Kobo announced today that their new Tablet is now available in-store in the USA and Canada. It is currently available at Chapters, Future Shop, Best Buy, Fry’s and more! I noticed Futureshop had them in store last week and now all of the other stores are now carrying them. Online orders done weeks ago in some cases are still not being shipped out. The device is being sold in both countries for a paltry $199, which puts it on par with the Nook Color and Kindle Fire.
The Kobo Vox is one of the best devices currently available to Canadians that give you tons of content. You can buy cook books, magazines, newspapers, kids books and shop their 2.3 million strong ebook store.
We reviewed the Vox very extensively and you can check out our full written review HERE. To sum it up briefly it is a 7 inch Android device and seems sluggish at times when you are surfing the internet or watching videos. The essence of the Vox is that it gives you a full color experience, something that has been lacking in its e-ink based devices. If you want a splash of color in your life this may be the device for you.
One of the new features found in this new tablet not seen anywhere else is Kobo Pulse. This is a project that endeavors to make reading social. When you are reading a book a small pulse will appear on the bottom of the screen, clicking on it will bring up a bunch of social functionality. You can see how many people are reading the book, have completed it and have commented on it. You can hide all of the comments from people that are further in the book then you are to avoid spoilers. It is a very fine feature and makes a normally solitary endeavor social.
[showhide type=’pressrelease’]
TORONTO, November 3, 2011 — Kobo, a global leader in eReading with over 5 million users worldwide, today announced that the new Kobo Vox eReader, the world’s first social eReader, is now available in stores and online at leading retailers including Indigo (www.indigo.ca), Future Shop (www.futureshop.ca), Best Buy (www.bestbuy.ca), and Kobo.com for a MSRP of $199.99. Kobo Vox eReader is available online directly from U.S. retailers including Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com) and Fry’s (www.frys.com) for $199.99.
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.
“With its amazing social abilities and open Android design, Kobo Vox brings freedom and a new dimension to reading where books can come alive in color and conversation,” said Michael Serbinis, CEO, Kobo. “Kobo Vox allows readers to experience more — the freedom to connect with friends, listen to music, watch movies, play games and discover new apps with almost unlimited choices. We’re excited to advance social reading with Kobo Vox and gratified that demand for our new, sub-$200 eReader tablet has been through the roof.”
Kobo Vox is the reader for consumers’ connected lives, opening the door to the next generation of eReading – social eReading – where readers can get more out of their experience by connecting with Kobo’s global community of book lovers.
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 8,000 eBooks, with expandable storage to hold up to 40,000 books, and access to unlimited eBook 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’ 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.
As the first eReading platform to be integrated with Facebook Ticker and Timeline, Kobo Vox enables further reading discovery and entertainment. Now “The End” of a book is never the end.
THE MOST ADVANCED MULTIMEDIA TOUCHSCREEN
Kobo Vox features a brilliant multimedia touchscreen, where 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 FFS+ display – 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 titles – 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 Kobo 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 2,000 full newspapers from around the world – and a gift of seven newspapers of your choice!
- Unlimited music from RDIO®
- Get social with Twitter® & Facebook®
- A 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. 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!
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]
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.
