You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Outside the US, Kobo is a major player in the e-reader space. Here in the states, however, mentioning the name will almost certainly elicit baffled stares. In 2011, the company was hit particularly hard when Borders, its main retail partner, shuttered. Since then, Kobo’s been attempting to rebuild through networks of independent booksellers. One glaring misstep aside, Kobo has since put out solid devices, ones that could even stand up against what Amazon and Barnes & Noble are selling. Earlier this year, the company took this a step further with the Aura HD, a pricey, high-spec, 7-inch device for hardcore readers. Kobo didn’t expect to move many units. The HD now accounts for a quarter of Kobo’s e-reader sales. Clearly the company was onto something.
As the successor to last year’s Glo, the new Kobo Aura splits the difference between luxury and mainstream, borrowing some elements from the HD and giving them new life in a more affordable 6-inch device. In this case, “more affordable” means $150 — that’s still $20 more than the Glo and $30 more than the Paperwhite. The company’s also made some updates on the software end, including, notably, the addition of the Pocket reading app. So, do the upgrades justify the asking price?%Gallery-slideshow83166%
Amazon has been dominating the digital reader market within the United States ever since it launched the very first Kindle. With each new product update Amazon has continued to be at the very front of the digital reader market and that lead has now expanded all around the world. Other manufacturers offer digital readers including […]
You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
I am not quite sure how to say this, but where does one draw the line between a smartphone with a really large screen, or a tablet with a really small display? Just how “elastic” is the band of this new category known as “phablets” can stretch? It really depends on the hardware manufacturer, and according to Kobo, they claim that their 6” Kobo Aura eReader is a tablet, although we have seen some smartphones/phablets that have surpassed that screen size already (the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 comes into mind). The new 6” Kobo Aura eReader has been described to be “a beautifully designed, front-lit E Ink eReader.”
It will arrive in a shade of black as well as pink, depending on which color you prefer more, and the Kobo Aura will boast of a high-resolution 6”, edge-to-edge display, an even front-lit ComfortLight technology, all wrapped within a contemporary aesthetic that ensures you will not find yourself embarrassed to pull this out from your messenger bag and read an electronic tome or two. It boasts of a 212 dpi and a Pearl E Ink screen, ensuring that your eyes will not grow tired easily, while boasting pinch-and-zoom capabilities for FLePubs/PDFs to deliver a great print-on-paper reading experience. You will get 4GB of internal memory which can be further expanded by another 32GB thanks to a microSD memory card slot. The Kobo Aura will burn a $149.99 hole in your pocket if you are interested. [Press Release]
Kobo Aura Announced, Comes In Black And Pink Shades original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Kobo has made the jump into the world of high definition tablets with the introduction of the Kobo Arc 10HD, where it will also celebrate the joy of reading with Kobo’s Reading Life platform. The Reading Life platform is said to be a compelling reading dashboard which will make up some segments of the user interface, where it also delivers full access to the content that folks love to consume, ranging from books to magazines, news, and social media. There is also an NVIDIA Tegra 4 1.8GHz quad-core processor running at the heart of things, accompanied by 2GB RAM.
Kobo claims that their own Kobo Arc 10HD tablet happens to be the best 10-inch HD Google-certified multimedia tablet on the market today where e-Book readers are concerned, and I guess we will have to take their word for it at the moment unless someone else comes along and says otherwise. Your eyes will definitely appreciate the stunning 2,560 x 1,600 high-definition display that also supports up to 1080p video playback, which would make it the perfect companion so that you can enjoy the rich content from Kobo’s bookstore. Other hardware specifications include a front-facing 1.3-megapixel HD camera, dual stereo speakers, WiFi 802.11, Bluetooth 4.0, and Miracast connectivity. The Kobo Arc 10HD will not come cheap though, as it costs $399.99 a pop. [Press Release]
Kobo Arc 10HD Set To Rock And Roll original content from Ubergizmo. 
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If you want to wet your feet in the world of tablets, then you would not have to look too far off into the distance to see whether there is something that falls within your budget as well as expectations. The iPad might be extremely easy to use with its iOS interface, but it is still relatively pricey to make the jump, and for those who happen to be on a tight budget, you might want to check out something more affordable, and yet does not have the kind of non-brand recognition from the numerous Android-powered clones that hail from the gazillion manufacturers in China. Enter the latest, most basic tablet from the folks over at Kobo – where they have just announced the Kobo Arc 7.
The Kobo Arc 7 has been described to be “perfect for first-time users and families”, where it will come with a functional display with a resolution count of 1,024 X 600 pixels, chugging along to a 1.2GHz MTK 8125 quad-core processor and 1GB RAM. If you are an avid reader and one who wolfs down books like there is no tomorrow, then the Kobo Arc 7 might be an ideal traveling companion, too, where it doubles up as a reading tablet for those who are always on the move. The 8GB Kobo Arc 7 will retail for $149.99 a pop if you are interested. [Press Release]
Kobo Has The Arc 7 For Tablet Newbies original content from Ubergizmo. 
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When it comes to the world of tablets, most of us would be a whole lot more familiar with the name iPad from Apple, which happens to be the most popular tablet in many markets at the moment. Of course, it is also considered to be one of the more expensive tablets in the market around in comparison to other more affordable alternatives, but it really boils down to your preference as well as mobile operating system of choice. You know, one man’s mean being another man’s poison and all that jazz. Kobo has just announced their Kobo Arc 7HD tablet, which will run on the NVIDIA Tegra 3 1.7GHz quad-core processor, where it will also be accompanied by a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display which will also support up to 1080p video playback in order to deliver a crisp, seamless viewing experience.
The Kobo Arc 7HD tablet itself will also be accompanied by 1GB RAM, carrying a front-facing 1.3 megapixel HD camera, with a battery that has been rated to last for up to 8 hours, ensuring that you can always catch up on your reading during those long commutes to and from work without worrying about running out of juice. The alternative, of course, would be to settle for an ordinary paperback or hardcover. The Kobo Arc 7HD will arrive in only one color – black, and you can choose from 16GB and 32GB models for $199.99 and $249.99, respectively. [Press Release]
Kobo Arc 7HD Tablet Announced original content from Ubergizmo. 
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So we’ve already spent some hands-on time with Kobo’s Aura e-reader and the Arc 10HD. That leaves two more devices, right? Well, here’s the thing — as much as the 10-inch tablet wasn’t ready in time for tonight’s event, the company at least managed to trot it out. As for the seven-inchers, well, the Arc 7HD didn’t show, and while the Arc 7 was here, the slate was running a constant demo, meaning we couldn’t take it through its paces. As for the hardware? On the face of it, the tablet looks a fair bit like the original Kindle Fire and a number of other seven-inch rectangular tablets. On the top is the standard red Kobo power button, on the right side of the device is a volume rocker and on the left are the headphone jack, micro-HDMI and microUSB ports.
Like its bigger brother, the soft touch rear of the device has borrowed some of the angular design language from the Aura HD around the corners. On the bottom, you’ll find a single speaker grille. All three of Kobo’s new tablets are set to launch on October 16th — we’re sure we’ll be able to spend a bit more time with this guy before then. When it does land, it’ll run you $150, with its HD sibling starting at $200.%Gallery-slideshow73876%
Filed under: Tablets
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