The new Kobo e-book reader from Borders bookstores may be an attractive alternative for those scared off by the high price of Amazon’s Kindle. But buyer beware: you’ll need to hook up the Kobo to a PC each time you want to download more titles. That Kobo feature may be a turn-off for some.
 America’s second largest bookstore chain stormed onto the e-books market today, unveilng its own electronic reader, the Kobo. Borders also announced plans to open its e-books store next month, in June.The Kobo will compete with Amazon’s wildly popular Kindle and the more recently introduced Nook from Barnes & Noble, as well as Sony’s e-reader and Apple’s iPad — which functions as an e-book reader and much more. So, how does the Kobo stack up?Married To PCs Price is one major differentiator. The 8-ounce Kobo, with 1 GB of memory and a 6-inch e-ink gray display, sells for only $149, which is $100 less than both Barnes & Noble’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle. But there’s a key difference: The Kobo can’t download books on its own. Instead, it must be connected to a computer or smartphone via USB cable or Bluetooth to retrieve new titles.”That will be OK for those who have a computer and are willing to do that kind of cable transfer,” said mobile devices analyst Jeff Orr of ABI Research. But, it could be limiting if you have to have a computer available, and have to feel comfortable using a computer for downloading more books.Manufactured by Kobo, Inc., formerly Shortcovers, a Canadian company in which Borders has a significant investment, the Kobo device is available for pre-order now, and ships on June 17, in time for Father’s Day in the U.S.The 4.7 by 7.2 inch device comes with 100 classic books preloaded. It will support Epub, PDF and Adobe’s DRM formats and has an expansion slot for added memory. The Bluetooth feature will enable synching with “select smartphones,” according to Borders. ‘Solid Device’ “It looks like a solid device,” said Orr. “It’s comparable to the Sony Reader Pocket Edition.”The lack of WiFi or 3G may allow a lower price point, but Orr said Kobo may have trouble marketing the product overseas, where home computers are not as prevalent as in the United States. The trend in mobile devices, he added, is in independence from computers, such as digital cameras with stand-alone printing docks that save the trouble of transferring photos.”The Nook and the Kindle both have 3G scan, so you can download what you want and pay for it, all without running a PC,” said Orr. “In the States, a majority of households have PCs, but outside developed telecom markets, there are still a lot of homes where the first PC in the home hasn’t happened yet.”Borders’ bookstore will offer more than 1 million titles when it opens in June.”We are giving consumers the flexibility to read the content they want on a variety of devices of their choosing,” Borders Group Interim President and CEO Mike Edwards said in a statement. “The Borders eBook store will be positioned as a device-agnostic, content-focused destination with expertise from decades of deep book knowledge and experience. We’ll also have a strong in-store digital presence through our Area-e boutiques, which will launch in August.”It’s a niche position within our industry and one where we fully intend to leverage our knowledge and products to serve the growing eReader needs of our customers.” |
