Toshiba | Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today introduced Toshiba Book Place, an e-book reader and store that adds easy-to-access, interactive e-books to the suite of digital entertainment products that consumers can enjoy on laptops. In partnership with K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc., a joint venture between Kurzweil Technologies Inc. and the National Federation for the Blind, Toshiba Book Place will enable readers to download and access more than a million public domain titles to create mobile libraries.

Toshiba Book Place is the type of entertainment option that our customers are looking for from their laptops,” said Terry Cronin, vice president of Business Development and Channel Marketing, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. “What sets Toshiba Book Place apart is that it takes advantage of the PC experience and offers an immersive reading environment for the consumer.”

In partnership with some of the world’s largest publishers, Toshiba Book Place launches with capability to access more than a million free public domain titles and thousands more for sale, including many of today’s bestsellers, making it one of the largest online sources of electronic literature. It also promises a new and exciting interactive reading experience as Toshiba Book Place preserves a book’s printed format, including the original layout, fonts and images in full, vibrant colors, with pages that turn like the real thing. Other noticeable features supported by the Toshiba Book Place experience include:

• A read-aloud feature that makes instant audio books. Synchronized word highlighting allows children to follow sentences in their favorite books.
• An integrated Web search that allows readers to leap instantly from the imaginary world of the story to the Internet.
• Toshiba Book Place e-books also make it possible for publishers to embed author commentary, background music and more, while users can insert notes in the margins of pages, as well as hyperlinks into the text.

“With Toshiba Book Place, readers of all ages can enjoy an unparalleled digital reading experience that combines what they love about physical books – including the vibrant colors and crisp pictures – with interactive tools that make books come to life,” said Ray Kurzweil, inventor of the flat bed scanner and character and speech recognition technologies, and founder of K-NFB Reading Technology.

Toshiba Book Place works with Windows-based devices and can sync up to five devices.

As part of the launch, Toshiba will be offering registered users four (4) free pre-selected e-book titles with a retail value of approximately $80. The promotion will be available through October 12, 2010.

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About Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. (TAIS)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is comprised of four business units: Digital Products Division, Imaging Systems Division, Storage Device Division, and Telecommunication Systems Division. Together, these divisions provide mobile products and solutions, including industry-leading portable computers; televisions, TV/DVD Combination products, Blu-ray Disc and DVD products, and portable devices; imaging products for the security, medical and manufacturing markets; storage products for automotive, computer and consumer electronics applications; and IP business telephone systems with unified communications, collaboration and mobility applications. TAIS provides sales, marketing and services for its wide range of products in the United States and Latin America.

TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation. Toshiba Corporation is a world leader and innovator in high technology, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products. These products span from information & communications systems; digital consumer products; electronic devices and components; as well as power systems including nuclear energy; industrial and social infrastructure systems; and home appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 740 companies, with 204,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing $68 billion (6.3 Trillion Yen). For more information on Toshiba visit www.toshiba.com.

About K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc.

A joint venture between Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation of the Blind, the principals of K-NFB Reading Technology Inc. (www.knfbreader.com) have propelled reading technology forward for the last 35 years through the invention of omnifont OCR, the flatbed scanner, text-to-speech synthesis, and the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind. K-NFB once again is redefining the boundaries of the printed word with Blio, which promises to set the standard for digital reading. This free application works across platforms and presents books as they were intended — in full color and as laid out by the publisher. K-NFB is headed by CEO Ray Kurzweil, a 30-year innovator and pioneer in assistive technologies. The National Federation of the Blind is the largest, most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.