Kobo Plus now available in US & UK

[Cootey]

I am surprised nobody picked up on this here yet. (Watch me embarrass myself by missing the thread.) Kobo Plus went live today. If you have your WiFi turned on, you probably got a full screen ad on your Kobo promoting it, but I saw it on Twitter first.

The price tiers are reasonable. $7.99 for Kobo Plus Reading and only $9.99 for Reading and Listening. The first month is free.

You access Kobo Plus in Discovery in a tab next to Overdrive. The price of a book will be replaced with “Read with Kobo Plus”. If you still want to buy the book, you can reach that option by tapping on the … This much has probably been covered already by our Canadian and European friends.

I was curious about what books would be offered since Kindle Unlimited demands exclusivity. There was the ubiquitous sea of Indy published romance books and mysteries, but I was surprised to see lots of manga and light novels in the offering. I haven’t had a chance to explore other genres yet. I didn’t see a way to browse other genres that Kobo didn’t recommend. Light novels were right up my alley, but I don’t know why Kobo thought I’d be interested in beefcake laden books with steamy titles.

I did notice some glitches. Many books were listed on the Kobo Plus tabs’s front page as being part of Plus, but when you selected the book, they weren’t available to borrow. However, these same ebooks are available for Plus on the website. If you encounter this glitch, consider this a workaround.

The syncing is instantaneous when adding a book to your Kobo Plus from the website. By the time I switched from my iPhone’s mobile browser to my Kobo Clara HD, the books were already there. Seamless integration with Kobo iOS apps, too.

I’m going to give the service a thorough try. Whether I stay depends on the diversity in offerings and whether any major publishers are participating. Then again, they don’t participate often with KU, so I’m not expecting much. What I do expect is a lot of excitement in the Indy space because Plus doesn’t seem to demand exclusivity. You can release wide and still participate in Plus. That’s my initial impression. I’m sure somebody will come along and correct me if I’m mistaken.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/plus

[John F]

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=353174

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by John F

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=353174

Thanks!

Not a lot discussion over there. I hope people in this Kobo forum still find my review helpful even if the topic was redundant elsewhere. With the love of turning off WiFi and sideloading ebooks this forum has, I can’t imagine Kobo Plus will find a lot of fans here, but I like it so far.

[Cootey]

This is interesting. As soon as I opened up my Elipsa, Kobo Plus logged in and automatically turned eight of my previews into borrowed books.



You can see Kobo Plus books with a filter on the left in My Books, right near Overdrive.

[Josieb1]

I tried to look at this yesterday (I’m in the UK). All I got was an internal server error when I tried to search for an author. I hope they sort that out.

[bookaho!ic]

Got an email off them yesterday, and it may save me money but i dont like the thought of not owning your books. I have a huge back library and would get anxious about the 30day limit - i always ensure i read library books first and return them and if its a fav then purchase when on offer... think i will stick to buying mine, especially as i dont link my kobo up to the web

[JSWolf]

Can you download Kobo Plus eBooks and side load them?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by bookaho!ic

Got an email off them yesterday, and it may save me money but i dont like the thought of not owning your books. I have a huge back library and would get anxious about the 30day limit - i always ensure i read library books first and return them and if its a fav then purchase when on offer... think i will stick to buying mine, especially as i dont link my kobo up to the web

Yes, if I'm only borrowing I'll use a real library, not KU or Kobo Plus. Our local library system has plenty of ebooks.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can you download Kobo Plus eBooks and side load them?

Jon, you have seen that question answered multiple times previously. OTOH, much like KU and library loans, you don't own them so removing DRM should not be a consideration.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by bookaho!ic

Got an email off them yesterday, and it may save me money but i dont like the thought of not owning your books. I have a huge back library and would get anxious about the 30day limit - i always ensure i read library books first and return them and if its a fav then purchase when on offer... think i will stick to buying mine, especially as i dont link my kobo up to the web

If that is your consideration, treat it like a library or KU. Read the book using Kobo Plus and if you really want to own it, purchase it.

As for the 30 day limit? That is for the trial membership. As long as you keep your membership active, the books will remain accessible to you. Unlike KU, there is no 20 book limit.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Jon, you have seen that question answered multiple times previously. OTOH, much like KU and library loans, you don't own them so removing DRM should not be a consideration.

I'm not for removing DRM. It's because I don't want to turn on WiFi.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Jon, you have seen that question answered multiple times previously. OTOH, much like KU and library loans, you don't own them so removing DRM should not be a consideration.

I've not payed much attention because I couldn't get Kobo Plus until recently.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'm not for removing DRM. It's because I don't want to turn on WiFi.

That leads to the authors not being paid. Bad idea IMNSHO. Unpaid authors stop writing.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

That leads to the authors not being paid. Bad idea IMNSHO. Unpaid authors stop writing.

Is Kobo Plus doing the same count the pages as Amazon? That to me is forcing us to have WiFi on.

[Lys]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is Kobo Plus doing the same count the pages as Amazon? That to me is forcing us to have WiFi on.

From their FAQ: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/plus

Yes, you can read offline. Many readers like to disconnect their devices from Wi Fi, either while traveling, or simply to save on battery life. You can read a maximum of 15 Kobo Plus books while offline over a 30-day period on a Kobo eReader or in the Kobo App.

Once you've opened 15 books, or reached the end of the 30-day period of offline reading, you'll need to reconnect to Wi Fi and sync your eReader or app. You'll then be able to open up to 15 Kobo Plus books for another 30 days.