Seems I was not 100% correct when I wrote that the Kno was not to be:
As a result of the post I wrote yesterday, in which I said that I thought that the Monster Kno ereaders were not going to happen, I have had a prompt reaction from the Kathryn Kelly of Kno inc., in which she pointed me at a press release that I had not noticed – perhaps its rather long winded and not exactly clear title may have been why I didnt notice it….. It glories in the name of ” Intel Capital, Advance Publications, Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, FLOODGATE and SV Angels Invest Million In Kno”. Has a certain “zing” to it, doesn’t it?
Back to basics, it seems:
Anyhow, in this press release it is stated that Kno will be concentrating on their core business, which is the production of educational software, and drop the idea of producing their own ereaders, so I was partly correct at least. But it is a pity all the same…………………..
As they say in that press release:
As part of the agreement, Intel and Kno will join forces to advance the use of tablet computers designed to meet the needs of interactive and 1:1 student learning environments. The two companies will explore opportunities to make Kno’s touch-based applications available for Intel’s educational platforms.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to continue building our solutions in broader education markets and onto the innovative Intel-based platforms,” said Osman Rashid, CEO and Co-Founder, Kno, Inc. “We look forward to working together with the ultimate goal of making learning engaging, collaborative and fun for students.”
“Kno’s unique end-to-end software and their experience with content publishers aligns very well with Intel’s approach of delivering a holistic solution for education that comprises of hardware, software, digital content and services,” said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital and Intel executive vice president. “We plan to work with Kno and continue to bring a wide range of innovative platform choices to students worldwide.”
Thus Kno inc.
Whilst, given the costs involved in producing and marketing such dedicated devices, which would probably only be attractive to a relatively small market, make it a rather dodgy area to get involved in, especially right now with the current wave of tablets and the effect this is having on the ereader market, I have to confess that I am rather saddened by this announcement.
It means I shall never get my hands on a Monster Kno ereader… Oh woe is me………..
I was very taken with the idea of those monstrous ereaders they were planning to produce, and would have dearly loved to have been given the chance to try one out. Thus I envy those lucky few folk who apparently did manage to get hold of one of them at the start of this year. I wonder what will happen to those examples of Kno ereaders now?
Anyhow, I hope that I have now set the record right with this post, and await further developments from Kno inc with interest.
Link to my previous post on this topic: monster-ereaders-from-kno-appear-to-be-dead-in-the-water-no-news-for-ages/
Link to Kno: http://www.kno.com/
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Any thoughts on the demise of those huge ereaders?