Flipkart is the largest e-commerce site in India and they got swept up in the whole e-book craze of and when it launched its e-book service. The following year they released a mobile app for Android, iOS and Windows so people could read all of their digital content while on the go.
They decided to close down their e-book service in December , because the general public failed to embrace the digital format. Once again Kobo was earmarked to take over their e-book business for an indeterminate sum of money. The company tried really hard to make their digital business work, by allowing grocery customers to use their points to get free e-books, or at least discounts.
In October the company announced they were closing their shop and transferring everything over to Kobo. In many cases, we are helping them out as they reach the end of their runway. And the companies who are working with us are happy too. Instead of a ngry customers wondering where their books went, readers and their libraries are taken care of. When Kobo was purchased by Rakuten, one of their first acquisitions was the french digital publishing company Aquafadas to bolster the breadth of content available on its e-reader devices, for which it claims 10 million users in countries.
Terms of the deal remain undisclosed. Thus enabling publishers to create richly designed content without the need for any coding chops. The Kobo hook up is about bringing distribution directly to that publishing platform. The Tolino Alliance was formed in and their mandate was to combat Amazon in Germany. This was the first time Thalia, Weltbild, Hugendubel, Club Bertelsmann, Deutsche Telekom banded together to forge a series of e-reading devices and launch an online bookstore.
In Kobo purchased the backend infrastructure from Deutsche Telekom which included thousands of German language e-books. Kobo also got access to the software which powers the Tolino line of e-readers and backend software that powers the cloud sync platform.
The level of investment required to be truly competitive in devices and mobile reading requires international scope and scale. But with that scale, we can then keep bricks-and-mortar retailers fully in the ebook game. So Tolino was a perfect fit for us — a national ebook solution that had achieved great success in German-speaking markets that wanted to do more and be even better. With that acquisition, we all benefit.
More economies of scale for the e-reader business, exchange of ideas and technology that help us all be better digital booksellers, and our being able to bring new capabilities to a very successful retail coalition. In German-speaking markets, Kobo will shift its focus from selling Kobo devices to concentrating on supporting Tolino in those markets.
Shelfie formally known as Bit. Shelfie is a digital bundling platform that allows you to scan your physical bookshelf and it will produce a list of audiobooks and e-books that are eligible to receive discounts.
The company has relationships with hundreds of publishers and they all bought into the fact that if you own the print version, you should receive some sort of discount when investing in the digital edition.
That has a lot of very interesting applications for a company like Kobo that wants to be as helpful as possible in helping someone to find their next great book. The second is their being at the forefront of thinking about how ebooks and print books can coexist at retail — obviously interesting to us as the leader of a worldwide retail coalition bridging print and digital. Very very cool, all of it. Kobo Plus is an unlimited e-book subscription program that launched in the Netherlands and Belgium back in February Over the course of the past five months things have been really quiet, there has been no meaningful data on how Plus has been performing, until now.
BOL and Kobo offer a free day free trial and 75 percent of users ended up paying for a monthly subscription and users have read over a million hours. Daniel Ropers, general director of bol. Kobo plans to have 20, Dutch-language titles by the end of the year.
Since its launch, the catalog has grown from over 40, to over 80, titles and currently 18, of these are in Dutch. Since Plus first launched over new publishers have been added. I think one of the driving forces behind the success of Kobo Plus is how easy it is to purchase a subscription.
Users can sign up directly on their e-readers and be able to filter out other categories to only display Kobo Plus books. We have great market share. We sell a lot of e-readers. We have amazing relationships with publishers.
So there are a lot of readers sitting outside of the legitimate market and a lot of authors not getting paid at all for their work. This let us have a very constructive set of conversations with publishers: what would bring pirate readers back to paying for books? The Mini bucked the trend of the standard six inch e-Reader and instead went with a more pocket friendly five inch model. Underneath the hood was a MHZ processor, which was the exact same as the Kobo Touch employed years prior. For the last four years all of the major players have released six inch or larger e-readers.
Other companies have released smaller models, but never saw any traction because of poor retail distribution channels and brand awareness. The Kobo Mini is one of the best bangs for your buck if you are on a budget and still want a fully featured e-reader. Most lock you into specific regional variants of their stores and exclude anyone living outside a specific geographical region. It featured a 6.
The front-lite technology also received an elevated boost and put Kobo on par with Kindle in terms of screen technology. Readers loved the fact they had almost an extra inch to read their eBooks, magazines, newspapers or PDF content. One of the best aspects of the Aura HD was the responsive main menu. The new screen has three main segments that displays icons for everything you have done in the last 12 processes.
This gives you shortcuts to your most commonly accessed features, such as the web-browser, custom shelves, Reading Life, and ebooks. The Sync feature to fetch new content is now on the main screen, too, which is the only element that remains persistent.
I actually like the more effective use of screen real estate. Rather than browsing four different sub-menus to access the internet browser, it will appear on your main screen if you have recently used it. Simply put, the Kobo Aura HD has the highest resolution out of any six or seven inch tablet or e-reader in the world.
If images and clarity of text matter to you, this is a must purchase. It taps into an ecosystem of over 3 million eBooks and is relevant in every major country in the world. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or tap here to see other videos from our team.
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Canada's most valuable mall is getting apartment buildings. Jeremy Grantham says U. This Week in Flyers. August 24, Quick Navigation Amazon E-Readers. Aura Edition 2. Amazon E-Readers. Pros: Audible : In today's busy society, more and more people are switching to audiobooks, or at least including them in their rotation.
Thankfully Amazon's cheapest tablet includes Kindle support via Bluetooth. This feature is a mixed bag. While on the one hand, support for audiobooks is nice to have, on the other hand, you have to own a Bluetooth headset. This is kind of a bummer because you not only have to keep track of a Bluetooth headset, but you also have to keep it charged.
This almost entirely defeats the weeks of battery offered by the Kindle. Bluetooth: Bluetooth itself is a pro.
For those who already own a Bluetooth headset and include it in their daily carry, it's a great feature. You will be able to take advantage of audible books without sacrificing the battery life of your smartphone. Battery: Kindle offers up to 6 weeks of battery! For those who frequently pull out their smartphone to read a book, this offers an alternative. You can conserve your smartphone battery for other tasks and you will have a much easier time reading on a bigger screen with a display that is designed to come close to the experience of reading an actual book.
Small form factor: If you are adding an extra device to your bag, it's nice if it's relatively small. At just over 6", you won't notice too much added weight and it won't take up much space. The device is also pretty easy to hold in one hand without making your arm tired. This is especially handy if you read in the morning while you eat or hold coffee or another drink. Durable: The Kindle's al plastic design makes it a pretty durable device.
If you plan to let children use it the durability means that you can leave it with them without much worry that it will break. Its inexpensive price tag means that it's accessible to pretty much everyone. This isn't great in every case though because with a low cost comes some cut corners.
While it's all around a solid device, there are some cons. Cons: Plastic screen: One of the things that Amazon did to keep costs low on the Kindle was include a plastic display. This display accomplishes most of the same functions that any other Kindle device can but at the cost of sharpness, which if you have bad eyesight like I do, forces you to look at the more expensive Kindle devices for sharper text and a better overall reading experience.
No Backlight: Many people read at night, or in less than optimal lighting conditions. This makes a backlight an almost essential feature. Unfortunately, the Kindle omitted it with their entry e-reader. The lack of backlight means that if you plan on reading at night, you will need an alternate source of light, like a lamp or a reading light attachment. In my opinion, the fewer accessories that you have to carry around, the better. So this is a definite con.
No Headphone Jack: As one of the few e-readers that Amazon offers with Audible support, it's mind-boggling that there is no headphone jack on the Kindle. This limits Audible support to people with Bluetooth headsets or Speakers.
We would have really liked to see the inclusion of a headphone jack or even speakers, but with the price being so low, this isn't necessarily a deal breaker, just disappointing. Every audiobook stored also means less space for traditional books. Recap The Kindle is a really interesting device. Pros: Battery: The battery life on the Paperwhite is still in weeks. This is great because it means that you can take toss it in your bag without a charger and take it with you for pretty much any occasion without worry that it will die.
Form Factor : The Paperwhite retains the same 6" screen as the Kindle, with the exception of a slightly bigger body. The size difference is negligible, so you still get the same great reading experience, no matter how you are holding it. This is the same sharpness as the most expensive Kindle device and my eyes really appreciate the added clarity. Backlight: While technically edge lighting, we are glad that the Paperwhite has some sort of built-in light for reading in the dark or in poor lighting conditions.
Edge lighting is especially nice because it's a softer glow and isn't directed right into your eyeballs. This translates into longer, more comfortable reading session. Durable: Like the Kindle, The Paperwhite has a plastic frame, with a recessed plastic screen. This keeps the screen safe from face-down drops.
Plastic screens are also harder to break than glass displays in general.
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