Borders' Kobo-powered eBook Store now live with 1.5 million titles, Android and BlackBerry apps (update)

Exactly how many eBook stores do we need? Depends. If you own a dedicated e-reader then one is all you get. Own a tablet or smartphone and the world of eBook stores is pretty much yours for the taking through competing apps. Borders looks to be taking a hybrid approach by offering up the $150 Kobo, $120 Aluratek Libre (available July 20th), $170 Sony Touch, and $150 Sony Pocket eReaders and today's launch of a self-branded eBook store powered by Kobo's catalog of more than 1.5 million titles -- "thousands" of which are free and available in a variety of formats including ePub (primarily) and PDF. Borders also has desktop PC and Mac apps ready for download in addition to a few apps listed as "coming soon" for both Android and BlackBerry devices -- these join the apps already released for Apple's iOS. It just went live so why not hit the source and have a browse.

P.S. Funny enough, there's not a single mention of Spring Design's Alex on Borders' new site. Funny sad, not ha ha.

Update: The Android and BlackBerry apps are now live.

Show full PR text

Borders Opens eBook Store with Goal to Secure 17 percent eBook Market Share

Company Also Introduces BlackBerry® and Android™ Applications Following Recent iPhone and iPad Releases

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 7, 2010-Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP) today announced the launch of the Borders branded eBook store, powered by global eReading service Kobo™. Borders' goal is to secure a 17 percent share of the eBook market by July 2011.

Borders' eBook store launches with more than 1.5 million titles, including thousands of free titles, available in a variety of formats, including ePub, mobile and PDF. The store launch follows the successful introduction of the Borders iPhone and iPad apps, powered by Kobo, as well as the introduction of the Kobo eReader and Aluratek Libre eReader on Borders.com. Both devices, which are value-priced at under $150, have surpassed sales expectations.

To provide additional value around its digital offerings, the retailer will offer its Borders Rewards® loyalty program members benefits ranging from special gift cards and free shipping on certain items, to exclusive offers on popular digital series, double Borders Bucks™ incentives on the purchase of eReaders, as well as other valuable offers. More than 38 million members have signed up for the Rewards program since it launched in 2006.

"The race to emerge as a retail leader within the digital category is just starting," said Mike Edwards, Chief Executive Officer for Borders, Inc. "During the past several months, we've been carefully crafting a digital strategy, one that has great content and a device neutral philosophy backed by the Borders brand as its cornerstones. We believe we are very well positioned to come out strong and to ultimately claim about a 17 percent eBook market share by this time next year."

Borders' Consumer Research
According to Borders' consumer research, convenience, choice, content and quality hardware rank at the top of the attributes readers look for in an ideal digital bookstore experience. The launch of the company's eBook store will be complemented by its strong in-store digital presence through its upcoming Area-e sections, where customers will be able to try out a number of eReading devices before making a purchase. Area-e sections, which will be in virtually all Borders stores by early September, will be staffed by knowledgeable associates, who will demo products and answer customers' questions.

Research further shows that eReaders priced below $200 are likely to be the most gifted items this holiday season. The Kobo eReader ($149), which also comes with 100 free titles, and the Libre eBook Reader Pro ($119), both of which are priced to fit most budgets, position Borders for strong consumer adoption and market penetration. The Kobo eReader is currently available in select Borders stores and can be ordered on Borders.com anytime. The Libre eBook Reader Pro can also be ordered on Borders.com.
-more-
Borders Opens eBook Store with Goal to Secure 17% eBook Market Share -- 2

Blackberry and Android Applications
The company also announced today it is making available to consumers Blackberry® and Android™ eReading applications, also powered by Kobo. Now customers can enjoy the free, easy-to-use eBook reading applications on the BlackBerry® Curve™, the new BlackBerry® Tour™ 9630 and the Blackberry® Bold™, as well as Android devices. These apps enable users to quickly and easily browse and buy eBooks; search by title, author, topic, or keyword; access their eBook library; download eBooks for offline reading; and enjoy several enhanced reading features that amplify the digital reading experience. Users can download the free BlackBerry and Android apps in the Borders branded eBook store at www.borders.com. The launch of these apps represents another pillar in Borders' digital rollout - an important part of its commitment to enable customers to enjoy digital books on a wide variety of devices.

About "Powered by Kobo": Kobo, Inc.
"Powered by Kobo" is an eBook partner program from Kobo, a global eBook service backed by Indigo Books & Music, Borders Group, REDgroup Retail, and Cheung Kong Holdings. The 'Powered by Kobo' program provides a flexible solution for hardware manufacturers and retailers worldwide to launch an eReader or eBook store. "Powered by Kobo" partners have access to Kobo's catalogue of more than two million titles and applications for smartphones, netbooks, laptops, tablets and dedicated eReaders. Kobo's vision is to deliver any book on any device and is a strong voice in the eBook industry supporting open standards for eBooks and eReaders. For more information, visit www.kobobooks.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(R) and Waldenbooks(R) 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.

[Dusse Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:06AM]

Plenty of eBook stores is just a good thing.

[sbudbud Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:14AM]

@Dusse
plenty of ebook stores with their own format ebooks isn't....hopefully they come out with a standard ebook format (if the don't have more popular ones now)

[juanvaldez Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:33AM]

@Dusse It depends on how you look at it.

If the industry could've survived with the margins they were making from the Kindle (which by many accounts they could've, it just would've taken adjusting their business-model), and the extra book stores don't lead to extra content, then consumers are worse off because we are paying higher prices now that the wholesale supply chain is gone. So, it can't be "Just a good thing." Though, overall, it can be "a good thing", but it's a mixed-bag.

[admlshake Posted Jul 7th 2010 8:22AM]

@sbudbud

As much as I would love to see that, the only way any of these companies would go for something like that is if it was their format that was being made the standard.

[cprender Posted Jul 7th 2010 9:31AM]

@sbudbud

iPad = ePub
B&N = ePub
Sony = ePub
Borders = ePub
Amazon = Mobi

Looks like we are getting pretty close to a standard by default. Maybe the Kindle owners will wake up and smell the coffee at some point.

[rutter9 Posted Jul 7th 2010 10:07AM]

@sbudbud

Seems like the description summed it up. Primarily ePub then PDF. I couldn't find where it said their own special format. Wish I knew how to pretend read.

[johnnyc2 Posted Jul 7th 2010 10:45AM]

@cprender

yes true, they are all ePub, but that doesn't necessarily mean things are as standardised as they seem. I just bought a cheap Mass Effect eBook from Borders, however it uses Adobe DRM. Sure, I can put the ePub in iTunes and sync to my iPhone but iBooks can't open it. I need to use the dedicated Borders app which requires me to be connected online and is pretty slow at loading pages as I read them.

I can understand the need for DRM. But ideally I would be able to buy my ePubs from anywhere, load them in iTunes, sync to iBooks and read. I don't want a whole bunch of eBook apps on my phone.

[RandomGuy Posted Jul 7th 2010 11:17AM]

@johnnyc2 Yeah but if you purchased the eBook from Borders you can still read it on your iPad through the borders app. The Sony devices, lesser brand e-readers and the nook all support Adobe DRM ePubs, so I am pretty sure you could read a Borders purchased ebook on any other e-reader and iPad without cracking the DRM, any other reader besides Kindle that is....

[Benjamin Posted Jul 7th 2010 11:24AM]

@johnnyc2 Yeah, pretty much. That they're all ePub in and of itself is meaningless, as long as they're encrypted in different ways. The Kindle isn't really any more locked down than any of the other readers that have associated stores (i.e. everything except the Sonys and some minor things no one cares about).

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 7th 2010 2:02PM]

@johnnyc2
Well.. That is kind of down to Apple deciding to do their own iePub. The apple version is still ePub, which is an open format. Basically an HTML page in a zip file, but the DRM Apple use is unique to Apple and iBooks. And no.. I somehow doubt you could bring it into iTunes and convert, because that would mean Apple is breaking the DMCA.

Sony and many other brands use standard ePub, but also have got on board the Adobe DRM system. So books can be transferred from one reader to another and it works on a central account system with multiple registered devices from a multitude of brands and any shop that sells the ADE e-books.

So your choices..
Use Apple's reader and only buy wholesome DRMed e-books from Apple.

Or use a dedicated reader or reader app, and have a choice of outlets.
Or
Skip DRM until it gets found to be too much trouble and too little protection that loses too many sales.

[IMarius Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:09AM]

'' If you own a dedicated e-reader then one is all you get.'' , thats not really true now, in fact its bit misleading .

[juanvaldez Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:29AM]

@IMarius I was thinking more cynically, "If you don't have an e-reader you have unlimited choice with your smartphone, until you go and buy that e-reader and that's ruined any choice you had." (hint, it doesn't, though perhaps if you want them to be compatible with both it might.)

[DiMiTRiX Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:30AM]

I'm not finding their prices all that amazing. Some of those e-books you could buy for the same price in physical form on Amazon.

[bull3964 Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:50AM]

I like how Border's doesn't even mention the Nook as a compatible eBook reader. If they are indeed powered by the Kobo store and the Sony readers are compatible with the books, then they are just using standard adobe DRM and the nook would have no trouble with any of the books they are selling.

[Dinochicken Posted Jul 7th 2010 8:04AM]

@Thomas Ricker

Fact check please. I've had the Kobo app on my G1 for weeks now. Not the Shortcovers app, the actual Kobo app. I think a few more enterprising hackers even have it installed on rooted nooks and Pandigital readers.

[Dinochicken Posted Jul 7th 2010 8:08AM]

@Dinochicken

Wat a sec, just by going to the Borders homepage and checking, I discovered that yes there is a Blackberry app available as well.

Remember always, always check and double check your primary sources.

[admlshake Posted Jul 7th 2010 8:24AM]

@Dinochicken

I don't suppose you considered the fact that maybe they weren't available when the story was posted?

[Dinochicken Posted Jul 7th 2010 9:47AM]

@admlshake

Did you actually read what I posted?

[admlshake Posted Jul 7th 2010 8:25AM]

I wonder if they used the twilight cover on the sony models (on their ereader order page) to try and get more people to buy the others. If there was ever anything to turn me off of picking out a ebook reader...

[ilh Posted Jul 7th 2010 8:28AM]

Borders closed down in the UK a few months ago...do we get this?

[QuadCityImages Posted Jul 7th 2010 9:12AM]

They have a category called "Can't Get These in iBooks"

Subtle.

[cruncis Posted Jul 7th 2010 9:21AM]

Does the Borders app for the iPhone allow you to borrow ebooks from libraries? I know the Sony Reader (not app, the device) allows this, but I'm wondering if the Borders app can be authorized to read these books? For that matter, can iBooks read these books?

[JONNNathannn Posted Jul 7th 2010 9:25AM]

Oh, I thought Kobo was Border's eReader. I clearly don't understand what's going on.

The Kobo Android app is a strict port of the iPhone app with horrible performance, an iPhone UI that doesn't translate over well and squished and horrible resolution graphics and interface. I jumped to Kindle and rebought my book the second it came to Android.

I think I'm done ebook-app hopping. Unless the prices at Borders are downright amazing, which they're clearly not, Kindle app it is.

[jordanjay29 Posted Jul 7th 2010 11:50AM]

@JONNNathannn
I hate that, Borders must think the Android marketshare is small enough that they don't have to do much to appease it. I shop there regularly, but now I'm pissed at them for the crappy UI they gave us for their eBook reader app. My phone is NOT an iPhone!

[malexandria1 Posted Jul 7th 2010 9:43AM]

Apple's iBook, 60,000 selection is really looking pretty sad when compared to these other eReaders. The pitiful thing is Apple has such a huge influence that they were responsible for letting publishers jack up eBook prices. I love Kindle because it's on all my devices, but I think paying more than $8 for an ebook is pretty outrageous. And I still wish Kindle would get rid of that dumb location thing and use standard page numbers.

[JONNNathannn Posted Jul 7th 2010 11:25AM]

YES! I hate that. The percentage complete it a little helpful, but that random number it shows me makes no sense and I wish it would have a page number instead.

[KnoxHarrington Posted Jul 7th 2010 12:11PM]

@JONNNathannn I think they went with "locations" over actual page numbers because of the fact you can change the size of the text on the page, and thus the page numbers wouldn't match. Still, though, you think you could somehow link to the page number of the physical version of the book.

[MsCG1 Posted Jul 7th 2010 10:55AM]

"If you own a dedicated e-reader then one is all you get."

Well, this is BRAND NEW (false, wrong, blatantly misleading, etc.) INFORMATION Engadget. I will be sure to let my dedicated Nook e-reader know that all of those books I've purchased and downloaded from Sony, from Fictionwise, from Kobo, from Baen, from BooksonBoard, etc., were not compatible with it's system.

Oh and the two library books I currently have checked out on my device--all an illusion.

[iName Posted Jul 7th 2010 11:01AM]

the kobo needs a price drop. the nook is the same price yet the kobo lacks wifi or even a dictionary. $99 is the sweet spot for Borders.

[m185874 Posted Jul 7th 2010 12:09PM]

Not available outside the USA. When will these numpties realise that there aren't borders (as it were) any more! Same goes for the Barnes & Noble app - the iPhone one is available internationally, the iPad one only in the USA. Where's the sense of that? Grrrr.....

[MarqBland Posted Jul 7th 2010 2:20PM]

Ok. This officially makes me angry. Where the hell is my Barnes and Noble app on Android? The friggin Nook runs on Android but no app? I just thought that they were slow because they were doing so much to get their ebook store up and running but Borders hit the ground running.

[toddjy Posted Jul 7th 2010 4:14PM]

Can somebody explain to me why all these ebook apps for phones need to know WHO is calling me? I'm not installing an ebook app that invades my privacy. Maybe B&N will get it right, when they finally release their app. On the other hand, since they're the last, I'm not sure I want to buy anything more from them (I have a Nook).

[aksnoopy Posted Jul 7th 2010 5:06PM]

How can you get the Android app onto a tablet? I thought Android Tablets weren't able to access the Android Market?

[SFHandyman Posted Jul 7th 2010 7:38PM]

I've had a Kobo app on my Palm Pre for months. I just looked in the app. The New Releases page is titled Borders New Releases. Is this something different?