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
With its eye firmly fixed on a return to profitability, Sony's been making extensive cuts to its business arms in recent days (bye bye, VAIO!). So it's no surprise the company would train that cost-cutting eye onto another underperforming unit -- its... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-02-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ebook platform
#late march
Seven new rights holders have signed agreements for Kindle Worlds, Amazon's model that allows writers to publish and sell authorized stories inspired by popular worlds. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#rights holders
#kindle worlds
From explaining what 'juggalo' means to recipes for sweet potato bourbon noodle kugel, the website's guide is well worth a visitNo, not the Coco Chanel kind of style; the other kind: the writing and editing style that newspapers and websites follow to maintain accuracy, clarity and consistency.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-02-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
The fifth annual Festival Neue Literatur begins in NYC on February 28 with a series of readings and discussions with German-language authors. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#german-language authors
Last week, the US government finally relented on letting technology companies publish more detail about national security requests; today, some bigger firms are taking advantage of the looser rules. Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Yahoo have updated ... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2014-02-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#taking advantage
While authors have appeared in person, via Skype or via telephone at book clubs before, Book the Writer has the clubs pay for the author's appearance. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book clubs
The survey was conducted by the site Good e-Reader among participants whom Good e-Reader estimated buy between 50 and 100 books a year. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
An Octopus Publishing imprint is set to publish a book with BBC Radio 6 Music showcasing 500... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Total sales in Amazon’s fourth quarter in 2013 rose 20% over the last quarter of 2012, hitting $25.59 billion, while net income rose to $239 million from $97 million in last year’s final period. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#amazon posts
#fourth quarter
#small profit
#total sales
#$239 million
Wikipedia. It's one of the cornerstones of the internet. It's a global resource which has quite a reputation and has spawned numerous copycats and offshoots; the latest addition to the wiki canon is the Wikipedia Voice Intro Project (or WikiVIP). As you may have guessed from the name, this is a... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#latest addition
#stephen fry
#audio clips
At the ALA Midwinter Conference this past Sunday, Lee Rainie discussed the latest Pew Research Center Library survey and announced plans to develop a widget that will provide librarians with community-specific data. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#past sunday
#announced plans
Back in 2006, Karen Schneider, now university librarian at Oakland, Calif.’s Holy Names University, published “The User Is Not Broken: A Meme Masquerading as a Manifesto” on her blog, the Free Range Librarian. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
Amazon Publishing adds Waterfall Press to its growing family of publishing imprints. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#christian market
#growing family
#publishing imprints
Amazon.com has launched a new Christian publishing imprint called Waterfall Press. The imprint,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
It’s an early January afternoon on the Upper West Side, just days after the Earth began heaving itself along on yet another elliptical voyage around the sun, and a polar vortex has stupefied New York with an interstellar chill. With about two hours of daylight left, sinuses are rimed with... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2014-01-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#colbert report
#bill maher
#considerable amount
'39 Clues' author Patrick Carman says he knows Amazon is a convenient option, but suggests buying a book from an independent bookstore each time you buy from Amazon. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#independent bookstore
A communication from Amazon's Kindle New Initiatives team has said KNI is working on "a... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |
In a morning session entirely devoted to Amazon.com, author Brad Stone and consultant Joe Esposito looked back over the history of Amazon's growth (and remorseless tactics) before looking ahead to its next round of competitive targets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#book business
#morning session
Company plans enhanced discovery and search tools to explore the 5m magazines already createdPersonalised digital magazine app Flipboard is aiming to pass 150 million users in 2014, thanks to enhanced discovery and search tools that will allow users to better explore the 5m individual online... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with:
#ad strategy