Notion Ink Adam tablet to run $399 and up

After months of anticipation we finally have pricing information for the Notion Ink Adam tablet… and a little bit of information about the potential launch dates. While we’ve seen a lot of Android tablets introduced this year, the Adam Tablet garnered a lot of attention this year for a few distinctive features.

It could be one of the first tablets to ship with a Pixel Qi display which is as easy to read outdoors as indoors and which uses 80% less power when in outdoor/black and white mode. It could also be one of the first tablets to ship with an NVIDIA Tegra 2 chipset.

But when will it launch? After a series of delays, Slashgear reports that Notion Ink will begin manufacturing the tablet in November. But it won’t go on sale in the US until it receives FCC certification, which could mean a launch date sometime between November 2010 and January 2011. The tablet will also reportedly have a starting price of $399.

It turns out there will actually be three different models, though, with the top price coming in at $498. Here’s a run-down:

Adam Tablet with LCD display and WiFi for $399
Adam Tablet with LCD display and 3G (and WiFi) for $449
Adam Tablet with Pixel Qi display and WiFi for $449
Adam Tablet with Pixel Qi display, 3G and WiFi for $498

Those prices are subject to change of course, although the company is actually hoping to bring them down before launch, rather than up.

You can find more details at Slashgear. But it sounds like Notion Ink has upgraded a lot of specs since the company started showing off an early prototype earlier this year. All models of tablet are now expected to come with 802.11b/g/n WiFi, GPS and a rotating camera that can flip 185 degrees. There will also be a content store for applications, media, books, and other digital content.

Update: Notion Ink’s Rohan Shravan has weighed in, officially confirming the launch details and pricing.

http://notionink.wordpress.com/2010/08/12/inception/

Posted on Thursday, August 12th, 2010, 11:00 am by Brad Linder | 14 Comments

aftermath

I know people like to make lists of features with the implication that any device which conforms is perfect. I know this device pretends to hit what many think they’re looking for. However, there’s a different between purchasing the latest revision of an established product from an entrenched player in the market and buying the initial release of an emerging product type from a fledging company. Don’t get me wrong. I am not discouraging the purchase of this product. On the contrary, it is the first device on this profile on this site that I’ve ever seriously considered inviting into my life (and I probably will). However, my expectations have been adjusted accordingly in terms of acknowledging that I will be less customer and more canary in the mine shaft.
Anon

Pixel Qi screen only $100 more? Then why is the DIY costing $275 ?
That is a big difference that retail DIY is costing over OEM, why that much?

The DIY screen is now back up for sale it seems, but it might not be the new one that allows side viewing (the early batch might have been these, we are wondering if the new batch is the newer screen)?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1156787532 Justin Robillard

Darn NotionInk. I was just about ready to give up and just buy an iPad before watching the SlashGear video. Still, 4-6 months feels like an awful long time to wait.

Also, I wonder what tablets featuring PixelQi screens will ultimately mean for eInk. I suppose the viewing angle is still superior on eInk screens, but it’s hard to imagine what advantage will be left besides that.
Anon

You are right. $50 more. Not a bad deal for Pixel Qi version. Agreed retail DIY would cost more. But, would rather have seen the DIY price around $99.00.

Is the DIY one being sold now the newer one, or the old one?
Monkeyking

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” that is too say better to have an ‘open’ device that requires a bit more work to make into what you want rather then buy an iPad with all its restrictions under Steve’s Faustian bargain.

LOL I think I mixed my metaphors!

So maybe I’ll just say I’d rather avoid the hell that Steve tricks us into entering when we buy his pretty, shiney products. “Better to struggle with heaven then lounge in iThing hell”
Mike

You’re right of course, but what established devices by known players are you talking about? It’s the iPad which is in it’s first iteration, and… well Archos… And… no one, unless you like the ARM11 tablets from the likes of Augden, and I don’t think they should count for anything except for traps for the unwary.
http://nextparadigms.com Lucian Armasu

If anyone was wondering, Adam won’t come with Gingerbread, but Froyo:

http://nextparadigms.com/2010/07/31/notion-ink-adam-tablet-will-have-froyo-why-this-still-disappoints/
http://liliputing.com/ Brad Linder

It’s a lot cheaper and easier to produce mass quantities for system builders than to package a standalone product that will sell to a relatively small group of hobbyists. While the $275 price tag does seem particularly high, Mary Lou Jepsen made it clear from the start that the DIY screen would cost a lot more.

Also, if you look more carefully you’ll see that the Pixel Qi version actually just runs $50 more.
Anonymous

Hard to say until someone gets one and posts the details. The first ones sold were from a sample production, but hopefully the ones in stock now are the newer ones.

Though we should probably wait till they have mass production going with retail models to be surer… the improved version not only improves viewing angles but also the contrast ratio.

Newer eBook readers like the new Kindle with the 50% increased screen contrast are still better for reading but the Pixel Qi is definitely a nice “do-everything” solution.
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MonkeyKing1969

My worry will be how fast it is when doing what ist is supposed to do. I think for all these tablet devices people will expect a ‘quick’ & ‘smooth’ device. They want to touch an icon and have an app open. They want to drag/rotate/expand a picture/ebook and have an instant response.

In some ways I care less about raw processing power or unique abilities, and more about how well it does every day tasks.
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Gdmiles1

Vapor…

Notion Ink Adam tablet to run $399 and up

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