Firstain

The news that techno-geeks all over the world have been waiting for has finally been revealed. Yes, Notion Ink have given the pricing, availability and lot more spicy news regarding it's already-popular tablet -- Adam.

The beginning

We covered this story on Firstain first in February - the arrival of an iPad competitor (read killer) called the Adam Tablet PC from India. The tech specs not only matched that of Apple's iPad but few things, such as the Pixel Qi Display, proved to be an additional boon over Apple's counterpart. This got many geeks all over the world pretty excited about the Adam.

The downfall

Ever since Notion Ink received an overwhelming response for Adam, nothing has been going right for them internally. For starters, the huge demand for it, way before its expected launch put the company in a twist. Few investors started suggesting changes for which there wasn't even any need. Internal conflicts such as these led to Notion Ink delaying the launch of the widely awaited Tablet to later dates, which was then slapped with another delay in the launch.

The Cause

In the interest of transparency and disclosure, Notion Ink has released a slide explaining exactly why there’s been a delay in the launch of Adam:

It all started when differences crept between the firm and its first investor. He was the man responsible to take the company's graph from the Peak of Expectations to the Trough of Disillusionment by suggesting some unwanted moves such as scrapping the million dollar app competition, suggesting a shift to Intel architecture, Windows 7, and (wait for this) turning the Adam into a net-book! A year’s worth of insider details can be found on the above graph.

The Rise

Thankfully enough for all the Adam fans, the company decided against the first investor's tactics and choose to stick to the original design and specs - bringing joy to all. Not only that, Notion Ink went with their full force in the process of recovery, signing a new investor earlier in June. Another thing which appears to be almost certain now is that the Adam will head to the US first, and then to India. Pretty much the opposite of what we had reported back in June.

Adam....and Eve?

Okay, so this was the Adam. Soon after it has been completed, work will be started on 2 new projects - Adam 2 and Eve. But what is this Eve? Well, as the rumors go, Eve will be seeing further iterations that will retain the industrial design and UI of the Adam, but expand it to options that include Qualcomm Snapdragon or Marvell SoC and a cheaper LCD screen. Impressive, ain't it?

Finally......the Price

We've heard that Notion Ink is working on a deal to further reduce the cost of the Adam by $25 from the end-user price. After securing their last round of funding, Notion Ink is coming out with four versions of the tablet at launch. All versions will be running the same UI and share the same internal specs and features.

LCD Adam with Wi-Fi: $399

LCD Adam with Wi-Fi & 3G: $449

PixelQi Adam with Wi-Fi: $449

PixelQi Adam with Wi-Fi & 3G: $498

(*$25 off on all 4 versions depending on the outcome of the deal)

These prices look very encouraging, and not too far from their first declared price, which the founders later said was a misquote. If we were to do conversion on XE.com, the starting price of the entry level Adam comes to around Rs. 18,000, topping at around Rs. 23,500. Notion Ink plans to further subsidise this tablet with discounts for students and universities.

The All New App Store

The good news is that Adam will be able to run apps from the Android Market, with a separate platform for software custom-made for the Adam on an app store called Genesis. Their own store will provide apps, music, movies, and “millions of books at aggressive prices”.

Office and Email

Notion Ink is said to be working on a core set of apps that will be better suited to the Pixel Qi screen, including an office suite that promises to be a lot better than apps available on the Android market. The company has developed an indigenous email system “which can be used by an organization to secure, save and transmit data using their own servers”. Adam will also come with preloaded third-party apps, and is counting on 340 registered developers, who will receive the SDK shortly.

Unique Implementation of Multitasking

The Adam will feature a unique implementation of multitasking where a user will be able to interact with multiple applications at the same time. To complement the Pixel Qi screen, the UI will mimic the behavior of a magazine. You can also use the USB port to boot, debug, update the OS from 2.2 to 3.0 in the future, or run any OS you fancy on it!

Availability

It all depends on the FCC, really. With manufacturing set to begin in early November, Notion Ink plan to submit Adam to the FCC either that month or early December. Their testing can take anything between two weeks and twelve weeks, meaning there’s a November 2010 to January 2011 window in which the tablet could be launched. If approval is secured in November, Notion Ink will be shipping Adam to the US shelves as soon as possible. If approval doesn’t come through until January, however, then the retail launch will be at CES 2011, a year after the first prototype made its debut.

Firstain's Verdict

The Adam Tablet looks set to be THE iPad killer for sure. Improvising on specs, matched with even competitive price tags, i see no reason why Adam won't be popular. The only factor differentiating Adam and the iPad, according to Firstain, will be the quality. The user experience. Apple have known to be the kings of user satisfaction as their products, right from the moment they are bought, serve as a luxurious experience for the users - which definetely is a key factor in choosing between 2 brands. Lets hope Notion Ink can stand up to it.

Please let us know what are your thoughts on this in the comments section.

Via Slashgear (1), (2)

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