Kobo eBook reader adds Canadian, U.S. newspapers and magazines

Kobo today announced its line of e-book readers, such as the new Kobo Wireless Reader for $149, now supports many dozens of newspapers and magazines from Canada and the U.S.

Specifically, the Kobo Newsstand now offers digital versions of many high-profile publications — including Toronto Star, National Post and Globe & Mail (for a complete list, see below) – and a selection of these are now available for download for free during a two-week trial (see the site for details).

Once you find a publication you want to subscribe to, Kobo customers can pay a monthly subscription for the content – starting at $2.99 for magazines and $13.99 for newspapers.

So now you can get your “morning paper” delivered daily – be it a local or national publication — without getting newsprint on your fingers and having to stack it in a recycling box after reading.

As you likely know, the Kobo ships with 100 classics from the public domain and you can download more than 2.2 million eBooks from the Kobo Store. This lightweight device can store about 1,000 downloadable books (or up to 4,000 via an optional SD memory card). Once you set up a free account, you can also download and use Kobo apps on smartphones, tablets or PCs – plus, you can begin reading a book on the device and continue where you left off elsewhere (or vice-versa).

The glare-free, 6-inch screen features e-ink technology and users can choose from one of five font sizes. The rubberized, quilted back makes the device comfortable to hold, while the blue d-pad on the bottom right of the unit is used to turn “pages” and select content to read.

The Kobo, however, does not offer many other bells and whistles, such as MP3 playback, touch capability or annotation support. The newer Kobo Wi-Fi has an integrated dictionary, but the original Kobo eReader does not.

Plenty of pubs

Here’s a list of some of the publications offered by Kobo:

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
National Post
Globe & Mail
Calgary Herald
Edmonton Journal
Montreal Gazette
Ottawa Citizen
Regina Leader-Post
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
Vancouver Province
Vancouver Sun
Victoria Times-Colonist
The Scientist
The Seattle Times
Wilson Quarterly
Foreign Affairs
American Scholar
China International Business
Columbus Dispatch
Guideposts
Harvard Business Review
National Review
New York Observer
PC Magazine
Publishers Weekly
Reason
The Christian Science Monitor Daily Briefing
The Nation

Kobo says it will be continuing to expand its newspaper and magazine offering over time.

Readers, do you prefer to read your news in a traditional newspaper or digitally? Does it matter to you?