From the Kobo blog:
On Monday we started shipping the first Kobo Wireless eReaders to customers who pre-ordered the device in Canada, and starting next week it will be available for purchase at Borders and one of the largest discount department stores in the U.S. – Walmart!
Building on our relationship with Walmart Canada, Kobo’s Wireless eReader will be available in 2500 US Walmart stores across the country starting next week.
Basically, this time next week Kobo will be perpetuating their crime against digital publishing by offering the Kobo Wifi through Walmart. I wonder why they hate their customers so? No, seriously. Why else would they inflict that antique hardware and horrible ebook formatting on an unsuspecting public?
Actually, Nate, the word in the Kobo forum at MR is that we have a new CPU that is twice as fast, and they have ditched the Shortcovers sqlite database in favour of using real epub files (with maybe a different DRM) (and a different renderer, someday, too)
I may actually get one just to check it out.
Good E Reader has a review of the new Kobo. Go check it out.
Horrible eBook formatting? I don’t know, from my various fondles of the Kobo, I liked what I saw. Seemed friendly. If as the other Commenter says they’ve dropped the SQLite DB, that’d be huge news as this would now compete straight up against Sony.
I finally took a serious glance at it yesterday, and the formatting was the same as on the Literati. It’s not showing ebooks the way the publisher made them.