The Next Exclusive Feature

[Owl_]

A color ereader seems a disappointing experience https://kurotimedesign.blogspot.com/...dream.html?m=1
Maybe in the next years

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Owl_

A color ereader seems a disappointing experience https://kurotimedesign.blogspot.com/...dream.html?m=1
Maybe in the next years

Thanks for that review link. Although it is for a PocketBook, not a Kobo, I imagine that the CFA lines will be similar if Kobo released a color eReader using the same tech.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Thanks for that review link. Although it is for a PocketBook, not a Kobo, I imagine that the CFA lines will be similar if Kobo released a color eReader using the same tech.

It seems that Kobo does have a new device coming this year, I wouldn't be surprised if it features this "color" tech which imo is really late alpha at best. Even that makes it more appealing to me than the other likely feature, support for audiobooks.

[Cootey]

Although I can think of minor improvements that I would personally enjoy (a faster keyboard response for note taking, spelling suggestions for quicker typing, greater contrast, font weight controls, a whiter paper, faster CPUs, etc), they all seem incremental upgrades, not groundbreaking.

Although I've enjoyed everybody's wishlists from changes under the hood to interface improvements, but like my first ideas, they don't seem to be Kindle Killers. Maybe there isn't one big improvement that will set Kobo apart. Maybe the path forward is to cater to niche eReader customers with specific needs that aren't being met.

Kobo could pursue apps and services in the next model. Wattpad or Duolingo integration. Project Gutenberg. Newspapers. Magazines. There's content out there they could hook into the Kobo OS. Enabling plugins or apps could set Kobo apart from eInk Kindles.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Maybe the path forward is to cater to niche eReader customers with specific needs that aren't being met.

To some extent, it does that by allowing tinkering and installation of alternate software like KOReader, Plato etc. that recent Kindles don't. If the stock Kobo reader doesn't float all your boats, you can probably patch/mod or install something that does.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

To some extent, it does that by allowing tinkering and installation of alternate software like KOReader, Plato etc. that recent Kindles don't. If the stock Kobo reader doesn't float all your boats, you can probably patch/mod or install something that does.

But it doesn't have a sexy, marketable ring to it. "Hack yer Kobo! Arrrr". I wonder if we can predict the next big feature, still. OverDrive was big. Dropbox integration was big. I wonder what internet service is next?

[Sirtel]

Personally I wouldn't care in the least about apps and services. I don't want my ereader to become just another smart gadget with million functions needing wifi to be always on.

For me the real Kindle Killer features are Calibre integration and the ability to patch. Without those I wouldn't have got a Kobo at all, but stuck solely to Kindles.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Cootey

But it doesn't have a sexy, marketable ring to it. "Hack yer Kobo! Arrrr". I wonder if we can predict the next big feature, still. OverDrive was big. Dropbox integration was big. I wonder what internet service is next?

You said that perhaps Kobo should target a niche market, I pointed out that it more or less already does. Since niche markets are by definition niche, the need for big slogans is questionable, if not moot.

[John F]

Remote control for page turning.

Page turning from the bezel, like the Kindle Voyage.

And maybe color LEDs.

All in a 6" reader.

Other possibilties:

Plastic substrate. Foldable.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by davidfor

So, if Kobo uses the latest RMSDK, you would be able to zoom in on images in the books? Where is your evidence for this? Which device has a later version of RMSDK than Kobo is using? And exactly what version is Kobo using?

Sorry Jon, but frequently your statements come off as absurd. Or at least a non sequitur.

And the reason that Kobo has Kepub is because they have control of the DRM in it. They cannot do things via the RMSDK that they can directly. And, for every person you could introduce me to that thinks the typography in kepubs is worse than using the RMSDK, I can probably show you 100 that would just go, "What?"

Pocketbook is using RMSDK version 11. I don't know if there is image zoom or not. The point is not because RMSDK is better then Access. It's so there will by no need for two different reading programs.

Yes with KePub, Kobo controls the DRM. But they also support Adobe's ePub DRM. So why have two different reading programs and two different DRM?

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

...

Yes with KePub, Kobo controls the DRM. But they also support Adobe's ePub DRM. So why have two different reading programs and two different DRM?

You answered your own question.

[issybird]

I’d like to get back two things they eliminated: a drop-down menu accessible from within a book and kepub page-numbering that relates to the text and not to the screen. The loss of these make my reading experience noticeably worse. I can’t say they’re Kindle killers, though.

[Krios]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Pocketbook is using RMSDK version 11. I don't know if there is image zoom or not. The point is not because RMSDK is better then Access. It's so there will by no need for two different reading programs.

Yes with KePub, Kobo controls the DRM. But they also support Adobe's ePub DRM. So why have two different reading programs and two different DRM?

Yes, Pocketbook introduced image zooming in one of the last updates ( coincidentally or not, it was also the update in which they upgraded Adobe RMSDK to version 11), and rapid page turning has been introduced a long time ago (even my old Booken has it).

I like Kobo Libra more than Inkpad 3, but lack of those 2 features in epub reader is really disappointing.

I know kepub reader has those features, and i really tried to like it, but even with the help of patches, it just looks ugly.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Cootey

What are your ideas? Like Kobo AR goggles with no need to hold an ereader anymore and all page turning done by eye glances? Or something more realistic?

Not a Kindle Killer because it's a niche market, but you were on the right track with your "unrealistic" suggestion: accessibility features. Possibly via Bluetooth, pairing to an optional large hand switch, foot switch, sip/puff interface, and/or Voiceover integration or equivalent, and/or other access devices (including eye-glance operated devices). And a charger-cable plug that doesn't require perfect coordination and eyesight.

[RowdyRuff]

Originally Posted by John F

Remote control for page turning.

Page turning from the bezel, like the Kindle Voyage.

And maybe color LEDs.

All in a 6" reader.

Other possibilties:

Plastic substrate. Foldable.

Colour LEDs or a further evolution of the comfortlight feature seems likely, given it's prominence in the product descriptions, so good call John!

I could imagine an attempt at a foldable device but would have concerns about durability with Kobo.