We conducted this interview last May, which was included in our May Edition of the Good E-Reader Magazine! We interviewed the CEO of Notion Ink – Rohan Shravan about their upcoming Notion Ink Adam Tablet PC.
Tell us a bit about the Notion Ink Adam.
Notion Ink is a firm for Innovation. Very very young and very different. Average age of employees is 22 years! Based out of India. It was my dream to design devices that can do anything. And that’s what we are doing right now. The first thing you do to realize your dream is to write it somewhere. And that’s what we will help other to do. We will be their Notion Ink.
Where did you get your inspiration for the development?
As a kid, I wanted to learn a lot of things. But belonging to a lower middle class family meant that an education might not always be available at all times. I nurtured a dream of one device which can do everything. Technologically that device is still not possible, but this is our first step.
Project Genesis seems like a great idea! Talk about it a little bit.
When I started working towards designing OS, I realised one of the very important things for it, is to learn. And the way current technology can make this possible is to download more applications which increases the feature set of the application and make it more versatile. Project Genesis is a step towards the same. Notion Ink will release Hardware Access Rich SDK on top on Android, using which Developers can develop far more powerful and efficient applications than otherwise possible.
When are you guys going to release the Service Development Kit to Developers?
We will release the timelines soon.
Will it support the Google Market place? Or do you have your own market place/App Store that you are developing?
We will have our own market place.
How do you think the Adam will do against the all of the other new Slates and Tablets coming out, such as the HP Slate, Dell Slate, and the iPad?
Competition is good. Healthy competition is great for the end users. HP and Apple are great firms and we have learnt a lot from them. It’s an honour to be placed among them, even if it is in product comparison.
Your company is located and getting great press in India and in North America. What does it mean for you and your country to be releasing such a revolutionary device?
The Software part is in India and Hardware part is in Taiwan. Same for nearly every other device (barring few). We just happen to be from India. But the implications and ambitions are global. The product is designed for people who are ahead of the times. And they happen to belong from every country. Some have many, others have few. People think if we are successful, we can act as the catalyst which other Indian companies were waiting for to extend their reach and leave their footprints.
Do you think that the Notion Ink Adam will not only be competitive in the Slate/Tablet Industry, but also in the E-Reader Industry too?
Yes, and that is the aim. Adam is neither a tablet, nor an e-book reader. It’s a new species. Soon you will see us talking about the imaging capabilities of the device and so on. It is the first device which will start a new era of convergence. And hence the name Adam.
Tell us about your plans for E-books, how do you plan to distribute them or make them accessible?
We will have the book store coming up with the content store. People will have access to maximum number of titles. We are trying to make it a heaven for students especially.
Any parting thoughts you would like to have?
The times ahead are really exciting. Looking forward to interact with all with the device in all our hands globally, starting Q4.
For more information on the Notion Ink Adam, and Rohan Shravan check out his Linkedin Page here http://in.linkedin.com/in/rohanshravan
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.