Notion Ink Adam delayed, this time investors are to blame (updated!)
By Joanna Stern 
posted August 10th 2010 11:09AM
posted August 10th 2010 11:09AM
The last time we brought you news of Notion Ink's long awaited Adam things weren't looking good, but we had some hope since its CEO Rohan Shravan assured us that it would hit some markets in Q3. He also promised that a pre-order page for the Tegra 2-powered, Pixel Qi-sporting slate would launch soon. It really does pain us to say this, but it doesn't look like any of that's going to be happening anytime soon -- we've received word that the company has lost a great deal of cash and that some of its major investors walked away a few weeks ago. As we've heard it, the company missed its July / August timeline to ramp up manufacturing because of a very big loss from an early investor. As such, the India-based company had to look for new funding, and apparently seek out a new manufacturer. We're told they've secured more cash now, but things are on shaky ground. Shravan wouldn't comment on the news, but he did tell us that he still plans to bring the Adam to market before the end of 2010. We admire that persistence and certainly believe the Adam is one of the more innovative tablets out there, but we're gonna hold on to these tissues until we see an order page and some real evidence that things are turning around for the start-up.
Updated: Slashgear has an in-depth rundown of Notion Ink's saga. We've still been told that the company has been delayed in bringing the Adam to market because of funding issues, though it has now acquired more cash. Apparently, if all goes as planned, it will begin manufacturing in November and ship later that month or in December. That lines up with what Shravan told us, but again, we will believe it when we see it.
Update 2: Here's Shravan's official statement...
"We will have the device before the year ends. It will be introduced at a major event after which you can order it online. It has to be placed strategically, as this is our maiden effort. Whatever has happened cannot be changed, but with the support we are getting from all, we might just become a part of the history. Also on the pricing, all the 3 devices will be lower than even the basic model of iPad."
Pbbbbbbbbbbt. Boo.
@Matthew
anybody really surprised? I'm not.
@TomSawyer Why must the coolest things be on their way to vaporware land while crap like the Augen Touch is released everyday? WHY :(
I'm looking at you too, Emblaze First Else. You were my next phone.
Sigh. Always have low expectations. Every time you raise em, you get disappointed. I still want this so bad. But I'm still keeping expectations low. So many disappointments in the tech world. Stupid money.
@TomSawyer
I'm with you. I never fully expected this to come to market early, and I would be surprised if it came at all. The distinct feeling that I got from the numerous presentations was a lack of infrastructure (or discussion about it) but lots of idealistic talk about 'possibilities' of such a tablet. I think the giveaway for me was the Tegra development board running the device prototype device. It was only a feeling..
I'm sorry to read this news.
@Matthew
Idk why people are surprised, even if this came to market they obviously don't have enough investor security or confidence in them to have any type of marketing campaign for anyone but engadgeters to even know about this.
The pixel qi screen was cool, but by the time this is coming out, the ipad 2 and droidpad will be out and likely dominating the market. Too little, too late, next.
@MagnetMan
I mean, I understand that the growing pains of a small company, especially when you do things like relocating HQ, changing ODMs, et cetera, and the Tegra 2 + PixelQi + custom Android apps are something of new territory... But it just sounds like mismanagement at every level, and a small company being pushed around by the money really drowned these guys.
It's sad, too, since the prototype looked half decent. Let's hope they/someone else eventually gets this to market.
@Matthew I think Engadget is reading this article wrong. the Slashgear article explains why there have been delays and infrequent information updates between CES and a few weeks ago. Notion Ink currently have the investor support they need, agreements with the ODM manufacturer, and are completing durability testing right now. I don't think that it is a stretch to say that the tablet will be available by year's end if not sooner.
@NikAmi In fact, here are a few of the last pages of the article. Read them and decide for yourself. Pay special attention to the last sentence:
Come June, Notion Ink were touting their “Most Business Friendly” email app as a key strength of the Adam software suite, their engineers having been working on custom software since the get-go. Shortly after, the first capital arrived and the third ODM was agreed; however Notion Ink’s investor proved reluctant to step out and allow alternate VCs to move in. Eventually – with would-be buyers complaining of infrequent blog updates, little in the way of public information and no fixed release dates – a new investor was secured in early June and the team once more began to grow. Prior to the investor news going public, Notion Ink’s engineers completed engineering verification testing (EVT) with their new ODM and launched their alpha App Store.
Since then, the Notion Ink blog has seen 1m hits, 31 applications and the underlying OS have been finalized, and the company’s unique multitasking system has shifted from idea through proof of concept to working model. Shortly prior to DVT, the Notion Ink team had grown to 85 members, and after the internal release of the Adam SDK the third ODM design hit product verification testing (PVT).
In the second part of our Notion Ink coverage, we’ll be talking about what the company has been doing during their extra development time, how the hardware and software has been evolving since the last functional prototype we saw, and hopefully showing you screenshots of the company’s custom UI. We’ll also have some tidbits on Notion Ink’s next-gen models, and best of all, the first public news on release dates.
@NikAmi
I already e-mailed endgadget about their mistake, but it seems like they are a bit reluctant to update this...
Even Rohan himself commented on the fact that engadget is wrong:
Rohan Shravan said, on August 10, 2010 at 21:34: I would say wrong interpretation!
@Zorkman Beleive me we are not wrong. There was a delay. Maybe they have more cash now, but this thing will not hit the market in early Q3 as promised.
@Joanna Stern They might be off by a bit, but its not the dreary, no-end-in-sight-and-this-is-probably-vaporware image that the article presents. Just look at the comments and you'll see how people interpreted this article. Then look at the Slashgear article and you'll see how different the comments are. Those comments are full of optimism and joy that the release date is coming soon, here its all doom and gloom.
@NikAmi Take it how you like, but I'm saying this thing keeps getting pushed back. It's sad, and I wish it was another way. I say that a few times. They lost funding, they got it back, but it's still a delay on a product that we want to see...
@JONNNathannn
I totally hear you man!! The First Else from Emblaze was looking really sweet, especially for a true Linux device.
It's also sad to see the Notion Ink heading to the Vapor-Zone... :(
@NikAmi
While you may be right about the different "tone" of the articles and comments on the two websites, I don't think it's out of place to say that the Notion Ink Adam is heading down a path that we've seen many other "amazing" products walk on...
@Joanna Stern
you portrait a very gloomy future for NI, while this is completely contradictory as to what slashgear cited, and even Rohan (from Notion Ink itself) has said you misinterpreted it.
on engadget all reactions are negative, while on slashgear and http://notionink.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/interesting-article-on-slashgear/ they are positive
There must be a reason for that discrepancy...
Maybe you could try to get an interview with Rohan and let him clear things up? people are clearly interested in this story.
"Also on the pricing, all the 3 devices will be lower than even the basic model of iPad."
Whoa.... Adam vs Goliath!!!
@Matthew
Instead of whining about the delay, or predicting the direst of dooms, I'll do something crazy. I'm going to take them at their words, these guys put in way too much work to settle on vaporware. And whining about something you don't yet have being delayed is pretty silly. It's not like you had a lollipop and they took it away, you had a Sears catalog with pictures of lime and molasses lollipops.
Just calm down. They have a three year window, and the iPad will peak next Spring, so let them take their time and do this right.
@NikAmi
Engadget got it spot on. Could be the positivity is due to Slashgear getting an exclusive interview. Long shot, I know
@Joanna Stern slashgear has an exclusive with NotionInk and you are jealous. This article is just a little bit of clever blackmail. Give us the same exclusive as Slashgear else we will spoil your party!
@gc72
Yeah, that's the way a 12 year old would look at this.
What? You're not 12?
@Dinochicken
True...this article is portraying the product as if its a fake KIRF from schewan.... With 85 ppl working on an innovative product doing an entrepreneurial debut ..there are bound to be ups and downs....Launching a global product is much much difficult than writing an article in the confines of engadget...
@Dinochicken
Might come as a surprise; most vaporware products don't just appear out of thin air one day then disappear the next. It's a prolonged process as they stumble about from one investor to the next, produce several almost-working hardware iterations, announcing delay after delay - always blaming some mystery partner, spouting various half-truths along the way to keep the whole scheme / scam ticking over.
Seen it before. Never amazed that people continue to fall for it.
Give them credit though, it's more original than the 411 scam.
@sakz
Comparatively, posting a comment on Engadget is a lot easier than writhing an article, and requires a lot less thought, intelligence or literary skill, as your comment clearly demonstrates!
@Matthew I think it's really sad that blogging has sunk to such a low level. Obviously Slashgear's article was posted first, but because Engadget has a higher readership, the thousands of tech blogs and sites out there are reporting their own rehashing of this article which has been shown to be negatively bias and factually flawed. So now there are hundreds, if not thousands, of sites out there proclaiming that the Adam is yet again delayed and is searching for new investors when that couldn't be further from the truth. All these sites has to do, and many of the commenters here for that matter, was to click through to the original article to get the full story. Instead, they chose a distortion of the facts in a nicely packaged form and ran with it, ethics or journalistic practices be damned. It's like with Wikipedia, if what you are writing depends on the factual accuracy of what is contained in the article, you click through to the referenced text and verify for yourself. Unfortunately, today's tech writers and bloggers are either too lazy or to stupid to do even the most minimal amount of research before posting disparaging articles to their sites.
@NikAmi
The Slashgear piece was basically a press release. Thankfully most bloggers aren't as stupid, gullible or as lazy as you, and have saw through this
You want them all to re-hash the same press release? Don't like free speech? Piss of.
@suicidebob Next time you want to call someone stupid, make sure you spell check your entry for any misspelled three letter words. Moron.
@srikanth That is what caught my eye and made it a must buy... guy?
@Teslanaut I share your philosophy of life. Some people keep on insisting that I should have higher expectations. They keep themselves getting disappointed, I don't.
Oh Adam, I banish you from the garden and from this day....oh, sorry wrong Adam.
@genomecop
LMAO
this was the tablet I'd been waiting for... good chance Apple will end up getting some of my money now
@McHoffa Did you see the update?
Cheaper than the basic iPad and still on the way! (of course they'd say that, but if it's true...)
This is so mine. I wanted a Win7 tablet, but screw that.
*poof* as more iPad killer vaporware fades from memory
@adamjustadam
*clicks the minus button* Poof, indeed.
@Luke It took ages for there to be decent alternatives to the iPhone (thankfully we have lots today).
I really hoped that in the tablet world we wouldn't have to wait so long. Where is my nice android tablet :(
@adamjustadam I really want this to not be vaporware.
@adamjustadam
Sounds like someone is afraid that if this sees the light of day that they might have ipad purchase remorse.
Let's face it: By the time this comes to market, better and more viable products will be released that can meet or exceed the Adam's specifications.
This is nothing more than an evolution of vaporware - cloudware. You can see it, experience it, but can't have enough of them to appease us all.
@dragonfli Not really, tablets are moving at a glacial pace and this one had great specs and features.
noooooo please dont kill it, its the one tablet that iam looking forward to :(
Funding idea: Preorders.
@Luke
[Nods Head]
@Luke: After you.
You do know that if you preorder and they fail to ship due to bankruptcy, you won't get your money back.
@xyglyx
Yes, I do. I don't believe that preorder cash would be enough to push the Adam into production, but I bet the numbers would be strong enough to convince fence-sitting investors.
By the way, this isn't exactly vaporware. Dude's trying his best. You want some vaporware? ICD Gemini.
Hang on tight Shravan. You've GOT to make this happen!
@Xyned
Shravan: Yes i will , give me money , just support is not enough .. you wanted flash , i will give you flash .. no matter how many years it takes.
i dont understand why no Large tech company isnt scooping these guys up and releasing the project under their own brand. Notion Ink has done all the leg work already.
Cmon lenovo,Asus,Nec,Sony etc get on the ball..at least acquire the tech.
@neeko18 WHAT technology? Seriously .... a screen that they obviously have issues with getting out the door in a plastic case, wake up it's like telling them to scoop up the Courier technology ....
@adamjustadam
Wow, when you put it like that...
"Computers!? Just some fancy pants typewriter hooked up to a TV thing!"
"Cars? Just some metal on wheels."
"The radio? Just an electric noise maker!"
Light bulbs?! Don't get me started on light bulbs. Just gas in metal and glass."