Kobo has unveiled its latest line-up of eReading devices to deliver a new reading experience that extends beyond books and enables the discovery of new content.
There are four new products in the range – a 6-inch e-ink model and three Google-powered colour tablets.
Also introduced by Kobo today is the new Reading Life platform which can make recommendations based on their reading habits along with a dedicated kids book store and digital access to popular magazine titles.
Kobo also announced a partnership with San Francisco-based company Pocket whose platform makes it possible to save and consume web content to read on Kobo’s latest devices.
The Kobo bookstore today includes more than four million titles.
eReading is continuing to enjoy huge year-on-year growth with Kobo reporting users are reading books five times more on dedicated eReaders than with apps.
More than 90 per cent of Kobo customers read every week with the majority reading every single day.
KOBO AURA – $189.95
The Kobo Aura has a 6-inch e-ink screen along with a built-in light and a battery that will last up to two months.
It has an edge-to-edge touchscreen display with 221 dpi (dots per inch) so it offers as much detail as a printed page.
There is 4GB of storage onboard the wi-fi device with a microSD card slot to allow expansion up to 32GB.
KOBO ARC 10 HD – $499.95
The Kobo Arc 10 HD has a full high definition 10-point multi-touch screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 with 300 ppi (pixels per inch).
Under the hood is a NVIDIA Tegra 4 1.8Ghz quad-core processor, 2GB RAM and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera.
The Google-certified device is designed to allow readers to enjoy all kinds of content from novels and other books to glossy magazines and apps.
KOBO ARC 7 HD – $249.95 (16GB); $299.95 (32GB)
Like the Arc 10 HD device, the Arc 7 HD takes advantage of the Reading Life platform to make it easier for users to curate and discover new content.
The Kobo Arc 7 HD is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.7Ghz quad-core processor and has a resolution of 1920 x 1200.
KOBO ARC 7 – $199.95
Designed as an entry level tablet reader, the Kobo Arc 7 has a 1024 x 600 resolution touchscreen display and 8GB of internal storage.
It is a compact, multimedia tablet for reading, apps and entertainment on the go.
READING LIFE
The Reading Life platform takes a look at your recent reading activity and can recommended other content that may be of interest.
To the right of the homescreen on the new Kobo Arc tablet is where users will discover a personalised bookshelf where eBooks, magazines and other multimedia has been collected.
Also included as part of the Reading Life platform is Beyond The Book – a way to discover books, collections and materials related to what you’re reading and areas of interest.
Pocket gives readers a way to save articles from the web, social media and more than 400 other popular apps like Flipboard, Pulse and Zite to view it on their Kobo reading device.
Each month Pocket users read the equivalent of three books worth of content from across the web.
The new Kobo devices will include an Articles From Pocket section and users just need to log in to their free accounts to access the list.
MAGAZINE STORE
Kobo has signed partnership agreements with some of the world’s biggest international magazine publishers to give users access to the most popular titles across a range of subjects including fashion, science, business, sport and technology.
With high definition screens on the new Kobo tablet devices, the reading experience is just as glossy as having your hands on the real thing.
And rather than just being a copy of the magazine, many of the titles have lots of interactive features that maintain the essence of the print version with added rich multimedia content.
KIDS BOOK STORE
The company has expanded the children’s section of its store to more than 100,000 titles.
Publisher Scholastic says that of the children who have read an eBook, one in five say they are now reading more books just for fun.
Almost half of the children aged six to 17 said they would read even more books for fun if they had greater access to eBooks.
The new Kobo devices will be available from September 16 and customers can pre-order at www.kobo.com.
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