The link below is to a review of the Kobo Touch 2.0 Ebook Reader.
For more visit:
http://goodereader.com/blog/e-reader/kobo-touch-2-0-e-reader-review
Maybe this was inevitable since Amazon (s AMZN) acquired book-based social network Goodreads (see disclosure), but Kobo has stopped using the Goodreads API on its website and in its apps, Good E-Reader reports.
That means no more Goodreads ratings and reviews on Kobo book pages. It sounds as if the decision was driven by Kobo, not Goodreads or Amazon: The company’s chief content officer Michael Tamblyn tells Good E-reader that Kobo might re-add the Goodreads API in the future. And back in March when Amazon acquired Goodreads, the companies told me they would leave the Goodreads API open and would not shut off the Kobo feed. (Update: Goodreads confirmed it’s made no changes to its API.)
Nonetheless, the move demonstrates the risk of relying on what is now a competing retailer’s API. At one point, Goodreads actually encountered a similar problem itself: In early 2012, it stopped sourcing its…
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The link below is to an article reporting on yet another bookseller shooting itself in the foot – Kobo has suspended Goodreads from its ebook readers.
For more visit:
http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/kobo-suspends-usage-of-the-goodreads-api
Last September, Barnes & Noble (s BKS) launched two new tablets. The Nook HD and HD+, ranging in price from $199 to $299, were designed to be reader-centric devices. They included features like children’s accounts and curated “channels” to help readers discover new books.
These features, Barnes & Noble hoped, would be enough to attract buyers — but they weren’t kidding themselves that users would be persuaded to buy a Nook instead of an iPad. “You have an iPad, I have one,” a company exec said at a briefing at the time, seemingly acknowledging that the Nook HD wouldn’t be anybody’s first choice. Rather, Barnes & Noble clearly hoped that the Nook tablets’ prices and features might be enough to entice users away from other lower-priced tablets like the Kindle (s AMZN) Fire and Nexus (s GOOG) 7.
It didn’t work. Fast-forward a year and Barnes & Noble’s Nook business is…
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When Kobo launched its “luxury” e-reader, the $169.99 Aura HD, last month, I was skeptical that anybody would shell out for it when cheaper models are available. Early sales results, however, suggest that I was wrong: Kobo announced Tuesday, a day before BookExpo America begins in New York, that the month-old Aura now accounts for “up to 27 percent of Kobo devices sold at retail, with more than 50 percent of those customers being new to Kobo.” The company didn’t reveal how many devices it has sold.
In addition, Kobo says its revenue grew by 98 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared to this time last year. During the quarter , it says it “grew its user base by 2.5 million readers, bringing its total registered users to 14.5 million, with 15 percent of its new user base coming from the U.S.” That last point is important…
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Kobo bills its new e-reader, the Aura HD, as the “Porsche of e-readers” — an e-ink touchscreen Wi-Fi device that justifies its $169.99 price tag with a large, high-resolution front-lit screen. I tested the Aura HD and found the screen lovely, but the overall device not worth the price.
Look and feel: PlastickyOut of the box, the Aura HD is ugly to my eye: White (it also comes in black and brown) and plasticky-looking. The Aura’s back is indented to make it easier to hold, and it’s nice to have the grooves there; I found it about as comfortable to hold as a hardcover book.
Because the Aura HD is larger and slightly heavier than most e-readers, though, it’s less comfortable to hold than a smaller e-reader, meaning that any benefit from the indented back is effectively canceled out. It has a 6.8-inch screen, compared to the standard…
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The link below is to a review of the Kobo Aura HD ebook reader.
For more visit:
http://dearauthor.com/ebooks/review-kobo-aura-hd/
At the BookShelf 
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