Kobo Touch gets ad-based model to undercut Amazon

Kobo has fired back at Amazon's Kindle Touch by launching its own Kobo Touch with Offers. The six-inch touchscreen e-reader brings in the same concept of ads in the screensaver or home screen to help subsidize the price. The option helps drop the price by $40 over the original Kobo Touch and puts it at the same $100 price as its Amazon equivalent.

The ads stay out of the e-books themselves, which share the same gesture-based touches and taps as before. Kobo's edge over Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others comes mostly from a personalized home screen. Otherwise, it has the full bookmarking, highlighting, and other features of most of its peers, with Wi-Fi, 1GB of built-in space, and an SD card slot.

Kobo is so far only offering the ad-sponsored Touch in the US and will ship it within two to three weeks. Despite its Canadian origin, the company hasn't said if it will export the ad option to its home country. [via The Digital Reader]

By Electronista Staff