Kobo Arc Wins Red Dot Award: Product Design 2013

Kobo, a global leader in eReading, today announced that its Kobo Arc, a 7" Google-certified eReading tablet, has been awarded the red dot: Product Design 2013 award. As one of the 15 winners of this year's award, Kobo impressed a panel of 37 experts and was selected from more than 4,600 entries across 19 categories.

"To be recognized by the red dot organization for our commitment to design is thrilling," said Jean-Marc Dupuis, Managing Director, Kobo. "Kobo has proven yet again that it designs and develops industry-leading eReading devices that perfectly blend technology and aesthetics so that Readers can focus on the stories they love."

Prof. Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of the red dot, has pointed out that strong design competence and economic success nowadays go hand in hand: "The winners of the 'red dot award: product design 2013' are the protagonists of a highly developed design culture and design industry. These days it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish between well-designed products. It is often only in the details that the special qualities become apparent. However, those product creations that pass the test before the critical eyes of the international red dot jury will not disappear into the crowd and will be able to fend off global competition."

Kobo Arc: Reads you like a book

Kobo Arc is a sleek 7-inch Android 4.0 multimedia tablet with full access to the Google Play store. It provides users with a new way to discover content - from eBooks, movies and TV shows to music, web pages and more. Kobo's exclusive interface, Tapestries, allows users to collect and curate content of interest in dynamic, visual Tapestries by "pinning" content to the home screen. The Kobo Arc's Discovery Ribbon leverages a cross-media recommendations engine to recommend related content based on the items pinned to Tapestries. The more users collect in their Tapestries, the more the Kobo Arc learns what they love and provides them with more engaging content.

The Google-certified, 7-inch tablet has a high-definition display that delivers crisp, sharp text, and with more than 16-million colors, brings photos, videos and games to life. With front-facing speakers enhanced by SRS TruMedia, a built-in microphone, and a front-facing camera, the Kobo Arc provides 10 hours of continuous reading or video play and two weeks on standby. The Kobo Arc runs on Android 4.0 and the company is currently working on its upgrade path to Android 4.1, Jelly Bean.

With a raised edge and a soft back in Kobo's signature quilt pattern, Kobo Arc is comfortable to touch and hold. Its discreet design details make the technology invisible, in turn creating a world-class user experience. The Kobo Arc is available with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB configurations at local retailers.

The red dot awards ceremony will take place on July 1, 2013 in Essen's (Germany) Aalto-Theater opera house. Starting July 2, 2013 the Kobo Arc will be on display during a four-week special exhibition in the red dot design museum (Essen, Germany) where design enthusiasts will have an opportunity to experience the prize-winning design of Kobo Arc .

About Kobo Inc.
Kobo Inc. is one of the world's fastest-growing eReading services offering more than 3.2-million eBooks, magazines and newspapers to millions of customers in 190 countries. Believing that consumers should have the freedom to read any book on any device, Kobo provides consumers with a choice when reading. From its Family of eReaders, which includes the Kobo Touch, Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo and Kobo Arc, to its free, top-ranked eReading applications for Apple, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows products, Kobo ensures the next great read is just a page-turn away. Headquartered in Toronto and owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten, Kobo eReaders can be found in major retail chains around the world. For more information, visit http://www.kobo.com.

About red dot design award
With the red dot design award, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen created one of the most internationally acclaimed competitions. The prize, the "red dot", has established itself worldwide as one of the most sought-after quality marks for excellent design. The Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen displays the award-winning products in the red dot design museum for at least one year.

In order to appraise the diversity in the field of design in a professional manner, the red dot design award breaks down into different disciplines: the "red dot award: product design", "red dot award: communication design" and "red dot award: design concept".

Further information is available at: http://www.red-dot.de/press