Kobo fills gap left by Barnes & Noble with new eBook reader and tablet line-up

Kobo has announced multiple devices to expand its eBook reader and tablet range, effectively replacing Barnes & Noble's Nook line-up in the battle against the dominance of Amazon.

The Kobo Aura 6-inch eBook reader features a front-lit E Ink touchscreen display with a 212dpi resolution and pinch and zoom features when browsing FLePub and PDF files. The screen has low-flash waveform technology, which Kobo claims reduces page refresh and ghosting, and 4GB of on-board storage allows for up to 3,000 books to be loaded at any one time. There is also a microSD card slot that can expand that by up to a further 32GB.

It costs £119.99, is available in black and pink and can be pre-ordered for a 16 September release.

There are three new tablets in the line-up, with two 7-inchers, the Kobo Arc 7 and Kobo Arc 7HD, and a 10-inch device, the Kobo Arc 10HD.

The 10HD comes with a 2560 x 1600 display that is capable of 1080p video playback. It has a 1.8GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 4 processor and 2GB of RAM and runs on an Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean architecture - that means the Google Play store is accessible and will therefore be able to download any of the million-plus apps. It also comes with a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo speakers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and Miracast compatibility, meaning you can stream whatever is on the screen to a supported TV.

A reading mode extends the battery life from 9.5 hours in normal use to over 10 days. It comes in black and will cost £299.99.

Like the 10HD, both 7-inch tablets also come with Kobo's Reading Life platform pre-installed and as part of the user experience. It also allows access to the company's bookstore with over four million eBooks and magazines available.

The non-HD, budget variant has a 1024 x 600 display, 1.2GHz quad-core MTK 8125 processor and 1GB of RAM. A processor and screen boost come with the 7HD, with it featuring a 1920 x 1200 display and 1.7GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. It also sports 1GB of RAM. They both run on Android 4.2.2, as with the 10HD.

The 7HD has 32GB of built-in storage, while the 7 has 8GB.

All tablets, including the 10HD, will be available from 16 October, with the Kobo Arc 7 costing £119.99 and the 7HD weighing in at £189.99.

Check out kobo.com for more information and pre-order details.