Bangalore-based Notion Ink has finally started shipping Adam, a 10.1 inch tablet PC with a PixelQi screen and a NVidia Tegra 250 processor. There are 4 versions of the tablet PC – the basic version with an LCD screen costs $399 and the one with the PixelQi screen, Wi-Fi /3G costs $498. Yes, all the prices are in dollars because USA is the target market. While Adam has a huge fan following for bringing innovations in the form of their custom UI ‘Eden’ and the latest specs to the evolving tablet PC segment, very little is known about the company – and the face – behind it. We at TechCircle bring you a quick, uncut interview with Rohan Shravan, the young and blunt founder of Notion Ink.
Shravan, a graduate of one of India’s elite engineering schools IIT Kharagpur, answered our questions about the struggle so far, the criticism being piled on, other tablet PCs such as Samsung Galaxy Tab, OlivePad and ofcourse the iPad 2, what’s the top telco Reliance’s relationship with Notion Ink, and the strain of being an entrepreneur in India.
How have things been going at Notion Ink since its inception? What were your milestones?
It’s been a roller coaster ride since conceptualisation in 2007 and since then we have learnt a lot. We released the first prototype at CES 2010 and the second prototyope at Mobile World Congress 2010. There were some financial challenges between March and June last year. We initiated a new project in July 2010. The first manufacturing sample was made in November 2010 and in CES January 2011, the first world hands-on review was done.
What was the biggest challenge?
Being a product company in India and handling cash flow. Consumer electronics is extremely cash intensive and we have to be extremely innovative in every single decision. Technological advantages are fine, but they have to be presented in good business sense.
To read the full interview, go to www.techcircle.in