Many newer Kindle models allow you to link your Kindle and Goodreads accounts so that the reading progress on your Kindle shows up in Goodreads. This was never the case for my old Kindle 4, and if you jailbreak a newer Kindle and read using KOReader, you lose the benefits of this native integration. Thankfully, I was able to use a KOReader plugin to get my reading stats to sync with Goodreads.

The new Kindle Colorsoft brings updated hardware and optional page-turn accessories, while Kobo Libra Colour offers built-in buttons and stylus support for less.

The post Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Libra Colour: Which E-Reader Should You Buy? appeared first on TechRepublic.

Kindle Scribe combines ebook reading with handwritten notes, while reMarkable Paper Pure focuses on writing and document workflows. We compare features, costs, and usability.

The post Kindle Scribe vs reMarkable Paper Pure: Which Should You Buy? appeared first on TechRepublic.

The new Kindle Colorsoft brings updated hardware and optional page-turn accessories, while Kobo Libra Colour offers built-in buttons and stylus support for less.

The post Kindle Colorsoft vs Kobo Libra Colour: Which E-Reader Should You Buy? appeared first on TechRepublic.

Kindle Scribe combines ebook reading with handwritten notes, while reMarkable Paper Pure focuses on writing and document workflows. We compare features, costs, and usability.

The post Kindle Scribe vs reMarkable Paper Pure: Which Should You Buy? appeared first on TechRepublic.

After more than a decade of focusing on low-cost devices, Amazon is taking its tablets upmarket and moving them to Android, setting up a more direct challenge to Apple’s iPad.

The company on Thursday unveiled Amazon Alexa Tablets, a new line of aluminum tablets with full access to the Google Play Store. That’s a break from Amazon’s longstanding Fire tablet line, which runs the company’s own Fire OS and relies on the Amazon Appstore for apps.

It’s the biggest change to Amazon’s tablets since Panos Panay — who previously led the Surface hardware line as part of his larger role at Microsoft — moved over to lead Amazon’s devices business in 2023.

The top model, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, pairs a 12-inch display with a pen and a keyboard that snaps on magnetically, a setup that will look familiar to Surface Pro users.

The 12 Pro starts at $499.99, or $549.99 with an anti-glare display Amazon calls Nanomatte. The Pro Keyboard costs $149.99 and the Pro Pen $89.99, so a base Nanomatte model with both accessories comes to nearly $790.

The other two models in the Thursday announcement are the Alexa Tablet 11, which starts at $329.99, and the Alexa Tablet 8, starting at $229.99. All three go on sale Oct. 14 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Following Amazon’s traditional naming scheme, the numbers refer to approximate screen size, not version.

Alexa and Kindle: Alexa+, the company’s generative AI assistant, is built into all three models. A feature called On-Screen Intelligence lets Alexa read what’s on the screen and act on it, such as pulling the dates from a game schedule into a calendar and flagging conflicts.

Live sessions allow a continuous conversation without repeating the wake word, with the option to share the screen as it changes.

Addressing potential privacy concerns, Amazon says the screen-reading features are off by default and require users to opt in, with a visual indicator whenever Alexa can see the screen.

Opening the Kindle app switches the tablets into a reading mode that silences notifications, reduces blue light and extends battery life to as much as 20 hours, according to a blog post by Kevin Keith, an Amazon vice president. Annotations made in books with the Pro Pen sync to Kindle Scribe.

Farewell, Fire: The new tablets don’t carry the Fire name, and Amazon’s announcement doesn’t mention Fire at all. Asked about the future of the line, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email that Fire tablets will keep working and customers will keep access to their apps and content.

“The Alexa Tablets are a new product line built for what’s next — they don’t change anything about the experience Fire tablet owners have today,” the spokesperson said, adding that Amazon will provide at least four years of support “after the last Fire tablet we sell.”

The move tests a strategy that dates back to the original Kindle Fire. Amazon kept its tablet prices low and counted on owners to buy books, videos, music and apps through its own stores.

“We want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices,” Jeff Bezos, then Amazon’s CEO, said when the company unveiled the Kindle Fire HD in 2012.

With Google Play on board, Amazon gives up some of that control while charging more for the hardware. The new tablets still put Amazon’s own services up front, including Prime Video, Kindle, Audible and Amazon Music, along with a personalized home screen that surfaces Amazon content.

The lineup puts Amazon in more direct competition with Apple, whose iPad leads the higher-end tablet market, and Samsung, the biggest seller of Android tablets. The 12 Pro will also compete with Microsoft’s Surface Pro, the device that set the template for a tablet with a snap-on keyboard and pen.

Inside the devices: All three tablets use MediaTek processors, according to the company — the Dimensity 8400 in the 12 Pro, and the MediaTek 8189 in the 11 and 8. Amazon says the 12 Pro is nearly three times faster at processing and nine times faster at graphics than any tablet it has shipped. It has up to 16GB of RAM, a 120Hz display and up to 16 hours of video playback.

Amazon worked with Corning on the Nanomatte glass, which uses a photolithography process to etch a texture into the glass aligned with the pixels beneath it. Conventional matte screens are sandblasted, which scatters light unevenly.

Amazon is also releasing Amazon Kids Tablets in 8.7-inch and 11-inch sizes, bundled with a kid-proof case and a year of Amazon Kids+, its subscription service for children’s books, videos and games.

The tablets go on sale Oct. 19 in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and will also be sold at Best Buy and Target.

Amazon’s Kindle is joining the ranks of TVs and garage doors.

The company on Thursday unveiled the Kindle Click, a $34.99 Bluetooth remote control that lets readers prop up their e-readers and turn pages without holding or reaching for them. It’s the first official Kindle remote, debuting alongside a redesigned lineup of Kindle e-readers.

Amazon says it’s meant for reading under the covers, on a treadmill, or on an airplane tray table. It’s available for preorder and ships Oct. 28. It recharges over USB-C, includes side buttons for adjusting brightness, and works with Kindles released in 2024 or later.

The company cited BookTok as an inspiration, Bloomberg reported, a reference to the community of readers on TikTok who post book recommendations, reviews and their reading setups. Kindle fans there have been showing off third-party clickers for years.

Amazon is also bringing back physical page-turn buttons, which disappeared when the company discontinued the Kindle Oasis in 2024. This time they come in a separate $79.99 magnetic cover, which works only with the new Signature Edition versions of the Paperwhite and Colorsoft.

The new Kindles have screens that sit flush with the edges, colors that wrap around to the front, and optional aluminum housings. They also have user-replaceable batteries to comply with European Union rules, Amazon told The Verge.

The base Kindle starts at $149.99, or $189.99 in aluminum. The Paperwhite starts at $199.99 and the Colorsoft at $289.99, with Signature Editions at $249.99 and $319.99. Those prices match what Amazon has charged since August, when it raised Kindle prices by $40 to $50, citing memory and storage costs. The base Kindle is available now. The Paperwhite and Colorsoft ship Oct. 28.

Amazon doesn’t disclose financial results or unit sales for its devices, but Kindle device sales hit their highest point in more than a decade last year, with three straight years of double-digit growth, Kevin Keith, Amazon VP of devices, said at a media preview, according to Bloomberg.

Chris Green, Amazon VP of industrial design, also told Bloomberg where he’d like to take the design next: “At some point we will get to something more like a credit card that’s all display that you’ll be able to flex with your hand for a page turn.”