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 ]
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Amazon's Kindle Ice Queen Is Back, Now With a Couple of Kids

After seeing Samsung's spirited swing at Apple users, Amazon's continuing anti-Apple pandering just feels weak. The new ad for the Kindle Fire pits a dorky, single iPad user against a Kindle-reading mom in a bikini—the same ice queen from the 2010 spot, though now she's warmed up a bit and seems... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2012-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New York Post Launches New Kindle Fire App

Add the New York Post to the growing list of publications that are releasing apps optimized for the Kindle Fire and in this case, other seven-inch Android tablets too. “This app adds to our array of critically-acclaimed and successful app ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle Fire could hit UK in January

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How to Share Amazon Kindle ebooks

I love reading, and I love books. I don't care much about the medium--paper or digital, it's all the same to me, for the most part. Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2011-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Time Inc. Magazines Make It to the Kindle Fire, After All

It took some haggling, but Time Warner's publishing unit joins Hearst, Conde Nast and other big publishers on Amazon's new tablet. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle Fire Reviewed: Do Not Compare to iPad

The Kindle Fire is really a distant relation of the handheld portable TV that was popular about 20 years ago--you can consume lots of things fairly effortlessly on the Fire--movies, music, magazines, some kinds of apps, and, more importantly for us, books; but the Fire's real innovation is how... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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US Authors Guild attacks Amazon over Kindle Lending

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launches Kindle lending library for US

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon sweetens Prime with Kindle book lending

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[ Betanews | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Sets up Kindle Lending Library

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[ PC World | 2011-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon profits slump after heavy Kindle investment

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon brings locker delivery to London

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New Kindle with Special Offers E-book Feature: Remove Ads for $30

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[ PC World | 2011-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kindle Fire and the Future of E-reading

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three Traits That Make The Kindle Fire Competitive

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[ PC World | 2011-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon readying October Kindle offer

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launches tablet and new UK Kindle priced £89

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Flammarion signs Amazon deal ahead of Kindle launch

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon launches Kindle Library Lending program

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[ Betanews | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Rolls Out Kindle Library Lending

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[ AllThingsD | 2011-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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