Kobo Unveils New eReaders and an Android Tablet

[Spider]

By Pathik Shah on September 6th, 2012

Kobo, which has been largely overshadowed by Amazon and Barnes & Noble in the eReader category, has announced a series of new devices targeted primarily at the eReader and tablet markets. It has launched two new eReaders, Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini, and an Android tablet, the Kobo Arc.

Kobo Mini

The Kobo Mini is a $79 device which comes with a 5 inch E-ink display and 2 GB of internal storage. It also offers Wi-Fi and will compete with the basic Kindle.

Kobo Glo

The Kobo Glo is a $129 device, and comes with a ComfortLight display which enables night-time reading. It has a 6 inch display, and couples internal storage with a microSD slot.

Kobo Arc

This is the most interesting device Kobo unveiled. It is a 7 inch tablet which is priced at $199 for 8 GB and $249 for 16 GB. It comes with a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, and is powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, presumably with a customized Kobo UI. It also has 1 GB of RAM and an IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels.

However, we expect Amazon to release an upgraded Kindle Fire today, which could pretty easily beat this device, not only in terms of hardware, but also pricing and content.
Let’s just wait and watch.



via Techcrunch

Read more at Kobo Unveils New eReaders and an Android Tablet - Kobo Mini, Glo and Arc
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[Weejock]

Very interesting. There are a couple of videos around that show off Kobo's 'tapestries' interface/skin for Android. I'm not sure what I think, but I'm more likely to throw my cash at this than the new Kindle, especially seeing as Kobo are claiming that the Arc will have full access to all the apps in the Google Play store. Front-facing speakers too! I'm not sure what this magic SRS music-loudifying technology is though.

It's a shame that there's no expansion port for a microSD and I'm yet to decide if I could stomach a modified version of Android, or if I'd rather just get a Nexus 7. Decisions decisions..

 

[stevovr]

i think you'll find that tapestries is more of a launcher than an os.very much stock android.i find the screen better than the nexus7 tablet is quick and capable and despite its location on the forum very much a competitor to the top dogs. Jelly bean update is being worked on which should bring a couple of improvements but an excellent alternative to the nexus and more open than the kindle,nook,etc offerings

 

[cal67]

I just received a 64GB version of the Kobo Arc 7 I ordered from Walmart.ca for $98. Hard to argue with dual core 1.5 GHz and 64GB storage. Nice screen and nice tablet. I personally don't like the Tapestries interface, but my wife loves it. She prefers this to her Ipod 32GB. I did notice that there are a few Play store apps that are not compatible with this device even though it has generally better performance than my Lenovo A1000.

 

[edap]

I just received a 64GB version of the Kobo Arc 7 I ordered from Walmart.ca for $98. Hard to argue with dual core 1.5 GHz and 64GB storage. Nice screen and nice tablet. I personally don't like the Tapestries interface, but my wife loves it. She prefers this to her Ipod 32GB. I did notice that there are a few Play store apps that are not compatible with this device even though it has generally better performance than my Lenovo A1000.

By far, the BEST eReader and Android tablet out there. My wife loves hers!

 

[cal67]

For those in Canada, Factorydirect has the Kobo Arc 7 in 32 GB versions for $64.98 and 64GB versions for $79.98. My recommendation would be the 64 GB version.