Kobo’s new repairability push could heat up competition

“The competition” is probably primarily Amazon Kindle (without a colour model, nor any repairability announced yet). Certainly, consumers score with repairability, and on the face of it, you’d think suppliers lose out. But actually, I may be inclined to buy a far more expensive model if I know I can repair it and keep it going for a few years.

Though I should add after many years of owning a Kobo reader and a few Kindles, not one of them has had any issue at all, and all still work fine. But I get that some people do drop their devices, or things can die after the initial warranty period.

Kobos are now available I see for purchase on Amazon (yes really, just not to my country) as well as Walmart.

Kobos are excellent readers actually and the only thing that counts a bit against them, is they don’t have that vast availability of books that Amazon has. But the Calibre app works perfectly well with being able to buy books elsewhere and push them to your Kobo reader.

See androidpolice.com/kobos-repara…
#Blog, #ebooks, #Kobo, #reading, #technology

How Do You Make A Repairable E-Reader

#handheldshacks #ifixti #kobo #repair #righttorepair #hackaday
posted by pod_feeder_v2

Kobo announces its first colour e-readers

Rakuten Kobo is launching its first colour e-readers, the Kobo Libra Colour and the Kobo Clara Colour. Both use E Ink’s latest Kaleido colour screen technology, which has subtle, pastel-like hues and drops from a 300ppi grayscale resolution to 150ppi when you view content in colour.

Prices seem to be about $10 to $30 more than the black and white model, and a stylus will cost extra if you want one.

It will be interesting to see what thew reviews show from May 2024 after they’ve shipped. Kobo’s are actually excellent readers and this also shows again how they can out-innovate Amazon. Kobo’s also have long supported the ePub format, which Amazon only started to support about a year or two back. Amazon’s only big strength is their massive bookstore.

It is quite easy to buy books and use Calibre to push them to a Kobo reader.

See https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/10/24124411/kobo-libra-colour-clara-colour-e-reader-kindle-e-ink
#Blog, #ereader, #Kobo, #technology

Kobo launches the Kobo Elipsa 2E, a 10.3″ e-reader you can also write on

Good to see there is still effective competition for Amazon. The main improvements though to this model seem to have been around the stylus, from how it attaches, charges, and annotates.

Along with the Elipsa 2E, Kobo also announced the launch of its own take on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, the Kobo Plus service, in the US today. The three-tier subscription grants members access to over a million ebooks and hundreds of thousands of audiobooks starting at $7.99 per month.

See https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/5/23669572/kobo-elipsa-2e-e-reader-tablet-kindle-scribe-onyx-remarkable
#Blog, #ereader, #gadget, #Kobo, #technology

Kobo announces two new e-readers, including $260 note-taking Sage... Because Amazon needs good and open competition

Both devices keep the asymmetrical design popularized by Amazon’s Oasis e-reader, offer E Ink Carta 1200 screens with Kobo’s ComfortLight Pro feature (which adapts the screen brightness and color based on the time of day), and add Bluetooth support for wireless headphones (though they can only play Kobo’s own audiobooks).

The Sage is the larger of the two and also functions as an e-note device. It’s compatible with the company’s Kobo Stylus (sold separately for $40), which lets users make handwritten notes on ebooks and PDFs that can be can converted to plain text. With an 8-inch (1440 x 1920) E Ink display, this makes the Sage smaller than Kobo’s dedicated e-note slate, the 10.3-inch Elipsa. It’s also cheaper, too, as the Elipsa is priced at $399.

15 file formats supported natively (EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR), and OverDrive for public library ebooks.

See Kobo announces two new e-readers, including $260 note-taking Sage

#technology #kobo #ebooks #alternativeto #ereader

Kobo’s new e-readers look pretty tempting

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https://gadgeteer.co.za/kobo-announces-two-new-e-readers-including-260-note-taking-sage-because-amazon-needs-good-and-open

Kobo's New E Ink Tablet Is a Cheaper, Smaller reMarkable Alternative

The Kobo Sage adds stylus support to an 8-inch E Ink tablet with a glowing screen.

https://gizmodo.com/kobos-new-e-ink-tablet-is-a-cheaper-smaller-remarkable-1847794997

#ebook #Kobo #technology #books

Kobo eReaders Software Features List: Apart from not reading Kindle format it actually has more features and mods than Kindles

For the most part all Kobo ebook readers run the same software and have all the same features, with a few exceptions. For instance, the Kobo Forma and Kobo Elipsa are the only two models with official Dropbox support to transfer files wirelessly, and the older models don’t have OverDrive built-in but they still support library ebooks.

One of the advantages with Kobo ereaders is they are open to installing other ebook programs and custom patches and mods, and you can use Calibre to manage your ebook library and collections. Check the Kobo section at MobileRead for the latest developments. These will not be covered in this list; this list is for official Kobo features only.

List of supported formats for Kobo ereaders: KEPUB, EPUB, EPUB3, FlePub, PDF, MOBI, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, TIFF, TXT, HTML, RTF, CBZ, CBR.

Imagine if Kobo was 'allowed' to read Kindle format ebooks from Amazon... it could be the end of Kindle, with some real competition. Calibre software though does wonders for finding ebooks and also 'converting' Kindle format to ePub.

See Kobo eReaders Software Features List | The eBook Reader Blog

#technology #ereaders #kobo #reading #ebooks

Below is a list of all the main software features that Kobo ereaders support, including the notebook and writing features that are exclusive to the Kobo Elipsa. I’ve decided to use a new format for reviews. Since software features rarely change from one model to the next, I’m going to start focusing mostly on hardware […]

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https://gadgeteer.co.za/kobo-ereaders-software-features-list-apart-not-reading-kindle-format-it-actually-has-more-features

Kobo Elipsa 10.3" e-Reader with Stylus is now available for US$400

No, this is not a colour e-Ink device, but it is a larger size with full annotation and sketching support from the world's number two player in the e-Reader industry. Why number two when they offer so much more than Kindles? Well because Kindle works with Amazon's proprietary format which Amazon distributes via their massive online store. Kobo does support PDF and ePub, and will read DRM ePubs without any issue, but Amazon does not sell ePub format so that market is closed to Kobo and other e-readers.

This stylus is proprietary, no other pens work with the Elipsa, which is a pity, but it works just fine. Kobo has always used Linux has an operating system for all of their consumer e-readers and the Elipsa is no different.

Viewing and editing PDF files is also one of the flagship functionalities. You can freehand draw anywhere on the document, although you cannot highlight a specific word or body of text in a conventional manner. You basically need to press down on the highlight button and paint the highlight, think of it as just scribbling. You can save DRM-Free PDF files to your devices internal storage, send to Dropbox or export them to your PC/MAC.

More details in the review at Hands on Review of the Kobo Elipsa

#technology #ereader #kobo #notes #annotations

Kobo is the global number two player in the e-Reader industry. The company has done a very good job over the years with international expansion and selling their devices in a retail setting. This allows customers to play around with the units before they buy them, this is something that Amazon has not really been able to solve, outside of the US, with their small footprint of bookstores. Kobo first started developing e-readers in 2010 and have released 16 different E INK devices over the years. They have always put a priority on consumers and various e-readers hit different price

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https://gadgeteer.co.za/kobo-elipsa-103-e-reader-stylus-now-available-us400

For about five years, I have been searching for, and properly formatting short stories by Haruki Murakami that can be found for free on the Internet (I won't even add stories that all you have to do is register). I add the proper meta-data for the publication and/or website. Currently, there are over 25 stories. If there are any errors in the text, (a few were from odd websites and I just ended up retyping because the HTML was so bad), formatting, or meta-data, please let me know, so I can correct them. You are welcome to share the link! If you have any troubles getting the books onto your eReader, or need a different format, just ask.

https://cloud.disroot.org/s/gbB4Q68TjgF33nP

#harukimurakami #murakami #japaneseliterature #ebooks #shortstories #kindle #kobo