For some odd reason Kobo decided to announce their new ereaders out of the blue on the same day that Amazon demoed their new line of Kindles at a planned press conference with dozens of tech reporters in attendance. As a result, the new Kindles are getting a lot more coverage. Kobo is often overshadowed by Amazon so that’s nothing new.
In case you missed it, Kobo’s new line of ereaders include the Kobo Mini, a pocket-sized basic ereader with a 5″ screen; the Kobo Glo, a 6″ ebook reader with an HD E Ink screen and built-in front light; and the Kobo Arc, a 7″ tablet with a high resolution IPS screen and Android 4.0 operating system.
A couple of videos have turned up on YouTube showing Kobo’s new gadgets. First, here’s a video posted by Indigo, a Canadian retailer that sells Kobo ereaders.
First Look at Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini
The Kobo Glo has the same HD screen as the new Kindle Paperwhite, but the front lighting is different. It will be interesting to compare the two side-by-side after they are released in October.
Here’s a shaky and out-of-focus first look at Kobo’s new Android tablet, the Kobo Arc. The screen has the same resolution as the new 7″ Kindle Fire HD, and both have similar dual-core processors. But the Kindle Fire comes with double the storage space for the price. The Kobo Arc has the advantage with its open Android 4.0 operating system, whereas the Kindle is closed off.
Kobo Arc Hands-on by MobileSyrup
Here’s another video about Kobo’s new ereaders and tablet.
Andrew says
Yeah that was kind of strange for me to be tuning into all the blogs on Thursday morning, pumped for the Paperwhite release, when all of the sudden I open the-ebook-reader.com and see a new Kobo readers and tablet post! I guess Kobo, as you suggested, was trying to piggyback onto the publicity of the Amazon press conference.
I am thinking about getting a KoboGlo to compare it with the Paperwhite. I really love the Kobo platform, but sold my old touch due to poor screen contrast. Hopefully they fixed things this time around.
Andrew says
I’m not really interested in the Kobo Mini, however. I recently bought an old Sony PRS-300 5″ on eBay, and I thought that screen size was way too small. It’s a good size if you are a train or bus commuter or are in a smaller-is-better situation, but five inches is not really optimal for long-form reading.
Edward says
How are the HD eink screens compared to the normal 800×600 ones? Is there really that big of a difference? I don’t mind lower res on an ereader.
Currently I’m deciding between the kobo glo and the prs t2. Kindles aren’t really an option since I use epub.
Ingo Lembcke, Hamburg says
IMHO there is a difference between normal Pearl and HD. The jump from non-Pearl to Pearl was quite noticeable, even without a change in resolution.
HD means you can do more with the fonts. If possible that warrants a direkt comparison. Amazon made it sound during the event that they put 4 years of development-time in the display ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6jzC-hGOq4&feature=related ) so I wonder if the screens of the new Kobo-Reader and the new Amazon Kindle are both by the same manufacturer or just the same resolution and comparable technology. Otherwise the statement from Bezos could be misleading, or only in regard to lightning technology, but he clearly said display and then went on to praise contrast etc.
So there might be more than difference in the lightning technology between Kobo and Kindle.
Re EPUB vs. MOBI (Kindle), you should look into the prices of the books, take 10 books and compare the prices. If they are the same, no reason for sticking to EPUB (they might well be).
Only if EPUB is cheaper, or a book is only available as an EPUB you are better of sticking to EPUB.
Another solution might be to strip the DRM, but I do not know, if that is legal for you. After stripping DRM Calibre can convert one format in the other – I own a Sony PRS-T1 but have no problem with buying ebooks at Amazon and converting them to EPUB.
The Sony PRS-T2 at the current price? I would wait for a price drop, which should come or Sony will not sell much.
But even then both the Kobo and the Kindle are better options.
Space27 says
Landscape mode? The new Kobos better have landscape mode on all text formats, or else it’s a deal-breaker.
Josemn says
I am anticipating what B & N will come up with, from what I have heard it should be interesting.
Randolph says
Looks like these are now on sale!
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/ereading/devices/Kobo-Glo-eReader-Black/681495000142-item.html?ref=item_page:richrel
Giobatta65 says
in Italy too : http://www.inmondadori.it !!!
Disappointed says
No landscape on epubs. Only in pdfs. Why??
That’s a dealbreaker for me. Guess I’ll have to go to the dark side and get a Kindle Paperwhite.