Competitive e-reader app now supports ePub and PDF

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Kobo, a competitive e-reader application, announced on August 26 that it now supports ePub and PDF files for those using its library through an iPhone or iPad. The development puts the app in competition with Amazon's Kindle software, which leads the digital reading market but supports only proprietary files.

Kobo Books has long been in favor of an open standard: Titles bought through Kobo are in ePub form, meaning they can be read on other devices or through other software, excluding services such as the Kindle that work only with a proprietary format.

Following Kobo's new development, Kobo users working on an iPhone or iPad can import ePub and PDF content from other e-book services to their Kobo library, meaning all of their digital books - such as free e-books from sources such as Project Gutenberg and Feedbooks - can potentially be stored in one place.

In the crowded market of e-book services, Kobo - despite its relative lack of name recognition - has been building a reputation as a solid offering with an extensive catalog. With its increased support of open standards, Kobo stands besides top services such as Nook, iBooks, and Sony, and it offers competition to the leading Kindle application, which, despite international availability and a top-notch catolog, gets frequent criticism for its closed standard.

EPub and PDF files added to Kobo must not be encrypted (non-DRM), and the device must be running on iOS 3.2 or higher.

Download eBooks by Kobo for iOS: http://itunes.apple.com/app/ebooks-by-kobo/id301259483?mt=8

http://www.kobobooks.com