by Jin Kim
The Notion Ink Adam is poised to the very first Pixel Qi tablet. And that’s a big deal because Pixel Qi technology allows the Adam to be both like a Kindle and a Samsung Galaxy Tab at the same time.
The Notion Ink Adam Android tablet comes in six variants: three with regular LCDs and three with transflective LCDs. The transflective versions use the Pixel Qi 3Qi displays.
The 3Qi has three modes, of which two are reflective and transmissive. In reflective mode the backlight is turned off completely and is perfectly readable in direct sunlight, much like a Kindle but with some color. In transmissive mode the 3Qi display works like a normal display in full color. You can find more info about the 3Qi display at Pixel Qi.
Here’s what you can potentially do with an Adam: you can take the Adam outside in direct sunlight, put it in reflective mode, and read your favorite book. You can even read through the night with the stars by putting the Adam in transmissive mode. In terms of display capability the Notion Ink Adam is like a combination of the low-power sunlight-readable E Ink display in the Kindle and the full-color video-capable LCD in the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Pixel Qi is bringing some serious display technology into this tablet.
The multitouch 10.1-inch Pixel Qi display has a 1024×600 pixel format and is combined with NVIDIA’s Tegra 250. The LCD is scratch resistant, fingerprint resistant, and has a matte finish. The matte finish alone makes the Adam a unique tablet.
The transflective Adam starts at US$499.45 for the WiFi-only version and $549.99 for both 3G-850 and 3G-900 versions. By the way, according to Notion Ink’s blog the Pixel Qi versions are already sold out. The starting price is competitive with the iPad and the 3G version is quite a bit cheaper. I think the Notion Ink Adam is going to kick butt.
Update: According to Mary Lou Jepsen’s Blog, Notion Ink is buying more displays from Pixel Qi. It should be just a matter of time before the Pixel Qi version of Adam is in stock again.