Kobo Unveils A $149 eReader [Kobo Announces A New eReader, But The Power Behind It Could Be The Real Story]

Tweet

Most likely it comes with little surprise that we have another ebook reader getting announced. The latest is the Kobo eReader and while the reader itself seems to be on the simpler side, the power behind it may a reason for success. And for those keeping track, or thinking they heard the Kobo name before, they are the company behind other ebook stores such as the one found on the Plastic Logic reader and even Borders.

The announced reader is simply called the Kobo eReader and it comes with a nice, albeit simple design, decent feature set and a $149 price tag. Of course it should be noted that the $149 price is only “for a limited time.” As for availability, the Kobo eReader is expected to be available at Indigo Books & Music in Canada this May and at Borders in the US sometime this summer.

Digging into the features a little bit, the Kobo eReader is touting a 6 inch E Ink display, 1GB of onboard memory, an SD card slot and a quilted backing. Navigation is handled by way of a 4-way D pad and books can be transfered on and off the device using a Bluetooth connection or included USB cord. In terms of battery life, a single charge is said to be able to offer “up to 2 weeks” of reading, or putting that another way — 8,000 page turns. Finally, the Kobo eReader offers 5 selectable font sizes and will ship with 100 free eBooks. The free eBooks are noted as being “classic books,” though no titles were given. Those who purchase the Kobo eReader will also be able to browse and purchase books from the Kobo bookstore and in addition to the 2 million eBooks available, you can also find newspapers and magazines.

And I didn’t forget that I stated earlier how the success may come from the power behind the eReader and not the reader itself. You see, in addition to launching the Kobo eReader, the “Powered by Kobo” program was also announced. According to Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo;

“Our ‘Powered by Kobo’ program accelerates the time to market for manufacturers of new devices and delivers more options for consumers. By providing a world-class catalog, complementary mobile applications and global infrastructure, partners can start selling eBooks in a matter of days.”

Sounds like they have a good idea, power the reader itself and sell that as the product. In that case they can offer the backend and let all of the other ebook makers fight it out on the front lines.

Tweet

You may also like:

Kobo Touch e-Reader With Offers Now at $99.99 With Ads...

Kobo 2012 Book Club Officially Announced...

Kobo Brags; Shares Some Of Their Holiday Season Sales...