Kobobooks
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[edit] Overview
Kobo (previously Shortcovers) is an eBook store and service owned and operated by Canada’s largest book retailer Indigo Books and Music. With users in over 56 countries, Kobobooks offers a new digital destination for people to discover their next great read, online and on your mobile device. Use the web or download the free app for your iPhone, Blackberry, Android, or Palm Pre and get instant access to books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, short stories and more. You can sample, purchase and read content in seconds, share your favorite reads with friends and family, or create your own Kobobooks.
Kobobooks are generally available in industry standard ePub but are also released in Kobo's proprietary version of ePub called kepub.
[edit] Features
Free ebooks
Free ebooks taken from Project Gutenberg texts can be read online on the Kobo site. Free EPUBs can also be downloaded, which are automated OCRs of Google Book scans (taken from archive.org). The Project Gutenberg texts are of course high quality, and all these ebooks free of the Adobe DRM used on other Kobo books. Note these free downloads may not work on other ePub readers.
Instant Access to Content
Kobobooks is a place to find your next read among books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and more. Buy the full eBook, by-the-chapter or the physical book from a participating retailer. The Kobo store or affiliate store is available directly from the application or eBook Reader.
Use the Web or Your Mobile
Use the device you already have, the ‘bookstore in your pocket’, or your laptop to access great content at Kobobooks. Applications designed for Kobobooks let you discover, sample, purchase and read great content. Access your library, recommendations, subscriptions and share with the community.
Sample and Purchase
Get “into the content” instantly, read a free sample and decide to make a purchase.
Manage eBooks
Kobobooks reading devices use an SQL database to manage the eBooks. This permits syncing between your PC and the device. You should use the PC to manage eBooks that are in the Kobo database. Erasing them off the SD card directly, for example, will confuse the database. While generally Kobo eBooks are ePub they have also a modified ePub format for purchased books that are intended to interact with the database. Most users use the term kepub when referencing this format.
[edit] eBook reading applications
Kobobooks are mostly ePUB files and can be read on any device that supports ePUB. The user should be careful to determine if a particular eBook is available directly in ePub format. Kobo provides free reader downloads for some Smartphones from http://www.kobobooks.com/smartphones. The devices they support include the BlackBerry, the iPhone, the Android and the Palm Pre. Also see Kobo eReading Apps
[edit] For more information
Visit the http://www.kobobooks.com site
