As expected, the Kno Tablet was unveiled earlier this week at the D8: All Things Digital Conference and it is impressive. Of particular interest, Kno has already partnered with four higher education publishers (Cengage Learning, McGraw Hill, Pearson, and Wiley) and pilots will begin this fall. Here is a list of some of the highlights:
- Two 14 inch touchscreens that open like a book to allow the device to display 95 percent of textbooks
- There will be an online store that is linked to the device for the purchase of materials
- It has WiFi and Bluetooth
- It weighs 5.5 pounds
- It supports all document-creation formats and PDFs
- It will include a stylus
- Operating system is Linux based
- Pre-orders will begin in October and it will ship in time for the holidays
In addition, here is a link to an article on CNET and another on All Things Digital. The videos on each link are worth a watch.
This brings us pretty close to having a commercially viable multi-function device for e-textbooks that was designed with textbooks in mind. The road ahead could get bumpy for college stores.
