Amazon may have put Kindle development on hold for the duration, but Kobo has not.
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Going by the reports from their latest firmware update, Kobo is apparently in one of those moods to reinvent everything.
The 4.23 update, which was released on Monday, includes a whole host of changes. It’s already been taken apart over at MobileRead, and all sorts of interesting details were uncovered:
- Top-left main menu (i.e. the one which appears everywhere except for the reader) is now a clock (everywhere, not just the home screen).
- New global bottom navigation (Home/My Books/Discover/More[My Articles/Activity/Beta Features/Settings/Help]). State persists between these views.
- New style for library tabs.
- No more pagination controls in the library views.
- There’s a new `org.bluealsa` DBus wrapper in libnickel, implying the next Kobo will have Bluetooth audio?!?
- There’s a new ReadingMenuTab widget (currently unused) with TOC and annotation items, implying they were testing making the reading view popup have toc/annotation tabs
- The web browser now appears as a pop-up with a huge amount of wasted space.
The firmware update will be distributed over the air, but if you don’t want to wait you can find the download links over at MobileRead.
Remember how I told you a couple months ago that Kobo would launch its subscription ebook service in North America?
It’s starting to happen. Kobo launched Kobo Plus in Canada on Wednesday morning. Or rather, I just got an email from Draft2Digital with the news that D2D is now distributing to Kobo Plus Canada:
Canada’s biggest eBook retailer is bringing its popular service home!
In May 2017, we were excited to announce that Rakuten Kobo was rolling out Kobo Plus—a new revenue-sharing model for authors distributing eBooks to the Netherlands and Belgium. Now we’re just as excited to announce that Kobo is bringing the same great opportunity to its home turf, with the launch of Kobo Plus Canada!
Not only is Canada the place Kobo calls home, it’s their strongest performing territory, where they have the most reach. So opening up the program there is a huge opportunity for authors.
Kobo Plus currently offers 270,000 ebooks and audiobooks for which can be read for $9.99 CAD per month. If you would like to sign up, you can find the relevant page on Kobo’s website here.
If you are an author who wants to put their books in Kobo Plus, you can do so via Kobo Writing Life or via D2D.
Kobo also announced the expansion on the Kobo Writing Life blog.
Remember how I shared all the relevant info on the Kobo Nia about three weeks ago? Alas, that didn’t really leave me much to say about today’s launch.
Yes, the Nia is Kobo’s new budget model. It is replacing the four-year-old Aura 2, and in fact it has virtually the same specs as that older ereader. Just about the only differences are that the Nia has twice the storage (8GB vs 4GB), is a tiny bit thicker, and has the power button in a different location. (All of these changes were the result of the Nia being a Tolino Page 2 clone.)
The Nia has essentially the same internal hardware as Kobo’s other models, and runs the same software. It supports a widevariety of formats, including library ebooks distributed through OverDrive.
Retail is $99 in the US, $129 in Canada, and 99 euros in Europe.
Pre-orders will be available on 15 July, and the device will be available in stores and online as of 21 July in Canada, the US, the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Specs
- CPU: 1GHz Freescale i.MX 6ULL
- RAM: 256MB
- Screen: 6” Carta E-ink, 1024 x 758 resolution (212 ppi)
- Frontlight: white
- Touchscreen: capacitive
- Dimensions: 112.4 x 159.3 x 9.2 mm
- Weight: 172 grams
Walmart has pulled the Kobo displays from its stores in a recent reorganization, but they still have the ereaders in stock.
Earlier today I had a reason to visit my local Walmart store for the first time in a couple months. This store had a Kobo display when I was last there in early April, but today I found that they had replaced it with books.
My apologies for the quality of the photo, folks; my phone’s camera was overwhelmed by the lighting.
The Kobo display had previously occupied two sections of the main aisle near the media/electronics dept. One section was devoted to ebook gift cards, and the other was supposed to be Kobo demo units (this was never actually set up in any of the stores I checked), but now both sections and in fact the entire wall has been replaced with books. The books had previously had their own aisle in the media/electronics dept, but they got kicked out so Walmart could install additional tables with tablet and laptop demo units. (Think Best Buy or Apple store, but more crowded.)
Walmart and Kobo announced in January 2018 that Walmart would be Kobo’s retail partner in the US, and that made that partnership a reality in August 2018 with the launch of an ebookstore on Walmart.com, and the installation if the aforementioned Kobo displays in select Walmart stores.
The retailer did not invest the time to maintain the displays, which was a shame because they were actually selling the ebook gift cards. Walmart also neglected to train their staff on how the devices worked, or even their specs.
While we are on the topic, what did you think of the displays? Did your Walmart store even have one?
I do not know what happened to the gift cards from the displays, but I can report that the ereader hardware is still in stores, although I was not able to put my hands on them. All three of Kobo’s current models (Clara, Libra, Forma) are listed as being available for next day pickup at my local Walmart.
While it’s possible Walmart could be fibbing about availability, I seriously doubt that is the case. Availability accuracy is too damned important in the retail trade currently, and Walmart does not want to annoy customers with a bait and switch.
While the store displays are gone, Walmart continues to sell ebooks and ereaders on its website.
It turns out Kobo’s new ereader is not as new as I had hoped.
I was just reading over on MobileRead that Staples Canada has put the Kobo Nia’s product page online two days early. The new ereader is reportedly going to sell for $129 in Canada (which is really weird given that the Kindle Paperwhite has much better specs and costs $119 CDN).
Meet the Kobo Nia, aka the Tolino Page 2:
I hadn’t mentioned this before, but it had previously been speculated on MobileRead that the Kobo Nia would be a Tolino Page 2 clone. I didn’t take that speculation seriously (I was hoping for something cool) but I will give credit where it is due.
As you can see if you compare the photo gallery at the end of this post with the Tolino Page 2 gallery, the two devices really do have the same hardware. This move makes a certain amount of sense given that Kobo is the hardware partner for Tolino.
The Tolino Page 2 (Kobo Nia) has a 6″ Carta E-ink screen with a capacitive touchscreen and a frontlight. It runs on a 1GHz single-core CPU with 512MB RAM and 8GB internal storage. It has Wifi but not BT, measures 9.1mm thin, and weighs 179 grams.
The Kobo Nia is a replacement for Kobo’s current entry-level ereader, the Aura 2. I do not know when it will be available, but I am expecting it to be announced on Tuesday of this week.
What do you think?
It has been three years since Kobo launched its subscription ebook service Kobo Plus, and for all that time the service has been limited to Belgium and the Netherlands.
I am told that is about to change.
I am attending The Career Author Summit virtual conference this weekend, and I just heard Tara Cremlin of Kobo say that Kobo Plus will be launching in new territories. She did not give a timetable, but she did confirm the news in the chat.
Kobo Plus currently offers 270,000 ebooks and audiobooks for which can be read for 9.99 euro per month.
The service differs from Kindle Unlimited in that Kobo Plus does not require exclusivity, but like KU Kobo Plus does pay from a limited funding pool. If you would like to get your ebooks into Kobo Plus, you can do so via Kobo Writing Life, Draft2Digital, or Streetlib (and probably other distirbutors).
BTW, this might not be news to you, but it’s the first I have heard about it. Have you heard any rumors?
Amazon is well-known to have a problem in the Kindle Store due to their failure to invest in QA processes to keep out the spammers, the cheats, the book stuffers, and the outright criminals.
Kobo does not have that problem, mostly because (as I pointed out a couple years ago) Kobo has a content approval team. The scammers aren’t getting in to the Kobo Store, but they are still making their presence felt.
On Thursday Kobo CEO Michael Tamblyn took to Twitter to express Kobo’s collective frustration at the scammers.
2/ We are rejecting over 50% of the ebooks submitted dealing with #COVID19 and #Coronavirus. They are filled with near-criminal snake-oil quackery, conspiracy theories, and raw disinformation. ??
— Michael Tamblyn (@mtamblyn) April 23, 2020
4/ In case you weren't sure, trying to sell this stuff during a pandemic puts you in the category of people who knowingly sell fake antibiotics and faulty lifejackets, who peddle bogus cancer cures or shout fire in a packed theatre. You are choosing to be *that* person. ??
— Michael Tamblyn (@mtamblyn) April 23, 2020
6/ And, ever the bookseller, if you want an antidote to the unhelpful and unscientific, I recommend this book by my favourite public health hero Dr. Bonnie Henry of @CDCofBC – "Soap and Water and Common Sense". https://t.co/bp02d7jT52
— Michael Tamblyn (@mtamblyn) April 24, 2020
In related news, Amazon has (belatedly) cracked down on the Coronavirus scammers. There are many reports on FB and in the KDP support forums that it is suddenly much harder to publish a book that even mentions COVID-19, much less one that offers quack cures.
That’s nice, but do you know what would be even better?
It would be great if Amazon could match the standards set by their competitors, and proactively filter out the content. It would make the Kindle Store better for both readers and authors.
image by A Girl With Tea via Flickr
Remember how I’ve been saying that Kobo’s next ereader will probably have a color E-ink screen?
Well, I think that device may have just cleared the FCC website.
Earlier today a new device called the Kobo Nia showed up on the FCC website. It is made by Netronix, and will have an E-ink screen, but that is about all I can say about it. The test reports also tell us it will have Wifi, a 1Ah battery, and 16GB of storage, but all the more interesting details (such as the photos and user manual) have of course been embargoed.
All we really have to go on is the screenshot at right. If you look carefully, you will see there’s no mention of Kolaido, E-ink’s new color screen tech. That might indicate that the new device doesn’t have a color screen, but I am hoping against hope that it will.
Kobo’s embargo expires in October, but I would expect that the new ereader will be launched in the next few weeks.
BTW. a certain less than reliable blog had previously claimed that "Kobo is developing a next generation e-reader that will have note taking functionality and come with a stylus". They said it would have a 7.8″ or 10.3″ screen, and ship in August or September.
They have since taken that post down, which makes me wonder if perhaps they were telling the truth this time (there is a first time for everything, after all).
The test reports do not mention a stylus, so I don’t think that is likely.
Earlier this month Kobo partnered with the French retailer Fnac to offer a print-on-demand service through Bookelis. Authors who have their books in Kobo Writing Life can pay 49 euros to get their print book listed in 10,000 French-language libraries around the world.
If an author’s book sells well in this service, FNAC will give it a marketing boost. If a book sells between 1 and 799 copies, the author will be highlighted as one of the top 100 authors Fnac.com. If a book sells between 800 and 1200 copies, it will be promoted on Fnac’s website, and of more than 1200 copies are sold, the author will be interviewed, and the title will be promoted in a newsletter.
image via Actualitte
One of the more interesting news stories last week was Kobo’s announcement that Kobo Writing Life now distributed audiobooks (I didn’t expect this to happen until after Rakuten bought Findaway).
Indie authors can upload an audiobook to KWL, and inside if 72 hours it will be listed with all of Kobo’s retail partners.
Or at least that is how it is supposed to work; I am looking at my KWL dashboard right now, and I don’t see audiobooks mentioned anywhere.
According to the video in the KWL blog post, there’s supposed to be a menu option for audiobooks to the right of Dashboard and eBooks, but as you can see in the above screenshot, it’s not there.
Can you check your KWL dashboard, and tell me if you can see the Audiobooks option?
Kobo rolled out a firmware update for its ereaders this week, giving all its current models the same (software) features that the Kobo Libra H2O got last week. This does not, alas, include the model pictured above.
I haven’t had a chance to get it myself, but I’m told the update includes several useful features, including new header and footer options as well as new navigation features.
You can wait for the update to be sent to your ereader wirelessly, or you can download it via one of the helpful links over on MobileRead.
Here’s the Changelog:
Enhanced eBook navigation
We listened to Kobo readers who asked for better ways to move around in a book and easily find their way back. We want you to get lost in the story, not in the book!
Know where you are in your book
- Updated headers and footers: Headers and footers now display both chapter and book progress, so you know where you are in your book at all times.
- Progress bar: Understand where you are in your book at a glance, with a progress bar at the bottom of each page.
- Hide or customize header and footer: Choose to view Page numbers, Percent read, Time remaining, or turn off the header, footer, or progress bar entirely. Visit Reading settings > Reading progress.
Jump back and forth with ease and confidence
While reading a book, tap the middle of the page to get started
- Improved in-book menu: An improved book scrubber now appears as part of the menu. From here, you have access to Settings and Navigation controls.
- Enhanced eBook scrubber: Updated to represent the entire book instead of just one chapter. Flip back and forth without fear of losing your spot. Your previous page is noted for easy access.
- Page previews: Quickly reference and navigate to other parts of your book with page previews while using the scrubber when jumping between chapters.
New languages
We’ve added support for new languages. Tap ? and go to Settings > Language to switch languages.
- Danish
- Finnish
- Norwegian
- Swedish
- Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong)
- Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
When I reported on the Libra H2O going up for pre-order last week, I said it was available through Walmart. That was a reflexive goof, but now it is actually true.
The Kobo Libra H2O has a 7″ Carta E-ink screen with a color-shifting frontlight and a waterproof rating of IPX8. Walmart is selling both the white and the black models for $169, with free next day delivery.
This is great news for American Kobo fans because (aside from a handful of indie booksellers) Walmart is really Koob’s only retail partner in the US.
That makes it hard to bot buy them (Kobo won’t let US residents use its site) and it also makes it hard to try the devices in store. As a rule, Walmart only stocks one or two Kobo devices in stores, and they have never actually finished setting up the Kobo displays in any of the stores I have visited.
But on the plus side, at least the new device is available.
Kobo’s newest ereader went up for pre-order today on the Kobo, Walmart, and Indigo websites, and will be shipping next week; will you buy one?
The Libra H2O is the smaller cousin to the Kobo Forma that launched around this time last year. It sports a 7″ Carta E-ink screen to the Forma’s 8″ Mobius E-ink screen. While the latter’s screen is plastic backed and thus more rugged, the two devices have essentially the same electronics, and a difference in price of about $90 ($169 vs $249).
BTW, Kobo dropped the US price of the Kobo Forma today, to $249. That’s the same price as the Kindle Oasis, which has a 7″ screen.
So tell me, would you buy the Libra H2O?
My review unit arrived Monday afternoon (there was a snafu), and based on what I’ve seen so far, I would. I didn’t care for the Forma when I saw it last fall, and I still don’t like it, but I do like the Libra H2O. You wouldn’t think an inch of screen size would matter, but the smaller ereader is just nicer in some I can’t explain.
The Libra H2O was described in a couple of the early reports as being cheaper and more flimsy in construction, but I would not say that was the case. I did note that the frontlight is uneven on the inside edge (the one against the page turn buttons) but that is a relatively minor issue, and in fact I don’t care (I just mention it in case it might concern you). In general I would say that the Libra H2O is a pleasure to hold and use.
I have finished a book since I got the Libra yesterday, and I have a couple more in the series that I plan to read on Kobo’s new ereader. That is what I think of the Libra.
What do you think of it based on the reports so far? Would you buy one?
When Kobo launched its first ereader in 2010, they tried a bold tactic to get attention. The original Kobo cost $149, a far cheaper price than either the Nook or the Kindle. That Kobo model was also significantly less capable, but the price was enough of a threat that only a few months later both B&N and Amazon dropped the price of their ereaders as well (on the same day, in fact).
Now Kobo is trying the price gambit once again, only this time with an ereader that is in some ways better than its competition.
The Kobo Libra H2O (I got the name right, yes) is a smaller version of the Kobo Forma ereader that shipped last October. Sporting a 7″ Mobius Carta E-ink screen, the Libra H2O has essentially the same hardware as the Kobo Forma.
Edit: The screen isn’t Mobius (Kobo CS was wrong on that point).
It is a little thinner, though, than the Forma.
- Screen: 1680 x 1264 pixels, 300 dpi
- CPU: 1GHz single-core NXP i.MX 6SLL
- RAM: 512MB
- Storage: 8GB
- Frontlight: color-changing
- Waterproof: IPX8 (up to 60 minutes in 2 meters of water)
- Storage: 8GB
- Battery: 1.2 Ah
- Connectivity: Wifi
- Dimensions: 144 x 159 x 7.8 mm
- Weight: 192 grams
From what I have seen of the photos taken at the embargoed press briefing (I didn’t get an invite, and Kobo has yet to even send me the press release or any photos) the Libra really is a smaller Forma.
On the one hand that makes it a little boring, but on the other hand have you seen the price?
The Libra costs $169. That is $80 less than the Kindle Oasis for a device that is almost identical in all the important ways. (What’s more, the price differential is even worse in Canada, where the Libra H2O costs $199 and the Oasis costs $329.)
Sure, the Kindle Oasis has a dual-core CPU and a slight edge in platform features, but I’ve never noticed that the better CPU really impacted performance. And the few ways that the Oasis is better are not obvious to the average consumer, so the Libra H2O’s lower price really is a threat to the Oasis.
Kobo will accept pre-orders for the Libra on 10 September, and it will ship on the 17th. That leaves Amazon about two weeks to decide to reduce the price of the Kindle Oasis to $199 (it’s going to happen, trust me).