Competition in the ereader market doesn’t seem to be subsiding: while some companies are now touting their ereaders as full-fledged tablet computers that can compete with the likes of the iPad, others continue to compete on another point that’s dear to consumers’ hearts: price. Kobo has just announced that the Onyx version of its Kobo Wireless eReader is now available from Best Buy locations in the United States at a special Mothers’ Day promotional price of $99. Customers can also take advantage of the promotional pricing via Best Buy’s Web site.
“We’ve seen great success working with Best Buy in Canada and look forward to being available in-store in the U.S. with the Mother’s Day special,” said Kobo’s VP of business development Todd Humphrey, in a statement. “Having Kobo’s Wireless eReader in Best Buy stores throughout the United States and online provides the eReading public with more purchasing options and allows shoppers to compare our eReader to the competition to see the value and versatility we bring to the table.”
The Kobo Wireless eReader sports a 6-inch E-Ink display with 16 levels of grey and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi connectivity for browsing, buying, and downloading new book content to the device. The eReader comes with 100 free classic titles pre-installed, and has enough capacity to handle about 1,000 eBooks—make that 8,000 books with an optional SD memory card. The eReader can run for about 20 week or 10,000 page loads on a single battery charge. Users can shop the Kobo store. which offers over 2.3 million titles, including newspapers and magazines, as well as over 1 million free titles. The eReader supports ePUB, PDF, and Adobe DRM, and in many cases readers may be able to borrow eBooks from their local libraries for use on the Kobo eReader. And the eReader is just part of a larger Kobo ecosystem that includes apps for desktop computers and mobile devices.
Mothers’ Day is May 8 in the United States. After the Mothers’ Day promotion, the Kobo Wireless eReader will return to its normal suggested retail price of $129.99.
