IDG Indigo Books and Music Inc

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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