Yesterday, Amazon announced its new Kindle line up, offering several updated tablet options to fit the needs of a wide range of consumers. For the heavy media consumer, the new Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G has all the bells and whistles a technophile could want, with a larger 1920×1200 HD display, exclusive Dolby audio, high speed Wi-Fi and 4G LTE capabilities, at a price point of $499. A Wi-Fi only version will sell for $299. Another added perk for the top of the line Kindle Fire HD is the special $49.99 4G data package that covers the entire first year of use. However, the plan does restrict data usage to 250MB a month, and after the first year, pricing reverts to the standard monthly fee. For those who don’t demand as much screen real estate or 4G connectivity, the 16GB 7″ Kindle Fire has been dropped to $199. Read more…

Yesterday, Amazon began offering a new service to its Prime members with the launch of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. This new feature allows members to borrow eBook titles free of charge, though the program does have restrictions. The service is only available on Kindle eInk hardware or the soon to be released Kindle Fire tablet, and will not be accessible through any of the Kindle apps on other platforms. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, about 5,000 titles will be available at launch “including more than 100 current and former national bestsellers”, though at present, none of the six largest publishers in the U.S. have agreed to participate in the program. Users are allowed to borrow one title per month, a number that may not impress avid readers. However, unlike most public library eBook lending policies, there is no due date, so users can borrow book for as long as they like. Read more…

Kindle Fire will be released November 15

Last week, Amazon announced its new eBook file format, Kindle Format 8 (KF8), which is based on HTML5. Though there are already eBook formats based on various versions of HTML, such as EPUB and Kindle’s current file format, which is a version of Mobipocket, none of these existing file types can offer the design flexibility of HTML5. An article on the popular tech blog Ars Technia praises KF8 for “bridging the gap” between the design limiting eBook formats and PDF files, which “offer much richer control over presentation.”

“HTML5 features such as CSS3 formatting, nested tables, SVG graphics, embedded fonts, and borders are all now supported. The new format includes much richer layout options, including fixed layouts—essential for accurate reproduction of many children’s books—and panel-based layouts for comic books.” Read more…

This week Amazon released Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5-based app that works with Safari and Chrome web browsers. This new reader, optimized for the iPad, allows Amazon to circumvent Apple’s recent restrictions on their native iOS apps, preventing companies from linking directly to their online stores. Users can now login to read.amazon.com to access their Kindle library and purchase new books. They have the option of reading eBooks in the cloud or downloading volumes to read offline. Along with iPads, the web-based app will also work with Safari and Chrome on Macs and PCs, however the Firefox web browser is not yet supported. According to an article on TechCrunch, the iPhone platform is not supported either. But, an iPhone friendly version is presumed to be in the works. Read more…

This morning Amazon published a press release announcing a Kindle Library Lending feature that will launch later this year. The retail behemoth has teamed up with digital content solutions provider OverDrive to create “a seamless library borrowing experience.” Kindle Library Lending will allow readers to checkout Kindle eBooks free of charge from 11,000 libraries across the U.S. The feature will work on all versions of the Kindle as well as the free Kindle apps that are now currently available for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Mac and PC. Kindle customers will also be happy to know that the Whispersync technology will still work with the borrowed eBooks. Read more…

On Monday, Google debuted their new Google eBookstore, and will now compete with Apple and Amazon for a share of the lucrative eBooks pie. As announced on the company’s official blog, consumers will be able to “browse and search through the largest eBooks collection in the world with more than three million titles including hundreds of thousands for sale.” This launch is significant in that Google eBooks are not linked to a specific device but are compatible across many platforms “— everything from laptops to netbooks to tablets to smartphones to e-readers.” The books themselves are stored in the cloud instead of on an individual piece of hardware. “That means you can access your eBooks like you would messages in Gmail or photos in Picasa – using a free, password-protected Google account with unlimited eBooks storage.” Read more…

Yesterday, Amazon sent out a press release announcing that eBook sales have now outpaced hardcover sales and touting the increased sales of lower priced Kindle units. Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO, stated, “Amazon.com customers now purchase more Kindle books than hardcover books – astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months.” In the past three months Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books it has sold in the U.S. In the past month, Amazon has increased that ratio by selling 180 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books it’s sold. The number of eBooks sales in the first half of 2010 is more than triple the number sold in the first half of 2009. Amazon also applauds a group of five authors that have sold more than 500,000 Kindle books. Charlaine Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephenie Meyer, James Patterson, and Nora Roberts have all passed the half million mark.
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The battle between eReaders got heated on Monday as Barnes & Noble and Amazon slashed the prices for the Nook and Kindle respectively. The first shot across the bow came from Barnes & Noble, which announced that the price of the 3G Nook would be trimmed down to $199, and that a new WiFi-only version of the eReader would be available for just $149. Amazon fired back later in the day when it cut the price of the Kindle to $189. All versions of the Kindle have 3G capabilities built-in, and this new low price slyly undercuts the 3G Nook by $10. Amazon’s press release also emphasized the more than 600,000 titles in the Kindle Store, which has a larger selection of books, including New York Times Bestsellers, than either the Nook or the iPad.
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Borders Group Inc. is now accepting pre-orders for Kobo, its new offering in the eReader area. Priced at just $149.99, it sells for a little more than half the price of Amazon’s Kindle, and some technophiles believe this new device will give other eReaders some stiff competition. “It looks like a huge threat to the Kindle, and Kobo seems to have trimmed just the right features to get to this low price,” writes Charlie Sorrel on Wired.com. Its form factor is very similar to the Kindle, with measurements of 4.7 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches and a 6-inch E-ink display. The controls underneath the screen are more minimal, with just a blue D-pad. The back surface is rubber with a quilted texture for comfort, and the battery can hold a charge for up to two weeks, ensuring numerous hours of reading enjoyment.
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Amazon announced the upcoming release of Kindle (and Kindle DX) Software Update Version 2.5 on their website this week. The updated software will first be released to a small group of Kindle users, with a full launch planned in late May 2010. Among the new features will be the ability to share passages of your favorite books with friends on Facebook and Twitter, and zoom or pan around PDF documents for easier viewing. The highlights of the new features listed on Amazon’s site are as follows:

• 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.

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