Amazon Kindle News - Good e-Reader: Recent Episodes
Michael Kozlowski
Welcome back to another compelling edition of the Good e-Reader Radio Show! Today Michael runs down all of the new e-readers that will be released this Fall and what you can expect. Kobo has a new e-reader in the works and I am told this is a second generation Aura One. This model will have a dual core processor and Bluetooth, so you can listen to audiobooks. The Paperwhite 4 is the most eagerly anticipated e-reader of the year. Amazon wants to keep the price the same, so don't expect major features. Instead it will have Bluetooth and Audible functionality and the big rumor is that it will have a color temperature system. Pocketbook, Arta Tech, and other companies are also releasing a series of new e-readers in the next few weeks.
The feature story on the show today is Kobo at Walmart and how it will all play out. This is the first time Kobo has major retail visibility. It will likely bring them thousands of new customers, who will make regular ebook purchases. Amazon will likely not feel the string, since they enjoy a veritable monopoly. Barnes and Noble on the other hand might see some diminished revenue.
Welcome back to another compelling edition of the Good e-Reader Radio Show! Today Michael discusses the news about Apple developing their own processors and how the Intel stock has taken a nosedive. Kobo is going to be releasing a new e-reader soon called the Clara HD, find out all about it. Additionally B&N released a new social media app and part of Amazon's success is their retail presence.
Kobo has just launched an audiobook bookstore that sells audiobooks individually and also provides them on a subscription level basis. Their entire audiobook catalog is powered by Overdrive and this is the first time they have ever been involved in an audiobook subscription scheme.
Kobo Audiobooks will cost $12.99 per month in Canada and comes with a 30-day free trial period. Customers will get one credit a month with their subscription and they can be redeemed for any audiobook title on the platform. You can also purchase Kobo Audiobooks individually and shop with confidence with their Price Match Guarantee. In addition, readers earn Kobo Super Points on their monthly subscription fees or audiobook purchases. The Kobo audiobooks service is available today in the US for ($9.99/mo), the UK (£6.99/mo), Australia ($12.99/mo), and New Zealand ($13.99/mo).
Kobo has updated their app for Android and iOS and have brought over a fully functional audiobook player. You can make purchases and listen to your content on Android, and with iOS you can only listen to titles you have already bought or have used a credit on. You cannot make purchases directly on your iPhone or iPad.
“We have more books than time, always. Audiobooks let our readers fit the books they love into more parts of their day,” says Michael Tamblyn, CEO, Rakuten Kobo Inc. “Audio lets you be in two places at once—exploring the galaxy on the daily commute, solving a crime while doing the laundry, or wherever you want your favourite story to take you.”
Tamblyn continues: “Last year, we built the Kobo Aura ONE eReader with the help of our best customers, and our new offering is no different. What we unequivocally heard was that they wanted the best deal on audiobooks, and we are pleased to offer the lowest subscription price available.”
Over the course of the past three years the highest growing segment of publishing are audiobooks. The global audiobook industry is currently evaluated at $3.5 billion dollars and the United States is currently the largest singular market with $1.8 billion dollars in audio sales in 2016 and this was a 31% increase from 2015. The Audio Publishers of America has stated that every year for the past three years 36,000 audiobooks were issued. When it comes right down to it, the retailers are the ones who benefit from the audiobook revolution. The vast majority of the companies that spoke to Good e-Reader have disclosed that they have seen triple digit growth and expect this trend to continue into 2017.
Michele Cobb, executive director of the Audio Publishers Association, pointed to the “significant” increase in units and dollars that audio has seen in the past few years; the tremendous popularity of podcasts; and referenced association surveys. Surprisingly, frequent listeners – of at least four audiobooks a month – skew 56% male.
I am really happy that Kobo has leveraged their sister company to provide an audiobook solution for their customers. I predicted last year that Kobo would open up an audiobook store and even cited their relationship with Overdrive as the digital content provider. I feel audiobooks was the missing piece to the Kobo ecosystem and this could provide a lucrative stream of revenue for years to come.
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e-Reader innovation has ground to a halt and no new technology has been developed since 2013. This was the worst year on record in terms of overall sales. Many analysts have proclaimed that only 9 million units have shipped this year, which is a decrease from the 12 million dedicated e-ink devices were sold in 2014 and a far cry from 20 million units that were sold in 2011.
The e-reader industry is crashing
There are many reasons why major companies like Amazon and Barnes and Noble only shipped one new e-reader this year and Kobo debuted two new models. It is the same reason why there were no new 13.3 inch e-readers in 2015, although Onyx and Pocketbook both teased they had one in development, but they are nowhere to be found.
I think the main reason why the e-reader industry is in a state of decline is due to the market becoming super saturated between 2009 to 2012. Basically anyone who wanted an e-reader went out and bought one during that time frame. There is little reason to invest in a new model every year, because there is no quantum leaps in technology, its been utterly stagnant.
The second reason is primarily attributed to e-Reader ownership hitting an all time low. Pew Research conducted a study and found 19% of adults reported owning an e-reader, such as a Kindle or Nook.This is a sizable drop from early 2014, when 32% of adults owned this type of device. It seems as though people have shelved their readers and switched to smartphones and tablets.
Pew found that 45% of U.S. adults own a tablet – a substantial increase since they began measuring tablet ownership in 2010. Then, only 4% of adults in the U.S. were tablet owners. They also stated that 68% of adults now have a smartphone, nearly double from 2011 when only 35% of adults had a smartphone.
The Wall Street Journal also reported this summer that the smartphone continued to be the most adopted piece of technology to read e-books. Their premise derived from a recent Nielsen survey of 2,000 people who found 54% of e-book buyers said they used smartphones to read their books at least some of the time, which is a 24% increase from 2012.
There are only a few e-reader companies left standing
When Good e-Reader first started reporting on the rise of e-readers and e-books in 2008, the world was great. Within a few short years there were dozens of e-reader and e-paper companies looking to make their mark on the industry.
In 2015 there are only a few companies left standing. The only company who is active in e-paper is E-Ink Holdings. Pixel QI, LG and Bridgestone all abandoned their e-paper ambitions a few years ago due the perceived lack of demand. Meanwhile in the e-reader sector dozens of companies went out of business in the last few years, such as Cool-ER, Entourage, Hanvon, iRex, Greenbook, Spring Design, Kyobo and dozens of others.
There are only two major companies left standing in the e-reader space and against all odds they have managed to flourish.. Amazon has the largest market share and they account for 75% of all e-books sold in the US, while in the UK the figure is closer to 95%.
The second major global player has to be Kobo. The company has been on an expanding rampage, trying to dominate markets before Amazon can swoop in. One of their biggest secrets to their success is getting their devices in bookstores, where their prospective customers are. Michael Tamblyn – CEO of Kobo told me on a few occasions that they focus on bookstores because their product seems more organic and wholesome, instead of being sold at a big box retailer, where technology is often cold and impersonal.
What is an e-reader discussion without the Barnes and Noble Nook? The company released a new waterproof e-reader this year, the first new model since 2013.
Barnes and Noble has lost money on the Nook aspect for the last four years straight. In total, they have lost over 1.2 billion dollars on having too much inventory and sellin...
e-Reader ownership is at an all time low according to Pew Research. The company released new data on device ownership and found 19% of adults reported owning an e-reader, such as a Kindle or Nook.This is a sizable drop from early 2014, when 32% of adults owned this type of device.
The decline in dedicated e-ink e-readers is directly proportional to the rise of smartphones and tablets. 68% of adults now have a smartphone, nearly double the share that Pew Research Center measured in its first survey on smartphone ownership in mid-2011. At that point, 35% of adults had smartphones.
Pew also found that 45% of U.S. adults own a tablet – a substantial increase since Pew Research Center began measuring tablet ownership in 2010. Then, only 4% of adults in the U.S. were tablet owners. Ownership, however, is statistically the same as it was in 2014.
There is no denying that smartphone and tablet ownership have usurped market share away from dedicated e-readers. When it comes to reading e-books though, the smartphone is reigning supreme.
The Wall Street Journal reported this summer that it is the smartphone that is our technology of choice to read e-books on a regular basis. Their premise derived from a recent Nielsen survey of 2,000 people last December. It found that 54% of e-book buyers said they used smartphones to read their books at least some of the time. That’s up from 24% in 2012, which is a huge gain.
Apple has seen an increase in the number of people downloading books onto iPhones through its iBooks app. Some 45% of iBooks purchases are now downloaded onto iPhones, an Apple spokeswoman said. Before that, only 28% were downloaded onto phones, with most of the remainder downloaded onto iPads and a small percentage onto computers.
An Amazon spokesman said "Among all new customers using Kindles or the Kindle app, phone readers are by far the fastest-growing segment."
Have e-readers had their day in the sun in the US market? Pew only interviewed a few thousand people, which certainly is not indicative of a unilateral consensus.
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Barnes and Noble has just released their first e-reader since 2009, with the advent of the Nook Glowlight Plus. It sounds fairly good on paper, with the same high resolution screen found on the Amazon Kindle Voyage and is waterproof, much akin to the Kobo H2O. It also has software not found in any other e-readers on the market, such as Nook Profiles and Nook Readouts. Has Barnes and Noble hit a home run with the Nook Glowlight Plus and most importantly, will you buy it?
The Barnes and Noble Nook Glowlight Plus features a six inch e-Ink Carta display with a resolution of 1430 x 1080 and 300 PPI. This e-reader is waterproof, similar to the Kobo Aura H2o. It is IP67 certified, which means you could leave it submerged in fresh water for up to 30 minutes at a maximum depth of 1 meter.
There is no word yet on what processor this model has but it does employ 512 MB of RAM. One of the good things about the Glowlight Plus is that it does not have the same limitations of previous models. You used to have only 512 MB of internal memory for your own e-book collection, but this has been since upgraded to 2GB. In total, you now have 4 GB of available storage, but use it wisely, since there is no SD card.
The Nook Glowlight Plus is a modern e-reader that does not push the envelop with its hardware, but remains competitive. This is very refreshing for the bookseller to offer a compelling alternative for users who have since switched to doing business with Amazon or Kobo.
On the software front, there has been some noticeable UI changes and a few new features like Nook profiles and Nook Readouts.
B&N Readouts comprises of book excerpts in popular genres and topics, including Fiction, Romance, Mysteries & Thrillers, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult, Lifestyle, Books & Ideas, Science & Tech and Business & Innovation. It also offers customers sneak peeks of upcoming books and special bonus content from authors and publishers. There is also featured articles from a myriad of magazines too, giving you a sense of featured stories, without having to actually download or purchase the entire issue.
Barnes and Noble Nook Profiles is similar to what they did with the Nook Color and Nook Tablet. It allows you to setup separate profiles for up to six users, which is ideal for people who share their e-readers. Individual users can decide which titles they want to share with the other profiles and there is some developed parental controls, so that kids can't make their own purchases.
Is this an e-reader you will buy? It does offer software features not found on any other dedicated e-ink device on the market. I think its a viable upgrade if you have the Nook Simple Touch, Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight, the features found on the new model will be absolutely huge. If you have the Nook Glowlight from 2013, I think the waterproof nature will be a tremendous boon. There is a large contingent of readers that like to read while soaking in a bath, or are a klutz like me and dump coffee on it. What do you guys think? Will you buy it, or wait for more reviews before making a decision?
Listen to to the audio version of this story.
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Amazon has just launched a white Kindle in France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. This is the first non-black model to be released in Europe since the first generation Kindle that came out in 2007. It is important to note that this is not a new e-reader, this is simply the same entry level Kindle Basic that was released late last year. The only thing that is different is the color, which should resonate with people who want to standout in a crowd.
Listen to the audio version of this story, with expanded commentary.
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The Amazon Kindle Voyage was released late last year and for all intents and purpose the e-reader was a complete flop. It was the least purchased and least reviewed product that the Seattle company has released in a number of years. So what went wrong?
Amazon never releases sales figures for their hardware division in all of their fiscal reports. The only way to accurately determine how many units have been sold is to look at verified reviews.
The Kindle Voyage has only garnered 7,342 reviews on Amazon since it launched in November of 2014. This is fairly paltry considering the entry level Kindle Basic Touch came out at the exact same time and has 12,389 customer reviews. Things are so bleak for the Voyage, in terms of sales that the 4 month old Kindle Paperwhite has more reviews, clocking in at 7,684.
One of the reasons why the Kindle Voyage was such as flop was because of the high price. The device retails at $199, whereas the Paperwhite 3 is $119 and normally can be purchased on-sale for an additional $20 in savings. The Basic is the cheapest of them all, and can be yours at a very respectable $79.
When e-readers first rose to popularity from 2007 to 2012, they were fairly expensive. Most new devices cost around $300, and trended upwards depending on the screen size. Over the last few years they have drastically fallen in price, as innovation has ground to a halt and companies are trying to make the cheapest device possible. Customers have been trained that e-readers should be super affordable now and Amazon has realized that once you jack the price up, people are not going to respond. The same thing has happened with e-book pricing, people were trained that $9.99 was the standard and now publishers are charging anywhere from $12.99 to 17.99. This has resulted in e-book sales falling in the high single digits over 2015.
Listen to the audio version of this story with expanded commentary.
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Over the course of 2015 there has been a number of notable new e-readers that have hit the market. Barnes and Noble released their first new model in almost three years with the Nook Glowlight Plus, while Kobo released two different units. All eyes are on Amazon right now for their Kindle Voyage 2, Kindle Paperwhite 4 and entry level Kindle Basic, which should be announced in the next few weeks. With so many models to choose from, what features is the average customer looking for? We seek to address this question with new research report, from Good e-Reader.
Two weeks ago we asked the question What do you look for in an e-reader. 1724 people took part in the survey and they weighed in on everything from the size of the screen, to brand name recognition.
The number one feature that is most important to people looking to buy a new e-reader is resolution. In the last two years with the advent of e-Ink Carta e-readers have dramatically increased in clarity and 300 PPI is the norm. This results in crisper text and being able to accurately read a wider variety of digital content, such as manga, newspapers and PDF files. 314 people, which amounted to 18%, said this was most important.
252 people or 14.62% of the vote said that an e-reader that supported multiple e-book formats was most important to them. This is not surprising because there are a number of formats out there, each with their own virtues. Amazon has their own proprietary e-book format, which makes their entire line of e-readers not very viable if you want to borrow e-book from the library or shop around online for deals. Most other devices on the market support EPUB, which is compatible with most e-readers.
242 people, which represented 14% of the overall vote said that screen size was one of the most important feature they looked for in a new e-reader. Almost all of the e-readers currently available in the North American market are six inches in size, which is fairly pocket friendly and cheap to manufacture. Meanwhile, in Europe there are a number of companies making larger screen e-readers, such as the Icarus XL and Onyx Boox i86, but they suffer from viability issues and brand awareness.
Other notable features that people look for, is PDF compatibility and a good rendering engine (12.65%) and an SD Card, to enhance internal storage (11.48%). The average user also thinks running Android is important, so they can install their own e-reading apps and not be locked into any one specific ecosystem (7.37%)
What surprised me about this data is that some of the features that I thought were important to the current generation of e-readers did not resonate well with our audience. Only 5.74% said audio was important, while 2.67% said Bluetooth was critical for their buying decisions. Finally, 4.81% mentioned that brand name recognition was most important, a Kindle for Kindles sake.
This is great data, and should be seriously considered by any company looking to enter the e-reader space or are in the process of designing one.
Listen to the audio version of this report, with expanded commentary.
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When Sony and Amazon first got into the e-reader business, they were considered a new breed of luxury items. The first generation Kindle retailed for $399 and the PRS-500 was $349. Needless to say, only the most hardcore of readers were buying into the new way to consume digital books. In the last few years, you can pick up a ultra modern device for $79. Whats changed?
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo are in the race to the bottom. They are forgoing a number of critical features to be able to compete against each other in the lucrative US and UK market. Overall build quality is suffering, internet browsing has never improved and the lack of audio bucks the trend of technological convergence.
In 2011, we started to see e-readers come down in price. The Kindle Keyboard was massively discounted from $189 to $99. Barnes and Noble discounted their Simple Touch Reader to $99 and Kobo did the same. This was the last year that we saw a new reader have speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack that was capable of playing audiobooks and music files.
The lack of audio in modern e-readers prevent them from being rolled out into schools and institutions of learning. The chief reason is because visually disabled people cannot use the devices and feel excluded. The National Federation of the Blind have been overzealous in this regard and have prevented Amazon from starting pilot projects to get e-readers in schools. They went as far as organizing protests right outside Amazons Seattle headquarters, saying at the time "no student should be left behind."
The e-reader industry as a whole has lost most of its innovative spirit, the vast majority of companies that were around from 2007 to 2011 are not around anymore. There was some truly interesting e-paper technology that could have changed the game, such as Bridgestone e-paper, Liquavista, LG, Mirasol, Pixel QI, and Plastic Logic. The reason why most of these companies abandoned the e-reader space, was because all of the notable players were risk adverse. After bringing the entry level price from $399 to $99 for an e-reader, the price could never dramatically increase again, which limited their options of dealing with new companies, whose technology would be expensive to manufacture at first.
The race to the bottom has not only limited consumer options, but it has effectively edged out smaller companies that offer alternative e-readers. Icarus, Onyx Boox, Pocketbook and Wexler aren't exactly household names, but have been making e-readers in Eastern Europe, Russia and China for years. All of these guys initially focused on the western market, but they simply couldn't produce enough units, in order to get big discounts at the factory, which effectively relegated them to markets where Amazon and Kobo haven't entered yet.
I have been following the e-reader industry since the first generation Sony and Kindle e-readers. I was at CES in 2010 when e-readers were everywhere, there were literary hundreds of companies wanting to enter the space, looking for strategic partner. In 2011, there were hardly any to be found, as the industry gravitated towards multi-purpose tablets. e-Readers were on the cusp of doing some really amazing things, but now we just have a selection of products that all look the same. Put a Kindle Paperwhite 1 side by side to a Paperwhite 2 and see if anyone could tell the difference.
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e-Reader technology has come a long way since the first Kindle hit the market in 2007. Not only have the prices come down from over $300 for your standard six inch device, but e-paper has been polished and more refined. Companies such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo invest copious amounts of money in research and development to give customers the best reading experience possible. But, what would constitute the ultimate e-reader?
Good e-Reader has been reviewing dedicated e-ink devices since 2008 and we have really seen the industry grow. The devices in 2014 all offer faster page turns and really high resolution to make reading much more intuitive. We have looked at hundreds of different devices that come out over the years and we really have a sense on what customers want in an e-reader and what features everyone yearns for. Today, we look at the e-paper technology, hardware and features that would capture the imagination of millions of digital readers.
The Ultimate e-reader
Six inches - The most common screen size of e-readers today is six inches, because its more pocket friendly and many shells bought from China price has come down dramatically. Larger e-readers are possible, but the reason they are so expensive is because all of the internals cost more due to the lack of mass production.
1430 x 1080 resolution - This is currently the benchmark established by the Kindle Voyage for the highest resolution in the world. Most e-readers on the market have 1024 X 758 which look quite a bit dated by 2014-2015 standards. The future of e-readers is super high resolution and at least 300 PPI.
e-Ink Mobius - Mobius uses a TFT technology that will enable the development of much lighter and rugged products. Mobius displays can weigh less than 50% of an equivalent glass based TFT. This is particularly important for mobile products requiring larger display areas, such as the Sony Digital Paper and Pocketbook CAD Flex.
Capacitive Touchscreen - Many e-readers still employ Neonode IR touchscreen technology which provides a diminished experience for people used to interacting with their smartphones and tablets. The ultimate e-reader would have the same type of capacitive touch with the screen flush with the bezel. Notable e-readers that have this are the Kobo Aura and Tolinio Vision 2.
Front-Lit Display (Glowlight) - Smartphones and tablets use LCD screen technology that have the light emitting from behind the screen into your eyes. A new study from the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute shows that a two-hour exposure to electronic devices with self-luminous “backlit” displays causes melatonin suppression, which might lead to delayed bedtimes, especially in teens. Front-Lit displays have 4-6 LED lights that project light evenly across the screen, not into your eyes. The 3rd generation lighting system has been very polished and refined.
Flexible rubber housing - Only the Pocketbook CAD and Wexler Flex One have flexible rubber housing and it allows it to be more durable for transportation and daily use.
Hybrid Magnesium Alloy - The Kindle Voyage has this new technology on the back , it prevents finger oil from staining it.
1.2 GHZ Duel Core processor - In order for a more optimized experience when opening books, accessing menu features and running apps, a dual core processor is a must.
1 GB of RAM - Many of the most popular e-readers out there only have 128 or 512 MB of RAM. Having additional RAM would step up the performance and allow for larger buffering system for multitasking.
SD card - Many e-readers these days forgo the SD card in order to promote their own cloud services. SD Cards are really important because you don't need to rely on WIFI to download content.
Audio - e-Reader companies these days have all abandoned audio in order to provide the lowest cost device possible. The ultimate e-reader would have stereo speakers, preferably Dolby Audio and a 3.
Amazon prematurely unveiled Kindle Unlimited yesterday morning. This is a new subscription service that costs $9.99 and will allow you to read as many books as you want on a monthly basis.
Kindle Unlimited will launch with 600,000 eBook and audiobook titles. Each title will be available to read on multiple devices, such as Android and iOS. A free 30 day trial will also be available when the service launches later this year.
Major publishers such as HarperCollins, Hachette, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster will not be contributing content with Kindle Unlimiteds launch. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos did meet with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves earlier in the week to talk about eBooks, maybe contributing backlist and midlist titles had something to do with it.
Smaller publishers will play a major role in Unlimited with Algonquin, Bloomsbury, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Open Road, Scholastic and Workman. Amazon intends on paying them a wholesale rate for each title opened and read. This direct agreement is also being made to all of the Harry Potter Books via Pottermore and also the Hunger Games Trilogy
The bulk of the 600,000 titles that are available for Unlimited will be contributing by self-published authors who enrolled in Kindle Direct Publishing Select. Writers who participate under this program will automatically be opted it and paid out whenever someone reads 10% of the book or more. The money will be paid to the authors through the one or two million dollars that is added to the KDP Select pool per month.
Existing eBook subscription sites stand to gain in the short-term as most of them will be referenced in Unlimited. Scribd, Oyster and others will be mentioned in the same sentence and they all have major publisher support. Amazon is mainly launching with smaller presses, but most of the big five all support the smaller companies with their backlist and midlist titles.
Today on the show, Michael Kozlowski and Mercy Pilkington break down all of the news from yesterday. You will get a sense on concerns indie authors have on payments and royalties. Will KDP Select be a compelling value proposition for authors, outside of the Kindle Lending Library? Finally, will Kindle offer yet another cool feature that will be the deciding factor on your next e-reader purchase?
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Kobo has just officially announced their first tablet PC via their website and are currently accepting pre-orders! The device is set to cost $199 which puts it on par with the new Amazon Kindle Fire! This was a savvy move on the companies part to lower the price from the initial $259 that was bantered around a month ago.
The Kobo Vox features a 7 inch capacitive display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. It has multi-touch support thanks to the Google Android 2.3 OS bundled with it. Things should be speedy with the 800 MHZ internal processor and 512 MB RAM. You should have plenty of on-board memory with 8 GB of internal storage and you can enhance it via the Micro SD card up to 32 GB.
One of the most interesting facets that have not been talked about and Kobo makes mention of in the product listing is the Kobo Cloud. Apparently the company is rolling out support for a cloud based storage system.
The Vox will have integrated support for Kobo Pulse and Reading Life. This is much akin to their Touch Reader that allows you to earn achievements and rewards for reading books and chat with other users in real time.
The ebook experience is done via a custom Kobo application for the Vox. It will allow you to choose between 7 fonts and 42 different sizes. This will allow you to tailor your reading to your liking. It will support EPUB right out of the box and many other formats such as PDF via 3rd party apps via Getjar.
Finally rounding off the hardware it has WIFI and built in speakers and a 3.5 mm headphone jack to listen to music or audiobooks.
Looking at the software side of things the device will have access to over 12,000 Android applications via the Google Android Market. You will also have apps pre-loaded on the unit such as Zinio, PressReader, Rdio, Scrabble and a dictionary.
The Vox is only available for order in the USA and Canada right now for $199 and should hit international markets sometime in November. This should be an exciting offering from Kobo and should be able to tap into the 2.3 million books the company currently offers. Kids books, cook books, magazines and newspapers will be available in full color. The big draw on the Kobo Tablet is that it is internationally friendly. Unlike the Nook Color and Kindle Fire which is only good in the USA to use and order, Kobo is a strong viable alternative to those devices. Expect a full hands on review shortly. Until then check out the Vox in a full video HERE.
[showhide type='pressrelease']TORONTO, October 19, 2011 -- Kobo, a global leader in eReading with over 5 million users worldwide, today announced the New Kobo Vox eReader, the world’s first social eReader. The Kobo Vox, inspired by “Vox Populi” meaning the voice of the people, enables readers to start conversations with other readers and discover new books and authors through their social network. With a vivid color display, Kobo takes the reading experience to a whole new level and offers even more content – rich color books, newspapers, magazines, games, music, video, games and social feeds – all on an open Android platform.
“Kobo Vox is the reader for your connected life, and opens the door to the next generation of eReading – social eReading - where books can come alive in color and conversation. Readers can get more out of their experience by connecting with Kobo’s global community of book lovers.” said Michael Serbinis, CEO, Kobo. “Plus, with Kobo Vox you have the freedom to connect with friends, listen to music, watch movies, play games and discover new apps with almost unlimited choices.”
A WORLD CLASS READING EXPERIENCE
Based on Kobo’s #1-rated Android eReading experience, Kobo Vox was built by readers for readers. People can access their entire library on the go, in an easy to hold, lightweight design with a comfortable quilted back. The Kobo Vox comes in a selection of four contemporary, fun, new colors – Hot Pink, Lime Green, Ice Blue and Jet Black,
Welcome to another Good e-Reader Week in review! Today we sum up all of the most important stories from over the past week and give you the essential information. We know busy people are busy living their lives! What with kids, work, and the multitude of daily responsibilities, sometimes it's hard to keep checking our site daily.
This week we have had our hands-on reviews of 3 different devices, the Asus EEE NOTE, the Book by Augen and the EXOPC! We give you a brief play by play of our experiences with them.
If you are into books and reading, you will love our segment outlining the essential ebooks coming out in April. Although if you do not have an e-reader or tablet, all of the books we mention are available in hardcover on the dates listed.
Lots of news this week on tablets and e-readers and we give you the heads up on the most important and newsworthy items of the week. Of course we have songs, Android news, and all sorts of other tidbits! This is a fun episode so check it out.
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