The Kobo Cloud Reader was officially unveiled today and allows you to use your internet browser to both buy and read books. This new browser based reader was in development for the last six months and finally allows iOS readers the ability to buy books.
The Kobo app for iOS does not let you buy books anymore and neither do any of the other large ebook companies. Amazon released their own Kindle Cloud Reader around four months ago and Kobo finally released theirs. You can access your current library of books and make new purchases on Apple Safari and Google Chrome. Read comfortably on your PC at home and pick up where you left off at your work on the iPad. Your last read page is maintained across all of the different platforms that Kobo has.
The Kobo Cloud Reader allows you a fair bit of customization in your ebook experience. You can increase the font size between nine different options and everything refreshes in real time. You have 4 major fonts to select from if the publisher’s default is not to your liking. You can change the page justifications and backgrounds. I really like e-reading apps that allow you flexibility in changing the color of your book’s background. Sometimes when you are reading late at night that pure white background is hard on the eyes and different colors for nighttime reading is a blessing.
Any past purchases you made from Kobo are attached to the Cloud Reader and you can get free samples to check out a new book. The samples right now are relegated to the first page of the first chapter, so you won’t get a clear idea of what the book is about. When you decide to buy a book there is an area to input COUPON codes! Kobo is notorious for offering massively discounted codes that result in most books being available for less then a few dollars.
Check out the new Kobo Cloud Reader today at http://read.kobobooks.com
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.