Read On

By Dan Leibu, Chief Technology Officer

At Kobo, we always strive to be ahead of the curve; it’s what our customers have learned to expect from us and a passion that’s played an important part in keeping us atop of the competitive, ever-growing global eReading market.

And so we’re proud to be one of a select few kicking off this week the launch of applications for Facebook Timeline. Aimed at creating a more engaging online experience, apps allow users to bring their Timelines to life through sharing what they’re doing, the music they are listening to, the books they are reading, and more.

We already know that readers love sharing and talking about their experience with books, but organizing a book club isn’t always feasible in our fast-paced, digital world. With the rise of social media and the growing popularity of apps, reading no longer has to be done alone – it’s something that can be shared with friends.

Starting today, people on Facebook can download the free Kobo eReading app for iPhone or iPad, and then easily add Kobo Reading Life to their Facebook Timeline. Reading Life for Facebook lets you share your latest eBook activity with friends, whether you’re showing off a current book or staying on top of the hottest reading trends.

Ultimately, Reading Life for Facebook Timeline gives you a way to let others know what’s in your library while moving beyond simply sharing titles; this app is about sharing your Kobo reading experience in a fun, exciting and dynamic way.

Reading Life for Facebook Timeline builds upon the first Reading Life app we launched in 2010, adding a new dimension in Kobo’s commitment to making reading a more engaging social experience. We all know the key role reading plays in our lives – whether temporarily transporting us away from reality or bringing an important issue front and centre. Why not share that passion with others?

This new feature is available on Reading life for iPad and iPhone, and will be rolling out to other platforms on the near future.

Download the Kobo iOS App today!

For iPhone: www.kobo.com/iPhone
For iPad: www.kobo.com/iPad

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Love independent books? Are you feeling bookishly adventurous, or in the mood for something new?

There’s never been a better time to sample some of the finest independent Canadian eBooks available. From now until January 22nd, we’re offering a selection of indie reads – from literary fiction to memoirs, mysteries, young adult reads and more.

And better still, for every indie eBook you buy on or before January 22nd, you’ll be automatically entered into a draw to win a Kobo Touch eReader.

So try something new. Something fresh. Something uniquely Canadian.

Want to know more? Go to http://www.kobo.com/indiereads now, and find your next great independent read.

For the full terms and conditions, please go here

With the Kobo Touch and Kobo Desktop software updates, your eReading experience will become more intuitive, personalized and tailored to suit your eReading needs.

Find out what the Kobo Touch update has in store for you:

• New Book Recommendations: Your eBook recommendations are now at your finger tips! The new book lists at the bottom of your Home screen showcase books you may be interested in, as well as any books you’ve added to your Shortlist.

• New Home Menu: A consolidated Home menu will now contain your Library, Store, Reading Life, Settings, Sync, and Help.

• New Sync Options: Sync anytime and anywhere by touching the cloud icon in the status bar.

• Other Improvements: Now you’ll enjoy faster page turning and searching, plus crisper and sharper text.

Find out what Kobo Desktop Application has in store for you:

• New “Recommended for you”: This new panel automatically finds books tailored to your tastes.

• Other Improvements: You’ll enjoy better performance and overall experience.

Click here to update Kobo Desktop, and don’t forget to download the new Kobo Touch software update today!

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The new software update for Kobo Vox features key bug fixes and will allow users to experience new customization and enhanced features.

The following improvements have been incorporated:

• Resolved issue with battery level not reporting the correct charge.
• Resolved issue with some customers losing their WiFi connectivity.
• Improved video streaming.
• Improved the stability of device resuming from Standby mode.
• Plus various bug fixes.

Check out these new and exciting features included in the latest Kobo Vox release:

Improved reading menu: New reading menu will allow you to easily access and customizes your reading preferences; brightness, font size, page styling and many more.

Dictionary: With the new dictionary feature you will be able to look up a word or a phrase right from the eBook.

New Page themes: Read your eBooks in the soft sepia colour tone that mimics a vintage-style book.

New Fonts: Times New Roman font style is now available.

New Shelf Backgrounds: Now your Kobo book shelf can be just as stylish as your Kobo Vox, with many sleek styles to choose from.

Direct Search: Browse the Kobo Bookstore directly from the Android Search widget.

Kobo Store Home Button: Kobo Store Home Button is now easier to find.

Powering on your Kobo Vox: To power on the Kobo Vox, press the button for 2.5s, or until the LED lights up, before the Kobo Vox can be powered on. This enhancement will reduce customers accidentally powering on the Kobo Vox.

All Kobo Vox users will receive an automatic notification to update their software or you can check for the update manually by going to Settings > About Kobo eReader > System Update.

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We are thrilled to announce that Kobo Touch eReader took the top honours and was named Wired Magazine’s Editor’s Pick!

Kobo Touch design was described as “handsome and comfortable”, its touch screen as “fastest and most responsive” and our user experience was evaluated as most “intuitive interface and easy to annotate books”.

Wired Magazine is amongst the most influential technology magazines with circulation of over 800,000.
For their January 2012 issue, Wired magazine evaluated eReading industry’s top contenders for their test-comparison story – Kobo Touch eReader was compared against Nook Simple Touch, the Sony Reader and Amazon Kindle.

This news came to the Kobo Team as an early holiday present, about which we are very excited, and thought that we would share with you! Click here for page 1 & page 2 of the review.

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If you read on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, you may have noticed some changes in your Kobo library since a recent iOS system update.

As part of iOS 5, the system automatically purges data from your device when it runs out of disk space. Unfortunately, when this happens, your books will be deleted from your library without your permission – meaning you will have to re-download your books again.

To avoid your books being deleted, we recommend that you update to the latest version of the Kobo app (version 5.1) AND upgrade to iOS 5.0.1 as we’ve included a fix for this.

To upgrade your device to iOS 5.0.1:

1. Connect your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to your computer.
2. Launch iTunes.
3. Under Devices, click on your iPad / iPhone / iPod Touch.
4. Click on the “Check for update” button and follow the instructions.

To update the Kobo app to 5.1:

1. Launch the App Store on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.
2. Tap “Updates” in the bottom menu bar.
3. Tap ‘Update’ beside the Kobo app.

Our latest version of the Kobo app allows you to retain the last 10 books you’ve read.

To access these Kobo settings:

1. From your home screen, tap “Settings.”
2. Scroll down to “Apps” and tap “Kobo.” Your Settings are visible under the “Storage” heading.
3. Under “Permanently Store”, choose “10 most recent items.”

Also, to help you manage your library and maintain the best eReading experience, our latest update includes an auto-alert to warn you that your device is near full capacity as well as a notification to let you know that the system has removed your books.

If you have any questions or concerns we would like to hear from you. Please contact us via help@kobobooks.com or visit Get Help at www.kobobooks.com/help

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Nominated amongst Canada’s digital elites, ranging from the brightest stars, game changers and industry leaders was an honour in itself.

We are so pleased to share that on December 6th, Kobo was honoured with a Digi Award for being one of Canada’s Top Digital Companies!

The Digi Awards showcases remarkable Canadian digital media companies, projects, products and pioneers that are putting Canada at the forefront of the international media landscape.

At Kobo, we believe you should be able to read anytime, anyplace and on any device, and that’s been our mission from day one. We’re excited to share that Kobo will be developing apps for the Windows 8 app store when it opens.

We are thrilled to be part of the Windows Store preview this afternoon in San Francisco, and believe that our upcoming Windows app will bring Windows 8 users a next-generation reading experience with access to one of the world’s largest bookstores of over 2.5 eBooks – which includes more than 1 million free titles to download and read for free.

For more information on the Windows Store, visit the Windows Newsroom. Plus, download Kobo’s popular free eReading apps for smartphones, tablets, desktops and laptops can be downloaded here.

In order to keep pace with our rapid growth and to provide a more global support model across many products, countries and languages, we recently made a number of changes to our customer support infrastructure. We expect that these changes, when complete will allow us to serve more readers, with a higher quality of service around the world.

The transition to our new platform has caused challenges for some of our customers resulting in longer phone wait times, and delayed email responses. We have been working diligently to identify the problems and resolve them to reach the level of service our customers expect. As a result, we expect to see significant improvement in response times within the next week.

While the world of eReading is a rapidly changing one, ultimately our goal is to make it easy for you to get your questions answered quickly and to take technology out of the equation so you can focus on your reading enjoyment.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Sincerely,

Mark Stevens
VP Customer Care
vpcc@kobo.com