Intel licensing Kno hardware for partners with manufacturing knohow

A month or so ago, we reported that Kno was looking for a way out of the tablet hardware business and intended to transition itself into a purely software-centric operation. Well, now Bloomberg and All Things D tell us that a deal has been worked out to make that desire a reality. A $30 million investment round led by Intel Capital has reportedly been arranged, whose stipulations include granting Intel a license to the hardware designs and blueprints of the original dual-screen tablet. Chipzilla's share of the new buy-in is estimated at around $20 million, though before you start fantasizing about what the company's financial and R&D muscle could do for the platform, we should note that it apparently doesn't intend to build any tablets of its own. The goal is simply to obtain the knohow and share it with its OEM partners (while inevitably tying that gesture of goodwill to more chip orders). As to Kno itself, it'll try to exploit the new cash in its continued efforts to become an educational software delivery platform benefiting from its many partnerships with academic institutions. Knowledge is power, after all.

Update: Not that there was much doubt, but this deal is now completely official. Press release is after the break.

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Intel licensing Kno hardware for partners with manufacturing knohow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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