Intel Capital Invests $20 Million In Education Tablet Vendor Kno

Intel on Friday said it will invest $30 million in Kno, a Silicon Valley-based education software and tablet hardware vendor, as part of its plan to develop Atom-based purpose-built tablets for various verticals markets.

Intel is looking to optimize its Atom platform for the mobile market -- a task that has proven difficult for the chipmaker. Intel has yet to bring its long-awaited, tablet-optimized Atom platform, code-named Oak Trail, to market.

In an interview with CRN on Friday, Dave Flanagan, managing director of Intel Capital’s Mobility Sector, said the company is pursuing an aggressive tablet roadmap, and that joining forces with Kno, and investing in education in general, will augment its efforts.

’This is a strong opportunity for us to align with someone who’s really innovating in a segment that’s somewhat unloved today but has huge potential,’ Flanagan said. ’Kno doesn’t just offer a software platform, they offer hardware, software and services that drive a rich educational experience. We’re excited about bringing their technology and our technology together.’

Flanagan said Intel and Kno will work to optimize Kno’s touch-based applications for Intel’s educational platforms. ’We’ve got a pretty aggressive effort underway on the silicon side to take our Atom architecture from traditional form-factors like notebooks and desktops and apply them in lower-power form factors like handsets and tablets,’ he said.

’There are a lot of unique requirements to delivering solutions in the marketplace around handsets and tablets. In addition to this investment, our engineers will work with Kno’s engineers and with third party design partners to do all the optimization required to deliver robust Intel-based educational tablets to the marketplace.’

In addition to investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, Advance Publications, First Round Capital, Floodgate, and SV Angels -- all of which contributed along with Intel to this round of investment in Kno -- Flanagan said the education segment of the IT industry offers resellers a unique opportunity due to their local reach.

’There’s going to be a big opportunity in the education market driven by the nature of education today, which is very local,’ Flanagan said. ’Ultimately, you’ll see devices like this that are purpose-built with specific verticals and specific geographies in mind. By default, channel resellers are in the best position to potentially go after the opportunity, whether its tablets or another kind of form factor specific to education.’

Next: Hardware Optimizations For Education-Oriented Tablets

As for specific technical areas in which Intel expects to collaborate with Kno, Flanagan cited power management, display, and graphics optimizations as likely areas of collaboration. In addition to those challenges, Flanagan discussed opportunities to enhance the experience of users in high-level educational environments in the context of Intel’s decision to invest in Kno.

’If you look at traditional tablets, there are great all-purpose devices in the market, but they’re probably not optimized for heavy intensive student-like engagement,’ he said. ’We believe, as Kno believes, that there is a demand for purpose built devices that offer unique, rich experiences for education segments.’

Flanagan said Kno has built a 14-inch tablet designed for reliability and usability in a college or high-school setting, although it has yet to announce the device’s release schedule.

’The form factor itself very interesting,’ he said. ’Kno’s device offers a robust experience, much like visual textbooks. Kno also offers an immersive social element through its software platform that provides a view of how education is going to be delivered on these devices that’s almost social in nature. Kno is very forward-thinking regarding how they will develop their platform with online tutoring, collaborative education and, exchange that will resonate very strongly with the marketplace once it is delivered.’

Intel said Kno plans to use the funding to develop its educational software or multiple platforms, including Intel’s Atom architecture. Meanwhile, Intel said it continues to support personalized "eLearning" environments through its portfolio of investments, which according to Flanagan is part of a broader Intel strategy of exploring new verticals.

’You’re going to see a lot of verticalization in the tablet market,’ he said. ’A lot of purpose-built devices are being built around specific verticals -- health care being one, education being another. We’re making an investment in a segment that we think will be very lucrative.’

Next: Pricing And Targeting The Right Age Group

Intel last month launched a collobaration with Lenovo in the education market, with the introduction of Lenovo's Classmate+ notebook PC based on Intel's Learning Series reference design. However, that collaboration targets students in grades K-8 -- whereas Flanagan said Kno’s devices are primarily aimed at college and graduate-level students.

’Early adoption for Kno’s tablet is initially more targeted at college and graduate level students, where you see digital textbooks today and where Kno is looking to developer its software platform,’ Flanagan said. ’That being said, there is no problem with taking this type of solution and bringing it to lower grades per se. Within their services platform, they’ve embedded things for higher grades such as social networking, online tutoring, and materials more oriented toward that graduate level.’

Beyond the technical, hardware challenges and the innovations needed at the software level, Flanagan said the challenge to offering tablets in educational environments involves keeping down the cost of components and ultimately the device itself.

’One thing that has to be breached is cost,’ he said. ’Like any other consumer device, there are a lot of sensitives around price. Tablets are in that $700-800 range right now. That limits access. We’re going to be able to take a lot of costs out and bring it down to that $200-300 sweet spot, which will allow it to proliferate in the education segment.’