Kobo makes ebooks easier for Canadians to digest
Though not able to attend myself, Kobo held an event in Toronto last night to demonstrate it’s new iPad ereader software Reading Life. This in itself isn’t huge news, unless you’re an iPad user looking for a new reader software (although it does include “an industry first social eReading experience”). Kobo already makes ereader software for just about every major platform, whether it’s desktop OSes like Windows and OS X, or mobile devices. The timing is pretty interesting though, as Google has announced it’s jumping into the fray with Google eBooks. The only drawback is that it’s US centric at the moment, like so many digital media distribution models, leaving Canadians out in the digital wasteland.
This comes at the same time as Amazon pulling the Kindle hardware off the virtual shelves here, as it struggles to get the supply chain under control. This makes Kobo worth taking a look at. The Toronto based company, who’s major shareholder is Indigo Books, makes it’s own eReader very similar to the Kindle in form factor, display and price. Unlike Amazon, however, Kobo has taken a more open approach to the sources of your reading material. While it doesn’t support some common formats such as RTF or TXT, it does allow for importing books that support open ebook standards, including Google’s own bookstore once Canadians can shop there.
After having a chance to use a friend’s Kindle, I realized that I might want one for myself. While the Kindle is a great device, at this point I’m thinking it might be a good time to look at a Canadian alternative, since so many of the other options don’t seem to want to play fair up here.
Kobo Introduces Reading Life from Kobo on Vimeo.
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