Hasta La Gadget!

Kobo’s clearly been focused on important stuff like being bought by Rakuten and launching in Japan as of late, but the e-reader manufacturer’s got a few bits to announce this week. At the top of the list is a software upgrade for its neglected Touch eReader, which brings a new wish list feature, so you can set aside titles for future purchase. A newly redesigned home screen promises to streamline things a bit and the Bookshelf feature has gotten a bit more customizable, letting you organize selections by genre, author and interest. The Kobo Desktop app, meanwhile, has gotten some tweaks to its profile quiz, to better help the company recommend books to suit your taste.

The company also announced that it’ll be bringing the Touch eReader to Italy, courtesy of the Mondadori Group. At launch, 30,000 titles will be available in Italian. Italian e-reading enthusiasts will be able to snap up the Nook / Kindle competitor for €99 in the fall.

Kobo updates Touch eReader software and Desktop app, heads to Italy this fall originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Touch Skin is a new concept watch designed by Niels Astrup that fits in with your existing plethora of gadgets. It’s a minimal watch with a touch-sensitive screen which allows you to customize the overall look thanks to its flat OLED display.

The Touch Skin watch would connect to your computer or smartphone via Bluetooth, and let you download new skins or designs for the display. You would also be able to design your own using the Touch Skin App.

Like other watches that light up using LED or OLEDs, the Touch Skin needs to be activated by a touch to display the time – presumably to save on battery.

The watch would adjusts its time automatically, via radio, and the design calls for it to be charged wirelessly via the gift box it comes packaged in.

The Touch Skin watch is just a concept right now but it will hopefully enter production at some point in the future. For now, you’ll just have to settle for your iPod nano.

[via NOTCOT]

The Synapse is Nixon’s touch-activated digital watch that’s futuristic-looking enough to please sci-fi junkies (and robots) everywhere. This LCD watch is waterproof up to 100m, and has a digital movement with a touch-activated face. It includes an alarm chime timer and the usual features you’d expect from a digital chronograph watch.

I like how the main face of the watch displays a lot of information at the same time, with minimal use of graphics. Time, alarm, chronograph and date information is all displayed simultaneously using stylized dot-matrix digits.

Its all-chrome look is definitely modern, but if you’re retro-obsessed, go for the golden version. If that doesn’t rock your boat, then the stealthy gunmetal version might work for you.

The Synapse watch is available for $200 to $250 directly from Nixon.

[via HiConsumption]