Android News
Android Person of the Year Nominee: Rohan Shravan
December 23, 2010 | by Michael Heller
Uncategorized
Rohan Shravan, Notion Ink
Creative Director, Founder and CEO
Nominated because: He is responsible for one of the most hyped, yet controversial, devices of the past year: the Adam tablet.
The Notion Ink Adam has had a roller coaster year, and it hasn’t even been released yet. If the device can live up to even a fraction of the promise and hype that has been building around it, it could be a star in the first generation of Android tablets. Unfortunately, there are many who still believe that the device is nothing but vaporware from an unknown company. Start-up Notion Ink and leader Rohan Shravan still have a lot to prove, and a lot to overcome.
The Notion Ink Adam was first revealed at CES this past January, and quickly gained a cult following because of the bold and impressive industrial design, most notably the Pixel Qi screen, which promises to combine a high quality LCD touch display with battery saving and sunlight friendly eInk technology. The Adam had a tumultuous development cycle. It was a hot commodity with tons of buzz, but then venture capitalists came in and attempted to change fundamental aspects of the device, including changing the OS to Windows 7, and changing the Adam into a netbook, because they didn’t understand that the netbook had already been made obsolete by the introduction of the iPad. These delays fueled those who were worried that the Adam was nothing but vaporware – an enticing product that never makes it to market.
Rohan Shravan took it upon himself to prove the device by documenting the development process in his blog, though he did try to keep certain aspects a mystery. The mystery proved damaging as none of the blog posts showed the actual device, just simulated screen images. Rohan proudly showed off how he incorporated the Golden Ratio into the Adam, as well as how his love of music led to building an impressive sound system in the tablet. He showed off the revolutionary Eden paneling/multitasking system which allows easy access to frequently used tasks, and features a Cover Flow-like design. This insight into the precision and care that was put into the design of the Adam drew comparisons to Apple, unfortunately Rohan has proved he is not on the level of Steve Jobs when it comes to launching a product. The Adam recently began taking pre-orders, but ran into troubles almost immediately with concerns over return policies and a pre-order page that didn’t show images of the product for sale, which compounded the lack of real world images throughout the development cycle. These issues once again have reignited ideas that the Adam is vaporware and Notion Ink could be an untrustworthy company.
Rohan continued to fight back. He had always wanted to have the official public showcase of the Adam at CES in January, as a sort of anniversary celebration. But, to restore faith in his company and his device, Rohan has begun releasing video demonstrations of the Adam, the Eden UI, and proprietary apps being used in the real world, not just simulated images.
Notion Ink and Rohan Shravan are unproven, but that is the path that start-ups must take. Aside from marketing and PR bumps, the hardware and software design of the Notion Ink Adam appear to be extremely well thought out. Android has opened up the market for hardware manufacturers, and the coming wave of tablets offers more opportunity for talented companies to break through. Notion Ink is aiming very high with their first attempt – an Android tablet, launching worldwide without the Android Market, and without Android’s official OS release for the form factor. But, with its own tablet oriented app and content store, impressively designed UI, striking industrial design, and a promise of Honeycomb and the full Android Market in the future, the Adam is filled with promise.
In the end though, execution is always key, not promise. 2011 could be when we finally see that the Notion Ink Adam is nothing but smoke, or it could be when Rohan Shravan proves himself as a true force. Whatever the outcome, Notion Ink and Rohan Shravan have made quite a stir in 2010, and will likely make a splash in 2011, for good or ill.
——–
This article is part of a series of profiles on the people who most-impacted Android in 2010. Read more about the Android Person of the Year series here.
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I second the nomination!
notion ink is a joke
@miguel – so u get a laugh when u listen to notion ink? u seem insane to me
Yep, mad. Have you taken a look at the Eden UI videos? The only reason I laughed when I saw them was thinking of the look on other tablet manufacturers' faces at CES!
Agreed, Zelda!
If this is correct then the joke is on you miguel isn't it. Because most intelligent people would not waste their time if something is so bad or such a joke. But time will the test and guest what Notion Ink is still here and still delivering. But something has you worried that you have given your view and advice and now its coming to haunt you. Otherwise why have you wasted your time to even make such a comment.
lol
I am quite sure is not through a sense of public information and care that you initiate such a comment.
What are you 5 yrs old?
Persevering against odds like pig-headed investers and unscrupulous journos at TechCrunch/CrunchGear is not something that anyone can do. Rohan Shravan is the right choice.
Don't worry about the investors and the so called journos as they are trying to protect their reputations but instead they just are destroying any credibility they may have had. Their role as journos are to provide fair and unbias critics not criticise based on personal bias and prejudices. They get caught up in their own personal views, which is where they need to come clean and give their personal views on their personal blogs but leave the professional critics for the job they are suppose to do.
I am always happy to read good or bad critic's of products and services but not really interested or value personal agenda's, fears and prejudiced. There are always plenty of people to give those type of views and they usually just waste space and time. It just demonstrates their in ability to be a professional at what they do.
Personally and Professionally I believe that Notion Ink is make a difference and changing the way we look at these devices. They are not following but leading the agenda, and this has some people scared. Otherwise why would they be making such a noise. Time will tell and as they say the proof will be in the pudding. The thing is this pudding has great ingredients and inspiration and I personally believe will make a change which will rock a few people. But change can be rough or you can embrace it. I am for embracing Notion Ink and what Rohan has to offer.
@Michael Heller,
very nicely compiled article..very well written
Thank you Mr. Michael Heller
Yeah, CrunchGear really has it out for Notion Ink and the Adam.
They'll be pissed at CES then
I would have to ask the question what are they trying to protect? what is their agenda? are they a relevant tech site or are they just reporting their personal bias and prejudices? You really have to question supposed journos with this type of writing.
try to be a rebel and do something unprecedented..and the old players will always feel threatened
so Rohan ..i havent seen the Adam at work or used it myself..but the specs look ..well to say the least..mouth watering
its an impressive product..Kudos
You haven't seen it at work? Check out the videos on Rohan's blog! One video a day up until CES 2011. Notionink.wordpress.com.
@Michael Heller, his name is "Rohan Shravan" and NOT "Rohan Shavran" pls correct.
I was just about to say, It's Shravan, not Sharvan, but you got there first!
Haha just read about this article on NI's blog. It is a bit cringeworthy that his name gets spelled wrong on a nomination for an award, but not on those awful TechCrunch articles …
Interesting to see such a expectation for a 25 year old guy! I would say good luck Notion Ink.
Rohan has got my vote!
Well of course!
(Yep, he has mine too)
mine too
*waiting to use adam in hospital and clinic*
Looking forward for adam
The louder the noise of descent the better because it means that Notion Ink has them really worried.
otherwise if what they say is true why are they wasting their time. Go Notion Ink and well done Rohan. You have my vote. 
The article was interesting and gives a good insight. I have to question the statement that Rohan is not a Steve Jobs. I would look back at Steve Jobs around the same age and see how he would stack up then.
I would counter that Steve Jobs was no Rohan at his age. Wozniak was the technical genius, and even he admits the coming ubiquity of Android. Rohan has delivered so much on such an ambitious project, I am very impressed. It's not like Android 2.3 lays out a roadmap for tablet development, and what Rohan has done looks great to me (and I'm a software developer). I don't know if I can say Rohan has done the most for Android in 2010, but I have a feeling we will be saying he did the most for Android tablets in 2011.
Adam is awesome. Team Notion !nk Rocks….
who else than Rohan ???
While, fairly well written, the article _seems_ to have a few too many negative insinuations (it may have been unintentional, but its there).
Why even mention that it's still considered VapourWare ?
NotionInk has shown _four_ videos now, on the hardware, using custom apps (proof that its not borrowed from elesewhere)
Rohan has even answered why they don't have their own stand at CES – because it costs _millions_ of dollars to get one.
Millions which he'd rather spend on developing a stunning product.
That aside, and coming back to the point, Rohan and NotionInk really are at the forefront of Android Device and Software development. One of the paradigms/design ideologies behind Android is Open Development which everyone benefits from. NotionInk is setting the bar higher for the entire community and by so doing are driving not just development, but also _innovation_
Other than the creators of Android itself, you'd be hardpressed to find any one individual who has done so much for Android in the past year, and thats through good ol' Hard Work, despite the proverbial sh1tstorm of negativeness from people who expect Perfection from NotionInk despite not understanding the complexity of such an undertaking.
Kudos to all at NotionInk and Rohan in particular.
Acctually I should probaly thank the Investors as well.
I can't see why he would be Android Person of the Year for 2010. Perhaps 2011 if the Adam lives up to expectation. But this year, he hasn't set the world alight in terms of Android.
Do I have to jailbreak this to do stuff?
he's really is the best
I second Rohans vote as he is working in the unchartered territory where even the biggest players are only starting to tread ( apart from apple ).I have been following his blogs closely and have full confidence in the product.
vote for Rohan and NI as the development of Adam and Eve are true innovation and why is it still considered controversial much less vaporware? By now any negativity is strictly sour grapes.and tootally meaningless commentary.