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Amazon's making digital homework easier to assign, ugh
If you've ever seen a 6th grader lugging around a 30 pound backpack, you'll understand the allure of e-readers and tablets as a replacement for traditional textbooks. To help school districts make the digital transition from physical textbooks, Amazon launched Whispercast, a free content management and distribution tool. Schools can buy or rent books directly via the online tool and push them to anything that supports the Kindle app including: Kindles, Fire Tablets, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and Chromebooks. Today, the free two year-old online tool gets an upgrade with tiered administration, support for purchase orders, an easier-to-use online interface and an assisted setup service for new schools.
Kobo's latest e-reader packs a super-sharp screen for $130
Want an e-reader with an extra-sharp resolution, but don't relish the thought of dropping $199 on a Kindle Voyage when some tablets cost that much? Kobo thinks it can help. Its just-unveiled Glo HD reader packs a 1,448 x 1,072 front-lit E Ink display for a more reasonable $130 -- that leaves a lot of spare money for, y'know, actual books. It has the same 4GB of built-in storage as its Amazon counterpart, too, so you'll have room for a big library. The Glo HD should reach North America on May 1st, and it'll land in the UK a month later with a £110 price tag.
Amazon brings back the white Kindle e-reader in China and Japan
Have you missed white Kindle e-readers ever since they disappeared in 2012? So has Amazon. The internet retailer has quietly unveiled a white version of its basic Kindle reader that's headed to at least China on April 8th, and Japan on April 20th. It's virtually identical to the $79 black model, including the 800 x 600 e-paper touchscreen, WiFi and 4GB of storage -- you're really just getting a cosmetic change here. Still, it's hard not to be curious about Amazon's sudden nostalgia kick. We've reached out to Amazon to find out if and when the white Kindle will reach other parts of the globe, and we'll let you know if there are any additional launches in the cards.
Amazon Kindle Textbook Creator turns authors into teachers (and vice versa)
While e-books are everywhere, electronic textbooks never really caught on, despite their potential to bring immersive learning at a lower cost. Amazon is trying to change that with the Kindle Textbook Creator, a free app from its newly formed Kindle Direct Publishing EDU division (KDP EDU). It helps authors rapidly turn dry PDF files into more engaging e-textbooks for use on Android devices, desktop machines, iPhones, iPads, and of course, Kindle Fire tablets. As Techcrunch points out, the app is designed to help educators upgrade existing e-textbooks, rather than create brand new books like Apple's iBooks Author.
The top tech gifts of holidays past
Remember the mad rush to secure a Teddy Ruxpin under the tree? Or how about how badly you begged your parents for the Nintendo DS as a year-end treat? As we head into another hectic, yet hopeful holiday season, we look back at some of the geeky gadgets and technological toys that stormed the charts (and stole young hearts) over the years.
YotaPhone 2 review: niche and expensive, but seriously cool
YotaPhone was inarguably one of the quirkiest smartphones released last year, with not one, but two displays. This curious marriage of LCD and E Ink was certainly a manufacturing achievement, but limited uses for the secondary screen meant it simply couldn't live up to its potential. Undeterred, Yota Devices announced earlier this year it was cooking up a sequel, and today it's ready to launch the new and improved YotaPhone 2. Its fresh design, high-end specs and bigger, higher-resolution displays are welcome upgrades, but most importantly, a thorough overhaul of the handset's software means you can now make full use of the low-power E Ink screen, which has also been granted touch functionality for this generation. I've spent a fair amount of time with the device, and have to say that it's the most interesting smartphone I've ever used. Like its predecessor, the YotaPhone 2 is still very much a niche proposition with narrow mainstream appeal. That being said, Yota Devices has more or less achieved what it set out to do last year: Make a handset with an E Ink display that has several, legitimate use cases. Whether these will actually tempt you into picking one up is another matter, but the second screen is no longer an oddity; it's an asset.
Amazon adds instant definitions, family sharing to newer Kindles
Remember all those new Kindle software features Amazon promised? You know, the ones that were announced alongside the shiny new Kindle Voyage? The company's been coy about when exactly we'd get them packaged up for our installing pleasure, but it's now ready to spill the metaphorical beans -- a software update will ferry those features to the Voyage, the new $79 basic Kindle and the second-generation Kindle Paperwhite over the air during the coming weeks... unless you want to just install the update yourself right now.
Amazon's flagship Kindle Voyage e-reader now available in the UK for £169
Amazon's announced today that its new Kindle Voyage e-reader and updated Fire HDX 8.9 tablet are now up for grabs in the UK. The Kindle Voyage is by far Amazon's best e-reader to date, but it commands a pretty penny as a result. At £169 for the WiFi-only model and £229 if you want 3G connectivity, the Voyage is significantly more expensive than the Paperwhite, which starts at £109, and almost three times the price of the bog-standard Kindle. While the Voyage will enjoy all the attention that comes with being a brand new device, the new Fire HDX 8.9 is merely an upgrade. The 8.9-inch tablet has a faster processor and better sound quality, among other tweaks, and is still the biggest, baddest Amazon tablet around. The 16GB, WiFi-only model is now on sale for £329, but if you want more storage or an LTE radio up in there, that'll be costing extra.
Cast your vote for the next crowd-selected Kindle books
Similar its original series' pilot season, Amazon is opening up its Kindle publishing arm to crowd voting. The so-called Kindle Scout program allows you to peruse portions of unpublished works before nominating worthy pieces for proper e-reader release. If you're looking to lend a hand with the vetting process, voting is now open for submissions that span sci-fi, romance, mystery and other genres. After a 30-day nomination window, the folks at Amazon will review the tallies before picking what gets made into a Kindle edition. In return for backing a chosen author, you'll get the published book for free one week before it releases for the masses to download. Not too shabby.
Amazon and Simon & Schuster reach a deal on internet book sales
Amazon just found a way to put further pressure on Hachette in its ongoing pricing war: strike a deal with another publisher. The online retailer has forged a new agreement with Simon & Schuster that will keep the book giant's digital and physical titles on Amazon for multiple years. The full terms of the deal aren't available, but the Wall Street Journal claims that it reaches a middle ground; Simon & Schuster will normally set prices, while Amazon will have the right to discount books in some situations. However it works, both sides are claiming it as a victory. Amazon argues that it gives the publisher a "financial incentive" to drop prices, while a letter from Simon & Schuster describes the pact as "economically advantageous" for both itself and authors.
Amazon Kindle Voyage review: The best e-reader is also the priciest
When Amazon introduced an updated version of its flagship Kindle Paperwhite last year, it took the easy way out -- after all, tweaked internals, improved software and slightly better lighting do not a thrilling e-reader make. The 2013 Paperwhite wasn't bad by any stretch, just a bit boring. Now, a year later, Amazon has put together a reader that's anything but. Say hello to the Kindle Voyage. On paper, the new Voyage sounds like a home run. Smaller footprint? High-resolution screen? Something akin to physical page-turn buttons? Sign me up! It's Amazon's first truly premium Kindle, unless you count the dodo that was the DX, and this time around the company's catering to die-hard readers. But here's the real question: Does anyone really need a $199 e-reader (with ads, no less)? In a word, yes.
Amazon gives UK customers early e-book access with Kindle First
While Amazon tends to release new e-reader and tablet hardware in the UK and US simultaneously these days, we're still not top priority when it comes to new services. That being said, the UK has caught up significantly in the past week with the launch of the all-you-can-read Kindle Unlimited subscription and now, Kindle First. Amazon runs a bunch of publishing houses, and what Kindle First offers is early access to new releases originating from them. Each month, Amazon editors will select four books scheduled for publication the following month, and let you buy one (and only one) of them in e-book form for 99 pence, or snag one for free if you're a Prime member. Once you've registered, it's basically as simple as that. You can head to the Kindle First page now to check out the selections for this month, and sign up for the newsletter if you'd like to know when other titles become available for pre-release reading.
Amazon brings Kindle Unlimited e-book subscriptions to the UK
Whether we like it or not, Amazon nearly always launches its new products and services in the US first. It happened with its Fire-branded tablets, set-top box and smartphone. The same can be said for its all-you-can-read e-book service, Kindle Unlimited, which after two months of availability stateside has today made its debut on the online retailer's UK store. For £7.99 a month, Amazon offers unlimited access to over 650,000 digital books (50,000 less than in the US) and thousands of audiobooks, which can be synced across e-readers, tablets and Amazon's numerous mobile apps. While you won't find books from many of the major publishing houses, Amazon does offer the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series, as well as a vast number of Kindle originals. Good news for jetsetters, commuters and maybe also Kindle owners waiting for Kindle Unlimited to launch in other European countries, but some already believe Amazon's new service poses a very real threat to local libraries.
From paper to pixels: the arrival of the e-reader
Ray Bradbury, the author of Fahrenheit 451, once said: "Nothing a computer can do can compare to a book." For some, the pleasure of flipping through a paperback may never change, but pragmatism is starting to take hold. More people than ever are opting for e-books; the benefits of having a virtual library in your pocket outweigh the nostalgia for physical books. And although modern e-readers have been around in some form or another for over two decades, the evolution and adoption process has been a long and complex one. Join us as we take a look at some of the key moments in the e-reader's history.
Amazon's $200 Kindle Voyage is the Rolls-Royce of e-readers
Perhaps Amazon sold a lot of 3G Paperwhites without special offers. Or maybe Kobo's Aura HD has quietly taken the world by storm and Jeff Bezos decided he needed an answer. Whatever the impetus, Amazon has decided there is room in the world for a $199 e-reader. The Kindle Voyage was built for people who "love to read." Clearly the company thinks there is a place out there for a premium e-reader and, while we can't vouch for the vibrancy of the high-end e-reader market, we can confirm that Amazon has put together a stunner of a device. The familiar Kindle software has even picked up some neat new software tricks that the Voyage taught its more budget-minded siblings.
Amazon listing details new smaller, high-res 'Voyage' Kindles
You don't need supernatural powers to realize that it's been 12 months since a Kindle Paperwhite refresh, ergo we're due a new one. It also kinda helps when Amazon's own web-store lets slip a little bit of info. Some eager searchers spotted a listing for Kindle "Voyage" on Amazon's German and Japanese stores. The listings don't have too much information, but do mention a 300 ppi display on the 6-inch device that comes in the usual WiFi and 3G versions. The 112 x 116 mm dimensions suggest the Voyage will be smaller and at 8mm deep, the "thinnest Kindle up to now" (thanks Google translate). The (now-pulled) product page was even kind enough to give us details on price -- $190 or $250 with 3G -- all set for a November 4th launch date. It could be that the Paperwhite name is on the way out, too, with the Spanish version of this support page replacing "Paperwhite" with the new "Voyage" name.
Kindle security flaw can be exploited by hidden codes in e-books
Next time you come across a Kindle e-book link somewhere other than Amazon itself, you may want to make sure it's not some dubious website before you hit download or "Send to Kindle." A security researcher by the name of Benjamin Daniel Musser has discovered that the "Manage Your Kindle" page contains a security hole -- one that hackers can take advantage of with the help of e-books hiding malicious lines of code. Once you load the Kindle Library with a corrupted e-book (typically with a subject that includes <script src="https://www.example.org/script.js"></script>), a hacker gets access to your cookies, and, hence, your Amazon account credentials.
Sony, the catch-up king
Sony's not making PCs any more. It recently announced it wouldn't be making new e-readers, either. The company's also taking a long hard look at the TV business that it dominated for decades. In the '90s, its TVs stood up alongside the Discman, Walkman and even that new games console that could play CDs. Sony was cool; it had cachet. But a narrow focus on proprietary technology and its slowness to adapt to the dizzying speed of consumer tech in the last two decades have taken their toll. While it's created a new department solely dedicated to making the next big thing, it remains to be seen if the company can bounce back from decades of failures.
What you need to know about Amazon's fight with e-book publishers
Unless you've been living in a book-free cave, you may have heard that retail giant Amazon and book publisher Hachette are having a little tiff. It's all about digital versions of books -- so-called e-books -- and it boils down to this: Amazon wants to sell most of them for $10, and Hachette wants to set its own prices depending on the title and author. In the latest volley, Amazon tightened the screws by listing many Hachette pre-orders for printed titles as unavailable and pulling some product promotion pages. In a blog post, Amazon claimed it was trying to do well by consumers and (confusingly) invoked George Orwell. Meanwhile, 900-plus authors -- including household names like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling -- said they were innocent victims and took out a $104,000 ad decrying Amazon's hardball tactics. The dispute shows no sign of abating. So, who's right and, more importantly, who will win?
Hands-on with the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook
The Nook tablets were seriously underappreciated. And while Samsung certainly makes some nice devices, there's something a little sad about seeing the Nook name slapped on a rather generic-looking slate from the Korean manufacturer. But it was inevitable, I suppose. After years of hemorrhaging cash as the market for physical books dried up, Barnes & Noble had to find ways to save money, and outsourcing the manufacturing of its slow-selling slates to a third party made perfect sense. The first device to result from this new approach is the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. And, while it might sound a little glib, it's basically just the Galaxy Tab you already know with a few software extras baked in. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
