So in the last 48 hours both Kobo and Amazon have released details of the next iterations of their ereader products. Full details can be found at the Kindle and Kobo websites. It should be noted that I watched the Amazon press conference, but all I know of the new Kobo offerings is what Kobo has put on their website. At the lower price point end of the scale, Amazon has refreshed the screen and reduced the price of their base model Kindle – it now costs just $69. It doesn’t have a touch interface. The Kobo base end model is now touch based, but reduced in size to a 5 inch screen. It costs just $79 dollars. As an advocate of e-reading it’s great to see that the entry level models are so reasonably priced. Naturally, I was most interested in the touch readers. The big selling feature of both the new Kobo and Kindle touch devices is the front lighting to allow you to read when in a darkened environment. I often like to read in bed in the morning when I wake up, and don’t like to disturb my husband sleeping next to me, so this is…
As I received a nice tax rebate today, I decided to check out the Kobo Vox 7 inch e-reader Android tablet. For the Canadians amongst you, FutureShop is offering $10 discount. Now, it’s possible I will return it before the return period expires; the reviews I’ve read and seen on YouTube have been rather negative – sluggish, unresponsive machine, poor quality build – but I will see for myself. I am not expecting it to be comparable to the iPad – Apple’s tablet has a dual-core Apple A5X custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip with quad-core graphics and 1GB of RAM compared to the Vox’s 800 Mhz processor and 512 RAM – and of course with at least $400 difference in price, you wouldn’t expect them to compare. I intend using them for different purposes. I expect my iPad to remain my go to tablet of choice, and the Kobo to be purely e-reading based. The main advantage I’m hoping to get from the Vox is that I will be able to read books from all three of my main sources – Amazon, Kobo and the local library – on one e-reader sized device. This will also be my first experience with Android….
The genre of political thriller is not one I read particularly often, and it usually has to have a very interesting premise for me to pick it up in the first place. This one did catch my attention: what could happen if wealthy and influential individuals lost a loved one in a terrorist attack and had the means, motive and opportunity to take personal revenge? The first half of the novel introduces the protagonists, describes the initial terrorist incident which sparked the titular revenge, while the second half follows its setup and first stages of execution. One thing I found detracted from the novel slightly was the abrupt end. I understand this is the first in a two book series, and it felt as though the ending was neither a tied up ending nor a lead in to book two. I found the characters to be well developed and in general sympathetic – at times it was all too easy to forget that what they are planning will cost the lives of many innocents in the name of personal revenge. The author does very well though in the way he describes their grief to gain the reader's empathy. The descriptions…
This last couple of months I've got through a few good books, and rather than reviewing each individually, I decided to write a post discussing all of them. On the fourth of May no fewer than four new releases were downloaded to my Kindle, so I am happy I had a week off work to read them all. Fair Game – Patricia BriggsThis is the next book in the Alpha and Omega series, and it was the usual enjoyable Briggs fare. Anna and Charles are interesting characters and it's fun to see their development. I was particularly interested in the end game changer – I understand it's impacting the Mercy Thompson series, too. I had been surprised that Briggs was planning a new Mercy book. I'd felt the character had come to the end of her story, but this will add a new dimension. I look forward to Frost Bitten next year I gave Fair Game four stars. The Iron King – Julie Kanawa.This is an ebook I borrowed from the library. A Young Adult novel, it is the usual tale of modern teen finds she has an undiscovered past and hidden powers, finds herself in a fantasy world. It's…
What an absolutely wonderful surprise I had on reading my Twitter feed this morning (thanks @Elmblade43!) to find that the Harry Potter ebooks are now available for purchase through the Pottermore store. This was unexpected to me as I'd not seen any prior announcements that the store was due to open; I'd expected it to be delayed until after the opening of the Pottermore site to the general public given how the original beta launch of the Pottermore site was launched. I had many misgivings about the Pottermore store given how poorly the beta site was handled. However, from the moment I went to the store it was clear I was in much safer hands. The first step in the process was to create a Pottermore shop account (not the same as your Pottermore account, meaning that non Beta Pottermore fans can still purchase the books.) This was all pretty straightforward. The rest of the purchase process was too; select the books (I opted for the bundle of all seven for a 10% discount) – and it has to be noted that they are very reasonably priced – $7.99 – $9.99. The next stage was the one which caused me…
A past blog entry of mine related my frustrations with borrowing from the Bibliotheque et Archives Nationales du Quebec. I expressed my frustration at the difficulty I had finding a book and loading it onto my Kobo eReader. Recently, the BAnQ moved to the Overdrive ebook lending system, and I have to say it’s a HUGE difference in ease of use. Last Saturday my husband and I went to see the movie The Help and as I enjoyed it I decided to borrow the book on which it was based. I logged into the BAnQ’s Overdrive site and discovered that both copies of the book were out. (Libraries can only lend as many copies as they have licences for that book.) However, there was a handy link nearby: Place a Hold. I entered my email address to register my hold. So, this evening I got an email from BAnQ saying the book was available, providing a link and directing me to My Holds page on the Overdrive system. A couple of well guided clicks and a login later, the book was downloading to my computer and then a drop and drag moved it to my Kobo. All in all, it took maybe…
Those of you who follow my blog will know how much I’ve lusted after the new Amazon Kindle Touch, and also shared in my frustration at Amazon’s refusal to ship it outside the US. Anyway, today I caved and took a short trip across the US border to Best Buy in Plattsburgh to purchase one. From my experience with the WiFi only Kobo, I did in the end decide to purchase the base model WiFi only with special offers for $99. I had a few tense moments when a Nook was produced that had been set aside for me and the saleswoman couldn’t find the Kindle Touches… I was very relieved to finally have it in my hand. As it is technically not available in Canada I was a little anxious about registering, especially as it took me three attempts with the virtual keyboard. However, it all seemed to go through and I am now happily downloading my content to my Kindle Touch. Size wise the Kindle Touch is noticeably smaller and lighter than the Kindle Keyboard – not surprising as it doesn’t have a keyboard! Comparing the screens to the Kindle Keyboard and Kobo, the two Kindles seem virtually…
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith follows a similar structure to his earlier book Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in that it combines existing material with the fantastical. The premise of the book is that American President Abraham Lincoln’s life was spent hunting vampires as well as abolishing slavery. A mix of genres Now, straight historical biography is not a genre I tend to read very often; I’d rather be transported to a new world than learn about someone who lives or lived in ours. I found this particular combination of hard fact and fantastical fiction to be both fun and somewhat informative. A reader of this book would not finish it with an encyclopedic knowledge of Lincoln’s life – I must admit I kept Wikipedia on hand to check historical facts – but he may know more about him than he did previously, and possibly be inspired to learn more. It should be pointed out that as a Brit, my knowledge of American history is sketchy at best. It may be that American readers will learn little that is new to them. They however may enjoy trying to guess how the author will incorporate certain events into the…
So I have been using the Kobo now for almost a week, and I must say I have enjoyed using it. The touch interface seems responsive and is fun to use. There are many things I prefer about the Kobo user interface to the Kindle interface – the use of book covers for one thing. Some of those are very attractive and the Kindle’s text-based user interface seems a little basic by comparison. Of course, I have not seen the UI for the Kindle Touch, but from the video of the Amazon press conference it seems as if it is still predominantly text based. Amazon’s Collections feature where you can categorise your books into user defined groups for easier searching is one thing I find hard to live without. Currently I only have a few books on the Kobo, so choosing/finding one is not too tricky, but on my Kindle I have over 30 pages of books. A lot of the things I like about my Kindle are UI based. I enjoy sharing on my Facebook page and Twitter feed when I find an interesting passage or have finished a book. I just find that more intuitive on the Kindle…
So, I have unboxed the Kobo Touch and have spent my first few hours with it. My first impressions are generally positive. Hardware: The Kobo Touch has the same 6 inch eInk display as the Kindle. From what I could see, there was no discernible difference in contrast between the two, but as they use different fonts, it was tricky to say. In any case, both are clear and easy to read. I found the IR touchscreen reasonably responsive and easy to use. In comparison to the Kindle 3G Keyboard the Kobo seems tiny; of course this is because it doesn’t have a keyboard. I found the Kobo comfortable and easy to hold, and page turns were easy. I did miss being able to turn back a page with my right hand – the Kindle has page back buttons on the same side of the case as the page forward one. Personally, I found I had to use two hands – not easy with a cat purring in your lap. One thing the Kobo does slightly differently to the Kindle is the screen refreshes. By default it will only refresh the screen fully on every sixth page turn, minimising the…