Borders will cut prices on two of its electronic-book readers by about $20 on Wednesday, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Border’s Kobo reader, powered by Canada’s Kobo, in which Borders has an equity stake, will drop to $129.99 from $149.99 and its Aluratek Libre reader will go to $99.99 from $119.99.
The devices aim to compete with more popular Amazon Kindle ($139), Barnes and Noble Nook ($149) and the Apple iPad ($499). It follows price cuts on the Nook and Kindle earlier this summer.
Borders also announced preorders for their color ebook readers, the Velocity Micro Cruz Reader R101 (right) and The Cruz Tablet T103 for $199 and $299, respectively.
The two color Cruz Readers are based on the Android operating system and 7 inch color displays. The Cruz Reader has a resistive touchscreen while The Cruz Tablet has a capacitive touchscreen display. The higher priced Cruz Tablet also has more memory and is more focused on the media experience. They can both be used to view pictures and browse the web.
Borders also announced some changes to its Rewards loyalty program and you can now choose from one of two programs. A free program includes 30% off list price of hardcover bestsellers and free shipping for online orders of $25 or more. The Rewards Plus program includes 40% off hardcover bestsellers, 20% off select hardcovers, 10% off most everything else and free shipping on all online orders.
Borders kicked off the low price ebook reader wars with the Kobo eReader launching at $149 and then Barnes & Noble and Amazon followed by dropping the price of their more capable ereaders down to $149 and $139.
