Back when Amazon was announcing the launch of their new lines of Kindle devices I was very pleased to hear about the new function which allows restricted access to content for children. (I was less pleased to hear that this is a 2nd-generation Fire and Fire HD-specific control, as I currently only own the 1st-gen device. Oh well.) However, I’ve gotten ahold of a Kindle Fire HD, and wanted to share some of the abilities I see in this FreeTime system. First of all, if you have a device that supports FreeTime, chances are it is already installed. Check on your list of apps, and download it from the...

Back in April I blogged on “A Kindle Taxonomy” where I laid out a timeline and family groupings of Kindle products.  That was six months ago.  Things have changed.  The new Kindle species are now alive and roaming the wild, and here is the low down on new developments. There are now three clear family groupings of Kindle products, down from four.  The DX is no more and has been withdrawn from the Kindle store.  The family groupings are the e-ink Kindle eReaders, the true Android tablets known as the Kindle Fire family, and the free suite of software products delivered as Kindle reading...

The Kindle Paperwhite’s have finally shipped, and those who are early adopters have them in their hands.  If you are wondering if you should be an adopter at all, or how the PaperWhite fits into the Kindle family of products, or the wider world of eReaders a tablets, this review is for you. The Kindle taxonomy has changed significantly.  There are three main branches of the family: the Kindle e-Ink display devices, the Android tablet devices (the Kindle Fire with its variations), and the various Kindle software implementations (Kindle for the iPad, for the Android phone, for OS X, Windows 8, the...

Amazon announced a software upgrade for the latest base model Kindle (the $79 wonder).  Here is the laundry list of new features: Improved reading font that is higher contrast and crisper so that you can enjoy a paper-like reading experience. Parental Controls that allow you to restrict access to the Experimental Web Browser, Archived Items, and the Kindle Store. Support for books with complex layouts and formats with Kindle Format 8. Support for children’s books with Kindle Text Pop-Up and comic books with Kindle Panel View (which allows you to read a comic book panel by panel). Books that...

Last week Amazon updated the software for the Kindle Touch that now makes the Touch the most advanced Kindle of all.  While the Kindle family continues to diverge, it is easy to see that Amazon is betting the future on the Touch and touch enabled devices.   The new versions is number 5.1.0.  To see whether you have it, go to the Home screen, then tap menu > settings, and on the settings screen, tap menu again, and then Device Info.   If the version number does not read 5.1.0, you can download the new software from Amazon and follow their simple directions for installing it. After update...