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Amazon Kindle Paperwhite update optimizes your Manga mania, offers quicker settings
Amazon is on the cusp of launching the complete Kindle line in Japan, so it's only right that the online retailer fine-tune its firmware for local reading habits. A new version 5.3.0 update for the Kindle Paperwhite puts much of that focus on Manga, introducing options to fit the stylized comics to the screen as well as tweak their page refresh interval separately from that of plain old text. Wider efforts to improve font rendering touch on Japanese characters in the process. Even if we're a little rusty with our hiragana, there's still some usability tweaks in store: settings are accessible directly from the menu, readers can purge their home screens of recommended content and sample books now sync their position relative to the full title. The bookworms among us that are too impatient to wait for an automatic update to 5.3.0 can hit the source link for the full skinny and a fast-track installation through USB.
The Engadget Show 37: Halloween Spooktacular with Wayne Coyne, movie monsters and ghost hunting!
Welcome boys and ghouls, to a very spooky episode of The Engadget Show. We've got plenty of tricks and treats for you in this Halloweentastic October episode. We kick things off with a trip to Oklahoma City, to the home of Flaming Lips frontman, Wayne Coyne, who talks Parking Lot Experiments, Halloween displays and why if your phone screen isn't broken, you aren't living your life. Next up, we'll show you all the necessary tools for a proper ghost hunt, with a little help from author Mary Roach, Ghost Hunters' Adam Berry and the crew of the Central NY Ghost Hunters. In Vermont, we have a conversation with robot head Bina48 to find out what it really means to be alive and we travel to Los Angeles to talk to movie makeup Wizard Kevin Yagher and the costume experts at Global Effects Inc. And when the Engadget Van breaks down outside of an electronics store, it's up to Tim, Brian and rock band, Free Energy, to solve a very spooky mystery. All that plus a new Ask @hodgman and a gadget table featuring the new iPod touch, Kindle Paperwhite and Galaxy Note II from Dapper Cadaver, our favorite place to buy prop corpses in the Southern California area. Jump on in after the break -- if you dare!%Gallery-168911% Hosts: Brian Heater, Jordan Morris, Tim Stevens Guests: Wayne Coyne, Mary Roach, Kevin Yagher, Adam Berry, Chris Gilman, Jesse Thorn, John Hodgman, Bruce Duncan, Stacey Jones, BJ Winslow Musical Guest: Free Energy Producer: Ben Harrison Executive Producers: Brian Heater, Joshua Fruhlinger Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 037 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 037 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 037 (Small) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (MP4). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (MP4). [RSS MP4] Add the Engadget Show feed (MP4) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. [HD RSS] Get the Engadget Show delivered automatically in HD. [iPad RSS] Get the Engadget Show in iPad-friendly adaptive format.
New Kindles start shipping today in Europe, Lovefilm launches on Kindle Fire
As promised, Amazon has started shipping its latest Kindles on the other side of the Atlantic, with the Kindle Paperwhite as well as the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD making the trip. Amazon's branded video services did not make the trip, so Lovefilm is filling in, offering a free month to buyers of either Fire tablet. Despite the switch in names, the Kindle Fire / Fire HD Lovefilm app will support features owners have gotten used to in the US like Whispersync pause / resume across devices, watch list and X-Ray for Movies that brings in extra info about any actors or scenes that are being watched. The Kindle Fire 8GB is available for £129/€159, while the Fire HD in 16GB or 32GB editions costs £159/€199 and £199/€249, respectively. The Kindle Paperwhite isn't invited to the video party, but it starts at £109 for the basic model or £169 with 3G.
Kindle Paperwhite and two Fires up for pre-order in Japan, Kindle Store opens there tomorrow
Amazon's just announced that it's bringing the entire Kindle family to Japan. The basic Paperwhite is now available to pre-order for 8,480 yen (around $106) from the online retailer, with the 3G version arriving at a slightly pricier 12,980 yen (approximately $162) -- both will start shipping November 19th. Obviously you're going to need stuff to read, so the Kindle Store is opening its doors tomorrow and shelves are stocked with over 50,000 Japanese language books (including 10,000 for free) and more than 15,000 manga titles. Amazon's tablet range is heading to Japan as well, with the Fire costing 12,800 yen (approximately $160) and the 7-inch Fire HD setting wallets back 15,800 yen (almost $200). You'll have to wait a bit longer for these two, however, as shipping is slated to begin December 19th -- hopefully arriving in time to fill those stockings.
Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite coming to the UK on October 25th, starting at £109
Amazon has found a relatively clear day in the calendar on which to launch its excellent Kindle Paperwhite e-reader in the British Isles. The ad-supported basic model will knock you back £109, while an extra £60 will get you the 3G version. Amazon's Lending Library service will roll-out at the same time, offering Prime members free loans from a collection of 200,000 books as part of the £49 per year subscription (which also has other perks). If you're shopping around, don't forget that Barnes & Noble's equally glowing alternative is also available in the UK these days, wearing a pretty much identical price tag.
Bezos: Amazon breaks even on Kindle devices, not trying to make money on hardware
Amazon makes a pretty good case for its Kindle Fire HD and Paperwhite with prices as low as $199 and $119 respectively, but it turns out there's more at work than just special offers to keep them affordable. In an interview with the BBC, the company's head honcho Jeff Bezos revealed that they can keep the price tags reasonable since they don't turn a profit on the devices. "Basically, we sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break even on the hardware," Bezos said. "We're not trying to make money on the hardware." Instead, Amazon banks on making a buck when owners of the slates and e-readers purchase books, movies, games and other content through their digital storefront. This doesn't exactly come as a surprise, but we're glad that Jeff's confirmed our suspicions.
Editorial: Bring on the digital overthrow of publishing
Last week's release of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite offered an opportunity to look back on the rapid growth of e-reading, and look forward to what the digitization of publishing will mean to four major market forces: publishers, bookstores, authors and readers. As during any technological disruption, winners and losers trade fates until the upheaval settles and a new cycle of status quo begins. Amazon is not the only bookstore represented in the scramble for new-era survival, but its major role has multiple dimensions: seller, publisher, enabler, inventor and primary instigator of disruption. Amazon is banking on being a winner, and was recently handed an advantage by the U.S. government in its uneasy relationship with publishers. While industrial forces work their way through the dislocation of new paradigms, individuals -- both book consumers and book authors -- stand to be the biggest winners, and that is a good thing.
Kindle Paperwhite gets its own jailbreak, E Ink spews everywhere
If you're an avid tinkerer who managed to secure a Kindle Paperwhite before they sold out, then we have some news that may well brighten up your day. A jailbreak based off of the hack for the Kindle Touch has been developed for Amazon's new e-reader and is now available for fearless Paperwhite owners. If you're up to the task, your bravery will award you some elite features which include: using your device as a weather station display and serial terminal access with Raspberry Pi systems. If all of this sounds like a fun weekend project waiting to happen, head on over to source link for step by step instructions.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review
More Info Amazon announces $119 Kindle Paperwhite with illuminated, capacitive touch display Amazon Kindle Paperwhite hands-on Amazon breaks down its Kindle Paperwhite light technology (video) If you had told us at roughly this time last year that the e-reader race would be heating up going into the 2012 holiday season, we would have disagreed. If anything, 2011 seemed like the beginning of the end. Spurred on by the tablet explosion, companies like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and even Kobo were looking toward that space for inspiration, introducing flagship devices on which reading was just one of many features. Heck, even the readers themselves started to look more tablet-like, with many abandoning of physical keyboards in favor of infrared touchscreens. But here we are at the end of September, and this product category has never been more exciting. Back in May, Barnes & Noble captured our hearts and midnight reading marathons with the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, a wordy name for a great little device that made reading in bed at night a little easier. (A problem, according to Barnes & Noble, that was tearing the country's families apart.) But don't let it be said that Amazon doesn't believe in the American family. Earlier this month, the company launched the Kindle Paperwhite, the latest addition to a product lineup that has more or less become synonymous with the term "e-reader." At that launch event, CEO Jeff Bezos described the four years of R&D that went into the front light technology powering that bright screen. It was clear from our hands-on time with the device that, although Amazon is placing extra emphasis on the Fire line these days, it still has a lot invested in the e-reader fight. The sharpened, illuminated text is impressive, and Amazon has gone so far as to describe this as the Kindle it's always wanted to build. That's all well and good, but how does it compare to similar offerings on the market? Is this worth the $119 asking price (with ads)? Let's find out.
Watch now: Amazon's Kindle press conference ready to be relived
Sometimes it's hard to keep abreast of the dizzying product announcements that flutter out at press events. Sometimes you just wish you'd actually been there. In that event, Amazon's now offering up video of its entire Kindle conference from today. So, you can relive the excitement and confusion surrounding the Kindle Fire HDs and Kindle Paperwhite from the screen of your choice. Head to the source below for a download now or skip past the break for the full Bezos-packed play-by-play.
Amazon's new Kindle line-up now available for pre-order
Well, that didn't take too long. As promised, Amazon's entire line-up of new Kindles is now available to order on the retailer's site (in the US, at least), from the basic $69 Kindle to the top-end Kindle Fire HD 8.9 with 4G LTE. Of the lot, however, that $69 Kindle is the only one that's actually in stock (despite the September 14th ship date quoted at the event). The rest are up for pre-order, with the Kindle Paperwhite and Paperwhite 3G (with or without Special Offers) both set to ship on October 1st, while the new $159 Kindle Fire and 16GB 7-inch Fire HD ship September 14th, and the Fire HD 8.9 (with or without LTE) ships November 20th. Those interested in the 7-inch Fire HD with 32GB of storage will have to wait until October 25th. And, in case you were wondering, you can also still order the Kindle Keyboard and Kindle DX at their regular prices. Update: No word on the rest of the line-up, but Canadians can now at least order the updated basic Kindle, which runs $89 (sans Special Offers) and is set to start shipping on September 12th.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite hands-on (Update: video)
Of course, today's event wasn't just about the Fires. Amazon's still got a dog in the devoted e-reader race as well. The big news here, of course, is the company's entry into the world of lighted E Ink readers -- coming several months after the release of Barnes & Noble's own Nook Simple Touch With GlowLight. The front-lit technology here is proprietary, of course. Amazon mentioned some four years in R&D on glowing alone. And the difference is pretty immediately clear: it's all about distribution. Looking at the Nook for a second, you can immediately isolate the top as the light source, with a stronger concentration and somewhat even distribution. The Kindle's light however, is hard to spot, thanks in part to a much thinner bezel: you can't just angle the reader and see the lights here. Hold the new Kindle up to the old and something else is immediately obvious: there's a reason the company is calling this thing the Paperwhite. The contrast is like night and day here. That tinted display we've become accustomed to has been traded in for something much lighter, and the text is that much sharper. There's a reason Amazon went hog wild with the font styles and sizes: they're all visible here. Also, at first glance, there doesn't seem to be any degradation in sharpness due to the addition of glow technology, which we saw in the new Nook. The glow is quite bright, even with the lights on -- we get Amazon's point about wanting to keep it on at all times, so that increased battery life (eight weeks with the light on) is certainly a huge bonus here. We find ourselves turning it on and off a lot with the Nook -- not here. Adjusting the light is also quite nice, with a dimmer switch that runs up and down and a whole lot of brightness levels. The reader also just looks better. Physical buttons have been dropped altogether here (which is either a curse or a blessing, depending on who you ask) and the reader is a bit shorter and thinner than its predecessor. In place of the menu button is a white Kindle logo along the bottom bezel. The silver of the last version has been dropped for a matte black, which is really just nicer to look at, with a rubberized back that makes it harder for it to slip from your hands. Weight-wise, we're talking roughly the same ballpark as the Kindle Touch. We still prefer the Nook's trademark design for long-term reading -- one of the downsides of a smaller bezel is that there's less place for your fingers to go. And while there's an indented Kindle logo on the back, we still prefer the Nook's concave rear.%Gallery-164623% Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
