Kobo eReader Touch Edition [Hands-on][HD]

Kobo today kicked off Book Expo America with the launch of a new six-inch, one-button touchscreen e-reader -- named, appropriately enough, the Kobo eReader Touch Edition. Priced at $130 -- $10 cheaper than Amazon's Kindle -- the pocket-sized device strives for a reading experience more akin to that of old timey paper books, courtesy of a Zeforce infrared touchscreen, new Pearl eInk technology, and a freescale i.MX507 processor for faster page turning. Click on through for more details and our impressions of this little reader.

The WiFi reader has a new search tool accessible through the virtual keyboard and highlighting technology, which makes it easier to look up words via the built-in Merriam Webster dictionary. This is the same Pearl display found on the latest Kindle, so you should know what you're getting into for contrast, but the responsiveness here is hugely improved thanks to that freescale processor. Page turns are quick and, more impressively, you can open a PDF, zoom in, and scroll around. Sure, it isn't exactly hyper-responsive, but it sure beats PDF reading on the competition and it'll help you save a few reams of paper when reviewing technical documentation. And, since that touch screen is built using IR tech that's built into the bezel, the contrast of the screen doesn't suffer -- a common complaint on the Sony Reader Touch Edition.

Kobo's Touch Edition features syncing bookmark technology lets you pick up where you left off on multiple devices. The Touch Edition has 1GB of built-in memory, expandable up to 32GB with the microSD slot that's easily accessible on the sid. The device supports ePub, PDF, and open standards, so you can take it with you on the next trip to the library. It'll ship next month, in black, silver, blue, and white, dropping the price of its predecessor down to $99. You can pre-order it now from Borders, Best Buy, and Walmart, in both the US and Canada.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• dictionary
• e book
• e books
• e reader
• e readers
• e-book
• e-books
• e-reader
• e-readers
• eink
• eink pearl
• EinkPearl
• eReader Touch Edition
• EreaderTouchEdition
• hands-on
• impressions
• kobo
• Kobo eReader Touch Edition
• KoboEreaderTouchEdition
• Merriam Webster
• MerriamWebster
• touch
• touchscreen
• video

[barryaris]

Is that Lisa from MobileTechReview I can hear in the background?

I purchased my Kobo Touch Friday 27th January 2012 and love it. the Kobo works seamlessy with Ubuntu as well which is an even bigger plus as the Kindle keeps crashing when exposed to Linux even though the Kindle OS is Linux, but that is more to do with the Kindle being trapped into Amazon like Apple products are with itunes. The Kobo is much more open with no restrictions.

Fast page changes and non existent ghosting.

[haributo]

why is how to trick people into think you're good looking in the related videos section?

[Starbuck7000]

hd my a**

[Adam6275]

I have problems highlighted as everytime I try holding a certain word the dictionary comes up but not the highlight.

[RPGfiend]

Anyone else get a kobo touch with a grey colored screen?I think I need to take mine back for an exchange.

[nikanj]

That's the fastest eink reader I've seen. Sort of regret jumping on the Kindle 3 boat so early. I though the screen had refresh rate limitations. If it's only limited by the processor I wonder why Kindle's processor is so slow. Processors are are very cheap these days.

[HarpersIslandluvr]

..I hate my sony ereader 350..its confusing and slow no wifi and its very confusing to download :( which has to be done on a computer :( so i am getting this one today:)

[davidlt]

PDF scrolling is definitely a big plus, but what I don't like is 6". I read mostly PDF, technical PDF with specifications and source code and doesn't look good on Kindle. I can't convert all of the books to MOBI format, because some of the books end up terribly formatted. I would like to see 9.7" Kobo eReader Touch version, that should do the trick. Maybe even with E Ink Triton ?

[dynamorph]

Seems to handle pdfs much better than the competition.

[friedsupertofu]

Man, this guy just pisses me off. Mehbe, because I own a sony prs-650. He's spreading TOTALLY WRONG INFO. Sony stopped using the over layer on their touch screens since LAST SUMMER OF 2010, when they unveiled the sony prs-650. It's false marketing, or horrible review. It's a key/core feature, and just bad to say compared to dimensions. PPll......