Kindle Tips: Kindle Reading app update for Kindle for Android (v4.6) - Lots of enhancements but some are reporting crashes with the update, so waiting for the next update may be a good option for some.

   

Kindle reading-app for Android updated with Audible Integration improvements and several other feature enhancements

A copy of the forum announcement:

' Initial post: Aug 12, 2014 3:00:21 PM PDT

Megan H. - Forum Moderator says:
(AMAZON) (AMAZON OFFICIAL)
We have a new, exciting software update available for Kindle for Android. The latest version of Kindle for Android 4.6 has several new features and performance improvements.

What's been improved?

We've improved the listening experience for books with audio:
* When you're listening from a Bluetooth device, playback will automatically pause if Bluetooth is disconnected. A new permission is required for this, "Pair with Bluetooth devices." More information about the device permissions we require and why, is available at: https://amazon.com/help/kindleforandroid/permissions
* Go hands-free with Immersion Reading; enjoy automatic page turns without the screen shutting off.
* Learn more about reading and listening with Whispersync for Voice.

Helpful account information can be found on the Settings screen:
* Rename your device to make it easier to recognize when buying books from the Kindle store.
* Check your registration information, is the app registered to the correct email address?
* Learn more about reading personal documents with Send to Kindle.

Viewing options inside the book have been updated:
* "Use system brightness" is a more intuitive option for a brightness settings. Tap the "Aa" icon at the top of the screen to choose this new option. If you're not finding the "Aa" icon, tap the center of the screen to have the menu bars slide into view. This improvement was made with the help of your feedback!
* When the menus are hidden (tap the center of the screen to show or hide them), tap the bottom right corner of the screen. Do you notice a small padlock? Tap it to lock the orientation. Now you can turn the device in any direction so you read on your side or back.

Improvements were made to the Table of Contents as well:
* A direct link to the book cover is at the top.
* "Front matter" is next. Funny name but this where you'll find the title, copyright, dedication and more. There's an arrow to the right of the label. Tap it to close the front matter section.
* If a book has page numbers we'll show them alongside the chapter names. The current page you're on will be highlighted.
* If another chapter is selected, you can always get back to your previous location by tapping one of the placeholders on the location seeker at the bottom.

Lots of other improvements and fixes are included as a result of your feedback. Please keep the feedback coming, we're always listening and will be sure to send your comments to the Kindle for Android team. '

REMINDER
How does Whispersync for Voice work?
Amazon's Whispersync for Voice page has a clear diagram showing the basics of how the parts relate and how you use this convenient feature (without relying on the computerized voice we heard with the older eInk Kindles that had audio).


If this is a NEW Android app install
If you've never installed the Android app,
• go to Amazon's Kindle for Android app page
• Select "Download now"
• Follow the instructions to download the app to your device
• After installing the Kindle reading app, you'll need to register it to your Amazon account.

Kindle reading-app Updates - Where?
  . Kindle for Android Phone update page at Amazon appstore
  . Kindle for Android Tablet update page at Amazon appstore
  . or, if Google play was the original source anyway, Android Updates from Google play.

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Kindle Tips: Kindle Reading app updates for iOS (v4.3) and Android (v4.5) - Switch between reading and listening in the app. Other enhancements for both iOS and Android.

   

Kindle reading-apps for Android and iOS updated with Audible Integration -- switching between reading and listening within the app

Salient points from the Amazon's press release:

The updated apps make it possible for you to "switch instantly between reading a Kindle book and listening to the companion audiobook from Audible—all with just one tap, without leaving the book."

Russ Grandinetti, SVP, Amazon Kindle, points out what they've tried to do here.  “Integrating professional narration into our Kindle apps means you never have to put down a favorite book -- start reading at home, get in the car and simply tap a button to continue listening without losing your place.”

" Audio upgrades are available for as little as $0.99, with upgrades to bestsellers like the Outlander series and The Hunger Games series available for as little as $3.99."

"Professional narration is available for more than 45,000 Kindle books and growing—including popular best-sellers from an array of genres.  You can easily add professional narration to your favorite Kindle books with one click using Matchmaker, a service that scans your Kindle library to find which of your Kindle books have a companion Audible version available.

  Audio upgrades are available for as little as $0.99, with upgrades to bestsellers like the Outlander series and The Hunger Games series available for as little as $3.99."

"For as little" of course means that these are the lowest prices and that other combinations will cost more.

That "Matchmaker page-report is really nicely done and, on my own Kindle books, the report page indicates that the most prevalent audio-addition cost, in my case, is between $3.99 and $6.49 but there is an occasional crazy $12.99, which I would never pay when I already have the Kindle book.  Audible and its authors/publishers should take another look at those.  But I see a couple that I'll probably get for the $4 additional since I often don't feel like (or can't be) reading but often wouldn't mind listening to a book (especially since I'm so behind on the ones I bought).


How does Whispersync for Voice work?
Amazon's Whispersync for Voice page has a clear diagram showing the basics of how the parts relate and how you use this convenient feature (without relying on the computerized voice we heard with the older eInk Kindles that had audio).


If this is a NEW Android app install
If you've never installed the Android app,
• go to Amazon's Kindle for Android app page
• Select "Download now"
• Follow the instructions to download the app to your device
• After installing the Kindle reading app, you'll need to register it to your Amazon account.

Kindle reading-app Updates - Where?
  . Kindle for Android Phone update page at Amazon appstore
  . Kindle for Android Tablet update page at Amazon appstore
  . or, if Google play was the original source anyway, Android Updates from Google play.


Apple's iTunes lists Additional features for the iOS v4.3 update:

• Access to more than 45,000 Kindle/Audible title pairs, including best sellers
• Find audiobooks compatible with items in your Kindle library – audiobooks are delivered by Audible, an Amazon company
• Whispersync for Voice automatically synchronizes reading progress between the Audible and Kindle versions of a book
• Read and listen to a Kindle book at the same time; pages turn automatically
• Narration speeds up to 2x and a sleep timer
• Download an entire collection – gives customers the ability to download an entire collection with the tap of a button, making it easier for readers to download in bulk and load their favorite books on a new iOS device
• Students can now find terms that are in X-Ray for Textbooks by using search – occurrences in X-Ray are shown right above occurrences in the book
• Finding where an X-Ray term occurs on a textbook page is now easier – tap a page thumbnail in the X-Ray feature and you will see the term highlighted in the page of the book
• Performance and stability improvements

Intrepid Explorer and Early Tester Tom Semple points out the ability to download an "entire collection," with one tap, to a new IOS device. Although I wasn't able to imagine why anyone would want to put their entire collection on a phone, Tom points out that their set-up routine shows that they mean "*a* collection" or collection set, not one's entire collection of Kindle books, which makes more sense but I wouldn't want to do even that, to a phone. I'd rather do multi-tagging and find it important to have, on my phone, only the few books I want to read currently.  And, although the good idea of using just one button when there are so many books in a collection, it makes me wonder why on earth one would want a large collection on the phone.  It could be that I've become too 'Clouded' in my approach.


Kindle for Android apps - new features
Amazon now seems to have (or is ready to have, in the future) individual apps for Android for phones and for tablets.  They both list the following features (adding "real-time highlighting" - a Kindle Fire HD feature since 2012:

• Read and listen to books simultaneously with real-time highlighting
• Find and purchase companion Audible audiobooks from the app
• Add multicolor highlights to text
• Copy and paste text from your book
• View reading progress from book badges in your Kindle library
• View download progress from the notification shade on your device
• Jump directly to previous locations with “placeholders” on the progress bar
• Tap the Back button to return to your Kindle library while reading

Note that, for the Kindle for Android apps, there's no mention of the ability to download an entire collection (set), via a tap, to a new Android device.  Again, I don't see that as something I'd want to do) -- I might for a tablet with good storage space though.

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Kindle Tips: Kindle 9.7" E-Ink DX-Graphite now $189 for a ltd time...Amazon matches eligible Kindlebooks w/ more discounted Audiobooks ('Matchmaker')...KindleFire-specific app development encouraged by new 'Select' program offering added exposure...iFixit Teardown: Yr2013 Kindle Fire HD 7"...A Don't Miss book excerpt by Brad Stone on Jeff Bezos, with info from former employees and friends (fascinating).

CNET's Lance Whitney Amazon's new "Matchmaker" Audible book bundling feature.  The image here is of an Audible audio-book that Amazon presented to Whitney as matching a Kindle book he owns, available at a Matchmaker discount price.

' The retailer's new Matchmaker page scans your Kindle library to see which e-books have a corresponding audio version.  The audio versions then pop up with discounted price tags. Simply click on the upgrade button for a specific book to make your payment.  You can also listen to an audio preview of any book before you buy it. '

You'll need the Audible app on your mobile device.  With Whispersync, you can listen to the book "and then switch to the e-book version where you left off."

The ones presented to me at the Matchmaker page were of NON-public domain books and I was surprised they were available on Audible.

He points out that ""The Wizard of Oz" could be had for 99 cents, down from $14.95. And "Gulliver's Travels," as read by actor David Hyde Pierce, was free."


E-Ink Kindle DX Graphite (DXG) - $50 off until Oct. 15 at 11:59 pm
This 9.7" e-Ink Kindle, with more text on a 'page' and larger fonts that look as if they are etched onto the screen, made a re-appearance on Amazon's e-Ink family header in May 2013, at $299 (formerly $379).

  A couple of months ago, the price was lowered to $239 and as of last night, when I saw that it became $189 for "a limited time", the specific time given in an Amazon email notice I received this morning.

  That price is good until almost midnight on October 15.  You can see information on what this device is like in the blog article for May 31.

  Alert: The current e-Ink family header with the discounted DXG price has an oddity on it, at least for now: The 3G Kindle Paperwhite is linking to the previous Paperwhite model at $179 rather than to the current 3G Paperwhite that is $189.  If you click on that, note that it's the older model for some reason.


Meaty excerpt from Brad Stone's book about Jeff Bezos
The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (release date Oct. 15).

  The long excerpt really is a fascinating read.  Considering the often eye-opening descriptions of Jeff Bezos by those who are former employees or friends (as well as current ones), the following paragraph probably describes the working atmosphere well:

' The people who do well at Amazon are often those who thrive in an adversarial atmosphere with almost constant friction.  Bezos abhors what he calls “social cohesion,” the natural impulse to seek consensus.  He’d rather his minions battle it out backed by numbers and passion, and he has codified this approach in one of Amazon’s 14 leadership principles—the company’s highly prized values that are often discussed and inculcated into new hires:

"Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting.  Leaders have conviction and are tenacious.  They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion.  Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly." '

  And of course there can be sudden limits to that idea when the person whose ideas or reactions you're challenging is Jeff Bezos.

  As a result of this article and book, I suspect that his longtime email address will be flooded and, even though staff would open most of it while he reads at least some of it, the latter will be considerably more difficult soon.  One thing remains clear; the customer is royalty, with limits, though the latter seem fewer than normally encountered.  Even clearer is how essential Bezos the man is to Amazon as the consumer-trusted company it is.

  Outside of some not totally surprising confrontational styles, there is one unexpected parallel with Steve Jobs in that JB has never (past the age of 3, with no memory of it) met his biological father (T. Jorgensen), while having a supportive adopted father from earliest years.  These are examples of apples falling quite far from the trees.

  And, ironically, now Brad Stone has met Jorgenson, who had never heard of Jeff Bezos.  "Is he still alive?"  While this may seem idle gossip, the similarities with S. Jobs's situation is remarkable.  And the story is a poignant one.

  I was going to quote a startled reaction by one of Jorgenson's grandchildren, but since it ends the Businessweek excerpt, it's fairer for you to read it there.  I think I know what book will be in the Top 10 in Amazon charts for awhile :-) (I just ordered mine.)


Digital Trend's Trevor Mogg reports on Amazon's new incentives for Android app developers to optimize apps for the Kindle Fire line (with tight standards), making the developers eligible for more exposure or 'discovery' and more revenue and growing the appstore.

Free Android app of the day - 10/10/13 - Entertainment category
Supermarket Management - a game in Time Management with focus on managing, well, a supermarket - gets good ratings

Updated Skype app soon
"Skype improves Android application, adds better video quality"
The Mobile Indian's Rahul Gupta reports on an updated Skype for Android, to be available on Kindle "later this month."


ifixit.com's "Teardown" of the 7" Kindle Fire HD 2013 (the $139 model)
Intro and highlights
The pictures and details are on scrolling pages -- with an option to see it all on a single page

Am glad they clarify for readers what Amazon's Kindle naming hasn't made very clear (described by me earlier).
  "Let us break it down for you: This HD is really the new Kindle Fire and the Kindle Fire HDX will be the new Kindle Fire HD. Confused yet?"

So, again, comparison of the Yr 2013 7" HD model vs last year's model should be by looking at last year's NON-HD basic model, since this year's basic model was upgraded to an HD display and, as before, does not have a camera or HDMI-out but does have a faster processor in addition, although the super-budget $139 model has only GB of memory as an option.  My recommendation is that people wanting the basic model buy the 16GB version ($169) as most will want to have more apps and probably a video on the device and that additional 8GB will save users some frustration with needing to swap out apps or other content due to limited storage space.  The $139 model is for those who want to save the money and can deal with using the Cloud to swap content in and out.

- A couple of findings (besides identifying all the parts)
"Not only does your tablet have virtual surround sound, but it has clarity-optimized sound, with or without headphone."

"The few components that might fail can be easily, inexpensively replaced."


Opportunities increase for authors in e-book Singles marketplace
(Tweeted earlier for authors interested in the growing "Singles" book market)
article by Howard Polskin for Huffington Post


Wow, they are really tough in Guyana!
"Jailed three years for stealing Kindle" - Only a part of the story is available as the rest of it is for subscribers.

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

US: New Kindle Fire HD 7" 2nd Gen - $139/169 Kindle Fire HDX 7" 16-64GB - $229/269/309 Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" 16-64GB - $379/429/479 - with 4G added: $479/529/579 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16GB - 1st Gen $229 - 32GB w/ no special-offers: $314 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi+3G - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free web Kindle DX - $379 $239 (but   $189 until 11:59pm Oct 15

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite2 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite 2 - $139 Kindle Paperwhite 2, 3G - $209 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284

*OTHER Int'l pages* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $209 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!