Borders® and Aluratek Partner on 'Libre' eBook Reader Pro, First $119 Device Featuring Link to Borders eBook Store Available for Pre-Order at Borders.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Borders® and Aluratek today announced an agreement to feature Aluratek's "Libre" eBook Reader Pro in Borders' growing lineup of eReaders. Pre-orders are now being taken at www.borders.com/libre with shipments to begin in early July. The Libre will be available in Borders stores within special digital shops called "Area-e" in August.

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The Libre will be available at Borders for just $119.99, significantly lower in cost than many of the eReading devices now available. The new eReader is in line with Borders' plan to provide a "good, better, best" selection of eReaders that will appeal to virtually any customer who wants to enjoy digital books. With the included link to the Borders eBook store, Libre users can access the upcoming Borders branded eBook store powered by Kobo.

The Libre offers multi-function features such as the ability to play digital music and display digital photo albums at a low price-point. Other features include auto-off, page advance, innovative LCD technology and superior battery life that powers up to 24 hours of continuous use.  

Maintaining its device neutral approach, Borders will offer up to 10 devices by the end of the year.

"Borders believes in giving its customers a depth and breadth of eReader device offerings and the Libre maps to this strategy," said Borders Group Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Edwards. "By offering eReading devices at price points in the neighborhood of $100, we can introduce a population of readers to the joy of eReading who would not have considered buying devices at entry points of $250 to $500." 

"We're building an eReader that will support the most powerful brand in books and we know Borders shares our vision of bringing an affordable eReader to the masses," said John Wolikow, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Aluratek. "Unlike others in the marketplace who see an eBook store as a means for selling their own hardware, it makes sense for Borders to take a device-neutral approach and offer their printed book readers a depth of eReader choices."

About the Libre

The Libre utilizes Reflect Light LCD technology, enabling readers to turn pages at lightning–fast speed with no back lighting, so reading on the Libre's black and white 5-inch screen is as soft on the eyes as reading a book. And because pages don't need to be lit, the Libre offers unprecedented battery life. Noticeably absent are the flickerings and flashes during page transitions, which some readers report experiencing on eReaders that utilize e-Ink. 

About Aluratek, Inc.

Aluratek was formed by a group of industry veterans who believe that computer peripherals and consumer electronics could be both sophisticated in their function and user-friendly. The goal of Aluratek is to embody "Simple Elegance" in every product it designs, manufactures and sells. The product focus of Aluratek is to bring simple yet elegant connectivity solutions that enhance the user experience on consumer electronics, communications and computing devices. Each product is carefully designed with the consumer in mind. Each product is solution-driven to address the need of the consumer and deliberately planned to provide the ultimate user experience. Current Aluratek product offerings include: Digital Photo Frames, Digital Camcorders, an eReader, Internet Radio, and external storage devices. For more information, please visit www.aluratek.com.

About Borders Group, Inc.

Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., through its subsidiaries, Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) is a leading specialty retailer of books as well as other educational and entertainment items. The company employs approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders® and Waldenbooks® stores. Online shopping is offered through borders.com. Find author interviews and vibrant discussions of the products we and our customers are passionate about online at facebook.com/borders, twitter.com/borders and youtube.com/bordersmedia. For more information about the company, visit borders.com/media.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. One can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "expect," "planning," "possibility," "opportunity," "goal," "will," "may," "intend," "anticipates," "working toward" and other words of similar meaning. One can also identify them by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements are likely to address matters such as the company's future financial condition and performance (including earnings per share, profitability, liquidity, cash flows, debt levels, market share growth and other sales information, inventory levels and capital expenditures), its cost reduction initiatives and plans for store closings and the expansion of product categories, including eBook content and eReaders. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the company's forward-looking statements.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, consumer demand for the company's products, particularly during the holiday season, which is believed to be related to general economic and geopolitical conditions, competition and other factors; the availability of adequate capital--including vendor credit--to fund the company's operations and to carry out its strategic plans; adverse litigation results or other claims, the performance of the company's information technology systems and, with respect to eBook content and eReaders, the availability to the company of anticipated content levels and a variety of competitive devices.

The company's periodic reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission contain more detailed discussions of these and other risk factors that could cause actual results and plans to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements, and those discussions are incorporated herein by reference. The company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Borders