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Kobo Touch, localized e-bookstore reach Portugal through FNAC
It's all too easy to forget in English-speaking countries that the e-reading selection often isn't as diverse in other parts of the world, where local authors are often kept out of the equation. The Portuguese may know that all too well, which makes Kobo's arrival in their country a potential breakthrough. A deal with European retailer FNAC has both the Kobo Touch and a localized Kobo e-bookstore reaching physical and online stores in Portugal as of today. The price strategy won't be a shock versus what we've seen through an earlier deal in France: the Touch itself costs €99.90 ($129), while books vary and typically hover around €15 ($19). Whether or not Kobo's offering is a good deal, its arrival could be a relief for lisboetas who'd rather not resort to paper and ink to catch up on their own culture.
Kobo eReader Touch up for pre-order in Japan, hitting market with 'localized experience' July 19th
Ever since Rakuten revealed its intentions to scoop up Kobo, the e-reader maker was clearly destined to hit the Japanese market. As noted a week or so back, the company's eReader Touch will be arriving the Land of the Rising Sun in July -- July 19th, to be exact. And, starting today, customers in that country can pre-order the reader for ¥7,980 (or $100 USD). Kobo's promised a "fully localized" experience on the reader, including local currency, content and a "robust" offering of Japanese books in time for launch.
Kobo eReader Touch Edition packs bags for Japan, books flight for July
Rakuten's $315 million buyout of Kobo will bear some e-reader fruit come July. The e-tailer's CEO and chairman, Hiroshi Mikitani, announced plans to release the Kobo eReader Touch Edition in Japan next month for 10,000 yen (on par with its $130 US sticker price). Timing is key, of course -- murmurs of the Kindle Touch's Japanese debut haven't escaped Mikitani's notice. "As a Japanese company, we cannot lose (to overseas rivals)," he told The Asahi Shimbun. Rakuten hopes to use the e-reader to export Japanese content, and aims to have 50,000 titles available by the end of 2012. Pre-orders kick off on July 2, with more details to come next month.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: e-readers
Welcome to the Engadget Holiday Gift Guide! We're well aware of the heartbreaking difficulties surrounding the seasonal shopping experience, so we're here to help you sort out this year's tech treasures. Below is today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to the Gift Guide hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. The e-reader space is really -- if you'll pardon the expression -- heating up just in time for the holiday season. Industry leader Amazon dropped the gauntlet yet again, with the introduction of three new devices, including the entry-level fourth generation Kindle (which starts at an enticing $79 for the ad-supported version) and the Kindle Fire, which is helping to further blur the lines between the e-reader and tablet worlds. Not to be outdone, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Sony are also offering up impressive new devices for the holiday season. All in all, there's never been a more exciting time to give the gift of reading.
The Engadget Interview: Kobo's Michael Serbinis
Kobo celebrated the launch of its eReader Touch Edition with a decidedly low-key event, inviting a handful of journalists to a dimly lit brunch place in midtown Manhattan. The company's CEO Michael Serbinis presided over the event, framing his company as a David in the fight against e-reading Goliaths. It was a stark and fitting contrast to the Nook event that Barnes & Noble would hold a few days later and 40 blocks away -- not to mention the increasingly grandiose productions orchestrated by Amazon's Jeff Bezos. In spite of all of this, the company has managed to maintain a high profile in the e-reader space, as it did this week, when between the announcement of the Nook Tablet and the release of the Kindle Fire, it let the world know that it had been acquired by Rakuten, something of an equivalent to Amazon in its native Japan. The announcement followed the bankruptcy and subsequent closure of once giant bookstore chain Borders earlier this year, a company to which Kobo had long been closely tied. In a conference call last night, Serbinis denied a connection between these events, insisting instead that the deal just made good business sense for the Canadian company. How will the deal affect Kobo? Does this move ultimately impair Serbinis's ability to frame his 200-odd person company's battles as an old testament fight against corporate giants? Or does this simply offer a bit of assistance in its sometimes uphill push for market share? We sat down with the executive to discuss the acquisition, the crowded tablet space and the future of e-reading.
Kobo Vox eReader Tablet hits the FCC, shrouded in bookish mystery
What's this mystery e-reader? It's the Kobo Vox, and it just made its debut on the FCC's site. Is it a reworked version of the relatively recently released Touch Edition? Is it a brand new reader from the company? The device is listed as being an "eReader Tablet," so perhaps it's something more akin to Barnes & Noble's Nook Color or the Kindle tablet reportedly in the works from Amazon. And will Kobo's recent appearance at f8 play into the equation? It's hard to say, but there are a few things worth noting here. First, if the above rough image is to be believed, the device is touchscreen, as with the company's current product. The design, however, looks a lot more like the latest version of the Nook than the new Kobo. A side shot reveals what appears to be a microUSB slot (no shocker there) and a headphone jack, something missing on both the latest Kobo and Nook (though both the latest Kindle and the Nook Color rock one), while a "multimedia headset" was used in the testing. Also listed among the testing materials is a microSD card, so there seems a pretty good chance that this thing has expandable memory -- again, not a surprise, nor is the fact that the reader is listed as being WiFi-enabled.
Engadget's back to school guide 2011: e-readers
Welcome to Engadget's Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we're here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we've got our optical viewfinders set firmly on digital cameras -- and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! Most of us are still walking around hunchbacked from years of carrying heavy textbooks in our overstuffed backpacks. Thankfully, an e-reader can significantly lighten the loads for students everywhere. Sure, we've still got a ways to go before electronic devices can replace textbooks altogether, but in the long run, it's a purpose that could significantly impact the postures of backpack wearers all over. Jump past the break for our recommendations, and another opportunity to enter our back to school giveaway. Simply leave a comment below to be entered to win, and head over to our giveaway page for more details.
Kobo eReader Touch Edition goes on sale in the US and Canada
At the moment, there are two very similar-looking e-readers with black-and-white Pearl E Ink touchscreens on the market, and now, the smaller and less expensive of the pair is up for grabs. The Kobo eReader Touch Edition went on sale today in the US and Canada for $129.99 (or $139.99 Canadian) at Best Buy, Borders, Walmart, and the Canadian bookseller Indigo. If you'll recall, the 6-inch Kobo is thinner, lighter, and more compact than the Nook Touch, even though its screen is the same size. It also undercuts it by $10 but it lacks the convenience of any physical buttons. Could these trade-offs be worth the trimmer design? We'll leave that to you and your wallet (and the guy who may or may not receive this as a last-minute Father's Day gift).
Kobo eReader Touch does more than words, handles Sudoku and web browsing on the side (video)
The Nook WiFi may have been rooted to play Angry Birds, but Kobo's competing eReader Touch Edition can apparently show off its gaming capabilities with factory settings. It turns out that aside from the Nook-like embedded web browser we uncovered in our review, the e-reader also comes pre-loaded with Sudoku -- perfect for some pattern deducing fun between reads. YouTube user codystheory has posted a video showing the quick sequence of taps needed to access the game, and we can definitely say it looks much easier than installing a custom ROM. We've placed the short clip after the break if you'd like to see for yourself. [Thanks, Nate]
Kobo eReader Touch Edition review
When it first announced the launch of its eReader Touch Edition late last month, Kobo referred to itself again and again as the "David" in a reader market full of "Goliaths." It's not difficult to see why -- the company's chief competition in the space is Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony, all giants in their respective fields. In spite of overwhelming odds, however, Kobo has managed to stay afloat, and even competitive. True to form, however, Barnes & Noble launched its own device a mere day after Kobo, which for most intents and purposes, looks an awful lot like the eReader Touch Edition. In fact, the devices were seemingly so alike that we created a head to head, in order to see for ourselves precisely what set them apart. The new Nook also managed to beat Kobo's device to market, offering a more than worthy competitor to Amazon's latest. The question with the launch of the Kobo then, is not only whether the David can compete in a market so dominated by the Kindle, but if the eReader Touch Edition has enough to set it apart from the superficially identical Nook. %Gallery-126284%
Engadget Podcast 241 - 05.27.2011
It's all about doing new stuff, right? This week, we're doing a lot of new stuff: paying for soda pop with our cell phones, reading books on E Ink displays, and waiting for Duke Nukem Forever. OK, well maybe none of those things are actually new, but we're doing them in new ways this week, kind of. Listen to the podcast, is all we're saying.Host: Tim StevensGuests: Brian HeaterProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: 10yr - Regulate02:30 - Kobo unbuttons for $129 eReader Touch Edition, we go hands-on (video)03:52 - Barnes & Noble announces new touch-enabled Nook for $139 (video)13:43 - Barnes & Noble selling Nooks for $99 on eBay18:03 - Live from Microsoft's Windows Phone VIP preview event!22:00 - Windows Phone 'Mango' search offers location-specific results, app integration (video)29:36 - Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on32:05 - Live from the Google Wallet press event!33:50 - Google Wallet mobile payment service, Google Offers announced35:16 - Google Wallet vending on Nexus S hands-on43:21 - Droid Incredible 2 review48:53 - Spotify and Facebook partner up, send Europe a friend request?50:55 - Sony makes good, doles out identity protection activation codes for PSN and Qriocity users51:28 - TweetDeck and Twitter, together at last54:00 - Duke Nukem Forever goes gold, will meet promised June deadline (really!)Hear the podcastSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcastSend your questions to @tim_stevens.Leave us a voicemail: (423) 438-3005 (GADGET-3005)E-mail us: podcast at engadget dot comTwitter: @tim_stevens @bheater
Nook WiFi and Kobo eReader Touch Edition assault the Amazon Kindle fortress: a chart
The e-reader market just got a lot more crowded this week with the launch of the touch-enabled Nook and Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Will either device be able to take down the Amazon's industry defining Kindle? We've broken down the specs on the two new readers, the Kindle, and Sony's comparable Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-350SC) to find out which device will come out on top. There's a lot of overlap features between the different readers, like infrared touchscreens and Pearl E Ink displays. All of those important details and more in the chart after the break. Check it out, because you obviously like reading things.
Kobo unbuttons for $129 eReader Touch Edition, we go hands-on (video)
Kobo today kicked off Book Expo America with the launch of a new six-inch, one-button touchscreen e-reader -- named, appropriately enough, the Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Priced at $130 -- $10 cheaper than Amazon's Kindle -- the pocket-sized device strives for a reading experience more akin to that of old timey paper books, courtesy of a Zeforce infrared touchscreen, new Pearl eInk technology, and a freescale i.MX507 processor for faster page turning. Click on through for more details and our impressions of this little reader.
