Kobo, a manufacturer of eReaders, has announced that customers can now purchase its line of e-readers directly from its website.
The Canadian company offers two e-ink readers, the Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini, as well as an Android (News - Alert) tablet, the Kobo Arc. These readers are comparable to Amazon’s Kindle line.
It has already sold 13 million readers worldwide and aims to offer the best e-reading experience of all the devices available on the market. Kobo claims more than 3.2 million titles available and that its customers have already read 1.3 billion pages alone this year.
Kobo distinguishes itself by not putting any DRM on the books it sells in its bookstore, allowing users to move them to any device they choose. Kobo also offers Windows, Mac, iOS and Android reading apps. Its readers are also available in a number of retail outlets, including Toys R Us, Target (News - Alert), Walmart, Future Shop, Staples and others.

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The Kobo Arc recently got an Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean” update.
Kobo Arc is the perfect tablet for people who love consuming books, movies, and surfing the web," Wayne White, EVP of Devices for Kobo, said in a release at the time. "With the latest Jelly Bean update, Kobo Arc becomes the perfect eReading companion that offers more with intelligent search recommendations, voice-to-text, and a highly responsive touchscreen.”
The Arc hews closer to the standard Google (News
- Alert) Android platform than Amazon’s heavily customized Kindle Fire, using Google Play instead of Amazon’s offerings. The Kobo Arc does have a customized Tapestries interface that attempts to put all the content in easy reach.
The attempt at improved search recommendations also appears to have spurred Amazon to acquire Goodreads, a social network for readers and authors. The move has drawn suspicion from authors, many of whom already distrust the online retail giant’s power.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey