http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/22/k...japan-in-july/
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Rakuten's $315 million buyout of Kobo will bear some e-reader fruit come July. The e-tailer's CEO and chairman, Hiroshi Mikitani, announced plans to release the Kobo eReader Touch Edition in Japan next month for 10,000 yen (on par with its $130 US sticker price). Timing is key, of course -- murmurs of the Kindle Touch's Japanese debut haven't escaped Mikitani's notice. "As a Japanese company, we cannot lose (to overseas rivals)," he told The Asahi Shimbun. Rakuten hopes to use the e-reader to export Japanese content, and aims to have 50,000 titles available by the end of 2012. Pre-orders kick off on July 2, with more details to come next month.
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Great to hear that Kobo is expanding. I'm a little disappointed to hear that it's just the current gen Kobo Touch that is being introduced. That is basically one year old tech. If they're introducing it in Japan in July then what does that say for the hopes of Kobo Touch owners regarding a new version? Perhaps not as close as we'd like?