Kobo Expands Social Experience on iOS

TORONTO, May 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Kobo, a global leader in eReading with over 3.5 million readers worldwide, announced today new enhancements to its industry-leading eReading apps for iOS devices.  These enhancements include extending Reading Life to Twitter, enabling users to share quotes, passages, notes, book covers and awards easily to their twitter feed.

The launch of Kobo's Reading Life marked the industry's first comprehensive social eReading experience.  Nearly all of Kobo's iPad and iPhone users have started using Reading Life and to date, nearly 5 million awards have been collected by loyal readers everywhere.   Kobo has also seen a dramatic increase - over 50% - in users' reading time since the launch of Reading Life in December.  Kobo plans to roll out new innovative features for Reading Life and bring the program to new partners, platforms and languages throughout 2011.

Kobo users have achieved impressive milestones in the short time of Reading Life's existence, including the Juggernaut award - awarded to thousands of users who have read over 10,000 pages in a few short months.  Users of Reading Life are social butterflies - 98% of Kobo app users access Reading Life on a regular basis and over 90% of users who have connected Reading Life to Facebook share regularly.  "Reading Life is helping us bring the culture of books - beyond just buying and reading - to eBooks.  Our customers have responded with amazing engagement, but also a substantial increase in time spent reading.   Bringing Twitter to Reading Life will enable our customers to reach out to friends in real-time, enabling new opportunities for conversation and discovery," said Michael Serbinis, CEO, Kobo, Inc.

This latest release includes the following features:

• Easily share the Reading Life Mosaic via Twitter with followers
• Share your latest read with followers
• Share your favorite quotes and passages, notes and thoughts with followers 
• Easily Share Awards - just for time spent reading
• View awards friends have earned by tapping on the shared award from the Activity feed on iPhone or iPad
• Chat with friends about great new reads 
• Purchase or start reading books recommended by friends simply by tapping on the shared book cover from the Activity feed
• Organize your growing library by creating and personalizing shelves of books, newspapers, magazines and documents - to your taste

Kobo's store offers a selection of over 2.3 million eBooks, with titles ranging from the NYT bestseller list, the hottest new releases, thrillers, romance and more.  Plus, Kobo also offers access to the most popular newspapers and magazines.  Since its launch in 2009, Kobo has been dedicated to an open cloud-based platform, enabling users to read on any device and with open standards that give users freedom to build their lifetime libraries as they choose.  

The Kobo eReading app for iPhone, iPad, and iTouch  can be downloaded for free from www.kobo.com or the iTunes App Store.  Customers who currently have Kobo on their iPad or iPhone can download the update directly on their device.

About Kobo, Inc.

Kobo, is a global eReading service with more than 2.3 million eBooks, magazines and newspapers - one of the largest eReading catalogues in the world. Kobo believes consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device and has attracted millions of readers from over 100 countries across the globe.   Kobo has top ranked eReading applications for iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Windows, MacOS and is the eReading application of choice for leading tablet OEMs.  The Kobo Wireless eReader is also available at leading retailers including Indigo, Future Shop, Walmart, Best Buy, Borders, WHSmith, Angus & Robertson's, and Whitcoull's. Kobo's recently announced, innovative Reading Life, marked the launch of an industry first comprehensive social eReading experience  -  Kobo users can earn awards simply for time spent reading. Kobo is backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music Inc, Cheung Kong Holdings, and institutional investors.   For more information, visit www.kobo.com.

Contact:  Karina Tang/Kourtney Schepman
Rogers & Cowan
212-445-8419/310-854-8168
[email protected]/[email protected]

SOURCE Kobo