Rumor: Did B&N Pass on a Chance to Make a 6.8″ Nook Glow HD?

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by aceflor

Do please remind me why exactly you are a mod here ? Your tone is unbelievably rude, and very arrogant. HansTWN was not rude to you. He was not even criticizing you (God forbid!).

I wasn't offended. But I do find it rather curious that it is so important to Nate that the Kobo guy 'admits' to something.

[Nil Einne]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I wasn't offended. But I do find it rather curious that it is so important to Nate that the Kobo guy 'admits' to something.

Actually, one thing that still confuses me is what the 2 rumours from 2 different sources are that Nate refers to? The blog post does have what can be called 2 rumours namely that the screen was original offered to Kobo and that there were 300k screens in the original production run, but these supposedly came from the same source. (There is the mention of when the Kobo Aura showed up in the FCC but I presume that isn't a rumour.)

There is also discussion of the same rumour in the now disappeared good e-reader blog post, but other then the fact it seems to be the same rumour, there's no indication the source is any different. (And there doesn't seem to be any real rumours on why the post disappeared simply people finding it strange, my take, may be the blog author decided to remove it when they realised it was false.) There have been various speculation about B&N/Nook that you could call rumours although most of it appears to be pure speculation without any real source (so I personally wouldn't call them rumours). And I think it's clear Kobo wouldn't be denying or confirming what their competitors are planning anyway, amongst other things because unless industrial espionage or potentially illegal collusion is involved, they can only make an educated guess. (The comment in the deleted blog post actually said the can't comment on what their competitor are doing.)

The only other thing that concerns Kobo that you could say is a rumour from a second source is that their software 'leaves much to be desired' but that only came up after the Kobo rep commented.

BTW, if Kobo has been working with eInk on this for more than a year, that means they were likely working on it before the Nook with GlowLight even launched. And it seems rather unlikely eInk had 300k screens ready but the product took more then a year to be ready, so that must also mean Kobo were involved in eInk with the screens long before the screens were ready and definitely long before B&N's 'disastrous holiday season'. Note this also concurs with the comment 'ground-up R&D with our partners at eInk to bring this fantastic 6.8" 1440x1080 screen to market' which seems to imply that they were working quite closely with eInk on the development of the screen which goes against the idea it was something developed for B&N who then didn't want it.

If you really want to come up with random speculation about timing of the launch, the more likely scenario is Kobo were hoping to have this ready in time for the September-October launch window but didn't make it. Or if you think direct profits from sale of ereaders is important to them, you could say it was ready, but they wanted to launch the Glo first so people who bought the Glo but wanted an Aura would buy two. Of course the other possibility is they'll lose sales because people who would have bought an Aura aren't going to because they just bought a Glo. Then you could suggest that the Aura is actually less profitable for them so they actually want that. Ultimately you can come up with lots of random slightly plausible speculations but as I said in my first post, the timing issues just seems strange considering there's no indication Kobo's August-October launch window was that important to them. (Even more so since the Aura is being targeted as a special reader, not aimed at their mainstream market.)

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I wasn't offended. But I do find it rather curious that it is so important to Nate that the Kobo guy 'admits' to something.

Well, I was. I can't stand bullying.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by aceflor

Do please remind me why exactly you are a mod here ? Your tone is unbelievably rude, and very arrogant. HansTWN was not rude to you. He was not even criticizing you (God forbid!).

You're right, that wasn't a nice thing to do.

Sorry, HansTWN.

[Rizla]

I think Nate the Great was referring to the deleted post / link in his blog when he talked about a second rumor. I do think there is some room for questioning the Kobo's transparency. I do find the release / timing / existence / size of the Aura strange . We live in strange e-reader times. Nate the Great is digging, and I commend his efforts. It makes for fun reading, too

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by Barty

Since you are a kobo rep, could you please ask the devs to let users (namely, me) turn OFF the header and footer. Seriously, I don't need to see the title of the book I'm reading at all time, and I don't need the page number to take up a good chunk of the screen. It's great that you brought a 6.8" 1440x1080 screen to market. Please, let me actually USE it.

That's the first of I've heard of that, and that is interesting. How dumb can a designer / manufacturer be? They release a larger screen and you can't use all that real-estate. Duh.

Obviously it should have a full-screen option.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Rizla

That's the first of I've heard of that, and that is interesting. How dumb can a designer / manufacturer be? They release a larger screen and you can't use all that real-estate. Duh.

Obviously it should have a full-screen option.

The reader layout is consistent across the Kobo range. So, the Aura does supply more words per page than their other devices. They also use two different readers. One is for epubs and does not display the book title. The other is for their kepubs and does display it.

Personally, I am happy with the page number as the footer, but dislike the title. But, I think they could shrink the footer a bit.

[Rizla]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The reader layout is consistent across the Kobo range. So, the Aura does supply more words per page than their other devices. They also use two different readers. One is for epubs and does not display the book title. The other is for their kepubs and does display it.

Personally, I am happy with the page number as the footer, but dislike the title. But, I think they could shrink the footer a bit.

My issue with Kobo is that their software is not the best and does not appear to be generally customised. For whatever reason, designers of e-reader UIs do a less than perfect job. Make it user-customisable so that the community can perfect it.

What the manufacturer leaves imperfect, the community makes perfect thorough their art. Or not, as is sadly the case with increasingly restricted e-reader UI's and Os's.

Still, I'm in the minority and I can see why the manufacturers don't give a crap about my wants. I am still waiting for a decent, rootable, Android, front-lit e-reader.

[david8866]

Originally Posted by SameerH

Kobo Aura was in development for more than a year during which time we worked very closely on ground-up R&D with our partners at eInk to bring this fantastic 6.8" 1440x1080 screen to market.

It just sounds a bit funny. What technical capacity does KOBO have? A few wish lists to E-ink, right? It's not a secret that E-ink has been working on a few things (such as, color screen, higher pixels counts, flexible material...) I do appericate the KOBO brings Aura to the market. The demand for ereaders is decreasing, can anything really stop the trend?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by david8866

It just sounds a bit funny. What technical capacity does KOBO have? A few wish lists to E-ink, right? It's not a secret that E-ink has been working on a few things (such as, color screen, higher pixels counts, flexible material...)

That does sound funny, yes.

Kobo doesn't do much of the hardware development or production. They have a manufacturing partner, Wistron, and a development partner, Netronix. And Kobo didn't develop the screen, either - that was the work of E-ink.

Kobo might have been aware of the 6.8" screen but most likely the actual work was done by someone else. And that makes me wonder what Sameer is trying to avoid saying.

[david_e]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

That does sound funny, yes.

Kobo doesn't do much of the hardware development or production. They have a manufacturing partner, Wistron, and a development partner, Netronix. And Kobo didn't develop the screen, either - that was the work of E-ink.

Kobo might have been aware of the 6.8" screen but most likely the actual work was done by someone else. And that makes me wonder what Sameer is trying to avoid saying.

With no knowledge as to what he has said in the past, most / all companies have PR departments and spokespeople who answer the questions and very strict rules about everyone else keeping their mouths shut.

[taming]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Kobo might have been aware of the 6.8" screen but most likely the actual work was done by someone else. And that makes me wonder what Sameer is trying to avoid saying.

He may have been avoiding saying that he felt absolutely no obligation to answer any more of your questions. You clearly have a POV, and a vehicle to let the world know all of your beliefs and speculations. I am sure you will to continue to post about Kobo in the future in ways that reflect your standards and commitment to the truth.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by taming

He may have been avoiding saying that he felt absolutely no obligation to answer any more of your questions. You clearly have a POV, and a vehicle to let the world know all of your beliefs and speculations. I am sure you will to continue to post about Kobo in the future in ways that reflect your standards and commitment to the truth.

Except he kinda does have an obligation to answer questions. It's the obligation he took on when he, as a Kobo employee, jumped into the debate on the rumor.

[david_e]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Except he kinda does have an obligation to answer questions. It's the obligation he took on when he, as a Kobo employee, jumped into the debate on the rumor.

Please guide us all to the exact point in the forum rules where it states a poster is obligated to respond.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by david_e

Please guide us all to the exact point in the forum rules where it states a poster is obligated to respond.

A member might not be obligated to respond but a company spokesman arguably is under such an obligation. Sameer volunteered for the role when he joined the discussion in the first place.