Rakuten Archives | The Digital Reader

OverDrive Retires the Libby Windows App

16 December, 202016 December, 2020e-Reading Software, Overdrive3 Comments

I’m sure many people know that OverDrive developed a reading app called Libby about four years ago. What you might not know is that in addition...

Kobo Firmware Update 4.23 Includes Major Changes to the Menus, Interface

13 August, 202013 August, 2020e-Reading Hardware, Kobo2 Comments

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...

Kobo Plus Launches in Canada

15 July, 202015 July, 2020Kobo4 Comments

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 Nia Replaces the Aura 2 as Kobo’s Entry-Level eReader

15 July, 202014 July, 2020e-Reading Hardware, KoboOne Comment

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...

Walmart Has Pulled Kobo Displays From Stores

1 July, 20201 July, 2020e-Reading Hardware, Kobo7 Comments

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...

OverDrive to “Acquire” Part of RBmedia

23 June, 202024 June, 2020Audiobook, OverdriveOne Comment

Overdrive just announced they are “buying” part of RBmedia RBdigital, although given that both companies are owned by KKR, this is really more of a reorganization...

Kobo Nia is a Tolino Page 2 Clone

21 June, 202013 July, 2020e-Reading Hardware, Kobo7 Comments

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...

Kobo Plus is Launching Soon (?) in The US and Canada

16 May, 202016 May, 2020Kobo5 Comments

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...

Kobo’s Michael Tamblyn To Coronavirus Spammers “Just. &%$*@. Stop.”

25 April, 202025 April, 2020Amazon, Kobo4 Comments

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...

Kobo Nia eReader is Coming Soon

20 April, 202020 April, 2020e-Reading Hardware, Kobo5 Comments

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...

Rakuten Sells Overdrive to Private Investment Firm

25 December, 201925 December, 2019Digital Library, Overdrive9 Comments

I do not know why they chose to announce this on Christmas eve, but yesterday Rakuten announced that it was selling Overdrive to KKR. KKR, a leading...

Kobo and FNAC Partner to Launch a POD Service

27 October, 201927 October, 2019Kobo, Self-PubOne Comment

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...

Is Anyone Else Not Seeing the New Audiobook Section in Kobo Writing Life?

1 October, 20191 October, 2019Kobo, Self-Pub6 Comments

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...

Rakuten Viber Adds a Short Story Feature to its Chat App

23 September, 201923 September, 2019Rakuten4 Comments

The Kobo sister company Rakuten Viber launched a new storytelling feature on Monday. It’s called Shorts by Viber, and it will feature over 50 original, free...

Kobo Update 4.17 Features Improved Navigation, More Header and Footer Options

20 September, 201920 September, 2019KoboOne Comment

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...