Hands-on with the Kobo eReader Touch Edition

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The ebook market continues to heat up and the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition is one of the best dedicated ebook readers available today. The touchscreen has been optimized without any compromise in the eInk display. The Kobo eReader Touch Edition has an excellent form factor and functionality to make your ebook reading experience one of the best.

Check out the ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer blog for more of my hands-on video and more detailed thoughts on the Kobo eReader Touch Edition.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The back of the retail box shows the available colors and lists some other information on the Kobo eReader.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The black Kobo eReader Touch Edition was present in the box after lifting up the top cover.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There is a USB cable, some information, and promotional materials for the Read On campaign.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The welcome screen prompts you to connect your new Kobo eReader to your PC and use the desktop software. You can install the desktop software on either a Windows PC or Apple computer.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There are a couple of documents installed on the Kobo out of the box. The home screen shows these documents.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The tutorial walks you through the device, including describing the home screen.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The new Nook is wider than the Kobo eReader Touch Edition, but also has physical buttons to turn pages.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Here you can see the difference in width between the Nook and Kobo.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Kobo eReader Touch Edition sits on top of the new Nook and shows it as being narrower by about 1/2 inch.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The back of the Kobo eReader Touch Edition has a comfortable back. Both devices have soft touch material on the back so they feel good in your hand.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Touch Edition fits very well in my hand.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
A microSD card slot is present on the Kobo eReader Touch Edition so you can carry a huge number of ebooks and documents.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There is a slider power/lock switch on top and as you can see there is a nice design on the back of the device.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
As you can see on the Home screen the last five books you read show up and are easy to access.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There are seven available font types on the Kobo eReader Touch Edition in the current firmware. Kobo may provide more with updates too.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There are 12 font sizes, line spacing controls, margin controls, and justification available in the far right lower menu.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can navigate to various parts of the book you are reading.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can access various areas of the ebook and device through this menu.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There are a couple of advanced settings available while you read ebooks. One setting is the ability to control how often page refreshes take place.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Selecting the number of pages between refreshes.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Tap and hold to select words and parts of your ebook for highlighting or looking up in a dictionary.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
After you selected some text you can add a highlight, look it up in a dictionary, or share it on Facebook using the menu options in the far left corner.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Here is what a typical dictionary entry looks like.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You will need to have a wireless connection and need to login to your Facebook account in order to share your reading experience.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
A pop-up QWERTY keyboard appears on the touchscreen so you can enter text.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Share your reading experience on Facebook by entering something to post on your Wall.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There is one hardware button on the front of the device, centered below the display.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
If you have any questions on using the device there is a full help file on it to review and understand.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There are several settings available to you from the Home screen by tapping the gear icon in the bottom left.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Sleep and power settings let you control when the display goes to sleep and powers off.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Reading Life settings control reading activity and award program settings. This is a rather unique aspect of the Kobo eReader.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Various device information is present in the settings.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can control your wireless connection and even launch the web browser from this area of settings. The web browser is a basic browser, but is there for occasional use.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
As you can see the ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer page appears on the Kobo eReader Touch Edition.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The Kobo store is accessible on the Touch Edition and lets you find the books you wish to enjoy.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
There are various categories and list to browse within the store.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can browse by category to find ebooks.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can also search through the store.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
My Windows Phone 7 book is in the Kobo store.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
As you perform tasks on the Kobo you earn awards.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
You can preview ebooks on the Kobo.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The preview includes the first part of books, as you can see here.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
The controls are a bit different for PDF documents. As you can see you can rotate them into landscape orientation.

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Kobo eReader Touch Edition gallery 1

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller
Kobo eReader Touch Edition gallery 2

Published: July 18, 2011 -- 23:17 GMT (16:17 PDT)
Caption by: Matthew Miller

The ebook market continues to heat up and the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition is one of the best dedicated ebook readers available today. The touchscreen has been optimized without any compromise in the eInk display. The Kobo eReader Touch Edition has an excellent form factor and functionality to make your ebook reading experience one of the best.

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Hands-on with the Kobo eReader Touch Edition

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