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Engadget's tablet buyer's guide: spring 2012 edition
As spring reaches full blossom, it's not just the flowers that are beginning to show -- so are the new slates heavy hitters teased back at CES. So, what does that mean? It means it's high-time that we cast a fresh glance over the tablet landscape, took in a deep breath of slate-infused air and exhaled a hearty Engadget tablet buyer's guide. We've been running the smartphone equivalent for a little while now, so we thought it only fair to give the now-mature tablet category one of its own. We're going to look at the main categories of fondleslabbery and carve out what we think are the finest offerings on the market right now. It doesn't matter if you're looking for something big, small, just good enough or so powerful that it could replace your laptop: we've collected our favorites and shepherded them safely into this one humble guide. Of course, if you want to cast your net a little wider, you can always check out our tablet review hub, but if you struggle with indecision, head on past the break to see what's hot right now in Tablet Land.
Amazon tablet update brings parental controls, lets kids play with Fire
So you've got yourself Kindle Fire and a house full of young, impressionable children. What to do? Have no fear, update 6.3.1 is on its way, bringing with it parental controls like password protection for purchases, content disabling in the library and the ability to block access to the device's Silk browser. The world will be a safer place once the update starts rolling out over the air in the next few days.
Target pulls Kindle from virtual shelves, physical ones may follow
Since 2010, Target has happily hawked Amazon's e-reading wares. The retailer even carved out a branded corner of its online shop just for the Kindle. Now though, that store within a store is empty and conspicuously missing from Target's virtual shelves is Amazon's entire Kindle line. Sure, a few accessories remain, but the readers themselves are gone. What's more, according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge, the products will be cease to be restocked at the company's brick and mortar locations starting May 13th. The communique states that, after evaluation, Target "has made the decision to no longer carry Amazon hardware." The reasoning behind the banishment isn't clear, but the potential causes are practically endless. Amazon's vast online repository of goods, including some grocery items, makes it a direct competitor of the big box outlet. Target continues to carry the Nook and Kobo e-readers, but those company's don't challenge the retailer. It's also possible that, with mini Apple Stores opening up on its premises, Cupertino put some pressure on Target to clear out its competitors. It could also be as simple as collapsed contract negotiations, with Target failing to get as big a cut of sales as it wanted or, and this is a bit of a stretch, the Minneapolis company could be preparing to launch its own e-reading hardware. Neither Amazon nor Target has responded to our requests for comment at this time. Update: Target has affirmed the move to Reuters, with the following statement: "Target is phasing out Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012."
Sun stops shining on E Ink Holdings: company reports first loss in two years
E Ink Holdings made a loss of over $25 million last quarter, despite supplying its backlight-free panels to popular e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook. Why the poor showing after ten quarters of solid money-making? The company's accountants blame "off-season effects" and "inventory adjustments" by customers, which may simply be corporatese for "the screens aren't selling so well." Overall revenue tumbled 63 percent compared to the same period in 2011 and the outlook remains "conservative" -- although it's hard to believe that everyone suddenly wants to stay indoors and stare at pixels.
Send to Kindle arrives on Macs
Sure, it may be Barnes & Noble's big day, but Amazon couldn't help but offer up some news of its own. The mega-retailer announced today that its Send to Kindle service is hitting the Mac, letting Apple users send documents and compatible apps from their desktop to their Kindle with a drag and a drop. The app's available now for free. For more info, send your browser to the source link below.
Kindle Touch gets early release in UK and Germany (update)
Amazon is now shipping preorders for its Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G in both the UK and Germany, a week ahead of schedule. While eager e-reader... readers in the likes of France, Italy and Spain have to wait a little longer, Germans and Brits can expect their orders to arrive starting tomorrow, with stock also available in bricks-and-mortar options including John Lewis, Dixons, Argos, Carphone Warehouse, Currys, PC World and Tesco. Alas, there's still no news of a Eurozone arrival date for the Kindle Fire. We assume our European readers are still willing to wait, right? Update: Amazon has contacted us stating that the devices have actually "started shipping to customers in France, Italy and Spain from the respective sites (Amazon.fr, .it and .es), as well as the UK and DE."
Illuminated Kindle e-readers could arrive this year, also, might not
Rumors relating to a new Kindle, or three, land in our inbox with surprising frequency, but when they come from our brethren at TechCrunch, we'll definitely give it a listen. Devin Coldewey reports how he was lucky enough to snatch a glance at an in-development Kindle, which sports an illuminated screen. Amazon's purchase of Finnish firm Oy Modilis, which has a quiver of patents pertaining to lighting technology, adds credence to the idea that an e-reader with some form of lighting could be in the works, and Coldewey thinks he's seen it. He says tapping the screen reveals a slider that, when dragged to the right, "lit up evenly with a rather cool light." Importantly -- for eyes and batteries alike -- the light is said to be softer, and of a gentler blue-white color, compared to the harsh white common in LCDs. The loose-lipped wielder of this device claims that the industrial design isn't finished yet, but did hint at a 2012 release. We're not holding our breath, but the chance to do away with additional light accessories, is definitely enough to have us keep our fingers crossed.
Grace Digital's FireDock is a speaker dock for your Kindle Fire
Own a Kindle Fire? Can't find an audio dock made specifically for your gizmo, and not an iThing or Android device? Say hello to Grace Digital's FireDock, the $130 solution to your quandary. While we've seen Kindle-compatible docks before, this stereo system is actually made to seamlessly connect with the Fire's bottom ports and power button, allowing it to charge while docked. What's more, there's a turn-and-tilt feature that'll let you switch between landscape and portrait orientations -- perfect for going from books to movies. If that wasn't enough, an optional rechargeable battery can also be attached to the mini-rig for listening sans cords while you're out and about (though, this route disables the ability to charge the Kindle itself). If you're burning with desire for the FireDock, the bad news is that it won't be available for purchase until July. In the meantime, you'll find more info in the press release after the break to help you cool down.
Kindle Fire update brings sharing, 'print replica' textbooks, more to tablet
Amazon has started pushing out an over-the-air update that'll bring a slew of new features to its budget Kindle Fire tablet. Topping the list of upgrades is new sharing functionality that makes it possible for readers to send passages and notes from within the comfort of a book via social networks like Facebook and Twitter by highlighting and clicking "Share." Also on the slate is supplemental material powered by Shelfari, letting users find character descriptions, glossaries of of common terms, locations and author information from inside a text. Version 6.3 also brings "print replicas" of textbooks, which include linked tables of contents and Whipsersyncing of notes and highlights. For a full rundown of the new features, check out the source link below.
Kindle Touch gets April 27th release date in Europe
Good news for our friends on the other side of the pond waiting to get their fingers on the Kindle Touch's e-ink display: nearly half a year after hitting the States, the e-reader is getting ready for its official European debut. The reading device will be hitting the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy on April 27th, though you can plunk down your cash for one right now. The UK version of the reader will run you £109 for WiFi-only and £169 when you tack on 3G functionality.
Kindle app for Android updated with Send-to-Kindle functionality, lets you sling documents to green little robots everywhere
Fan of reading, you maverick you? Well if you're rocking an Android device, head on over to the Market Google Play and hit update on that Kindle app, as the online retailer from the Northwest has some fresh bits waiting for you. New today is access to a bevy of illustrated content -- like children and comic books in addition to graphic novels -- coupled with the debut of Send-to-Kindle support on Android. We're most excited about the latter as it enables plebes to send documents to their "Send-to-Kindle" email address, only to find said files magically pushed to their device for later perusal. And as an added bonus, a copy's conveniently safeguarded for additional downloads at a later date within Amazon's cloud. Made it this far? Clearly you love reading, so go do some more by clicking in the source below.
Amazon Kindle app updated for Retina display
Several of the reviews of the new iPad were critical of apps that hadn't yet been updated for the ultra-sharp Retina display. For example, New York Times tech pundit David Pogue wrote that "After enjoying the freakishly sharp text in Mail and Safari, you'll be disappointed in the relatively crude type in, for example, the non-updated Amazon Kindle app. (Amazon says that a Retina-ready update is in the works)". Well, the Amazon Kindle app (free) has been updated, which should make Pogue and the rest of those who were grumbling quite happy. That's not the only change to the app. According to the update note, there's also a new library design (images below) where you can choose to view your library in a grid view. Any library view can be quickly toggled between cloud view -- which shows all of your book purchases -- and device view, which is used to display only those books that have been downloaded to your iPad or iPhone. While we won't be able to show you images of the high-resolution text in a Kindle ebook until tomorrow, it's good to know that Amazon updated the app prior to the mass release of the new iPad.
Amazon sells over 2 million Kindle Singles in 14 months
Amazon's individually-wrapped slices of literary goodness have managed to pull in a few fans since launching in January last year. The company has offered a rare glimpse at its retail figures, trumpeting two million individual sales for its Kindle Singles selection. While authors grab 70 percent of revenue from their middleweight literary missives, Amazon helps itself to the remaining 30 percent -- paidContent pegs Amazon's revenue from the Singles catalogue at around $1.12 million. Those wanting a gentle literary hit can now pick from around 165 existing titles, with some penned by big name writers like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. While their accountants probably aren't massively concerned with the royalty checks associated with these one-shots, you can still take a look at some income estimates at the source below.
Amazon prepares Kindle Touch for April launch in Japan?
According to one of Japan's big dailies, The Nikkei, Amazon will attempt to brave the tricky e-reader waters of Japan, aiming to launch its Kindle Touch as the flagship device in April. The newspaper reports that the device will land for less than 20,000 yen ($260), teaming up with Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo for 3G access to the Kindle's online store, gratis. Amazon hopes that the device's very competitive pricing, at least in comparison to existing 3G-friendly e-readers, will make in-roads to the notoriously frosty Japanese e-reader market. It will also bring Amazon's e-readers to the home turf of one of its biggest rivals; Rakuten.
Windows Phone exec Brandon Watson leaves Microsoft, headed to Amazon
There's some more corporate reshuffling going on in the Windows Phone universe this week, now that Brandon Watson has confirmed his departure from Microsoft. Watson, who served as head of the WP Developer Experience, announced the news on his Twitter page Friday, and later told ZDNet that he's heading to Amazon, where he'll be Director of the Kindle Cross Platform team. In an e-mail to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, Watson acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, but ultimately decided that "the opportunity placed in front of me that was too big to pass up." At Amazon, the exec will be charged with laying out a roadmap for Kindle app development across first- and third-party platforms, including, of course, Windows Phone and Windows 8. Microsoft has yet to announce a replacement, issuing the following statement: "We can confirm February 6th is Brandon Watson's last day at Microsoft. Brandon did a great job helping us build a vibrant developer community and we wish him well with his next adventure."
Strategy Analytics: Apple still owns tablet market, but Android narrows the gap
Strategy Analytics has come out with another report on the state of today's tablet market, which, not surprisingly, remains dominated by Apple. Cupertino's iOS comprised about 58 percent of the global slate market during Q4 2011 -- well ahead of Android's record high 39 percent share, but down from the 68 percent it commanded during the final quarter of 2010. Android, in fact, has seen quite a jump over the past year, with total shipments reaching 10.5 million units during the last quarter, up from just 3.1 million last year (Apple, by comparison, shipped 15.4 million iPads during Q4, versus the 7.3 million it shipped last year). On a global level, the tablet market continues to blossom, with total shipments reaching an all-time high of 26.8 million units last quarter, representing a whopping 150 percent increase over last year. Read the full report at the source link below, or head past the break for a more succinct press release.
IRL: the Kindle Touch, a repurposed Army bag and a non-user replaceable laptop battery
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Hi there, folks. It's that time of the week where we share our close and very personal experiences with various gadget paraphernalia. This week, Brian makes the switch from the Nook Simple Touch to the Kindle Touch, Ben explains why he'd rather replace his own laptop battery, thank you very much, and Don makes the case for a laptop bag that looks anything but.
Surprise! People like free stuff, Amazon's lending library a success
You can always count on people's desire to avoid paying for stuff. That's why it shouldn't come as any surprise that Amazon's Lending Library is such a success. The free perk available to Prime customers who also happen to be Kindle owners launched in November with just 5,000 books available. Since then the library has expanded to over 75,000 titles with over 295,000 people borrowing an independently published KDP e-tome in December alone. To celebrate Amazon is adding another $200,000 to the pool available to Direct Publishing authors, pushing the grand total to $700,000. To read the entire self-congratulatory PR continue on after the break.
Amazon's Send to Kindle lets you send stuff to your Kindle
Do you like Amazon Kindles? Do you like PCs? Do you like documents? Would you like to send documents from your PC to your Kindle? Fantastic, because that's totally what you can do with Amazon's new Send to Kindle software. You might wanna take this opportunity to grab a notepad, because it's sort of complicated: download the program for free, fire up Windows Explorer, find a document, right-click it, and choose Send to Kindle. You can also save documents to download at a later date and synchronize your bookmarks, notes and highlights across all (non-PDF) documents, which is pretty wild, if you think about it. Windows users can dramatically change their lives at the source link below. Mac users will have to wait a little longer.
Amazon launches touch-friendly, web-based Kindle store for iPads
After being forced to give up its in-app purchasing feature, Amazon has finally brought a finger-friendly Kindle store back to the iPad. The company launched a web-based shop designed with touchscreens in mind today, accessible at Amazon.com/iPadKindleStore. It's not an ideal solution, but at least you can quickly switch back to the Kindle app and start devouring your tomes. Or, you can continue with your browser-based experience and use the Cloud Reader.
