Kobo and the Vox tablet are "gunning for Amazon"
It looks like Kobo is after some Amazon market share.
The Canadian firm announced Wednesday , a low-priced Android tablet ringing in at a Kindle Fire-matching price of $199.99. The updated offering 鈥� a touch-screen Android-operated e-reader 鈥� and the low price point keeps Kobo in step with Amazon鈥檚 Kindle and Barnes & Noble鈥檚 Nook. Though the Canadian company occupies a much smaller market share than its competitors, 鈥渋t will match its rivals and won鈥檛 be left behind as it competes to be the third-place e-reader with sights set on growing in stature and sales,鈥� writes .
"We're gunning for Amazon," Kobo Chief Executive Michael Serbinis in a .
The sleek, black Wi-Fi-only tablet has a multi-touch 7-inch screen with 1024 x 600 resolution, covered in an anti-glare coating for outdoor reading. Kobo鈥檚 signature black quilted plastic design on the back remains in place on the Vox, and they鈥檝e added a colored plastic band around the sides of the e-reader, available in hot pink, lime green, ice blue, and jet black. The Vox also has 8 gigabytes of storage (plus a microSD card drive for another 32 gigabytes in external storage), an 800-megahertz processor, and 512 megabytes of RAM.
Interestingly, Kobo is calling this generation e-reader the Vox after "vox populi," or "voice of the people." Unlike the Kindle Fire and the Nook Color, the 鈥淧eople鈥檚 Reader鈥� uses a less-modified version of Google鈥檚 Android operating system known as Gingerbread (Android 2.3), which offers full open access. It allows users to surf the web, purchase applications, and download Kobo e-books, as well as connect with friends on social media, listen to music, watch movies, play games, and more.
Kobo, the most popular e-book retailer in Canada, began taking Wednesday and the e-reader will start shipping October 28, ahead of the Kindle Fire 鈥� which is yet to be available in Canada.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
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