Kobo has announced today that they are offering a new wireless version of the popular Kobo e-Reader for $139 and it is now available for pre-order.
The new Kobo e-Reader WIFI edition provides a longer battery life, upgraded hardware with faster performance and a sharper e-link screen. It will also be available new colors! The new colors are Onyx, Porcelain with Metallic Silver back, and Porcelain with a Pearlized Lilac back.
This new e-Reader allows you to shop anywhere on the go, provided you have a WIFI connection. A new shopping program will allow you to access Kobo’s entire catalog of ebooks, around 2 million titles. Not only can you shop easily for books, but Kobo has implemented Library support, so you can download books from your local library.
Now lets elaborate on some of the new features of the Kobo Wireless. One of the big changes are the faster page turns over the original Kobo. You will see around a 2.5% change. Another big change was the Contrast, it has been severely upgraded, the new Kobo Wireless eReader uses 16-greyscale, 6” eInk screen which looks and reads like paper, with no glare, even in bright sunlight.
The Battery Life of the Kobo has undergone a pretty slick upgrade, you will get a solid 10,000 page turns off of a single charge. This is provided that the WIFI is turned off.
Some other features included are the usual 100 free ebooks Kobo provides and a new built in dictionary. Speaking of ebooks, it will be able to read ePub and DRM books via Adobe Digital Editions. Kobo is also giving a great pre-order incentive by giving away some free Random House ebooks! Linwood Barclay’s critically acclaimed novel FEAR THE WORST which delivers readers a fast-paced suspense story, while WHEN MY WORLD WAS VERY SMALL by Ruth Rakoff provides an intimate , one-of-a-kind memoir of family, food, cancer and recovery.
Kobo continues to lead the charge with e-readers and applications. It now has apps for the Blackberry, Apple, Android and the new Desktop Software for PC. It also has new partnerships with Samsung for their Galaxy Pad and the new Blackperry Playbook.
Michael Serbinis the CEO of Kobo had this to say “We introduced the Kobo eReader to make eReading more affordable and accessible for consumers. It worked, making the Kobo eReader a bestseller, and the industry followed,” he added “We introduced the Kobo eReader to make eReading more affordable and accessible for consumers. It worked, making the Kobo eReader a bestseller, and the industry followed.”
The Kobo Wireless eReader will be available for $139.99 USD at Kobobooks.com and Shop E-Readers. It will also be available for purchase at Borders US, Indigo Books & Music and Walmart in Canada. Online pre-orders begin today with the Kobo eReader being shipped to customers sometime in October.
Of course with the original Kobo E-Reader and the new WI-FI edition costing the same, at $139, one has to wonder if there will be a reduction in price. Sources at Kobo have told us, that we can expect to see the original Kobo E-Reader as low as $99 this December.
As always, Good e-Reader continues to break the latest news on Kobo and other popular e-readers!
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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.
