Kobo, a unique eBook platform, arrives in the UK

Kobo, an eBook shop backed by the US wing of the retail store Borders, launches in the UK today. It boasts a library of over 2 million titles and is supported by a range of large publishers including Random House UK, Penguin Group UK, Bloomsbury, Simon & Schuster UK and Faber & Faber.

Kobo's big advantage over rival eBook platforms like Amazon's Kindle is that its books can be read on a number of platforms including several smartphones. So book buyers can use the Kobo software on Blackberry, Google Android, Palm and the iPhone handsets, as well as the many ereaders, tablet PCs and laptops that use the industry standard E-ink format. Kobo also keeps all of a reader's devices in sync, enabling them to read from device to device.

The company says it will sell many leading titles for around £8.99 with older books available at lower prices. Classics from the likes of Jane Austen and Louisa M Alcott are available as free downloads.

On its blog the company has confirmed that it will in the future it will also offer magazines and newspapers via its platform. This could make Kobo a very attractive proposition to customer publishers

"The UK presents a huge opportunity for Kobo to showcase its global capabilities," said Michael Tamblyn, Kobo's Executive Vice President of content, sales and merchandising. "Our focus is on assembling the world's best catalogue of content for our readers and delivering a fantastic purchasing and reading experience on any device a customer chooses. We will also provide readers in the UK with a huge selection of content."

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