Hands On With Notion Ink's Pixel-Qi Equipped Adam Tablet 109
Jax7 writes with this snippet from Technoholik, which dispatched a team with a video camera to get some early footage of the upcoming Android Tablet from Notion Ink, with Android and a Pixel-Qi transflective screen. Also interesting is the back-mounted touchpad.
"We flew down to Hyderabad and caught up with the Notion Ink team just before they left for Barcelona to showcase the Android-based tablet tomorrow at the Mobile World Congress. Note that this product was 'one engineering day short' but we aren't complaining since we literally badgered them into giving us this sneak peak. The top panel over the screen was still a bit loose, so they took it off before booting the system."
Not really (Score:5, Insightful)
And it must be said that coding in Java beats the hell out of writing Objective C on a Mac
Having done both for a great deal of time on each platform, I disagree.
It's not that much different, and most memory problems you have are the same ones between Java and Objective-C - over-retention. That's not something GC fixes for you.
Re:Nice, but Android? (Score:3, Insightful)
But it’s not real Java. It’s some messed-up version from Google. So the whole advantage of running pretty much every cell phone app out there (which are nearly all Java apps) is gone.
Re:Nice, but Android? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well -- not so much, really.
Android doesn't rely on Dalvik doing sandboxing as much as it relies on the OS to handle security constraints; each application gets their own UNIX user and group created, and these are automatically managed to give applications access only to what the user approved for them on install.
This is why availability of the Android NDK doesn't compromise security.
Think Kick Ass Book - Not Computer (Score:3, Insightful)
I think a lightweight tablet has a lot of potential if it is cheap enough. The $500+ Apple tablet I think costs WAY too much for any but the fanboys who will buy anything Job's touches. If they could get this tablet down to the $200-$300 range I think they could have a winner. I would love to have a little tablet that lets me browse the web, read e-books, store/play music, maybe watch movies, and do other passive media consumption tasks. It is easier and more ergonomic than a laptop when lounging around the house, is the sort of thing you can take on the subway on the way to work with you, and in general is a decent substitute for a book. I can't pull out my laptop and use it while waiting in line, but I could pull out a tablet.
The real issue is that this IS a limited device. It overlaps with smartphones and computers, and it can't be used for much "real" work beyond reading e-mails. The price has to be such that you can justify getting media consumption tool that is only better than your other tools in its convenience. At $500+, it just costs too much. $200-$300 is, in my opinion, closer to the range you need to be in. If you could get it down to $100-$200 and still turn a profit I think every middle class family and their dog would get one. The real issue in my mind is the price. Price is going to determine if this thing breaks open a new market or if it flops horribly. Apple's price is too high. Their tablet is only going to do well on fanboi'ism, and even then I don't think it will go far. An Android tablet is going to battle it out on price alone. If they try and sell at Apple prices this thing is dead on arrival.
Re:Nice, but Android? (Score:3, Insightful)
The swivel camera is an amazingly obvious (in hindsight) fix to complaints about front or rear-facing cameras, and (as pointed out in the video) you could position the camera in the middle to record while taking notes.
I also like the trackpad on the back. I think it would take some getting used to, but once you figured it out, there would be no need to move your hands from front to back all the time.
Re:Sigh, (Score:3, Insightful)
Obviously you'd have to lay it on a desk or your lap when you for example want to type an email.
For me the point is not that this sort of device can be used as a handheld device (and ONLY that), but it should work well as a handheld device IN ADDITION to being a proper computer, albeit with lower performance than a big desktop machine.
That way you have ONE device that you can take with you anywhere, which is always useful AT LEAST as a handheld device.
Re:Amazing (Score:5, Insightful)
Why in the hell do I need 3 fucking USB ports on an underpowered toy?
So that you can connect an external keyboard/mouse? You can step into any generic computer store and buy a cheapo disposable keyboard and work on the device as opposed to being forced to carry apple accessories.
"Hey Apple! Instead of allowing me to connect my existing keyboards, let me pay you extra money so I can only connect apple keyboards!"
What well-adjusted person would connect a fucking tablet to a TV?
To watch movies, photos, online TV (Oh right forgot to mention.. this thing supports flash ;) )? You can step into any generic electronic store and get a HDMI cable for your TV.
"Hey Apple! Instead of allowing me to use my existing HDMI cables, let me pay you extra money so I can only use apple approved TV out connectors!"
What is the benefit of running 1080i video on this tiny ass screen?
"Oh no. This device supports high quality video, let me get that other device that doesn't"
A real genius you are. Got the consumer mindset all figured out...
Re:Amazing (Score:5, Insightful)
Why in the hell do I need 3 fucking USB ports on an underpowered toy?
Keyboard, mouse, flash drive, and they're all used up.
What well-adjusted person would connect a fucking tablet to a TV?
Just as an example, you could show one person your holiday photos on the tablet, or plug into a big TV to show a larger group of people.
What is the benefit of running 1080i video on this tiny ass screen?
They important thing is that this "underpowered toy" can *decode* 1080p video: no need to transcode to a smaller format just to play it on your tablet. Plus, as you noted, plug it into a TV to see the full resolution.
Re:Nice, but Android? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Amazing (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, I won't buy the iPad in its current form. Whats your problem with people expressing their opinion? Regardless of whether you do or don't like their products, do you *want* Apple to screw consumers?
Its a typical strategy which many consumer device manufactures use. "Invent" some proprietary way to connect accessories to their device and get a cut for every "apple approved" accessory sold.