Canadian eBook seller and eReader-maker Kobo has four new slates to show off to the public, part of a renewed push to target a wider market while also catering to faithful fans of the brand.
The Kobo Arc 10 HD tablet.
The hero of the new line-up is the $499.95 Kobo Arc 10 HD, a 10-inch tablet competing with the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Nexus 10. It’s largely similar to its contemporaries, but is unique in offering both a standard Android tablet menu — complete with all the apps, notifications and distractions you’d expect — and a pared-down, reading-focused interface, which disables all distractions and offers access to Kobo’s growing library of graphic novels and interactive kids’ books alongside classic eBook fare.
A $249.95 16GB and $299.95 32GB 7-inch version of the Arc HD will also be available when the tablet line-up is released, as will a $199.95 8GB non-HD variant. All will use the same dual-mode interface. All Kobo’s Arc devices are designed to retain the entire feature-set of an Android tablet, with unrestricted access to the Google Play store and plenty of processing power, but the company is banking on its history as a book-seller to appeal to parents and occasional readers.
The Kobo Arc 7 and 7 HD tablets.
Part of this appeal is a move to offer more immersive and interactive content through the Kobo eBook store — including children’s literature like the Hairy Maclary series, and to further increase the appeal of its eBook library with curated, Pinterest-esque ‘Collections’ of related content, including author interviews, soundtracks, videos and audio tied in with traditional eBook titles.
The Kobo Aura 6-inch eReader.
Far from switching its attention entirely to multimedia tablets, though, Kobo also has a new eReader in the Aura. With the Aura HD remaining popular, the Aura is a pared-down version of the existing flagship, transferring the HD’s 1GHz processor and 4GB of storage into a slightly smaller 6-inch eReader with a 212ppi Pearl eInk screen, with a Comfortlight screen light also built in. The Kobo Aura will be $189.95, $40 cheaper than the Aura HD’s recommended retail price.