As the May 1st release date for the Kobo eReader from Canada-based Indigo Books and Music Inc. draws near, people have begun to take notice. The $149 price tag alone would seem to many to be the biggest draw, but the full picture is a little bit larger.
In keeping with the company’s goal of promoting content over gadgetry, anybody using the Kobo Store can expect to have access to their purchases available on any number of platforms from eReader to computer to cellular phone. This should hold true not only in North American markets but around the world, as Indigo has brought in partnerships to expand their presence into the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe.
The device itself is simply a basic reading platform without any of the frills and features that a device like the Kindle boasts, but it provides an affordable option to people at a time when the eReader market is taking off and pulls in a large selection of international literature that is otherwise rather hard to come by. There are reports of an impressive showing of Korean-language content on the horizon, for example.
If you find yourself interested, check out the National Post’s book blog, The Afterword, where’s there’s a contest going on all week to give readers the chance to win a Kobo eReader of their own to enjoy. All it takes, it seems, is a few minutes, an email, and some luck!
I like the idea of this simple reader so much that I have already pre-ordered mine from Canada a few days ago. My DH has a kindle simply because it’s hackable and he can read Chinese books on it. I’ve tried it and never really had the need to browse wiki or other websites, the dictionary was useless for me and note taking feature actually anoyed me somehow. although buying book through Whispernet is fantastic, I think I could still read happily without it. Someone like me could really be pleased with a cheaper device like Kobo, if it functions well like kindle. We’ll see. By the way I really hate nook. I tried it at bestbuy and the navegation confused me to hell.
kobo prices are reasonable (esp for Canadians who are forced to use Amazon) and their adobe editions drm can be easily liberated and the books converted into a kindle friendly format. It looks promising!
can you down load the spanish /english dictionary on an English version KOBO?