Welcome to a Good E-Reader IFA Exclusive! The CEO of Samsung used the opening of the conference to show off the new Samsung Galaxy Tab Tablet PC! More to follow on the semantics of the Galaxy Tab in another post, but what breaking news we discovered is that Kobo is deeply embeded into this new device.
The New software Kobo has pioneered for this device is called the “Readers Hub”. This new application was designed specifically for the Android 2.2 driven Galaxy Tab from the ground up. Kobo and Samsung both worked in conjunction on this application amidst great secrecy to give owners of the Galaxy Tab a viable store to use their device as an E-Reader.
Kobo is billing this new application as an application easily used and accessible for all readers. The Kobo application will allow users access to the entire book store, which features around 2.2 million popular ebooks in ePub, PDF, and Adobe DRM. The Application will even allow you to add ebooks bought or downloaded from other sources. This new application allows the user to Tap or Swipe to turn the pages of the ebook, or use the interactive table of contents to flip to specific chapters. The application also has a ton of fonts and different sizes of the fonts, so it will allow people to heavily customize their e-reading experience.
With the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s built in Accelerometer you can easily switch your viewing of ebooks from horizontal to landscape mode at the drop of a dime. This new application will also be used on all Samsung Devices going forward, including their new line of Smartphones.
For International users, this new application is great, because it will deliver localized languages on ebooks for people who live in Europe, Asia and other major language demographics.
It really looks like Kobo is stepping up their game by closely working with emerging Tablet Computers and spreading their eBook store across many platforms, from Android to Apple and more.
Also announced during the press conference not only was the Reader Hub was announced but also the ‘Media Hub,’ a gateway to a world of films and videos, and ‘Music Hub,’ an application giving access to a wide range of music tunes.
Read the updated Press Release just posted
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.