Notion Ink Tegra Android smartpad uses Pixel Qi display
CES 2010 is likely to see a fair few internet tablets being announced, but SlashGear has heard about one particular model that has more than a little promise. Notion Ink's as-yet unnamed Android “smartpad” is based …
Context & Ripple Effects
Pixel Qi has been an OLPC story so far: the company formed in 2008 as a spin-out from One Laptop Per Child under former OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, with the stated ambition of driving a full laptop down toward a $75 price point. Its screen technology has therefore been framed around ultra-low-cost education computing rather than consumer gadgets.
SlashGear's report — explicitly unconfirmed, describing an as-yet unnamed device — would change that framing: a Notion Ink Android "smartpad" built on NVIDIA's Tegra platform and using a Pixel Qi display, expected to surface at CES in January 2010, just as the show is widely anticipated to host a wave of internet tablets.
First-order effects
- If the device appears at CES 2010, Notion Ink enters a crowded tablet field with a display claim none of the expected rivals can match, while Pixel Qi lands its first known consumer-device design beyond its OLPC-derived mission.
- NVIDIA picks up another placement for Tegra in the emerging tablet form factor, reinforcing its push beyond traditional notebook graphics.
Second-order effects
- Other tablet makers headed to CES face pressure to answer on display efficiency and outdoor readability rather than processor specs alone, shifting the competitive axis of the category toward screens.
- A working consumer product would give Pixel Qi leverage with larger OEMs evaluating tablet displays, turning a niche research spin-out into a supplier competing for mainstream design wins.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, technology incubated in humanitarian low-cost-computing programs becomes a source of consumer hardware differentiation — with small display startups, not panel incumbents, setting the pace for what a tablet screen can do.
- CES's January cycle consolidates its role as the launch venue for the Android tablet category, forcing vendors to announce there or concede first-mover attention.
The trend: Tablet differentiation heading into 2010 is shifting from silicon to display technology, giving small screen specialists like Pixel Qi their first consumer foothold.