I’d actually completely overlooked Borders as a participant in the eReader wars, but yesterday Borders announced a couple of moves obviously designed to establish its position in the eReader market alongside Apple’s iBooks, Barnes & Nobles’ Nook and Amazon’s Kindle, kicking off with the news that its Kobo eReader, due out in September, will be bundled with a $20 Borders gift card, and double Borders Bucks that can be used towards a future Borders purchase. The price of the Kobo remains a competitive $149.99, and it comes with 100 free titles.
As well as announcing the new Kobo bundle, Borders also launched its free iPad and iPhone app, which offers the ability to browse and buy over a million eBooks. Readers can search by title, author, topic or keyword and enjoy automatic bookmarking, print quality resolution, smooth transitions between pages and chapters and customized fonts and type sizes – pretty much standard fare for any eReader these days.
Of course Borders also has the advantage of being able to lure us in with other temptations, and is therefore playing to its strengths and offering customers a free coffee in its "Seattle’s Best Coffee" cafes when they show a Borders eBooks app on their iPad or iPhone/iPod touch.
Source: Borders
