Kobo™ introduces $99 Kobo Touch with offers expanding the Kobo family of eReaders

• Builds on the Promise of Making eReading Accessible to Everyone
• $99 Kobo Touch Edition with Offers is the Perfect Stocking Stuffer
• Four Kobo eReaders to Choose From - An eReader To Suit Everyone
• Amazing Black Friday and Cyber Monday Savings from Kobo Retail Partners
• New Software Update for the Kobo eReader Touch Enables Extensive Customization
• Access One of the World's Largest Bookstores with more than 2.5 Million eBooks with Over 1 Million Free Titles

TORONTO, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Kobo, a global leader in eReading with over 5.6 million users worldwide, announced that they have added to and extended their eReader device family with a new, sub-$100 eReader based on the popular Kobo eReader Touch Edition.  In addition, Kobo has greatly enhanced the Kobo Touch eReader with several significant new feature improvements, such as new customization options and enhanced speed to deliver a fully optimized eReading experience. Kobo now offers an eReader for everyone, at a selection of value price-points starting as low as $59.99, making Kobo a truly perfect gift for everyone on the holiday shopping list.

"eReaders are this season's hottest holiday gift giving category and the introduction of Kobo Touch with Offers makes giving the gift of eReading easier than ever," said Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo. "Kobo is the perfect gift to give with a selection of cost-effective readers, over 2.5 million eBooks, as well as the most popular newspapers and magazines. There is truly something for everyone."

CHOOSE FROM FOUR KOBO eREADERS TO BEST BALANCE YOUR READING AND BUDGET NEEDS.  PLUS, FIND AMAZING SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFERS FROM KOBO RETAIL PARTNERS!

THE KOBO Wi Fi

The Kobo Wi Fi was designed for readers, with a streamlined feature set dedicated to a true reading experience. Plus with Wi Fi, users can browse and buy eBooks anytime, anyplace on the go.  The Kobo Wi Fi comes preloaded with 100 free engaging classic reads.  Available in Onyx, the eReader is lightweight and compact, travels easily and carries up to 1,000 eBooks. Kobo Wi Fi is regularly priced at $99.99, with refurbished models in white with grey quilted back available for just $59.99 at kobo.com starting November 25^th and ending November 28^th, while quantities last.

THE KOBO TOUCH - "… makes massive ultra-modern leaps …" - Huffington Post

The Kobo Touch offers an amazing touch experience with Infrared Touch Technology that allows readers to easily swipe or tap to easily turn pages.  With the intuitive new touch interface, readers can highlight a phrase, look up a word, zoom into an image, increase the font size, or quickly navigate through a book and an entire library. Plus, finding that next read is also quick and easy with Wi-Fi and a virtual keyboard. Find Kobo Touch at the every day low price of just $129.99.

THE KOBO TOUCH with Offers

The new Kobo Touch with Offers is a lower-priced, ad-supported eReader that offers the same features and benefits as the Kobo Touch, but includes valuable offers and ad sponsored screens.  The ads appear when the eReader is powered off or in sleep mode, as well as in other discreet places outside of the reading experience -- for example on the bottom of the home screen.  Available in the United States only, the sleek and slim Kobo Touch with Offers is available in Black, priced at $99.99 and is now in-store and online at Target.com and at Kobo.com.

THE KOBO VOX™

The new Kobo Vox is an eReader and more! Kobo adds a wide selection of stunning color books for all ages to its store including interactive Read Along children's books that will ignite young imaginations on the brilliant 7" FFS+ multi-touch, multi-media screen. Kobo Vox opens a new world of social reading, featuring Kobo's Reading Life™ experience, now with Kobo Pulse™. Share ideas on passages with other readers within the pages of a book and share your Reading Life with friends on Facebook® and Twitter®. Built for connected life, Kobo Vox comes pre-loaded with great apps ready to go and offers access to Wi Fi, Web browsing, Facebook®, Rdio® music streaming, email, games, plus a store with over 15,000 apps for Android™!  Kobo Vox is available in four stunning colors: Lime Green, Ice Blue, Hot Pink and Jet Black at the everyday low price of $199.99.

WATCH FOR SPECIAL BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY OFFERS ON SELECT KOBO eREADERS FROM THESE LEADING RETAILERS:

• Best Buy
• Kmart
• Sears
• Target

NEWLY ENHANCED KOBO TOUCH …

Through new firmware the original Kobo eReader Touch Edition (introduced in May 2011) has been enhanced to provide the ultimate in flexibility and overall reading experience.  With the Kobo-signature soft quilted back, infrared touch technology and travel-friendly size, the Kobo Touch continues to provide readers with a book-like experience, but now with features even better than before.

Kobo Touch offers an amazing reading experience, with a slew of new features including:

• Easily swipe or tap to turn pages, with double taps to zoom in to 200% on a PDF
• Customize taps on the screen to turn pages and to bring additional comfort to left-handed readers
• A choice of seven font styles and 25 sizes to best suit individual eyesight needs- the most of any eReader on the market today.
• Add your own fonts for full customization
• Easy note making within a book while users read, as well as browsing and editing notes with the Annotations list
• Faster highlighting within books
• Search within a book - find terms inside of ePub books in seconds
• New personal home screen, choice of library views, highlighting, dictionary look-up, predictive search and automatic last page bookmarking
• Fully adjustable refresh rate for fast page turns
• A low-battery warning - icon alerts let readers know when that reach 10 percent and 5 percent of battery life
• Sleep and power off screens that show full screen book covers
• Progress indicator -- readers can easily find out how far they've read in each book, with percentages read displayed under each book title.

With battery life of up to one month, and storage of up to 30,000 books with expandable memory, the Kobo eReader Touch Edition delivers the freedom to read anywhere, at any time.

READ FREELY - KOBO SUPPORTS THE MOST CONTENT

The Kobo eReading service is built on an open platform, allowing consumers to read eBooks from other stores that use the ePub format - plus read PDF documents and books on a growing number of Kobo eReaders and apps.  The versatile Kobo eReader Touch Edition devices let users read ePub, PDF and MOBI format eBooks; view JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF images; review TXT, HTML and RTF materials; and enjoy CBZ and CBR comic book formats.  Consumers can also easily borrow and read eBooks from the local public library.

ACCESS MILLIONS OF TITLES

Kobo offers one of the largest stores worldwide, and consumers can easily connect via Wi Fi or USB and access over 2.5 million eBooks, with titles ranging from the New York Times' Bestseller List, the hottest new releases, thrillers, romance, newspapers, magazines and more - there is something for everyone.

SHOP AND READ ON ANY DEVICE WITH KOBO

Kobo offers free eReading apps so users can read on most popular devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, Android™ phones, iPhones®, iPads®, Blackberry® Smartphones and Blackberry® PlayBooks - in addition they can browse and shop the Kobo store.  Plus, with Kobo Sync you can read from one device to another and pick up from the page that you last read - your library will always be kept up to date.

GIVE THE GIFT OF eREADING

Kobo offers an assortment of great eReading gifts for holiday shoppers who want to give the gift of eReading. Kobo offers an assortment of enticing holiday gifts from the Kobo Touch eReader, to the Kobo Wireless eReader, eReader accessories, eBooks for everyone, and gifting features that make giving an eBook quick and easy! For recommended eReading gifts, holiday shoppers are encouraged to browse www.kobobooks.com/holgg, where users can also sign up to be notified when gifting is available.

WHERE TO BUY

Kobo eReaders are sold at leading US retailers including Best Buy, Target, Fry's, Kmart and Sears, and are available directly from Kobo.com.

About Kobo, Inc.

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, Walmart, 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.

SOURCE Kobo Inc.