Read On

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

There’s never been a better time to buy a Kobo Touch!

Kobo Touch offers an unmatched reading experience and now, we’re adding amazing the amazing value of a free membership to the Kobo 2012 Book Club. As a Kobo Book Club member, you’ll receive an exclusive free book offer for every month of 2012!

Try a new genre, discover new authors, and expand your digital library with the Kobo 2012 Book Club. You’ll automatically receive a membership when you activate your new Kobo Touch anytime from today till March 31st, 2012 and select to receive email updates from Kobo.* It’s that easy!

Wondering what to expect?

In January, Book Club members will receive a promo code to redeem any one of the follow picks free:

• Pride and Prejudice – The Wild and Wanton Edition by Anabella Bloom & Jane Austen
• HBR’s 10 Must Reads: On Managing People published by Harvard Business Review Press
• Star Wars Vs Star Trek by Matt Forbeck

Don’t miss this great opportunity. Buy and activate your Kobo Touch today and get ready to expand your reading with 12 great free reads!
The Kobo 2012 Book Club is made possible through Kobo’s collaborative work with a community of distinguished publishers and writers. Thanks to our launch publishing partners e-Reads, F+W Media, Gooseberry Patch, Harvard Business Review Press, Kensington Publishing Corp., and New Word City. Plus participating writers Blake Crouch, J.A. Konrath, Shayna Krishnasamy and Phyllis Smallman. We hope look forward to expanding the participating community in the coming months!

*Offer available to residents of Canada and United States. See full Terms and Conditions.

{ 3 comments }

If you are clicking away and looking for great deals this Cyber Monday Kobo.com is your place to shop.

Our biggest eBook sale of 2011 is here! Stock up your library on bestsellers, favourite authors at the best prices!

Here are the amazing deals and savings on eBooks you will find this Cyber Monday at Kobo.com:

• Get 60% off over 1000 titles

• Get 50% off these select eBooks

• Get 30% off these select eBooks

• Get 20% off these select eBooks

Click here to start shopping.

Be sure to share these amazing Cyber Monday deals and savings with your friends and family!

This Black Friday forget strolling through the mall to find great deals, and certainly there is no need to fight the crowds in already busy stores.

Get comfortable because Kobo.com is your one stop shop this Black Friday.

Have you been waiting for great deals before you buy an eReader?

Check out the Black Friday deals at Kobo.com! Don’t miss out!

And don’t forget to visit our blog at blog.kobobooks.com on Sunday night for more details about our Cyber Monday Deals!!

Today we released the first software update for our Kobo Vox customers. If you have a Kobo Vox, your eReader will automatically prompt you to update the next time it connects to the Internet. You can also manually check for updates by going to Settings > About > Check for Updates.

This update includes fixes for the following:

• An issue that prevented screens from turning back on after the Kobo Vox went to sleep.

• An issue that prevented some Kobo Vox eReaders from downloading software updates.

Have any questions about your Kobo Vox update?

Please contact Kobo Customer Care via email: help@kobobooks.com or by phone: 1-855-732-3662

Download the Kobo Vox firmware update today, and discover your next great read on your Kobo Vox eReader!

For the first time, this year’s Canada Reads theme is non-fiction.

This year’s contenders range from an astonishing story of survival, tour memoirs from a Canadian rocker, a behind-the-scenes look at what it is to be a hockey player in the NHL, a woman’s story of revolution and activism, and a deadly encounter between men and a vicious tiger.

The Canada Reads 2012 five finalists are:

Something Fierce by Carmen Aguirre
Defended by: Shad

On a Cold Road by Dave Bidini
Defended by: Stacey McKenzie

Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat
Defended by: Arlene Dickinson

The Tiger by John Vaillant
Defended by: Anne-France Goldwater

The Game by Ken Dryden
Defended by: Alan Thicke

Canada Reads is CBC Radio One’s annual battle of the books, in which each Canadian title is represented – and “defended” – by a Canadian personality. The five books are discussed, examined and weighed against each other. Over the course of four days, the finalists are debated and voted out one by one, until a winner is declared.

This year’s debates will take place from February 6th to 9th in front of a live audience.

CBC’s full story on the books and panelists here.

Have your own predictions for this year’s winner? Tell us what you think!

{ 1 comment }

Kobo, a Global Leader in eReading Expands Rakuten Offering to Include eBooks and eReaders Worldwide

TOKYO and TORONTO, November 8/9, 2011 — Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755) and Kobo Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Rakuten intends to acquire 100% of total issued and outstanding shares of Kobo for US$315 million in cash.

Kobo was founded by and spun out of Indigo, the largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer in Canada, in December, 2009. Since that time, Kobo has become a fierce competitor in the eBook marketplace, with a family of innovative eReaders, a wide range of eReading apps, one of the largest eBook catalogues, an innovative social platform and retail partners around the globe.

The acquisition marks a major step forward for Rakuten, one of the world’s top 3 e-commerce companies by revenue, as it continues to expand its unique B2B2C borderless e-commerce business globally, by adding an ecosystem to provide downloadable media products to consumers, starting with eBooks.

Hiroshi Mikitani, Chairman and CEO of Rakuten, commented on the acquisition, “We are very excited about this next step. Kobo provides one of the world’s most communal eBook reading experiences with its innovative integration of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter; while Rakuten offers Kobo unparalleled opportunities to extend its reach through some of the world’s largest regional e-commerce companies, including Buy.com in the US, Tradoria in Germany, Rakuten Brazil, Rakuten Taiwan, Lekutian in China, TARAD in Thailand, and Rakuten Belanja Online in Indonesia, and of course, Rakuten Ichiba in Japan.”

“From a business and cultural perspective this is a perfect match,” commented Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis. “We share a common vision of creating a content experience that is both global and social. Rakuten is already one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, while Kobo is the most social eBook service on the market and one of the world’s largest eBook stores with over 2.5 million titles. This transaction will greatly strengthen our position in our current markets and allow us to diversify quickly into other countries and e-commerce categories.”

Upon closing the acquisition, Kobo will continue to maintain its headquarters, management team and employees based in Toronto, Ontario.

The global eBook market is one of the fastest growing segments of the consumer technology industry, with a compound annual growth rate of 36% through 2015*. The global content market size is also expected to grow dramatically to reach approximately US$10.6 billion per year by 2015 (estimates exclude China).
*Sources: Based on forecasts by IDC, Yankee, BCG analysis & NRI for Japan 1USD= 80JPY

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Canadian regulatory authorities in accordance with the Investment Canada Act and is expected to close in Q1 2012.

About Kobo Inc. (www.kobo.com)
Kobo is a global eReading service with more than 2.5 million eBooks, magazines and newspapers – one of the largest eReading catalogues in the world. Read Freely – 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. Kobo eReaders, including the Kobo Touch and the newly launched Kobo Vox are available at leading retailers, including Indigo, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Future Shop, WHSmith, FNAC, Collins Booksellers and Whitcoull’s. Kobo’s innovative Reading Life is an industry-first comprehensive social eReading experience – Kobo users can earn awards simply for time spent reading and encouraging others. Kobo is backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music Inc., Cheung Kong Holdings, and institutional investors.

About Rakuten
Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755), is one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer and business-focused services including e-commerce, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal & media, online marketing and professional sports. Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit http://global.rakuten.com/group.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Rakuten:
In Japan: For Investors:
Public Relations (Japanese, English) Investor Relations (Japanese, English)
Rakuten, Inc. Rakuten, Inc.
Tel: +81-50-5817-1104 Tel: +81-3-6387-0555
E-mail: pr@mail.rakuten.com http://corp.rakuten.co.jp/en/ir/

In North America
Kelley Joyce
IF Communications
Tel: +1-917-566-0808
E-mail: kelley@if-communications.com

Kobo:
Wendy Zaas
Rogers & Cowan
Tel: +1-310-854-8148
E-mail: wzaas@rogersandcowan.com

The latest version of Kobo’s iOS app showcases the most anticipated features yet: Kobo Pulse and Syncing Annotations .

Kobo Pulse takes social reading to the next level by allowing you to join the in-book conversations and share your insights with the Kobo Pulse community. Plus, your highlights and notes are synced across your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices, so all your annotations are always accessible.

Social Reading gets even better with Kobo Pulse:

Feel the Life of A Book: Books come alive with Kobo Pulse. Find out how many people are reading with you and explore what people are saying about the hottest books. The Pulse indicator gets bigger and brighter on pages with the most activity, so you’ll never miss a lively discussion.

Join the Conversation: See what other readers think of your current read, share your ideas and opinions, and comment on individual passages and ongoing discussions with the Kobo Pulse Community.

Share your Reading Life: Share your comments and favourite passages -from your latest read, plus share your Reading Life awards and compare your reading stats with friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Your highlights and notes are now synced on iOS!

Sync your annotations: All of your notes and highlights are now synced, to the cloud and accessible on your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

Update your Kobo app for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch today here and join the conversation!

{ 1 comment }