- Hands-on with Kobo’s Glo and Mini e-readers
- Nook SimpleTouch with GlowLight review
- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
There’s nothing like a good underdog story. Aside from last year’s failed Vox tablet, Kobo has made some quality devices, but has still failed to make a huge dent in the e-reader market — a space dominated by Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In the case of the Glo front-lit e-reader ($ 129), Kobo might just be hampered by unfortunate timing. Though the company managed to get a jump on things in the last round with the Kobo Touch, the Glo comes on the heels of similar devices, the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight and the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. But, could this reader have what it takes to convince Kindle and Nook owners to take a leap of faith? Find out after the break.
Gallery: Kobo Glo review: another illuminated e-reader lights up the market
Continue reading Kobo Glo review: another illuminated e-reader lights up the market
Kobo Glo review: another illuminated e-reader lights up the market originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you watched our Windows 8 Consumer Preview liveblog yesterday, you might have noticed the Kobo icon peeking out once or twice onstage at the event. Well, if you take a look at the Windows Store on a device running the new OS, you’ll notice that the Kobo app is available for download, making it one of the only e-reader apps (along with Amazon’s Kindle) to be available with the launch of the new store. Kobo’s app features a revamped UI that’s a little different from what it offers on other platforms, with a new, easier-to-search library, cloud storage for all your books, and a new Windows 8 desktop client to match its offerings for current-gen Windows and OS X. The desktop app lets you download books to read later, or transfer them over…
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Amazon’s extra-large Kindle DX is available this weekend (which is to say for the next few hours) for the low, low price of $ 259, down from its normal $ 379. It’s telling that even the lowered price still seems ridiculously high, considering that smaller but more advanced models are selling for under $ 100. How long can this outlier live in a world dominated by cheap, pocketable, touchscreen e-readers?
In its current form, the fact is it’s likely on its way out. The Kindle Keyboard and indeed the graphite look in general are on their way out, to be replaced by the lighter, thinner, more touchable new generation. But there’s a problem: the DX is one of the very few e-readers that doesn’t use the same 6″ E-Ink screen as everyone else. Amazon probably knows there’s demand there, but perhaps the time is not yet right to strike.
As you no doubt remember, the Fire was rumored even before its release to be the first of two or more tablets; the next one is supposed to have a larger screen. Makes sense. Amazon wanted to test the waters, and the 7″ tablet was a much easier way to do that. The popularity of the tablet (despite a lukewarm critical reception) doesn’t guarantee a larger version, but I think Amazon would be fools not to do it.
What does this have to do with the DX? As long as they’re unveiling one big e-reader, why not two? Okay, that’s not very convincing. But the DX is a fish out of water right now, and it needs to be either replaced or put out to pasture. I think Amazon is going to keep the large e-reader as a premium option, but it needs more time to engineer it. Who knows, maybe they’re waiting on the next set of screens from E-Ink.
If I had to prophesy, I’d expect a late-summer event with a bigger Fire (the “Flame” maybe?) and a bigger, improved DX, and depending on E-Ink, perhaps an improved screen. By that time, remember, the high-res iPad 3 will supposedly be out, as will a few other high-res tablets that will offer a superior reading experience owing to their superior displays, LCD as they may be.
Personally, I can’t wait for a decent large-screen e-reader. These little ones are frustrating and it saddens me to see the leaders of the e-reader industry putting out products that are scarcely distinguishable from one another.
[via The Digital Reader]
Kobo is about to launch their new Vox ereader/tablet and I think it’s important to remember that the reader race isn’t just down to two contestants: this Canadian company, while comparatively small in the US, is performing quite admirably on the international stage, hitting 2.5 million users in the US and over 5 million total in the world.
The Vox is a fairly nondescript Android tablet running a slightly modified version of Android 2.3. It is compatible with most Android apps and ships with the Kobo app pre-installed. As it stands there’s little to be excited about except the price and the bright, readable screen that is purported to have excellent visibility in direct sunlight. At $ 199, the Kobo Vox is probably one of the most affordable “big name” Android tablets that may actually gain some traction this holiday.
Clearly the Vox is up against still competition against the $ 199 Kindle Fire but there is a certain breed of consumer that will enjoy the ostensible “openness” of the Kobo platform as well as the unfettered access to over a million free, public domain books out of the box.
Because it’s an Android tablet it is actually fighting against the Nook as well as any number of bargain basement tablets that could grab consumer’s attention. However, the Kobo app is one of the top downloads on both the Android and Apple app stores and they’re the de facto choice in Canada and Europe, two areas where B&N and Amazon have failed to make much of a dent.
You can think of Kobo as the Nokia of the ereader world while Amazon and B&N are Apple and Google respectively. While I won’t bet on Kobo in the long term – I think it will be a tough road to keep selling ereaders when facing the other two juggernauts – I’m happy to report that their latest product is not to be dismissed out of hand.
We’ll have a full review when this thing begins shipping on Friday but until then we had a brief hands-on and I’m happy to report that the Kobo Vox is an impressive – and inexpensive – ereader worth a second look.
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