Ebook reader maker Kobo (yes, there are other ones other than Amazon’s Kindle) has revealed three new readers – with one, the Kobo Arc, going up against the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Asus-made Nexus 7 tablets. Incidentally, the Kobo Arc – like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire – also runs the Android OS (more specifically, Ice Cream Sandwich).
The Kobo Arc features a 7-inch display, a 1.5GHz dual core processor and has a front-facing camera. It also comes with several pre-installed applications, such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype. And while Kobo will add their own eBook store; it will also let you access content from Google Play – so essentially, it is like the Nexus 7, except with two stores you can choose from, rather than one.
Of course, that being said, we’re not sure if it’s any good. But by reading the specs, it seems a plausible competitor.
The Kobo Arc will be out in November in Australia for $249.99 for an 8GB model and $299.99 for the 16GB model. The Nexus 7 is around the same price (just drop the 99 cents).
Meanwhile, Kobo has announced two new eBook reading devices – the Mini and the Glo. The Kobo Mini is the world’s smallest E-Ink eReader, according to Kobo, with a 5-inch screen. It comes in black or white with three different “Snapbacks” covers – teal, red and purple. The Mini will be out in October for $99.99 – which is a big deal, because it’s competing with the Amazon Kindle.
The Kobo Glo will feature a 6-inch E-Ink screen, and lets users read comfortably at day or night. It also has a durable screen and customisable page-turning features; and comes in Black or White with a range of cover colours. This also comes in October for $159.99.
Both the Glo and Mini will be available for pre-order at Collins Bookstores, and will be sold from their physical bookstore locations in October. In addition, it will be sold at stores like JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Harvey Norman.
Gallery below.
