Technologies

Kobo Releases the Elipsa 2E to Rival the Kindle Scribe

Kobo’s second-generation Elipsa features a redesigned stylus and costs $399.

Kobo is improving the Elipsa, its flagship E Ink tablet. The Amazon Kindle rival launched the Kobo Elipsa 2E, the second generation of E Ink tablet that lets its users write directly on Kobo books, as well as PDFs and ePubs. The Kobo Elipsa 2E costs $399 and is available for preorder starting Wednesday and will be released on April 19.

The Elipsa 2E retains many of the features of its predecessor –such as its 10.3-inch E Ink display with adjustable warm and cool lights, as well as its 32GB of storage –but adds a redesigned stylus to improve the handwriting experience. The new stylus on the Elipsa 2E is also now rechargeable, comes with an eraser on the back and connects magnetically to the Elipsa 2E.

The original Elipsa will still be available and will also cost $399, though it will include both the stylus and a case. The case for the Elipsa 2E is sold separately for $70.

This news comes on the heels of the new Kobo Plus ebook subscription in the US, a rival to the all-in-one Kindle Unlimited subscription plan.

While Kobo Plus offers an almost identical service to Kindle Unlimited, the Kobo Elipsa offers a feature that the Amazon Kindle Scribe lack: the ability to handwrite notes directly on the page of an ebook.

That’s because Kobo is currently the only company that lets its users write directly on all ebooks in the Kobo library. Elipsa owners can mark up any page of a Kobo book or library book just as if they were writing in the margins of their books at home.

This is in stark contrast to Amazon’s treatment of its vast ebook library, where this practice is not allowed. Instead, users have to open a sticky note application to jot down their thoughts. The notes are aggregated in the Notes and Highlights section and do not appear on the page as you read.

«We understand that, for many of our valued customers, reading is more than words on a page. It is about engaging with ideas. Marking up, highlighting, capturing inspiration in infinite notebooks of almost magical capability using a versatile, intuitively-designed stylus – these are essential for capturing the thoughts and ideas that reading inspires,» Michael Tamblyn, CEO of Rakuten Kobo, said in a press release on Wednesday.

While the original Elipsa was great for annotating books, its notebook functionality was limited. When comparing the top E Ink tablets, CNET found that the stylus experienced some lag when handwriting notes and we wished there were more note-taking templates. Kobo has yet to announce any additional notebook functionality, so we’ll have to wait to see if the new device addresses some of our initial complaints.

Technologies

Samsung’s iPhone Fold Killer Is Leaked

Technologies

How to Tell if Someone Else’s Apple AirTag Is Tracking You

These settings can help make sure your iPhone alerts you to unwanted location trackers.

The biggest benefit of Apple’s AirTags is that they help you find your belongings, whether you’re looking for lost keys or keeping track of your luggage while traveling. But AirTags can also be used to track you without your knowledge.

AirTags work by combining built-in sensors, wireless signals and Apple’s wide Find My network to let you keep tabs on your valuables. If you ever lose your wallet with an AirTag inside, for example, you can use the Find My app to locate it on a map, have it play a sound to help you find it nearby, or mark it as «lost,» which allows other Find My users to help you find it.

One of the biggest complaints about AirTags, however, is that someone with malicious intent could easily slip one of the tiny tags into your bag and then track your movements without your consent. Multiple people have reported AirTag-related stalking incidents where the victims didn’t know the trackers were placed on them until much later.

Apple and Google (Android users have their own choice of Bluetooth trackers, such as the Moto Tag, which works with Google’s Find Hub) have since collaborated on an industry standard that alerts the user if a device is being used to track them without their knowledge. Thanks to this collaboration, Android users will be able to know if an AirTag is being used to track them, too.

Apple, for its part, has also made some changes in the past few years that improve the ability to detect an unwanted AirTag. In the initial rollout, an AirTag would make a sound three days after it’s separated from its paired device. Now, that duration is 8 to 24 hours. If you have unwanted tracking notifications enabled (which we’ll get to below), you’ll receive an audible alert.

We should note here that the new AirTag is 50% louder than the first-generation model, and would therefore be theoretically better at alerting you to the unwanted AirTag. Apple has also said that the speaker on the second-gen AirTag is harder to remove than on the first-gen model, in case bad actors try to remove it.

Detecting unwanted trackers

To be able to detect unwanted trackers, first enable unwanted-tracking notifications. For AirTags or other Find My accessories, these pop-up notifications (e.g., «AirTag found moving with you») are available on devices with iOS 14.5 or later. For other Bluetooth tracking devices, these notifications are enabled on iOS 17.5 or later.

You should enable Location Services, Find My iPhone, Bluetooth and Allow Notifications. Here’s how:

Head to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services and toggle it on.
After that, head to Settings, then Apple Account, select Find My and turn Find My iPhone on.
To enable Bluetooth, go to Settings, then Bluetooth and turn that on.
Then go to Settings, then Notifications, scroll down to Tracking Notifications and toggle on Allow Notifications. Make sure airplane mode is off, or you won’t receive tracking notifications.

What to do when you get the tracking notification

If you do get a notification like «Unknown tracker alert» or «Item detected near you,» you can try to find the unwanted AirTag by tapping it. Tap continue and then tap Play Sound or tap Find Nearby to locate the AirTag in question.

If it doesn’t play a sound or you’re unable to find it, the item may no longer be on your person. Apple suggests checking your other belongings or the area around you, just in case. If you want to review the notification at a later time, you can open the Find My app, tap Items and then tap Items Detected With You.

Be aware that there are often «false positives,» when notifications are triggered when someone nearby has a tracker on them. If you’re traveling on a train, plane or bus, waiting in line or seated in a public space, a mistaken tracking alert could stem from glitches or high-density Bluetooth environments.

If you get an alert, though, it’s always a good idea to take it seriously and investigate what might be causing it.

If you do find an AirTag that doesn’t belong to you, hold the top of your iPhone near the tracker until you see a notification. Tap it, and this will launch a website that provides information like its serial number, the last four digits of the phone number or a blurred-out email address of its owner. If the AirTag is marked as «lost,» you may see a message with instructions on how to contact them.

If you’re concerned that the tracker is being used to monitor your movements and location, Apple advises taking a screenshot of the information above for your records. You can then disable the AirTag by pressing down on the back of the AirTag, turning it counterclockwise to remove the cover and removing the battery.

Of course, before making any of these changes, it’s important to come up with a safety plan, especially if you’re afraid you’re being tracked by a current or former abusive partner. Contact your local law enforcement if you feel like your safety is at risk, or the National Domestic Violence Hotline 800-799-SAFE (7233).