Businessline reported on July 20th that Reliance Industries may be investing in the Hyderabad India based Notion Ink, citing unnamed sources. Both Notion Ink and Reliance Industries have not confirmed or denied the development.
An RIL spokesperson when approached for a comment said, “We do not comment on speculation as a matter of company policy.” Officials at Notion Ink said the same.
Notion Ink has done something most tablet makers have not been able to do, and thats to bridge the gap between battery life and high resolution. They were able to integrate two breakthrough power saving components — nVidia’s Tegra 2 chip and a PixelQi screen. Most people in the tech circles claim that the Adam has twice the battery life and performance of the iPad.
Starting at $325, the Adam tablet PC is around 36 per cent cheaper than the starting price of an iPad — $499. Moreover, Pixel Qi screen technology makes it easier to read under bright light, technology experts say.
The deal with Notion Ink is also expected to help RIL in its quest to garner a significant share of the Indian broadband market. Given the high propensity of a Tablet PC to consume bandwidth, RIL could bundle the Adam tablet with its broadband services to target high-end users in India, according to Mr. Kunal Bajaj, Director, of technology advisory firm Analysys Mason. “From Notion Ink’s perspective, the funds infused by RIL could help in setting up its manufacturing and distribution networks.”
Notion Ink founder Rohan Shravan pointed out in his blog post, sales of 100,000 devices a month would mean $350 million in revenues. To meet its global ambitions, Notion Ink would require millions of dollars in funding. But why would Notion Ink go with RIL, and not, perhaps, an international investor?
Going by Shravan’s post, the investment appears to have been closed already.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
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.
