Just after the explosive demand of Google Nexus, Kobo decided to present the world with the new Kobo Arc. Along with this product, three other new products were introduced and they are the Kobo Glo, Kobo Touch and the Kobo Aura HD. Among these, the Kobo Arc has been voted as the most suitable for reading. This article is a review of Kobo Arc, Kobo’s latest eBook Reader in India, which is available for Rs. 11,999.
Focus On the Kobo Arc
Kobo Arc has been appreciated for qualities including a neat high quality frame and seemingly comfortable display.
On the flip side, a few features put it down and they are: there is no GPS facility, a slot for a memory card is not available and the battery life is not as promised.
Getting Into the Details
The latest Kobo Arc was designed to be cost friendly for people around the world. The purpose behind such a device is purely edutainment. This would obviously include both entertainment (multimedia) and education (which means reading).
Style
This device is designed to attain a stress free reading experience. It is slim and has a box shaped design. The screen is a few millimetres inside the main frame compared to other tablets of the same size. One feature that strikes out is the omission of those usual problematic buttons positioned on the face of the device.
It is about 364gms in weight and stands on the centred bezel at the back with two speaker meshes on both sides. The sleep and power knobs are placed on the top right corner while the volume knobs are fit with the audio port in the top right side.
Attributes- Hardware
The processor is equipped with about 1 GB RAM. It is built with the 7 inch LCD display that has a multi touch facility and a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. This is more than enough to view any 720p HD video. Good quality graphics allow to play games and storage alternatives come in three sizes: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB.
A 1.3 megapixel camera allows Skype talks or any other similar ones. One demerit that should be pointed out is the UK-style type G wall adapter plug for charging the Kobo Arc. It will not be able to work in certain plug points in India and cheaper alternatives may damage the device.
Attributes- Software
The software resembles the Android both in appearance and in usage. The navigation is very smooth though the animations and the transitions tend to break in between. At the same time, you can play Candy Crush with almost no interruptions.
Since the Arc supports MP4, H. 264, vp8, H. 263 video formats and various audio formats like WAV and FLAC, videos are a pleasure to watch. There are plenty of apps like the Zinio that contribute to enjoyable reading of books, magazines etc.
Perfect for Book Lovers
Arc uses the Tapestries user interface. You can locate it on the home screen on the horizontal bar. There will be a collection of recommended books on this bar. Further more you can explore the Reading folder and choose something of your preference from Kobo. Alternatively, get into the Taste profile and choose a few books so that Kobo understands your tastes. Then the recommended widget will help you move around and shuffle the entire selection of books so that you can spot the book of your choice.
Overall
It is a fantastic device that serves the purpose of reading books and also for listening to music, playing games and watching movies. The unique Tapestries Interface differentiates it from the rest of the eBook Readers. This interface has contributed a lot in making the Kobo Arc the star of the day.
Image credit: roland on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Teena.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Teena Abraham is an enthusiastic blogger and professional article writer who loves to write and share vital knowledge on any su+bject under the sky. Identifying her passion for blogging and freelancing, presently she focuses on writing eBooks, writing tips and advice on a variety of topics. Creative, multidisciplinary, strives to perfection and an eye for details is how her loved ones would describe Teena. An optimistic and dedicated person who does her best to make sure that her research will make a substantial difference for someone else in this world.[/author_info] [/author]