Microsoft and Kano introduce ‘laptop package’ for children

Microsoft and Kano introduce the Kano PC. This is a kit with Windows tablet, keyboard, battery and speaker that children can assemble to use as a laptop. The package must, among other things, generate interest in the operation of a computer.

Young people must connect the battery and speaker to the ‘motherboard’ and they must also connect the keyboard in the cover. The back of the body is transparent to provide a view of some chips and also the passive cooling of the CPU and GPU. The young people also get some explanation about this. The screen is an 11.6″ touchscreen, the processor is the Atom x5-Z8350, there is 4GB of ram, 64GB of storage, two USB ports, HDMI, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microphone.

The aim of the project is to give children and young people at school a DIY experience and to interest them in computers and programming. The Kano PC runs Windows 10 in S-mode and the apps How Computers Work, Make Art for working with Coffeescript, the Kano app for programming, Paint 3D and Minecraft: Education Edition are available as standard.

The Kano PC will be released in October in the US and UK for $300 and £300 respectively. The kit will also be available in Europe for an unknown price.