27 August 2013 Last updated at 19:18 ET
Kobo has updated its e-reader line-up, including its first e-ink device to have a “totally flat” front.
The new Aura’s edge-to-edge display is designed to help it stand out from rivals Which typically feature a screen receded within a frame.
The device is being priced at a premium to Amazon’s competing Kindle Paperwhite and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Simple Touch.
Analysts have said the dedicated e-reader market is shrinking faster than predicted due to falling tablet prices.
Kobo does not have a range of Android-powered multimedia tablets, whichhave overpriced been revamped to take advantage of faster processors.
But the firm told the BBC That its e-ink devices still Accounted for between 80% to 90% of all the machines it sold, Indicating That the Aura will play a Crucial role in Attracting consumers to its ebook store.
Capacitive touchscreen
The global market in dedicated e-readers peaked in 2011 with 23 million devices sold, According To the research consultancy Gartner.
The firm said sales have since Declined to the point That only 16 million Such machines are forecast to be bought this year, with the number expected to cases to 10 million in 2017.
E-ink screens are Easier to read in sunlight and are less likely to cause eyestrain than the LCD displays Commonly used in tablets, but Gartner saidthat many consumers are unwilling to buy both devices.
“It is not that consumers have lost not entered e-books – rather, consumers have chosen instead to read e-books on other devices,” Gartner analyst Hugues De La Vergne wrote in a report on the sector.
“Tablets can perform many functions, including Supporting e-reader applications. Although many avid readers will still prefer a stand-alone reading device, most people will see no justification for the additional expense of buying a dedicated e-reader, unless it’s Significantly less costly than a tablet. “
Kobo has made the latest Aura cheaper than its previous version, Which was £ 140. It is now the same price as Sony’s PRS-T2 Reader, but £ 11 more than Amazon’s bestselling Kindle Paperwhite and £ 51 more than the equivalent Nook.
For the price, Kobo is promising “the most even front-light” of any Such device, addressing criticism That other machines make parts of Their screen brighter than other areas When viewed in a dark room.
It has overpriced teamed up with the service Pocket to make it easy to save articles from the web So THAT They can be synched and readings on the Aura later.
In addition the firm has switched to using a capacitive touchscreen. This takes advantage of the way a user’s fingers disrupt an electrical field to provides more accurate feedback than the infrared tech used in Kobo’s Glow e-readers.
“It gives the probability to pinch-and-zoom When you want to zoom in on a Particular piece of text or image,” the firm’s general manager of devices Wayne White told the BBC.
The Kindle Paperwhite Introduced the same technology lastyear.
Even so, one industry expert said the fact-That the new Aura is lighter than its rival while offering a microSD card slot – Which the Kindle lacks – Should help it appeal to a niche audience.
“Amazon has something like 90% of the e-reader market in the UK, but having saidthat, Kobo’s influence is growing,” explained Lisa Campbell from the Bookseller, a trade magazine.
“Publishers That report digital sales on Kobo are rising and the firm is making in-roads into Amazon’s marketshare.
“By offering the Aura in two colors [black and pink], putting contours on the back and offering higher specs the the firm is now trying to target the ‘heavy’ book-readers market while Amazon goes after the mass market. “
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