Tag Archives: slate

Notion Ink Tablet Goodness!

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Update: 8.4

So Rohan has been busy lately. Not only has he managed to update his blog, he has managed to get the site looking quite snazzy. Its flash, but he is working on an Ipad compatible version as well! The new site re-design makes me think that the “Buy Now” button can’t be to far off.

Another development was the confirmation that the present hardware will be compatible with the next version of Android that comes after Froyo. Chocolate Frosty Surprise I think it is…

Lastly, wifi will be b/g/n not just b/g which basically means greater range and increased performance.

Update: 6.27

I have been looking around the Notionink.com website and just realized that I can only get to the blog portion of the site. There used to be a website portion where you could view pictures of the tablet and see the specifications. There was even a store icon that said “coming soon”. Now all of that is missing which has my interest highly peaked! Does this mean what I think it means??? Are they going to announce a release date or better yet, are they modifying the site for pre-orders and new specs??? I’ll keep you posted..

If you are like me, then you are probably holding out for a tablet that is a little more functional than the iPad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater, I’m just not that much of an early adopter. I like to see what my options are before I make a purchase! We did a tablet article a while back, before the iPad launched, where we talked about some of the tablets that were coming down the pipe. One of our favorites was Notion Ink’s “Adam” Tablet. Not only were we impressed by its creator, Rohan Shravan, but we were also impressed by the overall design and hardware specs. You can find the iPad comparison here. The tech world was all a-buzz a few days ago because Rohan mentioned that there might be some launch delays pushing the launch all the way back to November. Needless to say, people were sorely disappointed. However, Rohan has just recently cleared the air on his blog and he says things are “on track” whatever that means. As longs as things are on the track rather than off the track I say.  Below are some reasons for why I definitely want to wait a bit till this bad boy comes out sometime in Q3:

  • The Screen is one of the biggest factors. Made by Pixel Qi, it has the ability to basically turn black and white with the push of a button making viewing in direct sunlight much more do-able. This also boosts battery performance quite a bit. Will also come with an ambient light sensor which will automatically adjust the screen depending on lighting conditions.
  • It has a camera. Not just any camera…a 180 degree swiveling camera at that! This is for taking pictures or video of you or your surroundings with the push of a finger.
  • Track-pad on the back. Some people might think this is a small point, but I think the smallest points are sometimes the biggest. I predict this will be extremely useful because you wont have to hold the tablet with one hand just to select something on screen which will lessen hand fatigue and make the overall browsing experience that much more enjoyable.

Those are just a few key points, but you get the gist. Check out Notion Ink’s site here for more details.

Microsoft Stepping their Game up…FINALLY

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Update:

Yea, so about that whole stepping up their game thing…turns out its more of the same. Courier has been cancelled as we all tried not to believe. Way to go Microsoft, for killing dreams. C’mon Adam, your our last hope and we don’t want any more delays! Anything past November and all bets are off!

On another note I’ll go ahead and add the ExoPc “Slate” to this list…

Its 11.6 inches, slightly bigger than the iPad, and runs Windows 7 which should be quite useful for people who still need to get stuff done. What really drew me in was the interface. Love the WebOs reminiscent swipe-to-exit functionality there. I also think the app launcher is pretty neat as well. Full HD playback, camera, and Adobe Flash support don’t hurt the cause either.

Ok Guys,

I’ve got more tablet news. If you are still thinking about purchasing the iPad, or one of the other tablets out there so you can let everyone in the office know what a trend-setter and awesome guy (or gal) you are then pause a quick second before you open that wallet.

Remember Microsoft’s rumored tablet? No, not that HP thingy, the two screened one that had the awesome demo vid? Yeah, its called the Courier, and its really shaping up to be a great device to rival the best.

I’ve included a nice video from Engadget below.

Now a couple of comparison notes:

  • iPad has an actual pre-order date of March 12th and a shipping date of April 3rd, so its the first to actually materialize. Notion ink’s Adam and the Courier are still Q3 or Q4, whatever that means.
  • Adam will have two modes – one for reading and one for content viewing which should dramatically increase battery life. It should also be able to run Javascript and have full HD playback making it an ideal content consumption device.
  • Courier is smaller than both, but has two screens which could become interesting with game-play. Think Nintendo DS.  It uses the stylus heavily for better or for worse, but the UI is quite captivating. If Microsoft can deliver on its promises in the video below they may have a winner. No word on pricing, video playback quality or battery life as Microsoft hasn’t even confirmed its existence yet, but I know you can’t wait!

Why Apple isn’t Playing any Games

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Steve Jobs is playing for keeps as is evident by the moves he has made with the inception of the iPod and the iPhone. Love him or hate him, Apple has fought back from the brink with hit after hit and it looks like they’re here for the long haul. But that’s not what’s on everybody’s tongue right now. Enter stage left: iSlab, or iSlate or iThingy. Whatever you want to call it, it seems destined to be the next best thing since toilet tissue.

Just the mere rumor of its existence has sent shivers down the spines of large companies and has News Papers and Magazines clamoring for a Digi-Saviour. Can Apple do to the print industry what it did for the music industry? Honestly, our money is on Jobs. He’s a mad genius when it comes to this sort of thing, and the buzz alone is guaranteed to bring some high-rollers to the table. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Harper-Collins, and Condé Nast are already in talks over the rumored Tablet, and we are pretty sure there will be more. If you’re a non-believer, that’s fine. Consider yourself in good company, but the rumored specs paint a very pleasant picture.

Imagine a kindle – but in color and a larger 10 -11” screen, not to mention ten times sexier. Total access to your library of music anywhere you go and the ability to buy more in a web-based version of i-Tunes that downloads songs over wifi – or better yet, a 3G cellphone network like Verizon’s. It may also have a “Best of TV” service offering a subscription to your favorite Television shows. The inclusion of games is a no brainer, and a faster processor and larger hard disk space can only help matters. Now the clincher – the tablet will reportedly have facial recognition software that will recognize users and perhaps perform tasks meant for specific persons using a front facing camera. Maybe it will be like the chair settings in your car where you just hit the 3rd button and it automatically adjusts the seat because you’re too tall for your wife’s settings and she insists on driving your car even though you bought her a car for Christmas, but she likes the feel of your car better. Or maybe that’s just us.

The price range should be inside of $1,000, and could possibly be subsidized if it debuts with a cell phone carrier. If anyone out there needs someone to test this bad boy out, count us in.

Source:WSJ

UPDATE:

ok, so alot of the above information turned out to be wrong…or atleast a bit premature. This doesn’t mean all the information is garbage though. For starters, the camera may still be in the works. Soooooo glad we were wrong about the price. In approximately 60 days, you can pick one up for as low as 499.99 (16GB)with the 3G unlocked version coming in at a cool 629 (16GB).

Now there has been a lot of chatter, mostly by Geeks with super-powered devices, saying that the iPad doesn’t live up to the hype. I’ll have to agree to a point. But c’mon, what device does? Just because you thought the iPad was going to levitate, pay bills, make your bed, etc… and (surprise!) it doesn’t you wanna get all salty? Look, for 500 bucks your getting a premier device that works super well, and does everything it needs to. The iWork suite looks fantastic, browsing magazines and online content looks like an absolute pleasure to do, and gaming is pretty nice. It is the first and last device I want with me on any trip. Now I don’t own anything Mac branded and even I can tell that this is a great device. Jobs and his boys just aren’t catering to those of us who happen to know what the device should be able to do such as multi-tasking and voice calling with video telephony over wifi etc.

Now to a few more details about the device…

The device is 9.7 inches diagonally, and .5 inches thin. It’s a bit heavy (depending on what your comparing it to) at 1.5 lbs. Battery life is supposed to be 10 hrs of moderate use, and almost a month at standby, though something tells me that if your online playing games, you are gonna need to plug that sucker in a lot sooner. Now I have to give kudos to Apple for making their own performance chip. I really like the way they take a really hands on approach to their product. It really seems like they care about what they put out there.

You have access to three main stores now..iTunes of course, App store, and now the iBook Store. The Screen is multi-touch capacitive and is LED backlit. Take a look at the video below:


source:Apple