14 DAY TRIAL // Media slates are classified by some analysts as small electronics that use a tablet form factor and lack physical keyboards, relying exclusively on touch input for interaction. Thus, most companies that developed tablets usually stuck to the general form imposed by the iPad, with or without modifications made to the screen size. Media tablets aren't the only type of slates, however, and while rugged tablet PCs have been servicing the industrial sector for quite a while, they are not the only alternatives.
The idea of a dual-screen tablet is not exactly a new one. On several occasions, whether through leaks, announcements or at electronics exhibitions, some PC maker or another showed off a concept of a mobile PC with two screens. Santa Clara-based Kno Inc. decided to speed things up a bit and put together such a device, though the final product ended up larger than some may have expected.
Simply dubbed Kno, the new electronic is basically a merger of two tablets, each with a very interesting screen size of no less than 14.1 inches. Thus, when opened, the dual-tablet takes up quite a bit of space. Of course, this excludes the possibility of the Kno acting as a consumer-oriented 'gadget.' This isn't going to be an issue though, since Kno specifically aims it at college students. Essentially, the Kno should act as a digital textbook, with digital books and course materials slated to debut later this year.
For those interested in the specifications, the dual-screen 'textbook' is based on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 SoC (System on Chip), features 16GB of internal flash storage, has full support for Flash, HTML5, PDF and ePub formats and boasts a battery life of up to 8 hours. A student beta program should begin this fall, at several US universities and colleges. Whether the large form factor proves to be a blessing or a curse remains to be seen.