

My Kindle is 100% adequate for reading novels. But for my work reading I need a larger screen (A4 PDFs), ability to highlight and jot notes in the margin etc. For magazines I need a larger screen and color etc.

And if it can do all that stuff, might as well tack on PDA functions, internet, e-mail, video etc. to make the tablet even more useful to me.

[slayda]

I admit to being very ignorant concerning 3G but can someone explain the advantage of having 3G without a phone service provider? Can you somehow use it with a phone provider with whom you currently have a 3G phone?

Please help!!

[Marseille]

Originally Posted by slayda

I admit to being very ignorant concerning 3G but can someone explain the advantage of having 3G without a phone service provider? Can you somehow use it with a phone provider with whom you currently have a 3G phone?

Please help!!

I'm not entirely sure what you mean. A tablet of this nature and size isn't likely to be used as a phone often, though there is nothing to stop you from setting up voip and BT headset if you were so inclined.

3G, of course, is cellular data. The advantage of having it is the ability to access data like multimedia, email, and the web generally from anywhere any time. Do you need it? Well that depends on you. If you already have 3g on your phone and you can use it as a wifi hotspot, or if you have lots of wifi access through other sources, it might not be particularly helpful to you. I certainly wouldn't sign up for it on a tablet, but then I'm a little out of the mainstream too.

[Crowl]

I'm not sure how common they are elsewhere, but certainly in the uk the mobile phone companies have previously sold mobile broadband deals as an alternative to adsl/cable connections since the speed is sufficient for a bit of email, surfing etc. and in a number of those deals they bundle a laptop and a usb dongle as part of the monthly contract and I am sure that as they become more widely available these various tablets will also end up in the same sort of situation since they seem ideal for the target market.

For the more technically aware you do have to assume that they have better alternatives to paying the $100+ premium on the hardware just to have the chance to payout even more each month and thus the wifi-only models will be more popular with them.

[DawnFalcon]

Sure...except...the device needs to support USB 3G dongles.

[John Bailey]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Sure...except...the device needs to support USB 3G dongles.

Depends. Some have a sim slot built in. Not American products I would imagine, as I think you have several incompatible networks.

[DawnFalcon]

Great, you get to..er..either take the SIM out your phone, or to have a second bill. Meh.

[leebase]

Am I the only one noticing we have a plethora of vaporware? Who is Notion Ink that we should expect that they can deliver anything? If all that needed to be done was buy abc screen, slap it one def processor, use google Android and "ta da" instant iPad competitor -- don't you think Sony, Dell, HP or even Google would have done it already?

It's not just Notion Ink -- but LBook and all these other "never had a product" companies we're spending so much time talking about. And let's not forget the JooJoo too in the vaporware list.

If these are Apple's competitors -- it's embarrassing. Seems you don't need a billion dollars of r&d, distribution organizations, manufacturing pipelines, retail, marketing, and on and on. All you need are 5 or 6 folks with Indian last names and the ability to put specs on a website and folks will spend hours drooling.

Lee

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by leebase

Am I the only one noticing we have a plethora of vaporware? Who is Notion Ink that we should expect that they can deliver anything? If all that needed to be done was buy abc screen, slap it one def processor, use google Android and "ta da" instant iPad competitor -- don't you think Sony, Dell, HP or even Google would have done it already?

It's not just Notion Ink -- but LBook and all these other "never had a product" companies we're spending so much time talking about. And let's not forget the JooJoo too in the vaporware list.

If these are Apple's competitors -- it's embarrassing. Seems you don't need a billion dollars of r&d, distribution organizations, manufacturing pipelines, retail, marketing, and on and on. All you need are 5 or 6 folks with Indian last names and the ability to put specs on a website and folks will spend hours drooling.

Lee

Obviously notion ink is not exactly an A1 supplier, I myself like the specs but am very worried about this company. But have you considered the alternative, that the others are taking a wait-and-see attitude, thinking that the iPad might actually be a sales disaster? A small company can exist on selling to the reader niche, but that won't interest the big guys.

And there are other problems -- contracts with publishers and other content providers. And last not least the OS and interface. Android is not quite ready for such big screens, Chrome is still way off, and Windows 7 may not be ideal for touch only devices.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

A small company can exist on selling to the reader niche, but that won't interest the big guys.

The "reader niche" is already being serviced by Amazon, Sony, Barnes and Noble -- not to mention a slew of wannabe's and meetoo's.

There's no way the iPad is going to be a flop. There are already 70+ million devices that run the iPhone OS -- the platform is already proven as is the company, Apple.

I agree that Android isn't quite ready and Windows not particularly appropriate. Which kinda goes to my point that we are not at the "slap parts together" part of the process.

I think there is room for more than one company in any segment. Even with a runaway successful iPad -- that won't mean that nobody else can succeed with a tablet. I just think these never-did-anything startups are getting WAY more attention than the likelihood of their success warrants.

Lee