New Kobo eReader Tablet?

[SCION]

Here's a thread in the News subforum:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=150873

[wes101]

All their devices are very simple to use, having very little buttons/features so why would they make a "tablet" that could be semi hard for some folks out there.

I've heard people that have trouble using a ipad which is suppose to be the "easiest" tablet to use

[Canorka]

I really, really hope dedicated e-ink readers never get killed off by these.

[wes101]

Originally Posted by Canorka

I really, really hope dedicated e-ink readers never get killed off by these.

If this kobo "tablet" is real then it would probably be LCD, but it would probably be heavier and cost more so it probably won't kill them off

[Psyke]

Originally Posted by wes101

If this kobo "tablet" is real then it would probably be LCD, but it would probably be heavier and cost more so it probably won't kill them off

I agree; the dedicated e-reader has a specific role to play, that being a lightweight, easy to use, long lasting, high visibility display device. tablets are coming in as a more of a casual, do it all use e-reader/game player/web browsing/email device, that has low visibility outside, and usually much lower battery life.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by Canorka

I really, really hope dedicated e-ink readers never get killed off by these.

Probably not since they cater to different markets. E-ink devices are for people who want to read. Tablets seem to be for people who want to do everything else. I know people who say, "I can read books on my iPad," but few of them actually do.

[tecweston]

I dunno about anyone else, but I specifically chose an e-ink reader because I read for long periods of time and reading off an LCD screen hurts my eyes after an hour or so. For that reason I hope tablets never fully replace e-ink readers.

[beautifulsoup]

Originally Posted by tecweston

I dunno about anyone else, but I specifically chose an e-ink reader because I read for long periods of time and reading off an LCD screen hurts my eyes after an hour or so. For that reason I hope tablets never fully replace e-ink readers.

You and me both.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by tecweston

I dunno about anyone else, but I specifically chose an e-ink reader because I read for long periods of time and reading off an LCD screen hurts my eyes after an hour or so. For that reason I hope tablets never fully replace e-ink readers.

LCD Readers have been around for a loooong time. It was E-ink that finally made e-books viable as a business. I don't think anyone is forgetting that, even if they try to create gizmos for the gadget market.

[cutterjohn42]

Hate to break it to you pontificators, but an LCD tablet SHOULD be CHEAPER than an eink based reader, UNLESS they were actually smart rather than parsimonious and went with top-of-the-line SoC(e.g. Tegra 2, multicore cortex-a9 Qualcom etc.) AND also went with a nice HIGH res PixelQi LCD... still LCDs are mostly useless in sunny/high light conditions as they're ALWAYS WAY washed out, which is why I buy an eink reader and have other devices for lower light conditions, i.e. even my phone(which is nearly unreadable in BRIGHT(i.e. sunny, etc.) light)

[molman]

@cutterjohn42: What’s with all the capitalisation? It doesn't provide clarity of point and makes you look like you’re hitting the caps lock by mistake, or raving by shouting every other word.

As to your point, by what means are you contending that a LCD based tablet should be cheaper? All other things being equal are you contending that a LCD panel component (and the necessarily componentry to drive it) is cheaper than an eInk component?

I personally haven't looked at the supply costs so you may be right, but you seem to be adamant of this fact.

One thing to consider is a LCD is backlit (LED, ELP or something) which has a larger power draw than eInk displays means either much shorter battery life or a much larger battery to compensate likely balancing out some of the saving that may or may not exist with the use of an LCD panel.

I think Kobo developing a Nook Color competitor (if this is what this turns out to be) makes a lot of sense. There is a halo effect that often comes with having more premium devices, not to mention the new affordances of such a device. I personally would love to see more people (like Kobo) enter the Audiobook space for which Audible has a virtual monopoly on with digital distribution.

[baker]

I have had a Kobo Reader since they were released in Canada in May 2010 and have read at least 4 or 5 dozen books on it. I purchased the new Sony S tablet(Android 3.2) last week which includes the Sony Reader software and was able to easily download the Kobo ap and Kobo library.

Some preliminary thoughts:

I like reading a non-graphic book such as fiction etc on my Kobo with e-inkl

Reading a newspaper,non-fiction or reference or other publication that has color in it, I prefer the tablet

For whatever reason some non-fiction cookbooks I purchased from Kobo seemed to format much better on the Sony than on the Kobo

For the most part my Sony is a great couch computer and my Kobo reader is still doing its job as a basic reader. My sense at the moment is that they both have their place

@cutterjohn42: I understood perfectly well that your capitalization (except for LCD) was in lieu of using an italics or bold typeface to give emphasis to those words. It does provide clarity of point and I didn't think that you were hitting the CAPS-LOCK by mistake. Certainly I figured out that you were not raving by shouting every other word.

One can rave without all capitalized words quite easily; without "E", bottled water and massages too for that matter! (Earplugs do help.)

[Latch]

Does anyone really need to add emphasis to every fourth word they type? I mean, come on now! I'd love to hear him read his own posts aloud, just for the wild spikes in voice modulation...

(just playing with you, cutterjohn!)

[molman]

@Latch: At least cutterjohn actually had something to say relevant to the thread. Maybe one day someone will parse shall1028's last sentence for me because I be damned if I know what he/she is on about.

Anyway, with regards to this actual topic, here is a link to a leak for this rumoured device. If true it is a 7" LCD tablet (ala Kindle Fire/Nook Color etc), it honestly looks like every other tablet;

The few details revealed include an industry-standard 1024×600 7″ LCD, 8GB of internal storage, an a Micro SD slot. The battery is said to last six hours, and a number of Kobo-esque features are built in, like Pulse, Reading Life, and syncing content with other devices that have Kobo’s reading app installed on them.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/29/kob...ailer-website/