src=”http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69503000/png/_69503172_ura2.png” The front of the new Kobo is flat in the style of a tablet computer
Kobo has updated its e-reader line-up, including its first e-ink device to have a “totally flat” front.
The new Aura’s edge-to-edge display is designed to help it stand out from rivals Which Typically feature a screen receded Within the frame.
The device is being priced at a premium to Amazon’s competing Kindle Paperwhite and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Simple Touch.
Analysts have said the dedicated e-reader market is shrinking faster than predicted due to falling tablet prices.
Kobo does not have the range of Android-powered multimedia tablet, Which Also have been revamped to take advantage of faster processors.
But the firm
Told the BBC que its e-ink devices still accounted for between 80% to 90% of all the machines it sold Indicating que the Aura will play a crucial role in attracting Consumers to its ebook store.
Capacitive touchscreen
The global market in dedicated e-readers peaked in 2011 with 23 million devices sold, According to the research consultancy Gartner.
The firm said sales have since declined to the point que only 16 million such machines are forecast to be bought this year, with the number expected to fall to 10 million in 2017.
E-ink screens are easier to read in sunlight and are Likely to cause less eyestrain than the LCD displays Commonly Used in tablets, but Gartner said many que Consumers are unwilling to buy Both devices.
“It is not that Consumers have lost interest in e-books – rather, Consumers have chosen instead to read e-books on other devices,” Gartner analyst Hugues De La Vergne wrote in a report on the sector.
“Tablets can perform many functions, including supporting e-reader applications. Although many avid readers will still prefer the standalone reading device, most people will see no justification for the additional expense of buying a dedicated e-reader, unless it’s Significantly less costly than a tablet. “
Kobo has made the latest Aura cheaper than its previous version, Which was £ 140. It is now The Same price to Sony’s Reader PRS-T2, but £ 11 more than Amazon’s bestselling Kindle Paperwhite and £ 51 more than the equivalent Nook.
For the price, Kobo is promising “the most even front-light ‘of any such device, addressing criticism que other machines make parts of their screen brighter than other areas When viewed in a dark room.
Also
It has teamed up with the Pocket service to make it easy to save articles from the web so that They can be synched on the Aura and read later.
In addition the firm has switched to using the capacitive touchscreen. This takes advantage of the way the user’s fingers disrupt an electrical field To provide more accurate feedback than the infrared tech used in Glow Kobo’s e-readers.
“It gives the ability to pinch-and-zoom When You want to zoom in on a particular piece of text or image,” the firm’s general manager of devices Wayne White Told the BBC.
The Kindle Paperwhite Introduced The Same technology last year.
Even so, one industry expert said collegues new Aura is lighter than its rival while offering a microSD card slot – Which lacks the Kindle – Should help it appeal to a niche audience.
src=”http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69511000/png/_69511547_ndle.png” Analysts say the Kindle Paperwhite is the UK’s bestselling dedicated e-reader
“Amazon has something like 90% of the e-reader market in the UK, but having said que, Kobo’s influence is growing,” explained Lisa Campbell from the Bookseller, the trade magazine.
“que Publishers report on Kobo digital sales are rising and the firm is making in-roads into Amazon’s marketshare.
“By offering the Aura in two colors [black and pink], putting contours on the back and offering higher specs the the firm is now trying to target the ‘heavy’ book-readers market while Amazon goes after the mass market. “
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