Kobo starts offering audiobooks

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by IronChaim

Brilliance Audio is owned by Amazon (since 2007) - so I wonder if that's playing into why their content is not available.

I thought about that and it's possible, but it hasn't kept their content out of other retailers so far. Audible Studios on the other hand is Audible only.

[AnemicOak]

Okay, here we go.

Kobo for Android stores it's files in Android > Data > com.kobobooks.android >files > audiobooks

The files for the book are in a folder with some random looking numbers and letters that probably mean something to Kobo, and I'd assume if there are multiple books each will be in a separate folder.

Inside the folder I have files 0 - 13 with no extension. When I copied those files to my PC and added an MP3 extension they play just fine (I used VLC media player).

[booklover6]

I don't have a .com.kobo folder anywhere. (ZTE Maven 2)

[AnemicOak]

I had to restart for it to show up after installing the Kobo app and downloading my book (same thing happens for me with Audiobooks.com). Used the device hooked up via USB with an MTP connection to transfer files after restarting. On some devices it might be in the emulated storage instead of regular storage. For whatever reason even though I moved the app to SD it's still putting books in main storage (which this device does a lot).

Otherwise, I'm not sure.

[Catlady]

Thanks for the info, AnemicOak. I'm rethinking that 50-hour book, though, if I have to rename files, and especially if the app is temperamental about downloading to the SD card. I think I'll poke around for something else of more manageable length.

[booklover6]

Restarting the phone did the trick. I now have it on my PC, and it plays with Windows Media Player.

Adding .mp3 file extension still plays with WMP, so I am sure it would work on the mp3 player.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Restarting the phone did the trick. I now have it on my PC, and it plays with Windows Media Player.

[booklover6]

Now, will Audible lower the price of a credit, to stay competitive?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by issybird

Sleep timer? What are the gradations on the speed? And, thanks!

Playback speed options are 0.6x, 0.8x, 1.0x, 1.2x, 1.4x, 1.6x, 1.8x, 2.0x, 2.2x, 2.4x, 2.6x, 2.8x & 3.0x

Sleep timer options are 15 min., 30 min., 45 min., 60 min., and Sleep at end of chapter.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Now, will Audible lower the price of a credit, to stay competitive?

Maybe, but not sure they have to quite yet. They still have a much larger selection than any other provider I've tried. For myself it seems like more and more titles/authors i want, some who've been with other companies for years, are getting picked up by Audible Studios. I do wish they'd drop DRM (yes, I know how to remove it).




I found with some books Kobo has them "linked" in that if looking at the eBook it mentions that an audiobook is available, but other books aren't. Their search is still a crap shoot too, sometimes it works other times not.

I ended up getting "Rocket Men" by Craig Nelson and first searched by title and it wasn't found, then searched by author and it wasn't found. I didn't find it until I was looking at another book on the same topic and it was listed as a similar title.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Now, will Audible lower the price of a credit, to stay competitive?

Or at least roll back the prices on Whispersync titles from $7.49 to what they used to be; offer more and better sales; reinstate the buy-4-get-$10 promo; and provide other member perks.

P.S. Has anyone mentioned Kobo's audiobook deals section?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Or at least roll back the prices on Whispersync titles from $7.49 to what they used to be; offer more and better sales; reinstate the buy-4-get-$10 promo; and provide other member perks.

I agree with all of this, especially rolling back Whispersync prices. I used to buy tons of Whispersync audiobooks and now I buy none at all. I especially think that $7.49 for a book in the public domain is too high. The narrator's been paid, so it's pure profit.

Perhaps I'll be reeducated eventually so $7.49 seems reasonable, but in the meantime I either get audiobooks of the classics from OverDrive or read the free ebook.

ETA: I could be reeducated to $4.99 quite easily, but $5 is about my threshold for multiple relatively mindless purchases.

[skinmaan]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Okay, here we go.

Kobo for Android stores it's files in Android > Data > com.kobobooks.android >files > audiobooks

The files for the book are in a folder with some random looking numbers and letters that probably mean something to Kobo, and I'd assume if there are multiple books each will be in a separate folder.

Inside the folder I have files 0 - 13 with no extension. When I copied those files to my PC and added an MP3 extension they play just fine (I used VLC media player).

Most excellent! A free audiobook of my choice is always welcome. Your instructions on getting / renaming the books worked perfectly. The book I got wasn't broken down into chapter, but rather a size similar to CD disks (which is what Overdrive does, so that is okay).

One other note; the files seem to all be 64 bps. That's an average quality for the non-Audible sources available to us.

You know, now that I think about it Overdrive books are also 64 bps. I wonder if Kobo is using some form of Overdrive for books?

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by skinmaan

You know, now that I think about it Overdrive books are also 64 bps. I wonder if Kobo is using some form of Overdrive for books?

I just read that they are supplied by Overdrive.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by issybird

I agree with all of this, especially rolling back Whispersync prices. I used to buy tons of Whispersync audiobooks and now I buy none at all.

Same here, except for the few that are still reasonably priced under $4. I do have quite a catalog of books I have yet to listen to. And the KU with audio included catalog has increased quite a lot.