Kobo is developing a 7.8 eReader

[robko]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I don't know at 7.8", but I know for the 13.3" the differences are glass = 144g, Mobius = 63g

Interesting. I'm surprised it's that much of a difference. Thanks.

[murg]

Originally Posted by tnforpaul45

I don't know quite why, but aesthetically, the toy-like blue power button really worries me.

It also looks thick on the left-hand side. Hopefully tapered towards the other side to make holding more comfortable.

And maybe this teaser image is of the smaller device and not the 7.8" model?

Its getting rather hard to innovate in the area of eReaders, IMHO. Lets hope Kobo has a surprise up its sleeve.

This discussion in general, and not specifically tnforpaul's post, reminds me of the story of the five blind guys describing an elephant.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by murg

This discussion [...] reminds me of the story of the five blind guys describing an elephant.

Except we're not even allowed to feel the elephant!

[Jason90]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I don't know at 7.8", but I know for the 13.3" the differences are glass = 144g, Mobius = 63g

So in essence it's the difference between an oasis like battery or voyage like battery life.

If they used the i.mx7 it will last much longer with a comparatively smaller battery too.

Now that kobo have confirmed a major update is on it's way i wonder if amazon has something else up it's sleeve too,a voyage V2 for example?

[MGlitch]

The Oasis has such a short battery life on its own because it's meant to be used with the cover, which extends the battery life to more normal times.

I suspect a 7.8" device wont suffer from the issue behind the Oasis design since clearly Kobo wants you to have a bigger ereader rather than just a lighter one, which is Amazons focus.

Why Amazon is so obsessed with making an already light device lighter at seemingly contradictory costs (case also brings the weight back up), is beyond me.

[tnforpaul45]

Originally Posted by murg

This discussion in general, and not specifically tnforpaul's post, reminds me of the story of the five blind guys describing an elephant.

An interesting story and analogy! In academic research, the idea of Triangulation in research methods is first described using the elephant story.

True, we are blind until Kobo reveals the goods.

I just hope their new device doesn't look like a kids' toy.

But if it has a color e-ink screen, it can look as toy-like as it wants!

[Ksquared]

I just caught up on this discussion... I won't quote anyone, but comments on several things...

UK m&m's? I never knew! Probably won't be getting any good Belgian or Swiss chocolate after Brexit.

I always liked the Blackberry keyboard - hardly see a Blackberry in the US anymore. At my company we HAD to have a Blackberry, now they are not allowed to connect to our Network.

I have a 6" Aura - I've never been bothered by the capacitive touch; it works and rarely goes extra pages. I only see the "scratches" in extremely bright sunlight. I love this thing!

If the new one is 6" or 7.8" but light weight, lighted of course, better screen, flush bezel... I might be tempted, but it has to be under $180 USD.

I am usually a late adopter, so I will look forward to reading all of the comments.

[murg]

Keep in mind that it has now been 8 months since the last firmware release.

If the new device is being announced mid-August, there should be a firmware release before the factory firmware is committed, so that any show stopper bugs can be fixed before they start being manufactured (or at least before the firmware is loaded onto the new manufactured devices).

Given that there has been a hiatus of 8 months, that should be sufficient time to have re-written the firmware.

With the 'Open Up' slogan, maybe it is now open source based. Maybe there is an API. Maybe Kobo is releasing the firmware as open source (either new or old).

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by davidfor

What extra third party content do you want? You can already sideload any supported format. You can browse cloud sites to download books. If Kobo extend the syncing to non-purchased books, it is going to be via their servers, not some third-party. About the only other thing I can think of is libraries and they are supposed to be adding OverDrive.

It would be fantastic if Kobo did indeed extend sync support to brought books (that's basically what I said in my first post).
As regards other forms of third party support: Kobo could benefit a lot from third party development as well (in fact they do as many people buy their devices for the third party “customization promise”, e.g. patching and koreader) and I bet they could capitalize on that... Pretty sure that won't happen though (and I hope that they do not start locking down their prospective new firmware).
All in all I am really excited to find out what the “open up” slogan actually extends to!

and btw as regards the looks of the device: I’m pretty sure, the very first Kobo reader looked rather playful as well, so perhaps that means they are rebooting the brand (not that they didn’t have color options for their devices in the past)

[chrisridd]

I think the number of people buying Kobos just because they're patchable is approximately zero, in Kobo's reckoning.

Having said that it is very nice of Kobo to not make it overly difficult to do (i.e. patch) and I hope they continue to make it possible.

[Jason90]

Originally Posted by tnforpaul45

But if it has a color e-ink screen, it can look as toy-like as it wants!

Oh dear let's not go down this route AGAIN ,colour eink is never happening and the prototype they showed off a few months ago of 'full spectrum' colour takes like 5 seconds to refresh the screen.

The only other know viable tech that matches eink with decent colour potential is liquavista which belongs to Amazon.

[MGlitch]

While I wouldn't say 'never' for color eink, I do agree it's highly unlikely that we'd see it in the next generation of Kobo devices.

A 7.8 mobius carta display would really be something though, especially if it's tucked into an even moderately rugged device.

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by chrisridd

I think the number of people buying Kobos just because they're patchable is approximately zero, in Kobo's reckoning.

Having said that it is very nice of Kobo to not make it overly difficult to do (i.e. patch) and I hope they continue to make it possible.

I think so too... Having said that: there's the trickle effect and I'm pretty sure that this accounts for a good deal of sales...

[Blossom]

I'm happy with Kobo as long as we have our advance font controls. I would love to see some type of integration with cloud storage for sideloaded books. The ability to disable the brightness gesture other than that I'm excited to see the new line coming out.

Sent from my XT1528

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm happy with Kobo as long as we have our advance font controls. I would love to see some type of integration with cloud storage for sideloaded books. The ability to disable the brightness gesture other than that I'm excited to see the new line coming out.

The font control and margin control were indeed why I went for Kobo instead of Amazon. And I'd love to be able to turn off that brightness gesture!

Originally Posted by Jason90

Oh dear let's not go down this route AGAIN ,colour eink is never happening and the prototype they showed off a few months ago of 'full spectrum' colour takes like 5 seconds to refresh the screen.

The only other know viable tech that matches eink with decent colour potential is liquavista which belongs to Amazon.

Why aren't we allowed to dream?

Originally Posted by murg

This discussion in general, and not specifically tnforpaul's post, reminds me of the story of the five blind guys describing an elephant.

And isn't it fun!

But back to the topic on hand: not sure I'd want to buy a 7.8". I'd have to see the actual measurements (both size and weight), naturally, but I now feel that it's too large for portability. Not that I'd buy anything smaller than 6.8" anymore, but still!