Exclusive: Kno Student Tablet Start-Up in Talks to Sell Off Tablet Part of Its Business

February 21, 2011 at 12:16 am PT

Kno–the much-funded and high-profile Silicon Valley start-up aimed at making tablet computers focused at students–is considering selling off the entire hardware part of the business and is in talks with two major consumer electronics manufacturers to do so, according to sources close to the situation.

Sources said Kno execs have recently decided that the quicker-than-expected uptake in tablet production by a multitude of powerful device makers had made its efforts to package a seamless offering less critical.

Instead, the company will focus on its robust software and services to offer students on the Apple iPad, as well as upcoming tablets based on Google’s Android mobile operating system and others.

BoomTown could not determine which two companies Kno was in serious discussions with about unloading its hardware business, but the company has signed an NDA with one of them.

But, if a deal is struck, the move would be a dramatic shift for the company, which has yet to ship significant numbers of the student-focused touchscreen device as it has long touted.

In fact, Kno said in November that it would ship a $599 and $899 version of the tablet by the end of the year.

The lower price was for its single-screen device, while the clamshell double-screen version was more expensive.

And, although it has been reported no pre-orders were fulfilled, Kno did indeed ship several hundred of them, built by China’s Foxconn, before stopping doing so recently.

Many have been dubious about Kno’s ambitious hardware efforts.

That’s because marketing a new and complex product like the Kno takes a lot of effort and cash, especially since it is an increasingly competitive market for mobile and portable computing products that includes Apple, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Amazon, Dell and many others.

Kno recently raised another $46 million in funding to add to a $10 million round, and sources said that the Santa Clara, Calif., company was considering going back out to raise even more.

Its current backers include prominent venture players like Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital, along with investors Mike Maples and Ron Conway.

A Kno spokeswoman declined comment.

But sources said the shift to deliver textbook and other student-related delivery system would be a better path for all that investment money, since Kno has established a wide range of partnerships with colleges and universities.

In addition, Kno Co-founder Osman Rashid has a lot of experience in digital education market. He was also the co-founder of Chegg, the textbook rental business that is reportedly aiming for an IPO soon.

You can see Rashid here, along with the Kno tablet prototype in the full demo video that the company did last year at the eighth D: All Things Digital conference:

(Want to see it bigger? Click here.)

Tagged with: Amazon, Andreessen Horowitz, Android, Apple, BoomTown, California, Chegg, China, college, computer, conference, consumer, Dell, Demo, device, digital, education, electronics, financial, First Round Capital, Foxconn, funding, Google, hardware, Hewlett-Packard, Internet, investment, iPad, IPO, Kara Swisher, Kno, maker, manufacturer, market, Microsoft, Mike Maples, NDA, offering, operating system, Osman Rashid, portable, price, product, production, rental, Ron Conway, round, Santa Clara, screen, seamless, service, Silicon Valley, software, Start-up, student, tablet, textbook, university, venture, version

comments so far. Add yours.

Anonymous

That’s another much hyped iPad killer gone, and in this case become an iPad app provider.

Forget the reality distortion canard. Looks like the iPad has it’s own gravitational well.
Anonymous

They made the device very large to get around the low resolution of displays compared to print, but Apple made small devices and then shipped a double-resolution Retina Display that has print resolution. A future iPad will have a Retina Display and will show more information than the Kno tablet, yet also be more conveniently sized. Then it becomes a pure size question, in a market where smaller is better. So they were right to get out. Apple has created a world class development platform on iPad, with development tools and frameworks that enable small groups to do big things. That is where a small company should focus their efforts.
http://www.topcentech.com/ topcentech

i like it
Anonymous

Nobody ever hyped up the Kno as an iPad killer, though.
Anonymous

big, ugly and bulky. an iPad app of this would be more profitable.
http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com Hank Williams

The problem with the iPad for education is it doesnt have pen input. This will be critical for taking notes, drawing diagrams, highlighting content, and all the cool software stuff that the Kno did. Someone recently announced an Android with pen capabilities where Kno software will work well. But I dont see any way an ipad is useful for students without a pen. I use mine almost exclusively for browsing the web and email and occasionally some other audio or video content. I think (cool as it is) the iPad will suck for students.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Alexander-James/100000372276422 Alexander James

Haha, that was a scary title. But I like the content. Basically I hated their idea because it was nothing unique since people can download ebook textbooks for their tablets anyway. This is good because they weren’t going to win the tablet war with textbooks that can malfunction or break. Now they’re going to focus on the reason why I actually had hopes for them–they have already talked to and signed deals with many textbook publishers like pearson and mcgraw-hill
Anonymous

Nice! Should be interesting to see how that turns out.

http://www.being-anon.eu.tc
Anonymous

Taking notes can be done with audio… There are other ways around this too. Looks like you are trying to justify a non-existent Android tablet as the answer.
http://whydoeseverythingsuck.com Hank Williams

I am simply saying I dont use an iPad for note taking and drawing an I don’t think anyone sane uses it that way currently. So i don’t think kno can be successful based on current iPad hardware. It will have to be android or apple will need to add more features. Audio recording is not note taking unless you’re Stevie wonder.
http://rendion.myopenid.com/ render

Oh thank god I dont have to see anyone hoist those Moses Tablet abortions in front of innocents again.

But I do like the reference to this actually being a company (its not) and that the CEO has oodles of digital education experience. (Really? Please expound on that…)

It must be seriously humiliating to have to pander to the academic crowd with an oversized non-mobile set of LCD panels in the shape of a book with Microsoft Encarta on it.
http://twitter.com/rbolman Richard Bolman

“Taking notes can be done with audio”…
Not in my class. I can just imagine a roomful of students “taking notes” during a lecture. No one would actually be able to hear the instructor because of the chatter in the room.
http://www.seanpaune.com Sean P. Aune

Having spent actual time with a Kno tablet, the pen really made a world of difference as you could easily take notes anywhere you wanted in the textbook.
http://www.homeschooltablet.com homeschooltablet

Hopefully this will allow them to focus on apps that are for eduction not just another digital textbook.
http://twitter.com/timeglider Michael Richardson

I’m an educational software developer and have been trying to get a grip on the Kno API, but they’ve offered zero documentation. So they’re in bit of a bind because there isn’t a wide selection of apps available, yet they’re not cultivating a dev. community. They’re apparently on the fence about hardware, thus about software, thus there isn’t enough of an ecosystem….
http://www.sitereviewboard.com/ Elton Sites

Well, that is a new thing with the tablet industry. I think it might be really interesting for people that people will start buying this one. Besides, you get two screens in one.
http://blog.cheetahdeals.com CheetahDeals Blog

I agree with your assessment of what Apple’s done well, but I’d just add that nothing lasts forever.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WQKQQGTWEWDKBXOWK4TOIPVGYI pattyboy

If anything can work in this market, it should be the HP offering, or really any offering that can effectively allow handwritten note taking (re. win7 based)
I speak from experience, as hand writing notes, as I did through Calculus, Physics, Finance, and other classes in which you use a lot of symbols is much easier than trying to input symbols from a keyboard and keep up with the professor. I used a lenovo X61t, Gateway 140x, and a compaq tc1000 throughout my college career.
I still think they need to hit a sub $650 price point through, which I think HP is trying for.