Trouble At Notion Ink: UI Director Leaves, Adam Battery Issues Surface

Notion Ink put on one hell of a show at CES 2011. The Adams they showed us were extremely polished. But one thing you can't test in a floor review is battery life. Which is why it's taken until the first wave of Adam's for a major battery issue to pop up.

Initially, it was claimed that the Adam could support looping 1080p video on full volume/brightness for 6 hours. Real in-use life estimates started at fifteen and went up from there. The iPad's outstanding 10 hour battery and the super-efficient Pixel Qi display made this claim plausible.

But now two threads on the Notion Addicts forums have popped up, filled with complaints about the battery. User happy1's response was characteristic of issues experienced by several users:

"The update did not fix the battery. I lose 22% every hour. Basic surfing, some app dowloading, some setting up. Wifi on, airplane on, sync off, cell off, brightness 80%. At this rate i will get about 4:45. I have the pq model."

A few users did claim to have experienced battery life that measured in with Notion Ink's claims, but they appeared to be in the minority. User kaozskyblade looped standard def video at 65% brightness with the WiFi on and saw a little under 6 hours. That would put the Adam in line with the Galaxy Tab...and far away from the iPad.

I've yet to find a rigorous test of the Adam's battery life by a reviewer under controlled conditions. Until that happens- several times- we won't know for certain if this is a flaw in the Adam or a manufacturing issue.

This isn't the only worrisome sign to come from the promising Indian gadget-maker. Notion Ink's design director Andre Rodrigues appears to have left the company. He tweeted his return to Mumbai recently, and updated his bio to reflect the change. This is an ominous portent for the fledgling Eden UI.

[Via Notion Addicts]