Leaked: Notion Ink Adam prices, App Market, Multitasking...

 

Following the first news of the delay, a lot of people have been wondering if Notion Ink will really be able to deliver on their promise of an "open" alternative to the Apple iPad, as was promised at the start of this year. We've got a leak on details about the upcoming Adam - it looks like we have a winner on our hands.

 

The company is working on a deal to shave off a further $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: $375-$399
LCD Adam with Wi-Fi & 3G: $425-$449
PixelQi Adam with Wi-Fi: $425-$449
PixelQi Adam with Wi-Fi & 3G: $450-$498

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.

Genesis, Android market support
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 PixelQI 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.

A new implementation of multitasking on the Android OS
On top of all this, the Adam will feature a unique implementation of multitasking, where you will be able to interact with multiple applications at the same time. To complement the PixelQi 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.

Unreal engine support
Androids have traditionally lacked the graphics capabilities of an iPod or iPad, though we’ve seen versions flexing its graphical capabilities. Sony Ericsson is working on an Android 3.0 PSP smartphone, and the Galaxy S is no stranger to 3D games. nVidia is expected to launch 3D titles that will leverage the graphical power of the Tegra chip. We’ve seen them demonstrating Unreal 3 demos at trade shows in the past.

Eve, an upcoming smartphone?
Riffing off the hype cycle, it seems that the company is also rumoured to be working on Adam 2, and a smartphone called Eve. Watch this space!