AllThingsD’s “BoomTown” section reports on a rather secretive startup called Kakai that is reportedly working on a Linux-based “Kindle for students”. Founder Osman Rashid is no stranger to the educational market, already having founded the Chegg on-line textbook rental company.
Like the Entourage Edge, Kakai’s device is rumored to be a dual-screen foldable tablet, but another interesting piece of the puzzle comes from a (no-longer available) job posting for senior visual designer, as quoted by a VentureBeat article:
Kakai is working on the leading edge of touch/gestural interfaces for connected and disconnected devices, and we are designing a suite of gestural applications from scratch.
AllThingsD adds:
While Kakai declined to comment, sources said a key part of the endeavor goes well beyond the tablet itself by including robust software and seamless Web site to deliver course material, allowing for note-taking and offering other audio and video capabilities.
There’s certainly no shortage of e-book devices being aimed at students. The question that remains is whether Kakai’s device will be able to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack.
