Kobo has just officially announced their first tablet PC via their website and are currently accepting pre-orders! The device is set to cost $199 which puts it on par with the new Amazon Kindle Fire! This was a savvy move on the companies part to lower the price from the initial $259 that was bantered around a month ago.
The Kobo Vox features a 7 inch capacitive display with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. It has multi-touch support thanks to the Google Android 2.3 OS bundled with it. Things should be speedy with the 800 MHZ internal processor and 512 MB RAM. You should have plenty of on-board memory with 8 GB of internal storage and you can enhance it via the Micro SD card up to 32 GB.
One of the most interesting facets that have not been talked about and Kobo makes mention of in the product listing is the Kobo Cloud. Apparently the company is rolling out support for a cloud based storage system.
The Vox will have integrated support for Kobo Pulse and Reading Life. This is much akin to their Touch Reader that allows you to earn achievements and rewards for reading books and chat with other users in real time.
The ebook experience is done via a custom Kobo application for the Vox. It will allow you to choose between 7 fonts and 42 different sizes. This will allow you to tailor your reading to your liking. It will support EPUB right out of the box and many other formats such as PDF via 3rd party apps via Getjar.
Finally rounding off the hardware it has WIFI and built in speakers and a 3.5 mm headphone jack to listen to music or audiobooks.
Looking at the software side of things the device will have access to over 12,000 Android applications via the Google Android Market. You will also have apps pre-loaded on the unit such as Zinio, PressReader, Rdio, Scrabble and a dictionary.
The Vox is only available for order in the USA and Canada right now for $199 and should hit international markets sometime in November. This should be an exciting offering from Kobo and should be able to tap into the 2.3 million books the company currently offers. Kids books, cook books, magazines and newspapers will be available in full color. The big draw on the Kobo Tablet is that it is internationally friendly. Unlike the Nook Color and Kindle Fire which is only good in the USA to use and order, Kobo is a strong viable alternative to those devices. Expect a full hands on review shortly. Until then check out the Vox in a full video HERE.
[showhide type=’pressrelease’]TORONTO, October 19, 2011 — Kobo, a global leader in eReading with over 5 million users worldwide, today announced the New Kobo Vox eReader, the world’s first social eReader. The Kobo Vox, inspired by “Vox Populi” meaning the voice of the people, enables readers to start conversations with other readers and discover new books and authors through their social network. With a vivid color display, Kobo takes the reading experience to a whole new level and offers even more content – rich color books, newspapers, magazines, games, music, video, games and social feeds – all on an open Android platform.
“Kobo Vox is the reader for your connected life, and opens the door to the next generation of eReading – social eReading – where books can come alive in color and conversation. Readers can get more out of their experience by connecting with Kobo’s global community of book lovers.” said Michael Serbinis, CEO, Kobo. “Plus, with Kobo Vox you have the freedom to connect with friends, listen to music, watch movies, play games and discover new apps with almost unlimited choices.”
A WORLD CLASS READING EXPERIENCE
Based on Kobo’s #1-rated Android eReading experience, Kobo Vox was built by readers for readers. People can access their entire library on the go, in an easy to hold, lightweight design with a comfortable quilted back. The Kobo Vox comes in a selection of four contemporary, fun, new colors – Hot Pink, Lime Green, Ice Blue and Jet Black, giving a choice of options to reflect personal style, and delivers a superior user experience that allows users to easily navigate their library, scroll through books, and turn pages with a tap or swipe, plus personalize their reading experience with highlights, annotations, adjustable fonts and more. The Kobo Vox has onboard storage for up to 8000 eBooks, with expandable storage to hold up to 40,000 books, and access to unlimited storage in the Kobo cloud. With Kobo, you can read continuously across devices with free top rated Kobo apps available for most popular smartphones, tablets and computers. Developed on Android 2.3, readers have the freedom to customize their experience to best suit their personal needs and preferences.
CAPTURING THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
Building on the industry leading social platform, Reading Life, users can now choose to connect with friends or create book clubs and discuss their favorite reads on Facebook, track their reading statistics, and unlock fun and exciting awards just for reading. The recent innovation of Kobo Pulse™ takes social reading to a new level – readers can feel the pulse of a book, start conversations, share comments and thoughts and leave reviews by ‘Liking’, ‘Disliking’ and/or commenting, real-time, with others who are reading the same book. Kobo Pulse provides the ultimate source for book recommendations, as the suggestions come from friends and ‘like’ minded readers whose opinions and interests are similar and trusted.
Now, “The End” is never the end. Kobo is the first eReading platform to be integrated with Facebook Ticker and Timeline to enable further reading discovery and entertainment.
THE MOST ADVANCED MULTIMEDIA TOUCHSCREEN
Featuring a brilliant multimedia touchscreen, readers can experience text with high contrast resolution and immerse themselves in books, magazines, games and videos in vivid color. Kobo uses the most advanced 7 inch AFFS+ display, with anti-glare – the same technology used in airplane cockpits (there are no clouds at 30,000 feet) – for great reading indoors or outdoors and featuring an extra-wide angle for incredible viewing and ideal for shared reading and viewing.
NOW READ IN VIVID COLOR
Kobo’s global ebookstore – 2.5 million books and over 1 million free – just got better with new color and enhanced multimedia content. Discover a new world of reading with rich color content for all ages, including cookbooks, engaging travel guides, comic books, and graphic novels. Parents and children can read together with Read Along children’s books, a great way to spend quality time and a fun way to help children learn to read. The Vox eReader includes three free color books, so people can start building their color library right away; there is a selection of dessert recipes for the chef-in-training in Sweet Dreams, Lonely Planet’s Europe Essentials for the avid traveler and Franklin and the Thunderstorm for young readers.
EXPERIENCE MORE – THE EREADER FOR YOUR CONNECTED LIFE
In addition to reading – Kobo Vox users can easily browse the Web, check email, listen to music, watch movies, play games and store personal photos. Choose from a selection of pre-loaded top ranked entertainment apps:
- Magazines from Zinio® – plus 12 FREE popular magazines for Kobo Vox owners
- Newspapers from PressReader™ – over 1,900 full newspapers from around the world – and a gift of 7 newspapers of your choice!
- Unlimited music from RDIO®
- Get social with Twitter® & Facebook®
- Book lover must-have: Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
- Games like Cut the Rope®
- Apps – over 15,000 FREE apps
- Kobo and Facebook widgets that sit right on the home screen
- Access to more music and video services in the app store
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
At Kobo, we believe you should have the ability to read on any device. Readers can download free Kobo eReading apps to read across the most popular devices including desktops, laptops, tablets, AndroidÔ phones, iPhonesÒ, iPadsÒ, Blackberry® Smartphones and PlayBooks. Readers can also download their ebooks and read on a wide range of dedicated eReaders.
Consistent with our open philosophy, Kobo Vox offers full access to Android 2.3, and includes an open app store with over 15,000 FREE apps for Android. With ultra-fast web browsing, the latest news, weather, and Hollywood gossip at your fingertips. Plus, a full-featured email client supports POP, IMAP and Microsoft® ActiveSync so you can get all your personal email like Yahoo and Gmail and work email too!
AMAZING LOW PRICE OF $199.99, AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER STARTING TODAY
The Kobo Vox will begin rolling out internationally today, starting with the US and Canada.
In Canada, Kobo Vox is available for pre-order online at leading Kobo retail partners: Indigo Books & Music (www.indigo.ca), Future Shop (www.futureshop.ca), Best Buy (www.bestbuy.ca), and Kobo.com for a MSRP of $199.99
In the U.S., the Kobo Vox is available for pre-order at Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com), Fry’s Electronics (www.frys.com), and at Kobo.com for a MSRP of $199.99.
For more information on Kobo and the new Kobo Vox eReader visit www.Kobo.com
About Kobo, Inc.
Kobo is a global eReading service with more than 2.5 million eBooks, magazines and newspapers – one of the largest eReading catalogues in the world. Kobo believes consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device and has attracted millions of readers from over 100 countries across the globe. Kobo has top ranked eReading applications for iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows and MacOS, and is the eReading application of choice for leading tablet OEMs. Kobo eReaders are available at leading retailers, including Indigo, Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Future Shop, WHSmith, Collins Booksellers and Whitcoull’s. Kobo’s innovative Reading Life is an industry-first comprehensive social eReading experience – Kobo users can earn awards simply for time spent reading and encouraging others. Kobo is backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music Inc., Cheung Kong Holdings, and institutional investors.[/showhide]
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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.
