Text-to-Speech (TTS), which refers to the automatic, computer-generated conversion and playback of written text as spoken words, has been a part of dedicated eBook readers from early on. Amazon was among the pioneers and experimented with TTS several years ago. In 2009, however, Amazon faced criticism from the American Authors Guild, which argued that the retail giant had no right to automatically read eBooks aloud, thus bypassing the payment of […]
The first Kindle Oasis was notably distinguished by being bundled with high-quality leather covers. Veteran eReader users were quickly reminded of the time of Sony eBook readers, which also stood out for being bundled with covers for a long time. The reason for the bundling with the Oasis 1 was not just for aesthetics or tactile reasons but out of necessity, as the internal eReader battery had a capacity of […]
In 2005, Amazon acquired the self-publishing platform Createspace, which allows authors to publish books, eBooks, as well as music and film recordings without contractual obligations and upfront costs. The on-demand publishing service enables the printing or production of books and DVDs upon request. As The Digital Reader reports, this will soon come to an end—at least under the Createspace name. On a specially created help page, Amazon announces that Kindle […]
With the Kindle Voyage, Amazon ventured into new territory around four years ago and brought the premium class to the 6-inch eReader segment. The retail giant distinctly separated this newcomer from the Kindle Paperwhite both technically, with a magnesium casing, pressure-sensitive page-turning sensors, and a flat 300 ppi screen, and in terms of price. Since then, however, as the Paperwhite also features a “Retina” display and the Kindle Oasis attracts […]
Update, June 2019: There is now speculation that the series will go into production in 2020 and air in 2021. In the meantime, Amazon has kicked off its marketing campaign by showcasing a map of Middle-earth on a specially created Twitter account. Original Announcement, November 2017: A few days ago, there were already rumors that a series set in the Lord of the Rings universe was in the works. Amazon […]
In the electronics retail industry, it’s long been common practice to make products temporarily more affordable through installment payment offers. Now, Amazon.de has introduced a similar payment option for selected items in its Kindle, Fire, and Echo portfolios. Amazon offers five installment payments, which means you pay off the product over five months. Amazon determines which devices are eligible for installment plans. For example, all Fire tablets come with this […]
Amazon already offers two eBook lending services with the Kindle Owners Lending Library and Kindle Unlimited. However, this hasn’t stopped the retail giant from recently launching Prime Reading in the USA. This is yet another eBook lending service that allows Prime members to read selected eBooks for free. The difference from the other two services lies in the details: The Kindle Owners Lending Library allows Prime members to borrow one […]
The year 2012 was marked by the launch of new illuminated eBook readers. One of the brightest stars was undoubtedly the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, which impressed in many tests and now holds a very good rating of 4.5 stars on Amazon.de. However, the initial launch of the first Kindle Paperwhite about a year ago was anything but smooth. Initially, the device was only available for pre-order in the USA, which […]
While there’s still speculation about whether Amazon is on the verge of acquiring the display company Liquavista, they’ve already made a decisive move in another area. Amazon announced yesterday that it has acquired the Polish company IVONA. The IVONA Text-To-Speech engine covers 17 languages and 44 voices. During the Blizzard Challenge, an event to assess and measure the progress of synthetic voices, IVONA achieved the highest score of 3.9 points […]
Since 2012, with the launch of Kindle Fire HD Tablets, Whispersync for Voice has been available in Amazon’s US offerings. This service synchronizes audiobooks with their corresponding eBook. As a Kindle user, you can switch between the two media seamlessly. The current reading or listening status is automatically synced, so you can easily pick up where you left off. “Read a few pages at home on the couch and the […]
