Topic: Mobility

Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130

Summary: Will a slightly cheaper, more open and social platform convince e-book lovers to buy a Kobo eReader Touch from Borders rather than a Nook Touch or Kindle Wi-Fi?

By Gloria Sin for The ToyBox | June 17, 2011 -- 00:03 GMT (17:03 PDT)

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Following Barnes & Noble's launch of its Nook Touch in New York City late last month, Border's own Wi-Fi Kobo eReader Touch is finally arriving in select stores and online today. Borders is betting the eReader Touch's slight edge in price, International appeal (a German, French and Spanish version is forthcoming, not locked to a U.S.-only e-bookstore), and social rewards in the Reading Life platform will win over some would-be Nook or even Kindle customers. Is Borders onto something here?

At just $129.99 for a touch-based e-book reader, not only does the Kobo device undercut the Nook Touch and the Kindle Wi-Fi by $10, it also offers the following features:

Wi-Fi and USB connectivity
Access to over 2.3 million books, including over a million free titles, as well as newspapers and magazines from the Kobo Store at Kobo.com, accessible via Borders.com
Forthcoming International e-bookstore
Compatible with public library file format so users can read library books on the Kobo
Support for DRM-free file formats:
- Books: ePUB, PDF and MOBI
- Documents: PDF
- Images: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF
- Text: TXT, HTML and RTF
- Comic Books: CBZ and CBR
Import books from other open-standard e-bookstores
Automatic bookmarking across devices; free reading app for devices: iPad, iPhone, Blackberry phone and PlayBook, Android phone, PC and MAC OS
Battery Life: 1 month (with Wi-Fi turned off)
Users can track their reading progress with the Reading Life platform to earn rewards and turn reading into a social experience

Watch a demo of the Kobo device below:

Like its e-book reader rivals, the eReader also uses a 6" Pearl E Ink display that has no glare, with 16 greyscale levels. It is the first to sport the Freescale 508 processor, which according to Gizmodo's hands-on with the device, "The touch response on the Kobo is faster, more immediate than any other touch reader—basically instant."

Thanks to the touchscreen, users can type directly on the virtual keyboard and manipulate content directly using on-screen controls, which simplifies the design of the device to a single "Home" button. With 1 GB of available internal storage and a SD card slot that accepts up to a 32 GB card, the eReader is quite expandable. At just slightly larger than a 6" X 4" photo, 0.4" thick and weighing just over 7 oz., the eReader is actually the most compact e-book reader in its category at the moment.

Border's Kobo eReader Touch comes in four colors -- black, lilac, silver and blue (blue will be available after Father's Day on June 24) -- and has a quilted, soft-back design for added comfort. Look for this e-book reader at a Borders near you and let us know what you think about this Kindle/Nook Touch challenger.

[Source: PRNewswire, Gizmodo, Kobo]

Topics: Mobility, Hardware

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14 comments

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RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130

With this new Kobo My choice of a new e-reader just became a lot more difficult...

Divergex
17 June, 2011 09:00

Reply Vote
- RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130
  
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- RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130
  
  I've been holding off on picking up an e reader and the kobo actuallly looks pretty good. <a href="http://www.nationhighschoolscam.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7">Nation High School</a>
  
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  21 September, 2011 08:15
  
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- RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130
  
  Do want. I've been holding off on picking up an e reader and the kobo actuallly looks pretty good. <a href="http://www.universaldegrees.info/">Universal Degrees</a>
  
  alanhawk
  21 September, 2011 08:15
  
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- RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130
  
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  28 September, 2011 23:20
  
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RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130

do want. I've been holding off on picking up an e reader and the kobo actuallly looks pretty good.

awkward hug
17 June, 2011 09:01

Reply Vote
RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130

interesting i own a kindle(with hack to allow native epub) but my next one will probably be this since I want to get one for my kid also.

ciera71
17 June, 2011 09:25

Reply Vote
RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130

I bought the new Nook Touch the other day and am very happy with it. Borders future is much less certain B&N or Amazon. I also like that I can take it in to a B&N store and read almost anything for an hour instead of just a chapter sample. Does Kobo do that?

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17 June, 2011 10:45

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RE: Kobo's Wi-Fi eReader Touch arrives in Borders today, $130

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