Nia Kobo Nia preorders just went live

[Cootey]

I’m sure you’ve all received the Kobo announcement in your mailbox this morning. The Nia is available for preorder now for $99USD. It looks almost exactly like the Clara. https://us.kobobooks.com/products/ko...il1&utm_term=_

I’m sure some of you will be able to spot more differences under the hood, but with my first look-over I see that the redundant, cramped circled R has been removed from the back logo, and the accent underscore from Rakuten’s logo has been added. The “kobo” logo on the bottom front is a more subtle glossy black now. These are very minor cosmetic differences. I did notice that the Nia has one more font than the Clara. I’m curious about that addition. And the physical on/off button is on the bottom left now.

With a Clara running at $119USD, it seems to be a better bargain for the extra twenty bucks because of the better resolution. However, I suspect the Clara is being EOL’d. Once current stock sells out, the Kobo line will be Nia, Libra, Forma (until something new is released, like this Fall).

What do you think?



PS. We’ll need a “Nia” tag for posts now.

[JSWolf]

Old news.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Old news.

Well, being available for preorder wasn’t old news, but I *have* been away on vacation. You guys sniff out Kobo news rather quickly around here. LOL

What’s the new font? Anybody seen it?


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[Cootey]

I also notice that the Nia is slightly wider, thicker, and heavier than the Clara. It also offers ComfortLight without the PRO, and it specifically mentions having a 1000 mAh battery, as opposed to the Clara which doesn’t mention the battery. It supports the FlePub file format. I’ve not heard of that format before.

As usual, new bottom tier Kobos are a smattering of steps forwards and backwards.


Update: Apparently, FlePub is old news. Here’s a news release from 2011 about it (http://www.primediaelaunch.com/wp-co...-ePub-Spec.pdf). It’s the Fixed-Layout ePub format Kobo introduced. What I don’t understand is why the Clara didn’t support this format? Anybody know of any books that support this format that I can try out?



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[geek1011]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I also notice that the Nia is slightly wider, thicker, and heavier than the Clara. It also offers ComfortLight without the PRO, and it specifically mentions having a 1000 mAh battery, as opposed to the Clara which doesn’t mention the battery. It supports the FlePub file format. I’ve not heard of that format before.

As usual, new bottom tier Kobos are a smattering of steps forwards and backwards.


Update: Apparently, FlePub is old news. Here’s a news release from 2011 about it (http://www.primediaelaunch.com/wp-co...-ePub-Spec.pdf). It’s the Fixed-Layout ePub format Kobo introduced. What I don’t understand is why the Clara didn’t support this format? Anybody know of any books that support this format that I can try out?



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The Nia is the successor to the Aura Edition 2, and is identical in most aspects. Basically, it's the A2v2 in the Clara case.

They've always supported FlePub (basically EPUB3 FXL). This is just the first time they've listed it that way.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Stumbled across this review, just posted today.

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/kobo-nia

[JAC70]

And it looks like Kobo Canada jacked up the price of the Clara HD by $10 to make room for the new turd.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cootey

It’s the Fixed-Layout ePub format Kobo introduced. What I don’t understand is why the Clara didn’t support this format? Anybody know of any books that support this format that I can try out?

The Clara HD does support that format. Along with every Kobo ereader that had the ACCESS renderer now morphed to the Kobo Webkit renderer.

As for a book? Try quite a few children's books where page layout with text and graphics is important. Or you can try the ebook for the Harry Potter - A Journey Through A History of Magic from the British Library's Harry Potter exhibition. As the end of the synopsis mentions: Please be aware that this is a fixed format ebook.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by geek1011

They've always supported FlePub (basically EPUB3 FXL). This is just the first time they've listed it that way.

That’s what I wondered. It didn’t make sense that they’d introduce a file format, then put off supporting it. Strange it took them nine years to notice it wasn’t listed in the specs. 😏



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[Cootey]

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

Stumbled across this review, just posted today.

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/kobo-nia

Thanks for the link. In the article, they say “it's the smallest ebook reader currently available”, but from my observations, it’s wider, thicker, and heavier than the Clara. Curiously, it’s shorter than the Clara.



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[Cootey]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As for a book? Try quite a few children's books where page layout with text and graphics is important. Or you can try the ebook for the Harry Potter - A Journey Through A History of Magic from the British Library's Harry Potter exhibition. As the end of the synopsis mentions: Please be aware that this is a fixed format ebook.

Would they be listed as FlePub in the item details in the store? The two different copies of the book you suggest show file format as “Kobo ePub”. The picture books I have on my Kobo seem to be static bitmap images for each page. The text is part of the bitmap. Now I’m more curious.

UPDATE: I did eventually find a FlePub, but it doesn’t offer a preview, and it’s details claim its epub3. I don’t know enough about this to know whether I have one of these already or not, but as a designer, I’m curious. 🤷🏻*♂️ https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tod...o-plans-flepub


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[geek1011]

Originally Posted by Cootey

That’s what I wondered. It didn’t make sense that they’d introduce a file format, then put off supporting it. Strange it took them nine years to notice it wasn’t listed in the specs.

Originally Posted by Cootey

Would they be listed as FlePub in the item details in the store? The two different copies of the book you suggest show file format as “Kobo ePub”. The picture books I have on my Kobo seem to be static bitmap images for each page. The text is part of the bitmap. Now I’m more curious.

UPDATE: I did eventually find a FlePub, but it doesn’t offer a preview, and it’s details claim its epub3. I don’t know enough about this to know whether I have one of these already or not, but as a designer, I’m curious. 🤷🏻*♂️ https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tod...o-plans-flepub

That's because FlePub isn't actually a thing. FXL is just a rendering mode for EPUB3. So yes, both would show as a Kobo ePub.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Would they be listed as FlePub in the item details in the store? The two different copies of the book you suggest show file format as “Kobo ePub”. The picture books I have on my Kobo seem to be static bitmap images for each page. The text is part of the bitmap. Now I’m more curious.

UPDATE: I did eventually find a FlePub, but it doesn’t offer a preview, and it’s details claim its epub3. I don’t know enough about this to know whether I have one of these already or not, but as a designer, I’m curious. ����*♂️ https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tod...o-plans-flepub


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Fixed layout epubs are epub3 (fixed layout was introduced with epub3). You need to look at the bottom of the synopsis in the one I gave the link to (book cover has winged keys) where they do mentioned it's a fixed format. The other one (book cover has the image of a phoenix) does not mention being fixed format. The only reason I knew about the fixed format was that I had purchased it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Cootey

However, I suspect the Clara is being EOL’d. Once current stock sells out, the Kobo line will be Nia, Libra, Forma (until something new is released, like this Fall).

I keep hearing that suspicion, but I see no proof of it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

Stumbled across this review, just posted today.

https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/kobo-nia

I've liked Sascha Segan's e-reader reviews. He's knowledgeable of the differences between Kobo, Kindle and Nook and things like Calibre and Apprentice Alf, but he doesn't overwhelm the review by wading into the weeds.