Kobo - Beyond the Book event, August 27 in NYC

[rwhe]

Originally Posted by DStyle

Here is your live feed.

http://goodereader.com/blog/electron...big-kobo-event

That page won't have anything until 7:00 Eastern. Try here:

https://twitter.com/Goodereader

[taming]

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013...p-with-pocket/

Kobo Launches Fleet of New Devices, Kids Ebook Store, Partnership With Pocket

Categories: Digital Book Wire | Tags: kobo, wayne white
August 27, 2013 | DBW | 0


International ebook retailer and device-maker Kobo has launched a new fleet of e-reading and tablet devices along with an ebook store for children and a partnership with content aggregator Pocket — all aimed at helping Kobo win the fight for “people who have reading at the center of their lives,” according to Kobo chief content officer, Michael Tamblyn.

Related: Kobo’s High-Def E-Reader | Kobo E-Reader Sales Way up | Kobo Doubles Revenue in 2012 | Kobo CEO Mike Serbinis: Doubling Down on E-Reader | Kobo Sale of Ebooks Through Indies Dwarfs Google

In addition to reboots of its seven-inch tablet and six-inch e-reader, Kobo has added a ten-inch tablet. The company is positioning itself as focused on reading experience, building in special features like “Reading Mode,” which allows, among other things, users to turn off notifications from other apps on its tablets.

Kobo also has launched a new book discovery tool dubbed “Beyond the Book,” which will help readers find new books via highlighted topics within books and content from across the Web.

The company has also expanded its content offerings, with a dedicated ebook store for children’s ebooks and an upgraded magazine reading experience called “Guided Reading,” a “one-tap” interface that the company says makes it easier to navigate through magazines on a tablet. Magazines publishers like Condé Nast, Hearst, Bauer and Reader’s Digest have all signed on as partners. The Kobo Kids store offers parents and children a selection of nearly 100,000 pieces of content and will give parents the ability to set up dedicated Kobo accounts for their children to control and monitor device usage.

Kobo has also launched a partnership with Web-to-device content aggregator Pocket. The partnership allows Kobo users to save articles from the Web and send them to a Kobo device for reading later. Amazon and others have had similar services for some time now.

The sweeping upgrade for the ebook retailer and device-maker across its business is part of an effort to help it build market-share in the U.S. and to continue to expand globally, according to Kobo executive vice president and manager of devices, Wayne White. The company is thought to have ebook sales market share of somewhere around 3% in the U.S. In Canada, where the company is based, it is thought to be a market-share leader. The company sells ebooks in over 190 countries and devices in several dozen.

“The new devices are an expression of our fanatical dedication to the passionate reader. So every device we put out comes from trying to understand that reader better,” said Tamblyn, the chief content officer, adding about the company’s competitors, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Apple, “we have the advantage of being a company that focuses only on one thing, which is how to sell ebooks and sell them well — on devices, through apps and on the Web. It’s a clarity of purpose that none of our competitors really have. We don’t have to worry about a legacy retail business, or selling ebooks in the context in many things, or as one small adjunct of a great, big hardware business. We succeed if we make readers happy and that’s where we compete.”

Tamblyn added that Kobo is interested in focusing its customer acquisition and retention on those who have “reading at the center of their lives.”

[Mostly Math]

hmmmm. 10 inch tablet. hmmmm.

[DStyle]

Not too interested in Tablet. E-ink reader will be most welcome. Guess Kobo will follow Sony's footsteps - another 6" e-reader.

[latepaul]

No Mini refresh then? Shame.

[DStyle]

Originally Posted by latepaul

No Mini refresh then? Shame.

I was thinking "Wishing for larger screen?"

[taming]

http://reviews.cnet.com/Kobo_Aura/45...-35826967.html

E-reader prices were supposed to go down, but apparently Kobo didn't get the memo.

Back in April it released the $169.99 "special edition" Aura HD, a dedicated e-ink e-reader that sported a higher-resolution 6.8-inch screen with 1,440x1,080 pixels and 265dpi. Now it's trotted out its little brother, the 6-inch Aura (1024x768 pixels), which is available today for preorder at $149.99 in black and pink.

What's special about the Aura? Well, it's definitely got a sleeker look than last year's Kobo Glo, which will remain on the market along with the entry-level 5-inch Kobo Mini ($79.99), Kobo Touch ($99.99), and the Aura HD. Measuring 150x114x8.1mm (HWD), at 174 grams it's slightly lighter than the 185-gram Glo and also features new technology that reduces flashing in a big way. With e-ink, the screen has to refresh every so often to eliminate artifacts (sometimes referred to as ghosting). In earlier e-readers, the screen would have to refresh every five to six page turns. But now Kobo is talking about going up to 100 page turns without flashing.

Like the Glo, the Aura also has the company's ComfortLight front-light technology for reading in the dark or dimly lit environments (there's a dedicated physical button for the light as well as power on/off button). In the Glo, we thought it measured up surprisingly well against the front-light in Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite.

Even though the screen has a border around it, Kobo is calling Aura's display "edge-to-edge" because it's all one surface and looks more like the screens you'd find on a tablet. This is a touch-screen model, and I was told it uses a capacitive touch screen that's more responsive than the Glo's touch screen.

In most other respects, the specs are very similar to the Glo's specs. Inside you'll find a Freescale i.MX507 1GHz processor, 4GB of internal storage, and an expansion microSD expansion slot that accepts cards up to 32GB.

There's a Micro-USB port for charging and data transfers and integrated Wi-Fi for shopping in Kobo's e-book store. Battery life is rated at "more than two months" based on 30 minutes of reading per day with ComfortLight turned on or off and Wi-Fi turned off (Wi-Fi is the biggest battery drain).

[DStyle]

Good for 6" lovers but not me. I'll probably go for Aura HD then.

[tubemonkey]

Still no live coverage from the two sites who promised it. Is it so boring that they fell asleep?

[Alexander Turcic]

Engadget has already detailed information. I posted the specs findings here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=221080

[DStyle]

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/27/kobo-magazines-kids/

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/27/kobo-pocket/

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/27/kobo-tablets/

http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/27/kobo-aura/

[charmian]

From the CNET article:

One thing that you won't find in this e-reader is the next-generation of E Ink's Pearl display. It's due to be available in the near future, but Serbinis indicated it wasn't ready for mass production. Based on what components were available to Kobo's hardware designers, he didn't think it would be in the next Kindle e-ink e-reader (due out this fall), but he didn't have any information about Amazon's plans for its next e-reader.

Then I guess I'll be upgrading in 2014.

[ectoplasm]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

Engadget has already detailed information. I posted the specs findings here:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=221080

On the positive side, this means I will not be tempted to replace my recently purchased Aura HD. I don't want anything smaller or with lower resolution, and I'm definitely not interested in another tablet.

And why does the ereader screen appear reflective/glossy?

[mycurlylocks]

If I were going to buy a Kobo ereader, I'd add the $20 and buy the Aura HD. (But I'm not)

It will be interesting to see the shade of pink. I would have never thought of that for a reader.

[taming]

The grandma in me wants to know more about the kids store and kids accounts. I am "discussing" the 10 inch tablet with my husband .