Mirasol Delays; Notion Ink News no comments
From what Mirasol has said in the past, we were led to expect their reflective color display to be in production as soon as this fall. Now ZDNet is reporting that Qualcomm still has to figure out how to put its color epaper display into production profitably and in sufficient quantity that it could be used in something like a color Kindle. This is disappointing news to say the least.
In related news – at least in terms of how hype surrounds a new and eagerly awaited gadget, and all of the complications that cause delays – SlashGear has a good article on the Notion Ink Adam tablet. The article quotes Notion Ink as saying that if they had not locked themselves in with their first investors the Adam would already have been available in 12 countries by now. It looks like the Adam is now expected to be launched in December.
The SlashGear article is accompanied by an interesting timeline graphic that charts the hype vs maturity of Notion Ink’s product. I would say that Mirasol’s unwelcome news has put them firmly in the “Trough of Disillusionment.”
There is definitely something to be said in favor of the way in which some companies (Apple or Amazon, for example) develop their new products in relative secrecy, with maybe a few leaks to keep the buzz going, rather than talking their products up for long periods of time before they are even close to ready (Plastic Logic comes to mind here). Of course, it is easier for a large company with lots of resources to develop their products quietly. Smaller manufacturers probably need more hype to attract the necessary investment.
Notion Ink has meanwhile launched a pretty new website, which lists the current specs of its proposed tablets – both with and without a Pixel Qi display.
