Kno dual-screen tablet appears at D8, we go hands-on
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted June 2nd 2010 4:16PM
posted June 2nd 2010 4:16PM
We had a chance to go hands-on with the device as well as speak to some members of the team developing the Kno, and while it's clear that there are major bumps in the UI and user experience, it seems like the company is aware of them. What we saw today was clearly unfinished, with a lot of laggy, stuttery behavior in the interface, a crash or two, and some very inaccurate finger tracking, but Kno says it's hard at work on eradicating those issues. Even with the UI fixes, it's a hard sell at "under $1000," but Kno is putting together partnerships with publishers to make that a little easier to swallow, as they say ultimately it will be less expensive than buying regular old text books. It's an audacious idea, for sure... and we're still completely confused by one of the company's press pics featuring a bunch of dudes running around in their underwear, but we digress. Check out some shots from the demo, PR pics, and our hands-on with the device below.
KNO INTRODUCES GROUNDBREAKING DIGITAL TEXTBOOK AND LEARNING PLATFORM THAT HELPS COLLEGE STUDENTS "BREAK FREE" FROM THE DRUDGERY OF STUDYING
The Sleek Two-Panel, Touch-Screen Tablet Takes Education into the Digital World with a Fully Interactive Experience That is Engaging and Fun
D8 Conference, Palos Verdes, California, June 2, 2010 – Today, at the D8 2010 Conference, Kno, Inc. will debut its groundbreaking digital textbook and dynamic learning platform specifically designed for college students. Kno, short for knowledge, is a unique two-panel, touch-screen tablet that blends textbooks, course material, note-taking, web access, educational applications, digital media, sharing and more into a more powerful and engaging educational experience. Kno was developed on open web technologies that welcomes the publisher and developer communities and opens the door to unprecedented innovation in education. Its platform provides the opportunity to create new revenue streams for publishers and developers of content that can be delivered electronically to students.
Kno combines the best of the analog and digital worlds with specific capabilities for students that no other eReader, tablet, or computer can offer. It replicates the true book experience by fully preserving the publishers' carefully defined page structure. Complex charts and graphs are presented in the same manner as a physical textbook, which allow students to interact, take notes and highlight directly on the page. Each side of its innovative, two-panel interface operates independently from each other, enabling students to use both panels to display a book, or view a book on one panel and open their browser or digital notebook on the other.
Kno offers full browser support, enabling students to consume digital media, such as video or links to other web content without leaving the textbook environment. Students can also access their email accounts and for example, send coursework to their professors. Kno supports Flash, HTML5, PDF and ePub content, the underlying technologies of most publishers.
Beyond providing a more effective and efficient learning environment, Kno is profoundly practical. Kno eliminates the need for students to carry heavy textbooks, course materials, notebooks, calculators and pens, offering a lighter and more economical alternative to a back-breaking backpack.
"Today's college students have grown up in a digital world and are comfortable consuming digital media and content via the web and portable devices. By bringing that experience to their education, Kno will transform the way they learn," said Osman Rashid, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. "With the help of publishers and developers, we know we can create a thriving ecosystem to benefit students and the entire education system."
Kno, Inc. is working with the top publishers to ensure availability of required textbooks and course materials for students by product launch later this year. As an example of that, Kno announced today that it has established strategic relationships with leading higher education publishers Cengage Learning, McGraw Hill, Pearson and Wiley to launch a student beta program in fall 2010 with a number of universities and colleges across the U.S. Additionally, further distribution and pricing details will be announced over the next few months.
Additionally, Kno is currently working with developers and it will come bundled with a variety of innovative, education-focused applications. Simultaneously with the full product launch, Kno.com will offer a store for developers to host and sell their applications and for students to download textbooks and course materials.
"Our education-focused product is inspiring developers to create a whole set of innovative applications that leverage students course content, touch technology, video and Kno's hand-writing interface," said Babur Habib, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder. "Every subject – science, math, literature, history – will be enriched by new learning tools that will add excitement and discovery for students."
For more information about Kno, please visit www.kno.com.
The Sleek Two-Panel, Touch-Screen Tablet Takes Education into the Digital World with a Fully Interactive Experience That is Engaging and Fun
D8 Conference, Palos Verdes, California, June 2, 2010 – Today, at the D8 2010 Conference, Kno, Inc. will debut its groundbreaking digital textbook and dynamic learning platform specifically designed for college students. Kno, short for knowledge, is a unique two-panel, touch-screen tablet that blends textbooks, course material, note-taking, web access, educational applications, digital media, sharing and more into a more powerful and engaging educational experience. Kno was developed on open web technologies that welcomes the publisher and developer communities and opens the door to unprecedented innovation in education. Its platform provides the opportunity to create new revenue streams for publishers and developers of content that can be delivered electronically to students.
Kno combines the best of the analog and digital worlds with specific capabilities for students that no other eReader, tablet, or computer can offer. It replicates the true book experience by fully preserving the publishers' carefully defined page structure. Complex charts and graphs are presented in the same manner as a physical textbook, which allow students to interact, take notes and highlight directly on the page. Each side of its innovative, two-panel interface operates independently from each other, enabling students to use both panels to display a book, or view a book on one panel and open their browser or digital notebook on the other.
Kno offers full browser support, enabling students to consume digital media, such as video or links to other web content without leaving the textbook environment. Students can also access their email accounts and for example, send coursework to their professors. Kno supports Flash, HTML5, PDF and ePub content, the underlying technologies of most publishers.
Beyond providing a more effective and efficient learning environment, Kno is profoundly practical. Kno eliminates the need for students to carry heavy textbooks, course materials, notebooks, calculators and pens, offering a lighter and more economical alternative to a back-breaking backpack.
"Today's college students have grown up in a digital world and are comfortable consuming digital media and content via the web and portable devices. By bringing that experience to their education, Kno will transform the way they learn," said Osman Rashid, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. "With the help of publishers and developers, we know we can create a thriving ecosystem to benefit students and the entire education system."
Kno, Inc. is working with the top publishers to ensure availability of required textbooks and course materials for students by product launch later this year. As an example of that, Kno announced today that it has established strategic relationships with leading higher education publishers Cengage Learning, McGraw Hill, Pearson and Wiley to launch a student beta program in fall 2010 with a number of universities and colleges across the U.S. Additionally, further distribution and pricing details will be announced over the next few months.
Additionally, Kno is currently working with developers and it will come bundled with a variety of innovative, education-focused applications. Simultaneously with the full product launch, Kno.com will offer a store for developers to host and sell their applications and for students to download textbooks and course materials.
"Our education-focused product is inspiring developers to create a whole set of innovative applications that leverage students course content, touch technology, video and Kno's hand-writing interface," said Babur Habib, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder. "Every subject – science, math, literature, history – will be enriched by new learning tools that will add excitement and discovery for students."
For more information about Kno, please visit www.kno.com.
Kno, Inc. Announces Student Beta Program with Major Higher Education Publishers Including Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson and Wiley
Groundbreaking Digital Textbook Coming in Fall 2010 to Universities and Colleges across the U.S.; Kno Now Working with More than 90 Percent of the Higher Education Publisher Market
Santa Clara, CA – June 2, 2010 -- Kno Inc., the creator of the new digital textbook and learning platform, today announced a beta program with the top four higher education publishers including Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson and Wiley. Under the new initiative, publishers participating in the beta program will be providing select digital resources and content for an in-classroom beta program that will launch fall 2010 at major universities and colleges across the country.
"Kno's alliances with publishers is a key component of our strategy to fundamentally change the way students learn," said Osman Rashid, Kno's Co-Founder and CEO. "We are excited to work with Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson and Wiley to bring their content directly to students to help enrich their college experience. It is this content students need combined with the features that they want that differentiates Kno."
The purpose of the beta program is to validate the effectiveness of digital content within the Kno device and platform. Kno, which officially launched its product at the D8 2010 conference today, is a unique two-panel, touch-screen product that blends textbooks, course material, note-taking, web access, educational applications, digital media, sharing and more into a more powerful and engaging educational experience. Kno is a dynamic platform developed on open web technologies that embraces the publisher communities and opens the door to unprecedented innovation in education.
"McGraw-Hill Education has long pioneered the innovation of digital content, embracing the intersection of technology and education to improve student achievement," said Rik Kranenburg, President of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Professional and International (HPI). "We are pleased to work with Kno to bring the best of our content to students in an experience that maintains the integrity of higher education learning to universities and colleges across the country."
"Cengage Learning has long been delivering digital content to serve the needs of our customers. We are pleased to work with Kno to bring our innovative instructional solutions to students through this new device that is targeted to the academic market," said Bill Rieders, Executive Vice President, Global New Media, Cengage Learning. "We expect the beta program to be very informative as we work with the industry and partners to create superior learning experiences that will engage students."
"We're excited to partner with Kno on its Student Beta Program to validate the effectiveness of digital content within the Kno device and platform, " said Bonnie Lieberman, Senior Vice President, Higher Education, John Wiley & Sons. "We share Kno's goal of improving the learning process and student experience."
About Kno, Inc.
Kno, Inc. is fundamentally changing the way students learn, by offering new ways to digitally, consume, organize, create and share knowledge. Kno is a transformative two-panel tablet that artfully blends the intuitive experience of the conventional textbook with a rich digital world of video, note-taking, sharing and more. Its open platform encourages publishers and developers to create and distribute innovative education applications and content. Kno, Inc., www.kno.com, was founded in May 2009 by Osman Rashid, co-founder of Chegg and Babur Habib, a consumer electronics veteran. Kno has a world class team of management from Apple, Cisco, HP, Intel, TiVo, Chegg and Palm. The company has received funding from Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Maples and Ron Conway and is based in Santa Clara, California. Follow Kno at: http://twitter.com/GoodtoKno.
Groundbreaking Digital Textbook Coming in Fall 2010 to Universities and Colleges across the U.S.; Kno Now Working with More than 90 Percent of the Higher Education Publisher Market
Santa Clara, CA – June 2, 2010 -- Kno Inc., the creator of the new digital textbook and learning platform, today announced a beta program with the top four higher education publishers including Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson and Wiley. Under the new initiative, publishers participating in the beta program will be providing select digital resources and content for an in-classroom beta program that will launch fall 2010 at major universities and colleges across the country.
"Kno's alliances with publishers is a key component of our strategy to fundamentally change the way students learn," said Osman Rashid, Kno's Co-Founder and CEO. "We are excited to work with Cengage Learning, McGraw-Hill Education, Pearson and Wiley to bring their content directly to students to help enrich their college experience. It is this content students need combined with the features that they want that differentiates Kno."
The purpose of the beta program is to validate the effectiveness of digital content within the Kno device and platform. Kno, which officially launched its product at the D8 2010 conference today, is a unique two-panel, touch-screen product that blends textbooks, course material, note-taking, web access, educational applications, digital media, sharing and more into a more powerful and engaging educational experience. Kno is a dynamic platform developed on open web technologies that embraces the publisher communities and opens the door to unprecedented innovation in education.
"McGraw-Hill Education has long pioneered the innovation of digital content, embracing the intersection of technology and education to improve student achievement," said Rik Kranenburg, President of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Professional and International (HPI). "We are pleased to work with Kno to bring the best of our content to students in an experience that maintains the integrity of higher education learning to universities and colleges across the country."
"Cengage Learning has long been delivering digital content to serve the needs of our customers. We are pleased to work with Kno to bring our innovative instructional solutions to students through this new device that is targeted to the academic market," said Bill Rieders, Executive Vice President, Global New Media, Cengage Learning. "We expect the beta program to be very informative as we work with the industry and partners to create superior learning experiences that will engage students."
"We're excited to partner with Kno on its Student Beta Program to validate the effectiveness of digital content within the Kno device and platform, " said Bonnie Lieberman, Senior Vice President, Higher Education, John Wiley & Sons. "We share Kno's goal of improving the learning process and student experience."
About Kno, Inc.
Kno, Inc. is fundamentally changing the way students learn, by offering new ways to digitally, consume, organize, create and share knowledge. Kno is a transformative two-panel tablet that artfully blends the intuitive experience of the conventional textbook with a rich digital world of video, note-taking, sharing and more. Its open platform encourages publishers and developers to create and distribute innovative education applications and content. Kno, Inc., www.kno.com, was founded in May 2009 by Osman Rashid, co-founder of Chegg and Babur Habib, a consumer electronics veteran. Kno has a world class team of management from Apple, Cisco, HP, Intel, TiVo, Chegg and Palm. The company has received funding from Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Maples and Ron Conway and is based in Santa Clara, California. Follow Kno at: http://twitter.com/GoodtoKno.
Don't start yelling courier. :|
If it looks like a gigantic book some dude is reading, you blew it.
If you have a bunch of men in their underwear running around as a press pic. They blew it
@One Love Kno wishes to be half of what the courier (at least in the concept video form) was...
This beast tablet, or more like a encyclet, must weight a ton... If the iPad is already heavy at times this thing might be horrible to use... And those nice photos of students holding it like a book... Who the hell does that anyway?
Sorry, I still think that the ideal size/weight is a Kindle. One day I will buy something that is a dual-screen-colour-fast-refreshing-30-hour-battery-kindle-sized ebook reader.
@Lord Vader If you have a bunch of women in their underwear running around as a press pic. They nailed it
@One Love
I am sorry but this device looks like 2 iPads duct taped together. If it costs like $1000.- then one might as well get 2 iPads and duct tape them together.
Big meh on how they have crippled the software and UX.
The hunt for the worthy Courier continues.....
@d0mth0ma5 If you carry this thing, you won't be nailing anybody.
@One Love That's an original design for sure. I mean, I've never seen the thin metal border around a black bezel before.
@d0mth0ma5. Commander, I think "you blew it" would be a more appropriate ending in some cases
@Mr w00t - do people just look at the pretty pictures and not read the articles? This is designed for students, not the general consumer public, it has absolutely nothing to do with your preference for the Kindle form factor. Even though it's big and heavy, it would still be smaller and lighter than one of my engineering textbooks in college... And, you only need ONE of these, instead of lugging the equivalent of 4 of them around campus if you have to use physical textbooks. And the added size/weight would probably make it a bit sturdier, which is a benefit if your entire academic career depends on you NOT breaking your textbooks the night before finals :)
Sure, it's big and bulky, but the big screens make it easy to get your studying info, and the stylus interface for note taking make it a double win. I'm sure, as tech gets better, it'll get thinner and such (and having screens like the PixelQi with low power reflective mode would be nice)... But, it's a good start, for sure. Would probably fuel a more Courier-esque smaller version somewhere down the line, if it actually gains adoption and popularity.
@Vrmithrax I understand that, but it's just too heavy and large. Seriously, I turned my laptop 180 and held it like a book, and was immediately displeased.
I love the execution. Just make it smaller, like 9 or 10 inches.
The video made me want it! Shave off a few pounds, inches, and $$, and sign me up! Seriously, it's neat, but just a tad too large.
@MoreGoogleAds
Not true. I'm a project manager/Engineer and I would've been all over the courier.
@naashak
But you're on a hunt for concept video that you saw (of the Courier). It wasn't even a prototype yet I don't think. Who knows, maybe the Courier would have looked just like this beast once done.
Frankly this thing is embarrassingly large, especially if the target is students.
@Lord Vader It seems the force was weak
With my innuendo
@Kid Red
so to NOT look like an ipad they had to design in without rounded corners and replace the aluminium frame with cheep plastic.. or even wood? ..just to be differnet
@Mike10010100
based on your requests, you might as well get an iPad.
@Lord Vader Haha, close my Lord. - "You'll blow it"
@One Love
One panel is bigger than the JooJoo and then they went and made a second one and attached them to each other.... I want what they're smoking.
@Vrmithrax I wouldn't buy one due to size... I'd be too worried about breaking it.
@d0mth0ma5 I'd nail the chicks, if one of them would commit to a relationship. I'm like a cellphone company: You're under contract, and there's no way out without paying a large EFT. ;)
God! OK, look... put a 15" 1600x1200 Mirasol screen on a tablet that's just wide and tall enough to hold the screen and just thick enough to hold i3 internals, and give it eight hours of battery life (should be easy with no backlight) and Windows 7. It's big enough to show a single A4 or Letter sheet at full size, has color, and would be perfect for textbook replacements, but not limited by the lack of a real OS.
@One Love It's too big, are they serious?
@N900 "I love the execution. Just make it smaller, like 9 or 10 inches."
That's what she said.
You can't softball 'em in there like that. You know I'm gonna dog it.
@Old fogie late bloomer ...and then attach a keyboard to it, and make it fold up so you can put it in a back pack.
@N900 I turned my laptop sideways and was displeased because there was no screen where my keyboard was, and because there was no touchscreen in general.
@Mike10010100 Size isn't that bad, thing's lighter than a Circa 2001 Dell Laptop.
@One Love
I like, but it's so thick. That's a dealbreaker for me
@huzzlehoff
Thats what she said.
@One Love
Are we sure about the 14" screens. That would be the size of a 8.5x11 sheet of paper and they look way larger than that.
They could definitely improve their price point, and my interest level, by dropping those screens to about 10".
@Vrmithrax I'm glad somebody finally put away the snark and said what you did. I remember college (somewhat), and I would have loved having one of these. If it replaced all of my textbooks and notebooks? Hell yes.
It's a courier!
@TheLeprachaun No, it's a Courier XL
@TheLeprachaun its WAYYY too big to be as awesome as the courier, that being said i cannot wait for the mini version of this that would be as usable as the Courier
@TheLeprachaun
Put wheels on it and it’s an armoured personnel carrier.
@TheLeprachaun
I kno for shooo that's no courier and that will be breaking some peoples back. The whole fcking point of a device like this is to get rid of the weight factor which is putting students in pain for ages. Might as well carry a laptop with the convenience of a keyboard!
@TheLeprachaun
Stupid @ss Steve Ballmer although i think this device is too large i hope this thing becomes a block buster amongst college students and J Allard laughs his ass off at Steve and MS for canning the Courier in favor of that dumb Kin phone
I better get to the gym and lift some weights.
@SeeKo Seriously! 5.5 pounds???
Too big. Too heavy. Don't these stupid companies know anything? You'll be able to read for 2 minutes before you get tired.
It's the "Ten Commandments" edition slate. :)
http://listverse.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/commandments.jpg
Is it me or this article not showing up on the front page anymore?
@TheLeprachaun I think it's u
@jediram
Nope,the article was removed from the front page for a short while for some reason.
@TheLeprachaun : its at the end of the rainbow. :)
too big.
@msunardi
Well, a monstrous dual tablet like that could have some seriously interesting uses, but no, not as a portable device. It's quite funny that they try to market it that way though :-)
@msunardi
That's what she said?
@HaZaRd
that's what she wishes she said
@HaZaRd
No she didn't, lil' smokey. Get back to saving the internets.
@msunardi
Thats what he said.
@msunardi
Thats what I told her...