To View this video on your BlackBerry or other Mobile Device, Click Here.
Kobo was on stage at the keynote at DevCon 2010 debuting their social reading app using the BBM Social SDK. Their new application leverages the social aspects of BBM with their ebook reader to create a social reading application for BlackBerry. Think of it as a BlackBerry book club of sorts. You read a good book you found on Kobo. You BBM your friend a page from the book and they get it and send it to their friend. The new application will allow you to both read ebooks on your BlackBerry and rate and review them for your friends to see. Check out the full press release from Kobo after the break.
SAN FRANCISCO—September 28, 2010 — At BlackBerry® DEVCON 2010, Kobo announced the development of an industry-first social eReading experience and released a video of the social reading app in action. Kobo, a global eReading service, demonstrated during the keynote presentation how application developers will be able to leverage the new BBM™ (BlackBerry® Messenger) Social Platform. The BBM Social Platform enables developers to build applications that take advantage of the BlackBerry smartphone’s social aspects, as well as the push architecture of the BlackBerry® platform. Kobo plans to integrate information from various functions of BBM into the eBook shopping and reading experience on its application once the BBM Social Platform is available. The company today released a video of the forthcoming application: http://blog.kobobooks.com/BBM
“Our customers are passionate about reading and we are excited to bring them a venue to share recommendations and engage in social reading,” said Dan Leibu, chief technology officer for Kobo. “Today, e-reading is a very private experience, but the availability of the BBM Social Platform will enable us to begin to bring our vision of social reading to life and to increase customer engagement through real-time discussions about books, authors and trends.”
Using the Kobo application, readers will be able to:
- Chat with friends while they are shopping for eBooks. When browsing for eBooks, Kobo members will be able to see which friends have read a book and instantly ask whether the book is worth reading.
- Read together, share passages and discuss in real-time. Kobo will introduce the concept of a real-time book club, where members can discuss books as they read.
- Choose who can see their library, which books they read with others, and who they read with.
Since its launch nine months ago, Kobo has grown its store to over 2.2 million books and has attracted customers in more than 200 countries who have downloaded millions of eBooks using its applications for smartphones, netbooks, tablets, and dedicated eReaders. By building BBM integration into the shopping experience, Kobo enables readers to tap their social connections to help find their next great read.
About Kobo, Inc.
Kobo is a global eReading service backed by majority shareholder Indigo Books & Music, Borders Group, REDgroup Retail, and Cheung Kong Holdings. Kobo believes consumers should be able to read any book on any device. With a catalog of over two million eBooks, and an open platform, Kobo enables retailers, device manufacturers and mobile operators to bring the joy of eReading to customers everywhere. For more information, visit www.kobobooks.com.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
Justin Lisenby
Latest posts by Justin Lisenby (see all)
- Press Release: Introhive Launches for BlackBerry 10 Platform - May 14, 2013
- BBM Channel Signup Now Available in the BlackBerry Beta Zone - May 14, 2013
- BBM Goes Cross-Platform: Coming to iOS and Android This Summer - May 14, 2013
Follow us