Amazon bringing Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features to Kindle Fires for vision-impaired users

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 ]
News tagged with: #feature set #reads aloud #book titles

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How would you change Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite (2012)?

Gone are the days when, if you wanted to read a book in bed, you'd need to take a torch with you. Nowadays, as long as you've got a Kindle Paperwhite, the books will happily illuminate themselves. The device's even front-lighting and engineering... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In Brazil, Amazon Starts Selling Kindles Direct, Books are Next

After 13 months of using partners to sell Kindles in Brazil, Amazon is now offering direct sales. If they can do that, books are not likely far behind. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd launches Kindle Fire app

Book subscription service Scribd has launched a new app for the Kindle Fire. The app, which can... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd Offers Kindle Fire App, iOS, Android Updates

The recently launched Scribd subscription ebook service is adding an app for the Kindle Fire tablet as well as providing updates to its iOS and Android apps. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon reveals quarter of Kindle ebook sales in US were for indie publishers

Figures from world's biggest bookseller trumpeted as sign of how self-publishing and smaller labels are changing the industryAs many as a quarter of the top 100 Kindle books on Amazon.com are from indie publishers, according to data revealed at a trade presentation by the retailer.A chart... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon’s Australian Kindle store: an unhappy ending for the book industry?

Amazon has been prising open the wallets of Australian consumers for years – but what will its local push on Kindle mean for readers, writers and publishers?Ben Eltham Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2013-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon brings digital currency to UK

Amazon has launched its own digital currency for apps and games in the UK, six months after the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Goodreads and Second Screen integration finally hitting Kindle Fire HD and HDX

Today marks the debut of two features we've been waiting for since Amazon first announced its new Kindle Fire line lo so many weeks ago. Goodreads and Second Screen integration will be rolling out to Fire HD and HDX owners over-the-air in the next couple of weeks - or you can just go to Amazon's... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Source program invites indie stores to sell Kindles

Amazon's new program invites indies to sell Kindles and receive a commission from ebooks bought by their customers (if the store is eligible). Many stores are unimpressed, with one bookstore worker likening the program to 'being complicit in your execution.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon offers physical bookstores a cut of Kindle ebook sales, and just enough rope

Just as Kobo has cozied up to physical booksellers, so too does Amazon have a plan to smother them in e-ink kisses. Under the company's new "Amazon Source" program, any independent bookstore that sells a Kindle tablet or e-reader will be rewarded with ten percent of future book purchases made on ... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon US offers Kindle deal to indies

Amazon.com is offering independent booksellers the opportunity to sell Kindle e-readers. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon to Let Independent Bookstores Sell Kindles and Gives Them a Cut of E-Book Sales

Amazon, which has been blamed in part for the decline of independent bookstores, said it has a new program called Amazon Source to allow them and other retailers to resell Kindle devices and accessories, and also give them 10 percent on every ebook bought on them for two years. "With Amazon... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2013-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon discounts select Kindles in celebration of recent FAA decision

You just know Amazon's been waiting forever for this cheeky product discount. But heck, if it means not having to buy a $20 Dan Brown book before rushing to catch a flight, we'll take it. In celebration of the FAA easing its personal electronic device restrictions (not to mention Delta and... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon intros Kindle First for those who can't wait a month for the new Gloria Gaynor book

Waiting another month for that new inspirational Gloria Gaynor book? You'll survive, most likely -- but just in case, Amazon's debuting a new program called Kindle First. Customers can get early access to new titles for $1.99 - or for free, if they're a member of the exclusive club that is... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2013-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon releases MatchBook for Kindle

It has been nearly two months since online retail giant Amazon announced its MatchBook feature for Kindle, complimenting the previously unveiled Autorip service for music. Now, the company finally shows the feature the light of day, unveiling MatchBook availability effective today. If you aren't... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Unveils Its MatchBook Print-and-Kindle Combo Deal

Amazon today launched the MatchBook program it announced last month, which lets owners of select print books bought on Amazon get the Kindle ebook versions for $2.99 or cheaper. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2013-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Matchmaker mashes cheap Audible audiobooks with Kindle ebooks

And even better, Amazon's Whispersync technology picks up where you left off no matter whether you're reading, listening, or mixing the two. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2013-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Kindle Fire tablets receive good response from reviewers

The tech community seems especially impressed by a feature called Mayday, which calls up an Amazon tech support employee via video chat to help with tablet issues. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Kindle Fire tablets; B&N continues Nook price cut

Amazon has announced the US release of three new Kindle Fire Tablets. Meanwhile Barnes &... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon's Kindle MatchBook will let consumers buy print and ebook versions together

The new program, which is scheduled to launch in October, would let Amazon users buy a discounted ebook for qualifying titles if they bought the print version as well. But many publishers have yet to come aboard. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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