Kobo eReader

Gadget Lab’s current column at Wired suggests that the new, inexpensive Kobo e-Reader is the real Kindle-killer, at a mere $150, not the iPad: “The bare-bones reader looks very similar to the Kindle, but it is just over half the price. You get access to a store, as you do with the Kindle, in this case the Kobo International Store with around 2 million titles. And you can read these books on other devices: iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Android all have Kobo apps.”

Kobo will be sold at Borders starting sometime in the summer, according to this report in Computer World. And they “just announced a standard e-reading application called ‘Powered by Kobo’ that will be used in an array of e-readers to be launched this year.” The report went on to quote Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo, saying, “Consumers want choice and the freedom to read on any device.” Sounds like Kobo, and anagram of “book”, intends to give it to them.