Hasta La Gadget!

Tomorrow is the day that Windows 8 finally arrives, so it isn’t any surprise that we’re seeing companies push their apps for the new OS out the door today. Amazon is one of these companies, today launching a new Kindle for Windows 8 app. Kindle on Windows 8 appears to be mostly the same as Kindle on any other device, but there are a few changes that might be worthy of your attention.

Naturally, the Kindle app for Windows 8 emulates the tile-based theme of the OS, displaying all of the books you have in clean layout. You can pin individual Kindle books to your start screen, meaning that you can have quick access without having to go through the Kindle app first. Kindle fanatics can also you use Windows 8′s search function to find books in their library or in the Kindle store, which should prove to be quite handy considering how nice Windows 8 search is.

Of course, all of your purchased books will sync across all your devices, so you’ll be able to download purchased books to your Windows 8 device the first time you log in. The Kindle Windows 8 app also comes equipped with Whispersync, so your books will sync to your last page read on all of your devices. Other than all of that, you’ve got the typical Kindle functions at your disposal, including the ability to highlight passages and add your own notes.

The Kindle app is free on Windows 8, as it is everywhere else, and it’s available now on the Windows 8 Store. Naturally, most of us won’t be able to download it until Windows 8 is released, but the launch of Windows 8 is now less than 12 hours away. Will you be downloading Amazon’s Kindle app once you have Windows 8 installed?

[via Windows 8 Store]

Amazon introduces Kindle app for Windows 8 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With all the hubbub surrounding today’s Microsoft event, who can blame Amazon for wanting to get in on the action? The mega-retailer used the opportunity to announce the Windows 8 version of its popular reading app. Interested parties can download the thing for free from the Windows Store, giving them access to the company’s selection of 1.5 million titles. The app is available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese and offers up good old Amazon features like Whispersync. Amazon also used the opportunity to announce that Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung will be pre-loading the app on their devices. More information can be found in the source link below.

Filed under: Storage

Amazon debuts Kindle Windows 8 app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re live at Microsoft’s big Windows 8 event in New York City, with the big talking point being the launch of the brand new OS. Microsoft’s Steven Sinofaky is currently on stage, talking about the upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8. The new OS goes live at 12:01 AM local time tomorrow morning around the world, and for consumers, the upgrade to the new version starts at $39.99.

That’s not a bad price, and copies of Windows 8 will be available as a download, in stores, and online, Sinofaky says. With the three different preview builds of Windows 8, Sinofaky says that the new OS has gone through a whopping 1.24 billion hours of testing, which should mean that Windows 8 is as bug-free as possible when it launches in just over 12 hours. Of course, as we covered in our review of Windows 8, there are a number of reasons to upgrade, including better performance over Windows 7.

Sinofaky touched on that during his presentation too, claiming that Windows 8 offers better battery life, faster boot times, and a “smaller memory footprint.” The big bonus is that most Windows 7 programs are compatible with Windows 8, which means that you spend less time looking for updates after your install of the new OS is complete. We’ll undoubtedly be hearing more about Windows 8, Surface, and Windows RT during this event, so keep it tuned to SlashGear and be sure to check out our Microsoft Portal for any news you might have missed!

Windows 8 upgrade details shared at Microsoft event is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft’s big coming out day for Windows 8 is finally upon us. In celebration, Redmond’s throwing a launch party for its newest OS update on New York City’s Pier 57. You may not be able to join in on the fun in person, but we’ve got this handy stream beyond the break should you wish to play along virtually, and it’s starting any minute.

Update: Some folks are having issues with the primary stream, and if you’re one of those folks, you may wanna redirect your browser here for an alternative feed.

Continue reading Celebrate Windows 8 day with this livestream of Microsoft’s launch event (video)

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Software, Microsoft

Celebrate Windows 8 day with this livestream of Microsoft’s launch event (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re here at the biggest Microsoft event in many years: the launch of Windows 8, right here on the shores of New York City with not just a press event set up for the blast, but a full-on takeover of Times Square as well! We’re expecting to see final iterations of many of the key products in Microsoft’s extended family as well as 3rd party manufacturers galore, not to mention releases of software and final details on the Windows 8 OS for the whole world. It’s here that we’ll also be watching Microsoft launch their global campaign for Windows 8 as their key system – it all begins at 11:15 Eastern Time.

We’ll be posting each news bit as it comes down the pipe, five by five. There’s also a live video of the event you can watch while you’re getting pumped up for the event as well. Microsoft will be presenting Windows 8 as a simple-to-use beautiful and powerful system – clean as that. The brand is what will be pushed here, of that you can be certain. Brand NEW hardware is unlikely today, as such a reveal would be a bit confusing for the public that’s still wrapping their heads around the fact that Microsoft does have their own tablet on the market – check our
>full review of the Microsoft Surface RT now!

Those of you interested in learning all about the final form of Microsoft’s big release here should check out our massive Windows 8 review and drop your jaw at the size of it. Be sure to read up before the big event here starts. Also have a peek at what Samsung has done to keep the eye on them for the week – it involves Kanye West (spoiler). Also keep your eye on the word Nexus today to see if Google will release any big hints on their own upcoming event next week – and be a bit suspicious of all the “leaks” thus far.

Finally get pumped up about the gigantic Times Square takeover that Microsoft has let fly a bit early – a full on mega Star Screen that’ll be covering the whole of the center of the modern world. Microsoft is pulling out all the stops with this one, then hitting the afterburners to blast forth unto the next generation for their brand – this is about to be big, big stuff.

Microsoft Windows 8 event: we’re here! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.