Yes, that’s two new Kindles for you. Both of these new Kindle measures 6 inches just like the original Kindle and will be available in two colors – graphite and the classic white color. Amazon also claims that these new Kindles will be 15% lighter and will have a faster refresh rate of around 20% than the previous Kindle. Internal storage of the new Kindles were also expanded to 4GB. This gives you more room to load up the device with more ebooks from Amazon.  In addition, battery life was also increased to a month when the Kindle is running without WiFi and 10 hours with WiFi on.

These new Kindles will be available in the U.S. and UK on August 27. Are you excited or not? Does the price makes the Kindle more appealing to you now or not?

via Engadget

Earlier this morning Barnes and Noble’s Nook, the original version just got a price cut. Current price is now only $199 from the previous $259.  Then Amazon suddenly followed and lowered the price of the original Amazon Kindle from $259 to $199.

In addition, Barnes and Noble has also release a new Wi-Fi only version of the Nook. With a market price of $149, it is definitely a great buy.

Those are huge price cut. Makes you think if the popularity of the iPad has something to do with this.

What do you think?

via TUAW

So, Amazon is about to release the latest Kindle firmware over-the-air. Kindle’s firmware which is now on version 5 will have the following features:

• Collections: Organize your books and documents into one or more collections.
• PDF Pan and Zoom: Zoom into PDFs and pan around to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics.
• Password Protection: Password protect your Kindle when you’re not using it.
• More Fonts & Improved Clarity: Enjoy two new larger font sizes and sharper fonts for an even more comfortable reading experience.
• Facebook & Twitter Posts: Share book passages with friends on Facebook and Twitter directly from your Kindle.
• Popular Highlights: See what the Kindle community thinks are the most interesting passages in the books you’re reading.

Of course, what’s interesting about these enhancement which has probably caught your attention is the Twitter and Facebook integration. Amazon is diving into the popularity of these two social networking sites by allowing Kindle users to share book passages which they are reading to their friends on Facebook, directly from their Kindle devices.

It’s not really a big social integration per se, but good enough considering that most Kindle users are probably connecting their Kindle to the internet most of the time.

The firmware update will rolled out to Kindle users anytime now.

via Amazon Kindle

I’m not trying to insinuate anything here. It’s just that I sense that Amazon’s sudden release of the Kindle for Mac app seems rather on the right timing. I mean for the upcoming release of the Apple iPad.  I mean the difference between the screen size of the iPad and the 13-inch MacBook Pro is very small.

So, if you own a MacBook Pro, and you know that if in case you’re getting the iPad for e-book reading purpose mainly, would you still spend $529 if you can do the same with your MacBook Pro using the Kindle App?

Is Amazon hoping against all hopes that some users will not dive into the iPad frenzy and stick with their current Macs loaded with the Kindle App? I really hope not.

Anyway, as announced, the Kindle for Mac is finally available for download. It’s a 20MB download and would run on Intel Macs running Mac OS X 10.5 and above.

Features are pretty much what we are expecting it to have. These include:

• Purchase, download, and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
• Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free
• Choose from 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
• Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
• View notes and highlights marked on Kindle, Kindle DX, and Kindle for iPhone
• Read books in full color including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books and textbooks

Ready to download? Click this link folks.

Source

And will you be able to do with Kindle for BlackBerry? Same thing that you can do with Kindle e-Reader, and all the other apps for various platforms. These include:

• Search and browse more than 420,000 books, including 102 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, directly from their BlackBerry
• Shop the in-app store for an optimized Kindle shopping experience – browse and download samples and full books without leaving the app
• Read the beginning of books for free before they buy
• Access their library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers
• Automatically synchronize the last page read between their Kindle-compatible devices
• Create bookmarks and view annotations they created on their Kindle, Kindle DX, or Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch
• Adjust the text size of books
• Read books in full color, including children’s books, cookbooks, travel books, textbooks and graphic novels

Of course, if your eyes get tired of reading through the BlackBerry’s small screen, you can always read the ebooks you purchased on your PC via the Kindle for PC app. You don’t really have to transfer anything since, all your Kindle accounts are automatically synchronized with your Amazon account. Pretty neat?

So, what are you waiting for, get Kindle for BlackBerry now, like I did awhile ago. And join me in waiting for Kindle for Mac.

Via 901am

Crave.net was able to get their hands on the new Octovo back-up light for Kindle. What this $29.99 device do is provide you with the needed lighting to let you read your e-books on your Kindle even when on dark environment. Thanks to the Kindle’s e-ink based display doing this seems to be impossible unless of course you turned on the lights in your bedroom.  But you don’t want to annoy your wife or significant others just to get your e-book fix for the night, right?

So, there’s your solution – the Octovo Kindle light.

The Octovo light is easy to attach on your Kindle as well and it covers the entire reading area of your Kindle with its illumination.

Expect the Octovo lights to hit store shelves sometime in March.

After announcing a new royalty payment option for authors and publishers, Amazon is announcing something new again about its Kindle business. This time its the Kindle Development Kit (KDK). It’s basically the same thing as Software Development Kit or SDK used by applications developer to create third-party applications that run on a particular platform. In this case, it’s the software development kit that will allow developers to create interactive and useful third-party applications that will run on the Kindle.

Can you just imagine the effect of this to the whole e-book business community? For all we know, this could be the start of an applications store for the Kindle.

If you’re a developer, you might want to check out the KDK site and sign up to be notified when the limited beta will start, probably by next month.

Here’s what Amazon has to say about the KDK:

The Kindle Development Kit enables developers to build active content that leverages Kindle’s unique combination of seamless and invisible 3G wireless delivery over Amazon Whispernet, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, and long battery life of seven days with wireless activated. For example, Handmark is building an active Zagat guide featuring their trusted ratings, reviews and more for restaurants in cities around the world, and Sonic Boom is building word games and puzzles.

Sounds promising? Actually it is. It is bound to change the whole e-book landscape. Just in time for Apple’s possibly entry with its rumored iPad, iSlate or whatever you may want to call it or whatever Apple will finally call it.

Set to take effect on June 30, 2010, the new 70% royalty option will be net of delivery costs. Delivery costs will be based on file size and pricing will be at $0.15/MB.  The new policy will not affect existing royalty option entered into by authors and publishers. It’s a different earning option geared to encourage more authors and publishers to distribute their work via the Kindle Store.

Here’s the full press release issued by Amazon:

Amazon just announced the availability of popular young reader titles in their e-book formats. These e-books include the Artemis Fowl series as well as Rick Riordan’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5: The Last Olympian” and “When You Reach Me” by Rebecca Stead.

This is a good way of encouraging young people to read, albeit in the new digital format. And this could also spark additional userbase for the Amazon Kindle. Hope these kids will not ask their parents to buy them the Kindle immediately.

And perhaps more e-book titles in this genre, Amazon? How about the Harry Potter series?

Via

In the absence of a better and viable alternative, it is not surprising that e-book reader hungry consumers will be confronted with no choice but to get the Amazon Kindle instead. For all its flaws and limitations, Kindle’s business model makes it the most reliable and bankable ebook business model today.

Full-featured ereader device with Internet connectivity that lets you directly download books, international availability, reasonably priced (still debatable) and full-house ebook store catalog are just some of the key features which makes the Kindle as one of the most bought electronic device this Christmas Season.

No wonder, that the Kindle has just broken its monthly sales record making December as the best sales month for Kindle.

If you failed to get the Kindle last Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping frenzy, now is your chance to get it and receive your Kindle just in time for Christmas.  Amazon is offering a free 2-day delivery of the Kindle if you order it starting now.

So, hurry and order you Kindle now. I’m pretty sure whoever you’re going to give it to will smile upon opening your Kindle gift.

VIA