Notion Ink Adam may be delayed

Notion Ink's Adam, which you might affectionately call the "other other tablet," still looks promising, but it's not likely to arrive until the holiday season.

In a blog post, the makers of the Android-powered tablet said a few things are jeopardizing the Adam's previously-discussed June release window.

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Part of the issue is Flash support, which Notion Ink says isn't fully-baked yet. Once there's a stable version of Flash on the device, there will be two months of testing before it will be released.

Also, the company is working on getting subsidies for 3G-equipped devices, but those deals are still in the works. "Some want to give you Adam for Thanksgiving, some for summer holidays, some when you start a new year at your schools," Notion Ink's Rohan Shravan said.

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On paper, the Adam looks like the best alternative to either Apple's iPad or HP's upcoming, increasingly hyped slate. Its most attractive feature is a PixelQi display that can switch between full color operation and a black-and-white E-paper-like mode for reading books outdoors. Indeed, one of the criticisms levied at the iPad is that its high-gloss screen isn't conducive to sunny situations, and the HP slate isn't likely to do much better.

Notion Ink has made some other grand promises as well, including Flash support, 1080p video, content deals and an app development competition to give the device's app store an initial boost.

Notion Ink is a start-up rather than an established brand, so like the JooJoo, which debuted last week to a mediocre review from Engadget, the Adam will probably be rough around the edges whenever it ships. But the PixelQi display, the open platform of Android and the other features NotionInk is promising make the Adam worth watching.

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