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  • Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, Kindle Voyage, Kindle For Kids, Kindle With More Storage: Ready For October Release

    Amazon is unleashing a litany of new and improved models of its Kindle tablet and e-reader line. For those interested in some pre-Black Friday holiday deals, the models are set to go on sale in October.

    “Are phablets killing tablets?” wrote Anna Attkisson of Tom’s Guide, “Amazon is definitely not jumping on that bandwagon.” The amount of updates corresponds with a new Fire OS (4.0), which lets families share across accounts. Attkisson further outlined the differences in the products: Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 ($379) is the most advanced, while the Kindle Fire HD 6, HD 7 ($99) is for those looking for a deal. Meanwhile, Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition ($149) brings the Kindle to the kid family side of things, and it comes with free replacement for two years.

    Amazon will also throw in a year of FreeTime Unlimited with the Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition. Adults will probably want to look into the adult version of Unlimited for themselves, which has its own monthly fee:

    According to the L.A. Times, Amazon is also updating their generic Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite for lower cost and more storage. They are also releasing a Kindle Voyage, which is designed for the book lover in mind, who also likes 3G cellular connectivity.

    When it comes to the fanciest item for the lowest cost, the Kindle Fire HD is probably your best bet. As Business Insider put it, “If $99 feels dirt-cheap for this tablet, it’s because it is.”

    “We make money when customers use these devices, not when they buy them,” an Amazon representative told them, “We sell at break-even prices.”

    But when it comes to power no matter the cost, Amazon is pretty proud of the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9. “The team has packed an incredible amount of technology and innovation into the new Fire HDX-an incredible HDX display,” Amazon’s chief executive Jeff Bezos told MVC, “A powerful quad-core processor, a 70% faster graphics engine, exceptional audio, and faster Wi-Fi-and it’s still startlingly light. Fire HDX combines excellent hardware with exclusive features from Fire OS4 including Firefly, the Mayday button, Family Library, ASAP and more.”

  • Amazon Announces Whispersync For Voice and Gaming

    Amazon today announced the new Kindle Fire, two Kindle Fire HDs, and the Kindle Paperwhite, along with some amazing pricing that could seriously challenge Apple in the tablet space. However, if you weren’t paying close attention to the news coming out of Amazon’s press conference today, you may have missed that its Whispersync service has moved beyond books and movies, to audiobooks and games.

    Amazon’s Whispersync service has been around since the early days of the Kindle. Traditionally, it was the service that would sync the amount of text users had read in each book to the cloud, allowing readers to pick up where they left off on another device running the Kindle app. When the Amazon video app began appearing on many devices, Whispersync also began syncing movie playback in the cloud.

    Now, Whispersync for Games will save your games in the cloud, while Whispersync for Voice will sync audiobook playback with text. The Whispersync for Games service is similar to that of movie and books: your place is simply saved in the cloud so that it will be consistent across multiple platforms.

    Whispersync for Voice, however, is more remarkable. The service will now allow users to go from reading a book on the Kindle next to their bedstand, to listening to the Audible audiobook version of the same book through the Audible app on their smartphone, and then back to reading on a device with the Kindle app, all seamlessly, right where they left off.

    Amazon has not provided details on the service yet, so it is unknown whether customers will have to purchase both the Kindle version and the Audible version of a text to enjoy Whispersync for Voice. If that is the case, that would seem to be a large cost for a feature that is essentially a cool timesaver. It’s possible, instead, that the new Whispersync hints at Kindle ebook/Audible audiobook combo deals in the near future.

  • Kindle Fire 2 Leaked Pic Hits the Web

    Kindle Fire 2 Leaked Pic Hits the Web

    When Amazon announced this morning that the Kindle Fire had sold out, it was clear they were happy to be hinting at the impending announcement of the Kindle Fire 2 on September 6th. Now the leaks have begun, meaning that many of the rumors Amazon will neither confirm nor deny will soon be replaced by facts.

    The Verge has obtained what it claims is a picture of the next Kindle Fire. Seen above, the device seems to have more rounded corners than the original Kindle Fire, but a similar interface. The device also appears to have a front-facing camera, meaning video calling might soon be possible on a Kindle. Not much else can be discerned by the picture, though The Verge states it has seen another picture that shows a “streamlined user interface with less ‘chrome.’” That publication said it has been asked not to publish the second photo.

    All of this speculation will be cleared up next week as Amazon announces the next Kindle Fire. And in addition to that device, it is rumored that a 10-inch Kindle Fire, a new Kindle Touch, and even a Kindle smartphone are possible announcements for next week’s Amazon event. Pricing rumors for these devices have not cropped up, though it’s likely that the new 7-inch Kindle Fire will stay near the current one’s $200 price.

    (Photo courtesy The Verge)

  • Hotel Bible Kindle: Get in Touch with God. Digitally.

    Hotel Bibles are as commonplace as curious stains on bedsheets. Whenever I travel, I always take a peek in the drawers to see if one has been provided, should I decide to save my soul during my stay. Because I’ve watched way too many movies in my day, I secretly flip through the pages in case someone has left behind a key, a hastily-scrawled note, or, perhaps, a small collection of unmarked one hundred dollar bills. Alas, the only thing I’ve ever found is a stick of gum and a condom wrapper.

    However, the days of physical copies in hotel rooms may be coming to a close in the near future. The Hotel Indigo in Newcastle, UK has recently started putting Kindles in their rooms, which come pre-loaded with a copy of the Bible. Not a Christian? Don’t get too worked up, as the hotel allows guests to download any religious text they want for free. Assuming, of course, your religion charges less that $7.50 for enlightenment.

    If the last thing you want is to be preached to during your stay, you can always download other e-books to the device, though you’ll have to pay for this heathen literature yourself. Fair enough.

    Hotel manager Adam Munday explained the decision to start carrying Kindles alongside such luxuries as mini-bars and high thread count linen. “In the 18th Century, Newcastle was one of the largest print centers in Britain and we’re in Grainger Town, close to the Literary and Philosophical Society,” he said. “We wanted to reflect this literary history in a very contemporary way, so are offering guests the use of cutting-edge Kindles pre-loaded with The Bible, instead of the more traditional hardcopy Gideon’s Bible that they would expect to find in a hotel.”

    What happens if you decide to take the Kindle home with you? Well, besides incurring the wrath of God, chances are you’ll be stuck with the bill. On the extreme end of the deal, you might get charged with theft. Either way, you’ll have some explaining to do to the big man upstairs.