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Still have an old Kindle Touch sitting around? You have some new features to play with. Despite replacing it with a brighter son, Amazon is still updating its original touch sensitive e-reader — outfitting it with a new UI, enhanced parental controls and Whispersync for Voice, which shares bookmarks between audio and text versions of the same digital tome. Amazon’s improved the Kindle Touch shopping experience too, adding recommended content offers to users and remembering where they left off in a sample after they purchase the full text. Finally, the company injected the Kindle Touch with better comic and graphic novel navigation — allowing readers to view their funnybooks panel by panel, rather than by the full page alone. The update will be delivered wirelessly, though users that fancy their USB cable can install the new features the old fashioned way. Check out Amazon’s “what’s new with Kindle Touch” page for a run down of the update’s features.

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Via: Verge

Source: Amazon

Just a week after the Kindle DX was axed, seems Amazon is trimming its product line further: evidence suggests that its Kindle Touch is to be discontinued, with the Paperwhite filling the gap. More »

Amazon is a company that just cannot stop leaking information about its new products. Before the live coverage of Amazon’s press conference on TechCrunch at 10:30 in Santa Monica, it is now a good time to write down what we know about Amazon’s lineup.

New Kindle devices are highly expected and the major focus of the conference should be on hardware. The Nexus 7 has proven to be a beautifully-designed cheap 7-inch tablet and an update to the Kindle Fire would be a welcomed announcement. The Kindle Touch has lost its edge in the e-reader landscape with the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. Moreover the Pearl E Ink screen has not been updated since 2010. Lastly, there are some rumors that Amazon might finally be ready to release a Kindle-branded phone.

Kindle Fire

Even though Amazon claims that the Kindle Fire is now sold out, what it really means is that Amazon stopped production of the current Kindle Fire — a device cannot be sold out because it is the company that decides to stop production. Seeing how Amazon is desperate for attention, a new Kindle Fire is therefore very likely.

Some pictures of the device leaked. It still sports a 7-inch display with a narrower matte bezel and maybe a front-facing camera on some models. Amazon could choose to only offer the camera on the higher-end model to keep the entry price very low.

A 10-inch device could be introduced as well but we are much less confident about this rumor as the price has always been an important selling point for Amazon over the years. And of course it would put that purported tablet in direct confrontation with the iPad.

Talking about prices, in order to keep its edge in the race to the bottom, Amazon may adopt a similar strategy as its ereader strategy. In other words, Amazon may lower the price by showing ads — also known as special offers — when you turn on the device. A $149 device sure looks attractive when it is just a click away to add to your virtual cart.

Engadget received some logs that could indicate that the new Kindle Fire operating system will be based on Android 4.0.3 instead of 2.2 — a much needed improvement for third-party developers and even users. A bump in specs would be logical as well, with for example an improved processor and a screen with a better resolution.

And then there is the Firedock. Amazon trademarked the brand, probably for an accessory. Will it be unveiled today?

Kindle Touch

While we are not sure about the entry-level Kindle, the Kindle Touch is likely to receive an update. It is currently unavailable on Amazon.com. It did not receive the same PR treatment as the Kindle Fire, but the Kindle Touch is in need of an update as well.

Yesterday, the new Kindle Touch was teased by Amazon in an ad. The home button is gone and the bezel is now black.

Competitors such as the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight or the just-announced Kobo Glo have a screen that glows in the dark. Contrarily to what it looks like, those devices are front-lit and not backlit. It uses small LEDs in the bezel to project light on a transparent film. The Kindle Touch should probably use the same technology due to the characteristics of E Ink screens.

Another improvement would be a new E Ink screen. The current Pearl screen has been used in Kindle e-readers since 2010. The company E Ink stated that a generation is supposed to last two years. Screen contrast between the text and the background should be improved as well as screen refresh rate for faster page turns — it depends on the processor too. But the more important improvement would be a bump in resolution. The Kindle has had the same 800×600 resolution since 2007. The Kobo Glo has a 1024×768 six-inch screen. Maybe it will be the same resolution for the Kindle Touch, maybe not.

Kindle smartphone?

Over the past few days, some rumors of a Kindle-branded smartphone have emerged. It is probably the next logical step for Amazon after hyping up its App Store so much. Bloomberg has come to that conclusion after hearing rumors from Foxconn and the hire of Matt Gordon, a specialist in patent protection to avoid lawsuits.

It is unclear whether the smartphone will be unveiled today. The rumors come very late. Moreover, specs and design remain unknown. It would be an interesting turn for Amazon, even if it is only released in a few weeks. With its incredible retail presence thanks to the ubiquitous Amazon.com, the device could sell well and prove to be yet another challenger in the smartphone landscape.

Welcome to Thursday evening folks. We had a lot of news coming out of Germany for the second day of our IFA 2012 trip, so let’s jump in. We have a ton of hands-on posts to get through, but first, be sure to have a look at our Dell IFA 2012 Wrap-Up for all of the details on what the company announced and what it let us see. Moving on, today was a big opportunity to get some hands-on time with a bunch of different devices announced at IFA today and yesterday, and of course we took full advantage of it.

Starting right off with Sony, we have a hands-on post with the absolutely massive 84-inch 4K Bravia 84X900 TV for you to check out. If a display that’s a little more wearable is more your cup of tea, then have a look at our hands-on with the Sony HMZ-T2. Of course, we’ve also got a hands-on with the Sony VAIO Duo 11, and for those of you who still want more big, we’ve got you covered there too with this Sony Tap 20 oversized tablet hands-on.

Lenovo has announced a number of devices during IFA, revealing the IdeaPad S Series Laptops. We have a hands-on with the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 for you to peruse, along with this Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 hands-on and this hands-on with the IdeaTab A2109 and A2107. That does it for the Lenovo and Sony hands-on articles, but in the words of some guy we see on TV all the time, “we’re not stopping there!” We also spent some quality time with the new Liquid Image EGO HD Mountable Camera, and we recommend that you also have a look at our hands-on with the HTC Desire X.

At IFA today, Toshiba announced a set of three new ultrabooks, and ZTE was there to show off its new Grand X IN smartphone – the first ICS phone to sport Intel inside. It seems that the incoming Windows 8 is making manufacturers go a little bit touch-crazy, and today we were treated to a number of leaks in addition to all of the news from IFA. The Motorola DROID RAZR M 4G LTE has suffered yet another leak, and it would seem that both the next Kindle Fire and the next Kindle Touch were leaked today as well. Speaking of the Kindle Fire, it turns out that the tablets have sold out in anticipation of Amazon’s big reveal next week.

Samsung seems to be learning more toward Microsoft after its loss to Apple, and the company may just have a plan to make Apple pay up should the iPhone maker release a new device with LTE capabilities. The iPhone 5 was featured in a new video and photo leak today, Steam Greenlight is officially up and running, and the Mars Curiosity Rover has finally left its landing site to go and look for clues on the surface of the Red Planet. Finally tonight, Windows Phone 8 may be getting a handy new parental control feature, and Google and Apple’s CEOs have gotten together to talk about a potential patent settlement. That does it for Thursday’s Evening Wrap-Up, but be sure to join us back here tomorrow for more straight from IFA 2012!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: August 30, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon has just announced that the Kindle Fire has joined the Kindle Touch on the out-of-stock list, presumably forever, a week before the company’s mysterious product announcement. Jeff Bezos has teased that the company’s got an “exciting roadmap” ahead, which we’d expect to include at least one touchscreen e-reader and a vastly revamped 7-inch tablet, designed to better compete with Google’s similarly sized budget offering.

Continue reading Amazon’s Kindle Fire has sold out just in time for the company’s next big event

Filed under: Tablets

Amazon’s Kindle Fire has sold out just in time for the company’s next big event originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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