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.
That to me is what a tablet should be...
I want one so damn bad.
I'd do some of those half naked dudes running in the picture. Anyways albs is way to heavy for a portable device. This thing reminds me of microsoft's big ass table called surface.
Make the screens about 11 inches and reduce book costs to 1/4 of normal and I'll buy one.
this is horrible....
That old dude is sooooo fucking rude, god damn let the guy finish talkin.
@inspirationfeed
For real. Mossberg wouldn't be interrupting Jobs like that, making fun of his use of the word beautiful. If you cut adjectives out a Jobs presentation it would last about 20 seconds.
Sweet
enTourage eDGe please!
seriously, this is supposed to replace text books. As a college student, I spend well over $800 on school books and supplies that this device would be trying to replace. Also, its big. Bigger than the literal 40lbs of text books I carry? no.
Awesome.
Remember, this is not a device that is meant to compete with general tablets or laptops, it is competing with text books.
This thing is multi use
you can use it as a surf board when on vacation.
if u tilt one screen 90 degrees u can use it as a chair on campus
Also if i carry this to campus along side my laptop ill be holding about 10 plus pounds for the entire day, and i would have awesome biceps.
This thing is all win for me
*Sigh* It really is comical to see so many emo-tech people get so emotional over this duo-tablet. Anyways, if the iPad and any other tablet PC can sell, why not this thing. It does beat carrying five 2+ inch thick text books.
On a side note, that old guy on the stage attempting to use some vague form of wit to maintain his presence on the stage, is doing a horrible job. He says "You're going after the book market, to replace them with this which professors already hate..." He's obviously not market savvy, nor does he have any idea what he's talking about. Hope he's not affiliated with Engadget.
@Imminent That's Walt Mossberg, dude. He's heavy. He literally runs the show out there. Rude, but definitely in the know. OK. Bye, bye now.
Focus on the awful stock photos. The ladies in the field surrounded by half nakes guys ?!
Every on looker has a "WTF" look on their face. Just horrible.
Way too big and way too heavy. It has finally occurred to me that CEO's/product designers are all morons. You can't hold something that is 5.5lbs for very long and even if you could its comically large and the wrong aspect ratio. Why in the hell would you use 16:9 on this type of device?
I'm still waiting for something similar to this which you can store a library of sheet music on (preferably in some format that makes transposing on the fly possible).
CE-Oh no he didnt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8AHyf9VDC4
"a finger is much bigger than a mouse"
true. true. now pass the blunt... pass it.
@buoy
I assume that is referring to the pointer.
Too big...
Where is my Courier? Oh right. MS is 'developing 'n incubating new technologies' and 'evaluating future use blah, blah, blah'. I hope MS is enjoying their learning experience. Meanwhile, these new guys come out with this thing and already have access to 90% of the edu publishing market! MS execs must love the taste of dust...
H.U.G.E. Seriously, did you see the giant green book they had to put it next to so it wouldn't look ridiculous? Wowzers
its a cool video tho ill giv em that a tad too big i would like courier size more
Awesome .. I want to break free
Until someone makes a device like this that uses a flexible display, I don't see much of an advantage over a single screen once you take everything else into consideration. People like to think that there is, but that doesn't make it so.
Kno way they could be serious.
Press pics look like SNL meets iPad
Capacitive, cumbersome. Blew it.
That host guy was kind of a d*ck.
Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
That thing is massive and totally ridiculous. It's like going to a developer's desk who has dual monitors at his workstation.
And it's just an e-book reader? Are you kidding me? Yeah I can see people carrying that around trying to open that up in their crammed up seat on an airliner.
@derrickONLINE ok so it's more than just an e-book reader. Still. Ridiculous
Looks a bit big and heavy but the ui looks pretty cool. If its fast and textbooks are cheaper(which they should be) I'd want one. It also looks pretty durable which is something that all tablet makers should be considering in their designs.
Okay, this really reeks of a company that just really has no idea what they're doing. It has big screens, it looks beautiful, that's great!
The hardware is laggy, the software isn't compatible with anything, it's heavy and has a mediocre battery life. On top of that, they are marketing it as a very specific single use device, their front-men aren't eloquent on stage, their press pics are unintentionally comical, and their render video doesn't go into any detail about it, or even have a voice over or captions. The whole thing just looks like either a company that doesn't care enough, or one that's incompetent.
This is a pretty good concept at the core, but the execution is failure of the highest degree. Not getting my hopes up here.
I have serious doubts on the picture with half naked dudes;
1) What kind of high-school girls rather look at a some screen than at their fellow male students making fun in their shorts?
2) Since those screens are IPS screens I bet they see shit on the device with the sun shining so brightly like that.
Drop one screen, and you may have a product.
"Kno thanks."
Dual screens a Courier do not make.
Needs the flexible single piece Samsung screen instead of two LCD's
I may not be perfect now, but this idea might really catch on. Music has gone from bulky records and CD's to mp3 files, and books are starting to go to e-readers. Text books are a pain to carry, expensive, easily damaged and don't have any place to write. This looks like I could read my textbook, take notes, and interact with my learning all in one device. Like the ipad its not meant to replace a laptop it just supplements student learning.
I have a Gateway E-295C/C-14*XL. 14" screen, 6.5 lbs. or so.
Only rarely do I use it in slate mode because of the sheer weight and bulk. It's just too much.
The Kno? It would compete with my proper Tablet PC too much at that size. Just way too heavy and bulky. The appeal of something like the Courier is that it would've been something lighter and small enough to fit in a jacket pocket-somewhere around Newton MessagePad 2000/2100 or Moleskine size when closed. It still beats carrying a bunch of hardcover textbooks in my backpack, but not by as much as I'd like.
That said, there's a lot they're getting right. IPS screens for excellent image quality and viewing angles? Wacom or other EMR pen support, with an interface built to leverage it? Now that's what I wanted to see out of the Courier.
I just hope that they'll make something smaller. Part of the appeal of a digital display over paper is that display size isn't as much of a barrier to fitting content-not when you can pan around, zoom in/out, and possibly even reorganize and reflow the content as needed.