For several weeks it was known that Kobo was behind the launch of a new device, something that I personally took as normal since the date of Book Day was close.
In addition, devices with a color screen had recently been released, which I think will also come from the hand of the big sellers in the market, this is Amazon and Kobo. All united, many (I the first) took for granted the launch of a new device by Kobo for Book Day.
But, it seems that the device had some other delay and in the end, this week it has been given to get to know the Kobo Elipsa. This device is a bit different from the traditional eReader, becoming what many consider like a digital notebook.
The Kobo Elipsa stands out, a priori, for its large size, a size that comes from its 10,3 ”screen which, as you well know, is not the norm in the eReader market. The size corresponds to a folio and the technology it uses this screen is E-Ink Letter 1200 with 227 ppi resolution.
Kobo Elipsa will be sold with a protective case and stylus
The Kobo Elipsa makes Kobo Rakuten one of those companies that have a product for the end consumer but also a product for the business world (a market in which it seems that they are entering more and more). Thus, this device wants to collect the spirit of the SonyDPT-S1 and adapt it to the Kobo philosophy so that users have what many of us think is a digital notebook.
The Kobo Elipsa doesn't come alone and will be distributed with the Kobo Stylus and a Sleepcover for the device. That is, we will have a pack to not only be able to read ebooks or pdf files but we will also have a notebook where to write things down.
I am very struck by the fact that the stylus receives its own name. And it is that Kobo Stylus (which is what the pencil is called) will help us write and digitize our notes. From the information we know, nothing indicates that we need the Kobo Elipsa to write, but it may be an error in the information. In any case, the Kobo Elipsa and its Kobo Stylus use Myscript technology to recognize handwritten characters and save the information in a new app in your software called My Notebooks.
The Kobo software update for the Kobo Elipsa makes better integrate Dropbox service with Kobo devices. This is interesting to save our notes, underlines and other files that we want to be accessible from our device, but it is also very interesting to be able to use the Dropbox service as a backup for our ebooks.
Kobo begins rolling out USB-C to its devices
The autonomy of the device is given by a 2.400 mAh battery, a quite acceptable amount for such a device, although we must remember that the screen is 10,3 ”so that the usual use that we do, in this device the autonomy will be reduced.
The processor is quadcore at 1,8 Ghz. In the press release we do not know anything about the manufacturer, so it may not be a Freescale processor.
The display uses Kobo ComfortLight technology, something that will help to modify the different environments where we use the device and will use the USB-C port to communicate with other equipment and to charge the battery. The wifi + bluetooth module will make the Kobo Elipsa able to communicate wirelessly.
The design of the Kobo Elipsa is another thing that has caught my attention. For several models, the Canadian company has tried to imitate the lateral fold that a book has when we read it with one hand on its devices. However, with the Kobo Elipsa the design is not continued and takes up the style of the Kobo AuraOne, a style that was highly demanded by Kobo users, to the point that the model we are talking about is still traded on the second-hand market.
The price of this device is a bit high but not expensive. The Kobo Elipsa can be reserved starting today and It can be purchased for 399,90 euros from June 24. And I say that the price is high and not expensive because at this price you have to take into account that we have a sleepcover and a stylus in addition to the device. If we subtract the price of the case and the stylus, it turns out that the price of the Kobo Elipsa can be a little higher than other devices such as the Kindle Oasis, but we are talking about an eReader with a 10,3 ”screen.
Unfortunately, we still do not have the device in our hands, but due to the technical data sheet, the information and the Kobo guarantee, the Kobo Elipsa looks like it will be more than just a digital notebook, a device that will take into consideration not only users who love ebooks but also companies. Sure, we have yet to test this device, but It looks good, don't you think?