Kobo Touch $129

[corona]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

But if you are holding it with your left hand and tap the screen with your left thumb it will turn back a page, not forward. If you are holding it with your right hand you are fine. I tend to hold my reader with my left and the right I use to hold my coffee or sleeping child. Might work with a slide up or down on the screen (think scrolling) which in that case it will be ok.

This might be the reason I don't get one of these. I very often hold my Kobo in my left hand, with my thumb on the D-pad thingie. Can't figure out how this will work with the touchscreen.

[kiwipippa]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

But if you are holding it with your left hand and tap the screen with your left thumb it will turn back a page, not forward. If you are holding it with your right hand you are fine. I tend to hold my reader with my left and the right I use to hold my coffee or sleeping child. Might work with a slide up or down on the screen (think scrolling) which in that case it will be ok.

Absolutely - I'm left handed so always hold my kobo in my left hand and manage to push the button with my left thumb. I can't see that being easy with a touch - but I hope I'm wrong.

Have to have a free hand for that cuppa or glass of wine (or sleeping child in your case, solicitous)

[iandix]

Has anyone heard when this Kobo touch will be making it's way too Australia?

[Cyberman tM]

Originally Posted by ApK

Not quite. Even if so, a chip is a real expense, and an engineering and hardware design issue, so this would be the last feature to claim should be thrown in.
But it's not just a chip, it a headphone jack and maybe speakers, an amplifier (ok, possibly on the chip) and the power to drive it, a case to allow for the jack or speakers, and then the software also.

I see I didn't think of the periphery.
I would agree that audio is the first to cut when you intend to go cheap, but I question that the saving is big enough to justify the loss.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

These 6" ereaders are designed for average users and these users overwhelmingly read novels in portrait mode;

The question here, then, would be if they do so because they chose, or because they don't know any other way, never thought of reading in landscape mode.

You want landscape and I want audio, but the manufacturers think otherwise. So that's that.

Well, yes, of course. But it doesn't mean I have to like it, or defend it.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

These 6" ereaders are designed for average users and these users overwhelmingly read novels in portrait mode; regardless of features others may want (audio players, landscape mode, folder organization, etc). You want landscape and I want audio, but the manufacturers think otherwise. So that's that.

Then maybe they should call them novel readers instead of book readers.

And why provide PDF support? Landscape support must be far easier than PDF support, and landscape support can make a big difference reading scanned and otherwise non-reflowable PDFs.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Cyberman tM

The question here, then, would be if they do so because they chose, or because they don't know any other way, never thought of reading in landscape mode.

Well, yes, of course. But it doesn't mean I have to like it, or defend it.

I tried it on my Kindle and didn't like it. I prefer portrait and doubt I'll ever try landscape again.

I don't like the fact that B&N stripped out the audio player and speakers. But it is what it is, so I'll just move on and wait for a touch screen Kindle.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Then maybe they should call them novel readers instead of book readers.

And why provide PDF support? Landscape support must be far easier than PDF support, and landscape support can make a big difference reading scanned and otherwise non-reflowable PDFs.

Maybe they should

Good question, because I never read PDFs on my Kindle. My Kindle has landscape and I never use that feature either.

Face it, these features don't matter to the majority of ebook readers and the manufacturers know it. That's why these features are either non-existent or poorly implemented at best.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Sao

Sony just posted a three *billion* dollar loss and are being priced out of the market. I'd say they have a lot to worry about. (And yes, I realize those were due to other matters, but the cumulative effect is undeniable.)

To be fair Kobo recently posted a $10 million loss and needed a $50 million capital injection.

B&N reported decreased net income despite revenue and gross profit increases.

Financial success in the ereader market is proving to be elusive for many companies.

[robko]

Originally Posted by Fbone

To be fair Kobo recently posted a $10 million loss and needed a $50 million capital injection.

Fair point on the loss, but lets face reality on the capital injection: there is no way in their wildest imagination that Kobo expected the phenomenal success/growth they've had which would have necessitated a need for capital way beyond what their original business plan would have called for.

Originally Posted by Fbone

Financial success in the ereader market is proving to be elusive for many companies.

To me, the fact that so many publishers seem to be going to agency pricing and not allowing discounts says that e-books are giving paper books a kicking and bookstores are pushing the publishers so they can't be undercut on price by the e-books. Albeit there are many options for reading the e-books so this isn't guaranteed to mean the success of e-book readers, but it bodes well.

[MechR]

Originally Posted by corona

This might be the reason I don't get one of these. I very often hold my Kobo in my left hand, with my thumb on the D-pad thingie. Can't figure out how this will work with the touchscreen.

I tested this out with a Sony reader in the store, and found that I could do swipe-gestures with my left thumb without losing grip of the device. This worked even with the tall 7" 1024x600 model, plus the added weight of an anti-theft dongle/tether stuck to the back. The Kobo Touch is lighter, so if its swipe gesture works the same way, it looks like it'll be okay

[spensar]

I read landscape and the lack of it led me to return my original Koba, which I wasn't fond of anyway! I know a few people who read landscape on smaller readers, and they are all men. My wife and less femmes use portrait. Don't know if it is an overall trend or just a fluke.

[MechR]

Re: landscape mode, a good place to submit/vote for suggestions where Kobo employees can see is their GetSatisfaction page:
http://getsatisfaction.com/kobo/topics

[Suzanna]

Originally Posted by robko

Fair point on the loss, but lets face reality on the capital injection: there is no way in their wildest imagination that Kobo expected the phenomenal success/growth they've had which would have necessitated a need for capital way beyond what their original business plan would have called for.

This is what I've seen. When articles were posted about the $50 million capital injection (I follow jafurtado on Twitter who links to all sorts of publishing and eReading articles) it was seen as a very good thing. An indication the company was growing and actively going after a market share in this very tight race.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Probably for the same reason they don't have audio players. It's not necessary for reading a book.

Disagree. It is for books with complex layouts and images, unless yo have a bigger screen like Kindle DXG or iPad.

If the reader has an accelerometer already, it is really cheap to implement, just a software change. Even if that's not the case, no major hardware change should be needed, Kindle 3 is an example and Sony. I believe Nook touch will have it for PDFs, so implementing that for the regular ePub books should not be a big issue or a major R&D investment.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Disagree. It is for books with complex layouts and images, unless yo have a bigger screen like Kindle DXG or iPad.

Most people don't read that type of material on their ereaders - they read novels; and for that, landscape isn't needed.