Kobo continues international expansion launching in the Netherlands with Libris Blz.

Award Winning Kobo Touch eReader will be Available Online and In-Stores for €129.00

THE NETHERLANDS / TORONTO, Jan. 24, 2012 /CNW/ - Kobo, a global leader in eReading with over 7 million users in more than 170 countries worldwide, announced today that Dutch retailer Libris Blz. are selling the award winning* Kobo Touch eReader online at www.libris.nl  and www.blz.nl with free shipping, and it will be in select stores starting Jan 30 - for €129.00. Kobo offers one of the world's largest bookstores with more than 2.5 million ebooks, which now includes thousands of bestselling Dutch titles.

"Through our new partnership with Libris Blz., we're confident our expansion into the Netherlands will be a huge success," said Michael Serbinis, CEO of Kobo.  "Kobo's focus has always been to bring eReading and eBooks to people everywhere around the world.  By launching in the Netherlands, and bringing eReading to the passionate Dutch reading community - we are one more country closer to delivering on that promise."

"Libris Blz. and Kobo are a perfect fit, as we are driven by a strong passion for reading and books, and both organisations see great potential in eReading," stated Caroline Damwijk, Managing Director of Libris Blz. B.V.

THE KOBO TOUCH - Built by booklovers, for booklovers.
The Kobo Touch offers a best-in-class reading experience, with an amazing touch experience, that uses Infrared Touch Technology, allowing readers to easily swipe or tap to turn pages.  With the intuitive touch interface, readers can highlight a phrase, lookup 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.

The Kobo eReader Touch is the first eReader to be available in multiple languages and offers a completely local experience, including content, recommendations, and the Kobo store.  Readers may choose from English, French, Canadian French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

KOBO TOUCH FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS:

• New Pearl 6" E Ink Screen - Equipped with the newest E Ink screen featuring 16 level grey scale, the Kobo Touch is a highly responsive and intuitive experience designed to help you forget about the device and focus on reading.
• The eInk screen is glare free and easy to read in bright sunlight
• Read in Style - Kobo's signature quilted soft-touch back and travel-friendly size offer the ultimate reading comfort and experience - choose from white, black, silver, blue and lilac
• Customize taps on the screen to turn pages  to bring additional comfort to left-handed readers
• A choice of 7 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
• Easily highlight favourite passages within books
• Fully adjustable refresh rate for fast page turns
• 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 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 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.

GET SOCIAL WITH KOBO READING LIFE
Kobo offers the industry leading social platform, Reading Life, that provides the ability to connect with friends or create book clubs and discuss favorite reads on Facebook and Twitter. Plus, users can track their reading statistics, and unlock fun and exciting awards just for reading.

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.

WHERE TO BUY
The Kobo Touch eReader is available for immediate purchase online from Libris at www.libris.nl  and Blz. at www.blz.nl, including free shipping and delivery, and in select stores starting Jan 30 - for €129.00.

Kobo will be launching a fully localized Dutch website in February.  For more information and to download the free Kobo International eReading app avaible in Dutch please visit kobobooks.com/welkomlibrisblz

* Named "Editor's Pick" in Wired Magazine: eInk Reader Round-up: January 2012 Edition; Won prestigious "Jaus de L'Industrie" for  innovative & lightweight design of the Kobo Touch eReader; Institut Francais du Design (IFD); Nov 2011

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.  As part of its "Read Freely" mentality, Kobo believes consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device and has attracted millions of readers from more than 170 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 where Kobo users can earn awards simply for time spent reading and encouraging others.  For more information on Kobo, and to download free eReading apps, visit www.kobo.com.

Libris Blz. B.V.
The Libris Blz. group of booksellers comprises independent, professional, highly-motivated entrepreneurs who work together to compete effectively against standard bookstore chains.  Libris booksellers aim to be the authoritative bookseller within their market, offering a wide assortment of titles, whereas Blz. booksellers offer an optimal mix of books in combination with office supplies.  With gross book sales of more than 100 million euros, the Libris Blz. group is the largest player in the Dutch general book market.

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