Kalahari.net makes big eBooks play

Kalahari.net, the country’s largest online retailer, has introduced their own eBook reader, custom built in Adobe Air — with a new eBook store to go with it.

According to Bandwidth blog, the software is available for both Mac and PC. In the store, users can now search for, purchase and download from a collection of more than 180 000 titles already available on the site.

To read eBooks from Kalahari, users need to download the ecommerce site’s reader, a free software application for managing and reading eBooks in PDF or epub format on a PC, MAC or electronic reading device.

The availability of eBooks from a South African retailer could represent a significant saving for consumers struggling with the high cost of books. eBooks are cheaper than regular paper books and do not incur the further delivery costs associated with buying books online.

A four step process is required to take advantage of this new service:

1) Users need to download the kalahari.net reader for either Mac or PC. While this is a fairly simple task to accomplish, be aware that you will need an Adobe ID to install it. Once your computer is authorised, then you will be able to download your eBooks to a maximum of three different devices.

2) There are two different ways to browse for the eBooks that you want to purchase. When visiting kalahari.net, click on the eBooks tab to gain access to the complete library of available eBooks. Alternatively, you can browse the regular Kalahari.net bookstore and look out for the product description which reads “also available as an eBook.” By clicking that link, you will be re-directed to the eBook shop, where you can proceed to the checkout and purchase the title.

3) Once payment has been successfully completed, users will need to navigate to the “Library Box” section, from where they can begin to download eBooks.

4) Once you have downloaded the eBook, then you can save it to the device which you will be reading it on. According to kalahari.net, “if you connect an eReading device to your computer, the kalahari.net Reader will detect that it’s connected, and will show the documents on that device in a new Bookshelf”.