14 DAY TRIAL // Over the past few months, the nascent e-reader market took its place as one of the niche markets that get the most attention, rivaled mainly by the slate segment. Of course, while veterans like the Kindle and Nook are still very much alive and kicking, other devices that launched have yet to make a mark or only just started to, either because of delays or insufficient marketing. Now, a new player may finally break cover and add its own device to the mix.
According to All Things Digital, Kakai is “one of the start-ups in Silicon Valley in the deepest of stealth modes, despite a panoply of high-profile players involved.” One of the players is Osman Rashid, who is involved in an online textbook rental service known as Chegg.
The report states that Kakai will finally come out of hiding and develop a “Kindle for students,” namely an e-reader meant to take the place of traditional textbooks. All that is known about the company itself, so far, is that it has about 50 employees and a venture capital of roughly 10 million. Exact details on its plans do not really exist at this time, except for some basic information on what the device would look like and what functions will make it more approachable by the targeted end-user base.
The e-reader will be foldable and come with two displays. Basically, it will partially imitate a textbook while bringing the benefit of portability, since students will no longer have to carry multiple heavy books around campus. The other detail disclosed was that the e-book reading gimmick will use a version of the Linux OS. That being said, the Kakai e-reader will probably not come into conflict with the Kindle or the iPad. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing neither when the product will enter mass production nor how much it will cost.