After raising $ 28 million last November to add more firepower to its growth, Kano unveils the latest novelty in its range of gadgets that you will use to learn to code: a camera.
Kano, based in London, uses this week's CES in Las Vegas to present a complete prototype of the new camera kit – designed to work with Kano's suite of gadgets, including a computer kit, motion detector and the animated pixel lightbox.
The camera is launched at an indeterminate date later in the year, so there is no official price yet (although a Kickstarter page that has given a taste of it last year said it would cost $ 129.99). You can register to order one here.
As with its old material – which has been used by about 200,000 people worldwide, who have coded and posted in the Kano community over 380,000 applications, works, songs and games that they have created with this material – the idea behind Kano's camera is twofold.
First and foremost, the company aims to make technology and its use more accessible by demystifying its operation by giving people the components and instructions to mount the camera themselves. Second, it pursues the nature step by step by gradually introducing different functions and showing users how to use them to create software for their newly assembled hardware.
While the viewer, for example, allows you to create light-based illustrations and games, the camera gives users the ability to "code" different photo and GIF filters, and change capture settings. in the first place.
Adding a camera to the mix is an important step for Kano.
With the rise of smart phones and mobile phones in general – and their transformation into a near-universal computing and communication device for the youngest – the camera has become one of the most significant features and the most used of these devices. These days, having a device to capture and manipulate images would give the impression that something important is missing, not just for users, but for Kano himself. as part of its mission.
"What we do here has not really been tried for several decades," I told CEO and co-founder Alex Klein last year. "We are building an end-to-end IT company."
What this also means is that having one as part of the Kano Suite gives the entire platform a new profile with a new group d & # 39; users. There will always be those who are happy to tinker with a gadget and learn how it works, but potentially, those who might be less interested in building games might be more interested in understanding how a digital camera works and to personalize it.
"Our goal is to open up technology so that everyone can understand and shape it," Klein said in a statement today. "We are excited to bring for the first time a simple, fun and creative calculation to CES."
Part of this mission was also to use different channels to attract a wider audience. This includes revealing new devices and uses in YouTube videos, as well as spikes on crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter. The page where Kano had unveiled the camera for the first time among other new gadgets last year has already raised more than $ 643,000 in support.
Kano also uses, of course, more traditional ways to sell his products. Its devices are sold in the best stores and targets in North America, in select Walmart, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Indigo, Microsoft, The Source and Toys R Us stores – some 4,500 retailers in all.