INDIGO'S COMMITMENT TO ENGAGING READERS CONTINUES AS KOBO LAUNCHES BLACKBERRY® MESSENGER -BASED SOCIAL READING APPLICATION AT BL
May 03 2011 - 1:12PM
PR Newswire (Canada)
TORONTO, May 3 /CNW/ -- TORONTO, May 3 /CNW/ - Indigo Books &
Music Inc. is delighted to announce that their majority owned Kobo
Inc., a leader in global eReading, is set to launch the pre-release
version of their highly anticipated social reading application
today at booth #359 - at BlackBerry® World™. The
new BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) Social Platform (currently
available in beta), enables developers to build applications that
take advantage of a BlackBerry smartphone's social aspects as well
as the push architecture of the BlackBerry® platform. The
Kobo app provides BlackBerry® smartphone users with the industry's
first social eReading experience and will be highlighted at the
Kobo booth during the Solutions Showcase May 3-5. Indigo, Canada's
largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer is committed to
enhancing the reading experience for book lovers regardless of the
format in which they choose to read. According to Indigo Books
& Music CEO and Founder, and Kobo Chair Heather Reisman,
"BlackBerry Messenger has over 43 million users globally and is the
leading social platform for communication and collaboration."
She added, "It's fitting that Kobo is partnering with Research In
Motion to extend the book lover's experience by connecting them
with their BBM contacts over common reading interests." Using the
Kobo application, readers can easily: -- Find out which of their
BBM friends have the book(s) they're considering buying -- Chat
with friends in real-time about which books they have in common in
their lifetime digital libraries -- Browse friends' libraries to
discover books that may be of interest -- Control privacy and
visibility settings to choose who sees their digital library
"Developing a social eReading app for the BBM Social Platform fits
perfectly with our strategy to ignite social interaction among
readers, providing a new highly engaging dimension for the
passionate reading community," said Todd Humphrey, EVP of business
development, Kobo. "Our integration with BBM is a powerful new way
for consumers to share their love of reading with friends, their
extended families and everyone in their BBM social network.
It gives readers a fun, easy and exciting way to dive deeper into
reading." In addition to showing the industry's first social
eReading experience on a BlackBerry® smartphone, Kobo will
demonstrate its eReading app on the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet at
the BlackBerry World conference. Kobo's eReading application
comes pre-loaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook, which is sold
nationally at Indigo, Chapters and online at chapters.indigo.ca.
Forward-Looking Statements Statements contained in this news
release that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements which involve risk and uncertainties that could cause
results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements. Among the key factors that could cause
such differences are: general economic, market or business
conditions in Canada; competitive actions by other companies;
changes in laws or regulations; and other factors, many of which
are beyond the control of the Company. About Indigo Books &
Music Inc. Indigo is a publicly traded Canadian company listed on
the Toronto Stock Exchange (IDG) and the majority shareholder
of the global eReading service Kobo, Inc. As the largest
book, gift and specialty toy retailer in Canada, Indigo operates in
all provinces under different banners including Indigo Books &
Music; Indigo Books, Gifts, Kids; IndigoSpirit, Chapters, The
World's Biggest Bookstore, and Coles. The online division,
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca, features books, eBooks, toys, gifts
and, and hosts the award winning Indigo Online Community. 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 and MacOS, and is the eReading
application of choice for leading tablet OEMs. The Kobo
Wireless eReader is also available at leading retailers including
Indigo, 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. The BlackBerry and RIM
families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive
properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM
assumes no obligations or liability and makes no representation,
warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any
third party products or services. To view this news release in HTML
formatting, please use the following URL:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2011/03/c8893.html p
Media Contact: Janet Eger, Director, Public Relations, Indigo Books
& Music Inc.,br/ 416.342.8561; a
href="mailto:jeger@indigo.ca"jeger@indigo.ca/a /p
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