Apple may have seen as many as 350,000 iBooks textbooks downloaded since launch. Global Equities Research claims to have a special tracking method that showed the relatively brisk take-up. As many as 90,000 copies of iBooks Author had been downloaded at the same time.
Apple committed iOS to education in a big way at its event by launching iBooks 2. We've taken a look at Apple's first dip into a full digital textbook platform and come back fairly impressed. Read ahead for more details and what this might mean for Amazon, Kno, and others hoping to get into e-books for schools.
Apple's digital textbook creation system is relying on the manager of its iWork suite, slips uncovered on Tuesday. Productivity app VP Roger Rosner was said by the Wall Street Journal to be "closely involved" in crafting the system. His involvement would reflect the creative nature of the unveiling, which would let publishers and schools themselves easily create their own textbooks.
Kno has sent early word of two major updates for its iPad textbook app (App Store, not yet updated). Kno Flashcards rely on a unique auto-generation technique that looks for key terms and generates flash cards that are grouped together to quickly create a study guide around a chapter or other segment. The development is based on research into episodic memory patterns, the effect of repetition, and metacognition, all of which should lead to genuine learning and not just memorization, Kno claims.
Kno started off the week by giving its iPad app (free, App Store) a handful of first for digital textbooks. Students can now look at 3D objects in textbooks that they can navigate with gestures. The in-beta feature is so far being focused on chemistry but will expand to other fields in time.
Kno, which started off making educational tablets has now updated its iPad app (free, App Store) with version 1.5 later on Wednesday. The student-oriented and free app will help users organize textbooks and PDFs.
Amazon started off the week with a potentially crucial strategy to corner the school market. Kindle Textbook Rental lets students rent e-books for as little 30 days and as many as 360. The rental fees change on the term length and theoretically save as much as 80 percent of the price.
Kno's full exit from tablets was made complete late Friday after it released its official iPad app (free, App Store). The app gives access to the full, complex textbook layouts of its earlier hardware with highlights, note taking and sharing, and a book manager that sorts by the course. A store inside gives access to 70,000 textbooks that are discounted by as much as 30 to 50 percent off their paper equivalents.
Kno removed doubts on Friday and confirmed it was taking an investment from Intel that would effectively see it get out of direct competition in tablets. A $30 million investment from venture capital groups, $20 million of would come directly from Intel Capital, will see the two work on getting Kno's educational software on to Intel's educational hardware platforms, like the ClassMate line. Intel gets control of licensing for Kno's tablet design and will let other companies build slates based on the 14-inch single- or dual-screen hardware.
A late-breaking leak has backed suspicions that Kno was exiting hardware. Intel Capital and Advance Publications is reportedly investing $30 million in a funding round that would see it take control of Kno tablets while leaving the core Kno team to focus on software. The quick uptake of tablets from not just Apple but other major hardware firms has reduced the need to have an education-focused tablet, AllThingsD understood from its sources.
Kno may already be backing away from its tablet hardware to focus on apps for competing platforms, according to tips on Monday. The young startup is reportedly talking to two "major consumer electronics manufacturers" about selling off the hardware side and focusing on apps for the iPad as well as Android 3.0. AllThingsD's insiders didn't know the company names, but one was secretive enough to have required a non-disclosure to avoid sharing details.
The 14-inch Kno tablet has been marred by multiple delays, but now comes news of the tablet shipping in the middle of April. CrunchGear said those who pre-ordered the tablet were notified they are shipping in 60 days, and Kno confirmed this notification. If it arrives as promised, the tablet will arrive at schools, its target market, in time for the spring semester.
Early buyers of Kno tablets are now known to have encountered an unexplained delay in getting their 14-inch slates. The hardware was supposed to ship December 21 but in many cases still haven't received their orders. An official statement from the company to Engadget hasn't clarified matters and suggested the company didn't have a complete picture of what had pushed shipments back.
Tablet newcomer Kno was showing its 14-inch tablets at the ShowStoppers event on Thursday night and gave a rare chance to see them first-hand. Electronista had the opportunity to get a hands-on with the educational tablets. Read on after the break to see our impressions and how well it fared against the iPad.
Kno on Monday night said that its 14-inch tablets will ship on Tuesday. Both the single- and dual-screen versions will be available and will cost the promised $599 and $899, respectively. New sales are currently limited to an invite-only system due to high demand, Kno said, although it hasn't said how many it will be shipping on launch day.
Tablets are on a fast growth track that could delay many PC sales and is comparable more to TVs and other major electronics, UBS analyst Maynard Um said in a detailed study. The iPad, Galaxy Tab and other tablets wouldn't directly steal share from notebooks but, by late 2011, could persuade many users to stall computer upgrades if a tablet costs the same. Users will still need computers for writing, and iPad users are still tied to a computer to sync and get updates.
Kno today locked in the pricing and launch timeframe for its education-focused tablets. The 14-inch displays used by both will carry a premium over the iPad, as the single screen tablet will cost $599 while the dual screen model will cost $899. Both should be shipping in limited numbers by the end of the year.
Kno, which is planning dual-screen tablet later this year, today said that it also plans to bring out a single-screen version soon. It will also be aimed at students and provide digital textbooks, letting students take notes on the touchscreen. This device will have a single, 14.1-inch screen.
The investors and others behind the 14-inch dual-screen tablet called the Kno haves revealed some more information on the device recently. It will be "the most powerful tablet anyone has ever made," according to investor Marc Andreessen. Meanwhile, the company CEO, Osman Rashid, said the device will ship before year's end, though didn't elaborate. The company has just secured another $46 million in investments to help bring the tablet to market this year.
Kno today used the D8 conference to formally unveil its self-titled tablet. The tablet carries dual 14-inch screens and is conceived as a replacement for school textbooks and uses a custom, multi-touch version of Linux optimized for books. Kno textbooks themselves support on-screen notes, highlights and "stickies," and a stylus comes with designed with handwriting in mind.
Startup tablet designer Kakai today rebranded itself as Kno and set out a date for the formal debut of its dual-screen tablet. The Linux-based device should get a formal appearance at the D8 conference starting June 2nd. No more information has slipped out, but the tablet is already known to be a hybrid e-reader and note taking device aimed at students, with support for both audio and video.
