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Portables Hardware

First Tablet Using Pixel Qi Screen On The Way 97

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the finally-one-with-the-right-price-point dept.
Azureflare writes "The first device using a Pixel Qi screen has been confirmed. It is produced by Notion Ink, and it appears they took a few design tips from Apple by sticking with a design that has tapered edges. This tablet should give Apple a run for their money, especially considering the recently confirmed rumor of an Apple tablet. 'The Notion Ink smartpad measures 6.3 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches and weighs 1.7lbs; as well as the tri-band (850/1900/2100) UMTS/HSDPA, WiFi b/g and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR it also squeezes in A-GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and proximity, ambient light and water sensors. Connectivity includes USB, HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microphone input, and there’s also a 3-megapixel auto-focus camera with video recording support. Onboard storage is either 16GB or 32GB of SSD, and there's an SD slot for augmenting that.'" Update: 12/25 21:44 GMT by SS : Removed erroneous reference to Nokia.
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First Tablet Using Pixel Qi Screen On The Way More

First Tablet Using Pixel Qi Screen On The Way

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  • Nokia != Notion Ink (Score:4, Informative)

    by rxmd ( 205533 ) on Friday December 25, 2009 @04:56PM (#30552536) Homepage

    Come on guys. Nokia != Notion Ink. It's in the title of the article. Is it that difficult to even look at the stuff you post?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

      I did wonder why the article never mentioned Nokia and that it looked completely different than their previous products. Wonder where that was even pulled off.

      Notion Ink [notionink.com] seems to be its own company.

  • Yeah.... but .. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Colin Smith ( 2679 )

    Does it have a little Apple logo on it?

     

  • Why run Android? Why not run Maemo? Between Symbian, Maemo, and now Android, it looks like Nokia is spreading itself a little thin.

    Although, if Nokia's interest in Android means we get a subsystem to run Android apps on Maemo, maybe it's not such a bad idea.

  • 1.7 lbs is heavy (Score:4, Informative)

    by pmontra ( 738736 ) on Friday December 25, 2009 @05:13PM (#30552620) Homepage
    For the metric world: 1.7 lbs are 0.77 kg. My netbook has about the same screen surface and for 0.33 more kg it comes with a keyboard and an OS I can use to work with. I acknowledge that the tablet form factor enables usages that are off-limits for my netbook but this tablet is way too heavy to be carried around as one does with a phone. That also prevents some usage patterns. I wonder if the 10" screen and the battery that powers it really weight so much. The other HW differences with my my old N70 phone (0.126 kg) are limited to the GPS, the compass, the accelerometer and the proximity, ambient light and water sensors. They look like tiny and light chips. The HDMI output should weight much. Any thoughts?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

      What I "don't get" about these so-called tablets is their design limits. Do people actually want to spend that much on a Star Trek gadget that has very limited utility, without a keyboard? "Internet connected" means very little if you can't type w/o an added peripheral.

      What ever happened to the 'old' style computer tablets - you know, the kind which were first laptops, and secondarily tablets? You know: the screen rotates/flips over once open, allowing you to re-latch it in place? That would be perfect for

      • Well, it DOES have bluetooth and USB, so it's not like you can't hook up a keyboard and/or mouse when you're somewhere suitable for that kind of usage.

        But if you're using it in places where you can't put it down to use the keyboard, it's a bit of wasted weight to carry around. The keyboard in my laptop weighs in at around 50 grams. Not much, but every bit counts.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

          Yet, a place suitable for hooking up a keyboard isn't half as useful as somewhere an attached keyboard would be: a plane, train, or bus; waiting in line somewhere for an hour, etc.

          If I'm somewhere that I can hook up a USB keyboard, or use any sort of 'non-integral' peripheral, I've got a desk/table, and somewhere to prop the display. I'd be better off with a full laptop, in that situation.

          • What's the point of a tablet with a keyboard? In my mind, that defeats the whole purpose. If it has a keybaord attached, it's not a tablet anymore, it's a laptop with a touchscreen.

            You would use something like this while walking around and taking notes, which, if you've never tried it before, is very difficult to do with a laptop. Combine it with handwriting recognition technology, which is getting pretty good, and you've got a pretty damn awesome and versitile notepad - one with massive amounts of storage

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

        I would actually really like something for while I'm lying in sofa. Even if its just for browsing web or remote desktoping to my main pc. I use PC->PS3 streaming to my tv, and if tversity or something else needs updating, I really hate to get up from the sofa and walk to other room to do that. Yeah, maybe minor, but still quite annoying. But the web browsing (even if reading) is a good note too.

        I do have a laptop too, but it's not really usable for those things, while tablet would be. You can easily put

      • The trouble with the laptop convertible tablets is, in the majority of cases, what the demands of being convertible does to their build quality.

        Across a variety of models and brands, I never found one that didn't feel like a pile of wobbly shit compared to the equivalent standard laptop from the same company. Building a single, rotating, joint that works as well as the usual two hinges just didn't seem to be in the cards.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by RoboRay ( 735839 )

          Have you tried the OLPC? While the XO certainly has other shortcomings, it's rotary joint seems very solid to me. I'm constantly flipping mine back and forth as I switch between web-surfing and e-reading.

      • They still exist. In fact there's lots of them. HP has a bunch of really nice ones, and Lenovo's X series are all apparently very very nicely put together. That being said, they're all a bit pricey. But Asus and Gigabyte have both released netbook style laptop-tablets. Asus has their T91 (brand new version just came out lately) and same with Gigabyte's T1028.

        University students seem to love them. Everyone wants a laptop-tablet. They just cost too damn much.

        Also, character recognition is getting really good.

        • There is also the on-screen keyboard; I don't know if they have gotten any better in recent years, but if it is running Android it should be pretty good. Assuming the touch-screen is high enough quality, of course.

      • What ever happened to the 'old' style computer tablets - you know, the kind which were first laptops, and secondarily tablets?

        You can buy them from HP. (And other companies.) I have a ... tx1000? I believe is the model.

        The problem is, they're too heavy to really use as tablets for more than a half-hour or so at a time. This device might be also, but it's much lighter than my HP tablet, so maybe it would be fine.

      • What I really want is a usb display-link qi screen with touch screen input nice and thin and light probably with a built in usb hub.
        that I can use with my netbook in one of three ways

        As a traditional secondary display used side by side
        As a input device where sketching a diagram would be handy and other input that a mouse and keyboard doesn't address

        finally attached to the back of my netbook screen where it can do duty as a tablet or ebook reader. Some simple suckers to attach it would be good enough.

        When

        • It's called a Waccom Cintiq. Only thing is, they're damn expensive even for the 12 inch model. Work quite nicely and I want one for my Graphics work and yes you can use it as a 2nd display.

          • They also aren't quite as sensitive as the high-end standard Wacom tablets for many times the price.

            Yeah, it's slick as hell, but as a graphic artist if you've already learned to separate your physical hand location from what your eye is looking at (i.e. watching a screen while drawing on a tablet), it doesn't seem like that big of an advantage at a massive cost.

            If you're really cheap (relatively speaking) and enterprising you can actually make a Cintiq clone with an old LCD and an appropriately sized table

            • They are lovely tablets the cintiq

              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEI97_Ka-n4 [youtube.com] has a great comment.

              I was searching ''cintiq cheap'' on google
              But i couldn't find any result with both words, except when there was an ''isn't'' between both words

              The trouble is wacom have cornered the market on great tablets and patented the best technology, what i'm looking for is basic drawing capability and touch screen input. (if i was an artist then the cintiq would be very nice but ...).
              i'm thinking more scribling notes sketching a graph writing a formula rather than creating great art.

              There probably is a diy solution netbook screens are quite cheap and there are v

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Klivian ( 850755 )
      The weight is not a problem, it's not really something you are going to carry around like a phone. As you say, it weight slightly less than your netbook which is a device with some of the same use cases. A pad like this will be a more stationary device, used for leisure net-surfing and light reading. The people behind the Crunch-pad had the right idea, coach computing. The main use for such a device will be in living room chairs or sofas, flipping trough web pages. For such use the keyboard and mouse/track

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by emj ( 15659 )
        The weight is a problem, and the screen is perfect size, but you might be right that the resolution if you use the greyscale mode, but I wil have to try to be sure it's enough..
    • I think you're over stating the weight issue. You know those nice leatherbound clipboards? They weigh about 1.7 lbs. That (paper) notebook (200 pages) that I've been carrying around taking notes in for the last 4 months? Weights at least 1.5lb.
    • Your N70 is not 10 inch and had a lot worse battery life, the question is how much lower in weight you can go, the SmartQ 5" weights 160grams and the 7" 480g, but everything that has a screen around 10" weights between 700g to 1 Kg. [umpcportal.com] I think it's going to take awhile before people manage to design really light weight platforms. There is something missing at the moment to get light devices..

  • Pixel Qi (Score:5, Informative)

    by Snowblindeye ( 1085701 ) on Friday December 25, 2009 @05:14PM (#30552624)

    For those of you who, like me, had never heard of Pixel Qi, its apparently a screen manufacturer thats the commercial offshoot of the OLPC project: Pixel Qi [wikipedia.org]

    On a different note, I like that it has an SD slot. That way you can upgrade memory for close to the cost of the actual flash. Not holding my breath for Apples tablet to have one.

  • I'm starting to think Apple is in fact not producing a tablet at all, but instead leaked the rumor they are to force innumerable companies into expending vast sums of R&D dollars on the form factor which only a small niche of people actually want.

    Apple's tablet, if any, will have a keyboard option and lean more towards a laptop I think...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

      My gut tells me you're right about this. Apple will likely learn a bit about the mistakes the others have made, demo all their prototypes, and then get a fair amount of free/cheap R&D out of their faux product announcement.

      I'd like a 7"-10" tablet with a keyboard - basically an Eee or similar, with a touchscreen and able to convert into a tablet. But one of these things? Only thing I can see doing with it is sitting up in bed with it propped up watching a movie, or maybe have it in the car for GPS.

      Other

      • There is this little guy [alwaysinnovating.com], it doesn't seem to be vaporware but they are still in their beta phase, which means what you would get right now will not be as good as whatever they release next year. They seem to be on top of orders right now, but again it's not a completely polished product.

        It sure looks slick though, I've been thinking of getting one myself.

    • Actually this article has got me thinking that I would be better off with a tablet in the form factor of the screen of my eeepc 701, and an external keyboard. Same unit all over but more useful for quickly looking things up.

    • RDF (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mdwh2 ( 535323 )

      The RDF grows evermore - even when Apple's product is non-existent, we still have fans claiming that companies are only doing things because Apple allegedly thought of it first!

      Wow, so existing products will give Apple's a non-existent product a run for their money! Brilliant! Come on, can we not have a single Slashdot story that doesn't give a free Slashvertisement to Apple - even when they don't have a product out? (Although I suppose we should be lucky we get a story about a non-Apple company at all, her

      • The RDF grows evermore - even when Apple's product is non-existent, we still have fans claiming that companies are only doing things because Apple allegedly thought of it first!

        The mind of the Apple Hater is so dimmed by rage, I find it often messes with your reading comprehension.

        In no way did I claim Apple thought of the tablet idea first. Indeed as I noted, I find the whole tablet idea to be niche, the kind of thing that technical people drool over but few of them actually buy, never mind the general pu

  • 384 kbits upload is not good enough

    I would not buy a UTMS comms device in this day and age unless it was HSUPA.

  • Is it too late? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lord Byron II ( 671689 ) on Friday December 25, 2009 @05:17PM (#30552656)

    Can I get one in time for Christmas??

  • Confirmed rumor (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mybecq ( 131456 ) on Friday December 25, 2009 @05:22PM (#30552670)

    especially considering the recently confirmed rumor of an Apple tablet

    Confirmed by whom? The rumor mills that run on dry water?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by upuv ( 1201447 )

      I can confirm it is a rumor. :)

    • Thank you. I was just ready to post the same thing. No one has confirmed the rumor. It is still just rumor and has been for over ten years. I hope that Apple does produce something in the tablet sized form factor. It just has not happened yet. Maybe next month that will change, but there is no confirmed rumor.

      On a different note, people keep making the same mistake when they compare things to Apple. "This tablet should give Apple a run for their money," says the poster. Really? Why do some people (especiall

      • Apple products are more then just specs.

        They're also sugar and spice and everything nice and ponies all wrapped up in a shiny package that screams "I have a bigger credit card balance than you".

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AK Marc ( 707885 )
          They're also sugar and spice and everything nice and ponies all wrapped up in a shiny package that screams "I have a bigger credit card balance than you".

          Not everyone places a value on their time of less than $0.10 per hour. Apple "just works" compared to both Windows and Linux. That has a real value. Just because you think your time is worthless doesn't mean anyone else does.
    • They merely confirmed that the rumored rumor is true; there is a rumor of an Apple tablet.

  • Jesus. (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

    No, not the baby variety. And no, that's not a tablet - that's a freaking death star of a handheld.

    I really like the specifications, and the pictures are sleek and sci-fi like, but I can't help but think that thing would be a literal pain to use. The edges look sharp and uncomfortable. I'd think they'd put more of a 'bulge' or 'bubble' around the edges so you'd have something to (comfortably) grab with one hand. Not just on one or two sides, but all around it.

    Oh yeah, and I'll probably be getting one. It's

  • "A recently confirmed rumor" is the same as, recently confirmed speculation, recently confirmed guess etc.

    • Actually saying "A recently confirmed rumor" gives you a whole lot of information without having to walk you through it step by step.

      They are saying that there was a rumor that the first tablet with a Pixel Qi screen was on the way, and that rumor has been confirmed as true. Thus, a recently confirmed rumor.

      Being a rumor does not automatically mean it is false. It simply means it is unreliable. With no evidence to back it up, it could be true or false, and to anybody who does not actually know the truth

  • Sorry guys, I DID post a correction on my submission that it should be Notion Ink, not Nokia, but I'm guessing everyone is kind of sleepy from all the christmas food.

  • Can we stop? (Score:3, Informative)

    by moniker127 ( 1290002 ) on Friday December 25, 2009 @07:17PM (#30553096)
    Not everything is a rip off of apple. The apple tablet isnt even out yet, or even seen by anyone yet, and they hint at this one knocking apple off. Apple does not own a patent on rounded edges!
  • Is it waterproof, or are the water sensors so that it can call for help, just before it dies after being dropped overboard?

  • Neat! It's a PADD [memory-alpha.org]! That, or a PADD crossed with a Tricorder. [memory-alpha.org]

  • Apple invented "design!" (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    "it appears they took a few design tips from Apple by sticking with a design that has tapered edges."

    Yes. Apple invented tapered edges.

    Did you also know that Apple invented the mouse, the GUI, the "dock", the MP3 player, multi-touch gestures, the all-in-one PC, back-lit keyboards, touchscreen phone, the PDA...?

    Apple is SO amazing!

    .
    .
    . /s

  • The first iphone was shit, no video camera, no picturemail, no internal expandable memory card slot, no switchable battery, etc, even the iphone 3g in 2008 didn't have most of that. The one thing it did have was a touch screen that actully worked close to a psychical keyboard and a OS that worked. Us a windows mobile phone for 10 minutes then a iphone for 10, you go, hey, thats so much better!

    The OS will make or break a internet tablet and I'm sorry but android is a long way from being good enough

  • So it has a hardware feature list. Whoopee-effing-do. It's all about the software, children. If the software blows, the hardware is irrelevant.

    • You obviously don't understand what the Pixel Qi screen is all about. Software is changeable, but the Pixel Qi screen is about as innovative as it gets...as in true innovation, not the Microsoft marketing-drivel-definition. Maybe you should learn about it from Ms. Jepsen's blog: http://www.pixelqi.com/blog1/ [pixelqi.com]

      • The article boasts a hardware feature list. Very little of that is innovative. Sure, it may be the first device to incorporate ALL of that stuff but who gives a rip if the software driving it is total sh*t.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by emj ( 15659 )
          Because we want to see PixelQi screens, it's apparently a big difference from the one on the OLPC. This is not interesting because it's a tablet, it's just the screen.

  • THIS might be a reasonable computer to use in the back country especially if you could use a stylus instead/in addition to a warm finger. (A limitation of the iPhone is that a gloved finger doesn't work. And an ungloved cold finger doesn't work.)

    Consider:

    * Every field guide with enough pix to give a chance at identification. Alternate keying systems. Seine Keys. (Too many keying systems depend on characteristics that aren't present all the time -- E.g. flowers. A seine keying system allows you to fil

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