Amazon's been attuned to the needs of its vision-impaired customers for years, first rolling out text-to-speech technology on its original Kindle e-reader years ago. Today the company revealed plans to add to that feature set in its Kindle Fire and Fire HD (7-inch) tablets with Voice Guide and Explore by Touch technology. Voice Guide's an improvement upon regular text-to-speech tech that reads aloud any action performed by users -- things like announcing app names and book titles when they're selected. Explore by Touch lets folks swipe their fingers across their Fire's display and identifies each onscreen item as their phalanges pass over them. Once aware of what app or piece of content's being touched, a simple tap opens the item. Ready for the new assisted navigation experience right now? Well, all you anxious Fire owners will have to wait, the update doesn't land until early next year.Filed under: Tablets, Software, AmazonCommentsSource: Amazon Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2012-12-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle for Android wants to train your brain along with serving as your go-to e-Reader.Version 4.11, which is rolling out through the Play Store, brings in a feature called Word Wise, which pops up hints above words that Kindle thinks may be challenging. The goal is to give you confidence to... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon is failing in its legal duties when making staff redundant, according to union GMB. Meanwhile the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a complaint against an Amazon promotion for its Prime membership service The GMB union has accused the internet giant of failing to follow... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle Scout, one of the first crowdsourced publishing platforms, announced it will release its first set of 10 reader-selected titles next month. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon opens pre-ordering for the first 10 titles coming from its crowdsourced publishing platform. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-02-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you use the free edition of Microsoft OneNote 2013 for Windows, Microsoft has some good news for you. In a blog post published Friday, Microsoft’s OneNote Team announced that it had lifted the feature restrictions that previously applied to the freebie version of Microsoft’s venerable... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Got books to digitize and plenty of patience? Amazon's Kindle Convert software will let you scan them at home. As spotted by The Ebook Reader, Kindle Convert is a $50 PC application that turns printed pages into Kindle ebooks. It should work with most scanners, provided they support at least... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While ebooks 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 ... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has launched a new tool for authors to create and sell digital textbooks. But there are questions about royalty rates on higher priced e-textbooks. The post Amazon Pursues Education Market with Kindle Textbook Creator appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has launched Kindle Textbook Creator in the US, allowing academics to turn their textbooks into digital editions. KDP EDU, a new segment of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), gives educators and authors the online tools to prepare, publish and promote e-textbooks and other educational... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon senior v-p Russ Grandinetti was genial and a bit elusive while fielding questions on author discontent and Amazon Publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-01-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent booksellers and WH Smith feature on an “alternative” shopping guide for Christmas created by campaign group Amazon Anonymous. The group has teamed up with Ethical Consumer to create an alternative shopping guide for those who have signed up to its “Amazon Free Challenge” – in which... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon kicked off this year’s cyber Monday by claiming that Black Friday sales of its Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets were up significantly over last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing has released an essay by bestselling author Patricia Cornwell, which documents her investigation of Jack the Ripper for her 2002 title, 'Portrait of a Killer.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With The Pages Project, a designer of early ebooks revels in the inky, intimate musings from the margins of used books.Erik Schmitt's obsession with marginalia—handwritten scribbles or notes in the margins of books—began after he inherited a chunk of his grandfather's library. Handwritten in the... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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I get it -- you own a tablet and don't think you need a dedicated e-ink based e-reader. While I respect your opinion, I must tell you that it is wrong. Sure, reading a book on a back-lit LCD display is passable, but hardly a good experience. Not only can this be fatiguing to your eyes, but most... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has launched three Kindle e-readers and the Kindle ebook store in Holland. The e-commerce giant launched its Dutch ebook arm today (12th November), offering customers 20,000 Dutch ebooks alongside 3million books in other languages, reports Dutch news outlet NU. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Voting begins today on Kindle Scout, Amazon’s new crowdsourced publishing program, letting readers preview and vote on which unpublished manuscripts they believe should be published. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It seems like everyone has a tablet or phablet nowadays. These devices are wonderful as they let you do many things, like listening to music, surfing the web and reading. Yes, you can read a book on an iPad, Nexus 7 or Galaxy Note, but you shouldn't -- your eyes do not want you to. You see,... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you've been following the protracted war between Amazon and Hachette, you know that Amazon's been stymieing sales of certain books by making it impossible to pre-order them, and pushing back delivery of others all over a ebook contract dispute.... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon U.K. launched Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s ebook subscription service, in the U.K. today with a 30 day free trial. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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