Bucking the trend of e-readers that run apps like tablets, Kobo today announced a new device called the eReader Touch Edition. Priced at $ 129, the e-reader marries an e-Ink display with touch capabilities, so no physical keyboard is needed. As a result, the eReader Touch Edition is smaller than competing models and also supports tap-to-zoom functions when reading Adobe PDF documents. The new eReader debuts next month at Indigo, WalMart, BestBuy and Borders, with the company expecting to ship devices in time for Father’s Day.
Unlike traditional touchscreen solutions that can reduce clarity of e-ink displays, Kobo’s Touch Edition leverages Nenode’s Z-Force solution, which uses infrared technology. The screen itself doesn’t register any touches; instead, sensors along the screen edges can track a finger that touches the standard e-ink screen and interpret that data as a touchpoint. Helping to deliver the touch functionality and improve the reader’s refresh rate is a Freescale i.MX508 processor. The performance boost won’t hit the battery to hard, however. Kobo is claiming a run-time of 10 days or roughly 10,000 page turns on a single charge.
Using the touch screen, Kobo owners can highlight text, swipe for page turns, search books, or browse the online book store. The unique touch solution could help Kobo stand out from the crowd against the likes of Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony. During a GigaOM interview earlier this month, Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis noted that the company is looking to take a small, but growing piece of the e-book business. “We recognize that there are some pretty huge players in this industry,” he said. “We are the David in the David-and-Goliath story.”
Compared to Goliath, David was small, and so is the new eReader Touch Edition. The device has a 6-inch display, just like Amazon’s Kindle, but measures in at 6.49″ x 4.48″ x .39″. The Kindle is slightly thinner but larger overall, measuring 7.5″ x 4.8″ x 0.34″, meaning that Kobo’s new device could fit in more pockets. Even though Amazon is expected to launch a tablet this year and the Barnes & Noble Nook Color is becoming a fully functional Android tablet, Kobo appears focused on the e-book industry.
Serbinis pointed this out earlier in the month, saying “The existing books market is worth about $ 90 billion. When we were creating Kobo, we thought that maybe 10 percent of that would go digital — now we think that it will probably be closer to 50 percent… We figured there was room for a ‘pure play’ e-book company.” There just might be room for Kobo’s new eReader Touch Edition with smaller size, new features and a lower price when compared to its peers, too.
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