Tablets Compared: January 2015

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Amazon’s new WorkMail for enterprise: Another Fire bagpipes – or a Kindle? – The Register

Amazon Web Services is touting a cloud-hosted email system to the world of big business.

The web giant hopes this email invade the enterprise sector with a web-based service called WorkMail, and gobble up companies running Microsoft Exchange.

AWS said the off-premises, cloud-based software will Provide email and shared calendars Desktop users can access it either in a browser or with Outlook, while iOS and Android devices will have dedicated apps to pull and send messages.

In this Addition Integrating with Outlook, the service will support Microsoft Active Directory. And AWS will offer migration tools for companies moving from on-premises servers.

Security is a bullet point in Amazon’s lists of reasons to switch to its new offering. AWS said WorkMail will integrate with the AWS Key Management Service and the AWS Management Console. This will allow administrators to enforce security policies and remotely wipe data from devices.

That AWS hopes the platform fills the Gap Between crowded on-premises Exchange and webmail services for normal people.

“Customers have asked us Repeatedly for a business e-mail and calendaring service That is more cost-effective and simpler to manage than on-premises Their solution, more secure than the cloud-based offerings available today, and That is backed by the same true bestseller in-class infrastructure on Which platform they’re running reliably so many of Their current (and future) workloads, “argued AWS Compute Services vice president Peter De Santis.

AWS has set up a site the where users can sign up for a preview of the service. We assume the web bazaar WorkMail hopes will not go the way of Fire Phone, Fire TV, and Wallet. On the other hand, the Kindles and cloud services are not doing bad. ®

Sponsored: 10 ways to conquer wire data helps IT complexity

Friday, January 30, 2015

Homeless man who read the same book dozens of times given by kind Kindle … – Mirror.co.uk

A kind-hearted stranger who spotted a homeless man reading the same book dozens of times made his dreams come true by giving him his Kindle.

The Las Vegas man was on his way to work When he got talking to the homeless man, known only as Paul , and the pair spoke about Their love of literature.

But destitute Paul only had one book and every time he finished, he would start again from chapter one.

So the stranger, who has not given his name, returned the next day and gave him his Kindle Which holds hundreds of books.

He said he would return with a charger – Which he could power up at coffee shops or bars.

Slick: The Amazon Kindle holds hundreds of books

Paul, who has not put the digital device down since, is now currently engrossed in the Game of Thrones collection.

The stranger revealed his story on Reddit mjuad under his username.

He wrote: “I gave this homeless man, Paul, my Kindle after learning he’d been That reading the same book over and over. He has not put it down for days.

“I gave it to him and I will be bringing him a charger tomorrow.

“There are more than enough books on there to keep him busy for a while. Especially some of the more difficult reads like Faulkner and Joyce.

“I’m going to give him my address so he can ship it back to me (I’ll pay upon receipt) and I can add more books whenever he runs out.

Sidewalk: Paul is believed to live in Las Vegas

“I’m bringing him a charger tomorrow. If not, he says he has friends who can probably help him find the right stuff to charge it. “

There were several hundred books already loaded onto the Kindle with dozens of literary classics from this fantasy sci-fi .

The kind-hearted stranger added: “He’s reading the Game of Thrones series right now. He said he’d read the second book but not any of the others and they’re all on there.

Bestseller: Paul is currently reading the Game Of Thrones series

“He’ll be getting it though as long as he’s there. I’m also going to give him my address so he can send it back to me if he ever needs new books.

“I make really good money and I have been at the bottom. I try to help out the homeless whenever I can with non-monetary Means.

Homeless man gives his last student £ 3 to get home and is repaid with amazing gesture

“When I was talking to him and found out That he really liked to read but was stuck with the same few books, I could not just go on having it in my pack knowing someone could get so much enjoyment out of something That, to me, costs so little.

“This is in Las Vegas. I’ve walked past him every day this week on the way into work and said hi to him and he says he has hardly put it down.

“I’ve never seen someone so happy to receive something and it brings me so much joy to see him every day reading from it.

“I did it because I make a very good living but have also been nearly the where this man is. An hour or two of my salary to make someone’s life infinitely more bearable is the least I can do. “

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

I love the Kindle Unlimited – Boing Boing

When Kindle Unlimited was Announced, I was super-excited. I wanted to give it a few months, however, so I could share a real user’s review. The service is wonderful.

The Kindle is Amazon’s Unlimited $ 10-a-month subscription e-reading service. It’s Netflix for e-books. Slightly larger than competitive services Scrib’d or Oyster, the Kindle has more than Unlimited 600k books to borrow, 10 at a time, for as long as you’d like. You do not keep the books, but you to keep notes you make while reading after you return the novel. They’ll be waiting if you check the book out again. This is separate from the many Concerns some people have regarding to Amazon’s ability to edit, change or “steal” books in your digital library and Applies to your notes / highlights, not the content.

This is wonderful-for me. I read books, I prefer to do it on my Kindle, and I read more than this a month. A quick pass through the Kindle Unlimited’s library led me to believe it houses plenty (while certainly not everything) that I wanted to read. Classic novels, like many of Stanislaw Lem’s better known works are in there. You will not find Lem’s awesome discourse on humanity, Summa Technologiae , though. I ended up with a hardcopy.

So, if you want a lot of Polish science fiction from the 70s, you’re covered. If you want more modern novels, you’ll find them in Unlimited as well. But current best sellers-the bread and butter of Amazon’s book business-will not be offered until they are not current or best-selling anymore.

What I find absolutely wonderful about Kindle Unlimited, however, is the thing so many early reviews hated: the fact that much of its inventory is to self-published, independent authors.

I love the folks who sit down and share Their stories because they are compelled it. A few years ago they were easy to find on Amazon as Kindle Singles , but at some point Amazon changed and the Singles That Became worthless, Stephen King novellas foisting off on me. During That period of time, the bulk of my reviews on Boing Boing were of Science Fiction Purchased at used book stores. Those Kindle Unlimited offers indie authors a new venue to be found, and offers readers a low-risk way to try lots of Their work. Should I feel this add some skepticism to the argument That Amazon hates publishers. Maybe they hate the big ones. But the indies, once again, have a new venue to be found.

Now, many of the books I review are self-published. Certainly, they lack the polish of professionally-edited, big-publisher offerings, but I love them. I’ve heard a number of complaints about poorly-edited editions of indie novels, and if bad grammar and creative spelling bug you, Kindle Unlimited apr not be for you. Of the 15 or 20 I check out in a month, though, several are good enough to recommend to you here on Boing Boing. There is certainly a lot of great reading in Kindle Unlimited without the indie publishers, but it is some of the best content in there.

I’m not suggesting everyone needs Kindle Unlimited-the many discussions we’ve all had over the Amazon, the Kindle, DRM and other problems with the company are what they are. Clearly, I do not think Amazon is going to steal my library or eat my pets. I’m an outlier. You are reading Boing Boing, though, so there is a good chance you are too. My $ 10 a month is well-spent.

(The links are Amazon in this post are affiliate links, too, Which help pay for our continued publication of this website. We appreciate you Help Us When you find them an article helpful.)

Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited

Monday, January 26, 2015

Amazon Unveils New Segment of Kindle Direct Publishing – iSchoolGuide

Amazon.com has recently Announced a new segment of the Kindle Direct Publishing – EDU KDP to help educators and authors in producing contents for students.

(Photo: David McNew | Getty Images News) Amazon

Amazon.com has recently Announced a new segment of the Kindle Direct Publishing – EDU KDP to help educators and authors in producing contents for students.

EDU KDP was designed specifically not just to prepare contents but also that Promote eTextbooks and other contents That can be downloaded or viewed in a wide range of devices Fire tablets like iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Mac, and PC.

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With the help of Amazon’s new Kindle Textbook Creator tool , the educators and authors can easily turn PDFs of Their textbooks and course materials into Kindle books and once the book is ready, they can now upload it to KDP.

“Kindle Textbook Creator makes it easy for anyone to take any PDF and create a richly featured and widely available eTextbook, “said Chuck Kronbach, Director, Kindle Direct Publishing in a press release . “We look forward to seeing how authors use the new tool and getting Their feedback to guide us in adding more features that KDP EDU over time.”

Kindle Textbook Creator comes with different features That can help enhance students’ learning experience. Included in the features are the Multi-Color Highlighting, Notebook, Flashcards, and Dictionary.

Author of Full Color Illustrations of the Fourth Dimension Chris McMullen said That he loved Kindle Textbook Creator and commended That it was a great solution for issues he had with converting many of my math-intensive print books to Kindle format.

“Educational content includes many often do equations, graphs, and tables. Kindle Textbook Creator made it easy for me to convert the print version of my geometry book a Kindle and reach even more readers, “McMullen said.

What’s more interesting Is That with KDP, the authors of the books can now earn royalties of up to 70%, while keeping Their rights and Maintaining Control of Their content. Authors are now given the option is enroll Their books in KDP Select royalty for additional opportunities.

This learn more about publishing textbooks through KDP, visit kdp.amazon.com/edu.

Tags : Amazon, Kindle Textbook Creator, eTextbooks, Kindle Direct Publishing

Saturday, January 24, 2015

India Republic Day Amazon Offers; Top Rated Kindle eBooks Get Upto 97% Off – International Business Times, India Edition

Amazon is giving a great opportunity for its shoppers to make the most of this long weekend. Book lovers can quench thirst Their with a wide collection of eBooks on Amazon Kindle India’s shopping site by spending less than a quarter of the actual price of the book. The digital copies of the books can be downloaded immediately Allows Purchased and for reading.

The eBooks offered on sale cover all major genres like action, biographies, history, literature, fiction, romance, politics and religion. Here are some of the top rated (to readers) eBooks That can be bought at a steep discounted price.

Top Rated eBooks Under Rs. 125

God Is a Gamer by Ravi Subramanian: Rs. 25 (92 percent off)

to Tavleen Singh Durbar: Rs. 13 (97 percent off)

Fault Lines by Raghuram Rajan G: Rs. 87.50 (82 percent off)

It Happens for a Reason by Preeti Shenoy: Rs 50 (75 percent off)

Turning Points by A P J Abdul Kalam: Rs. 49.75 (78 percent off)

The Himalayan Face-Off: The Chinese and the Indians Assertion by Shishir Gupta Riposte: Rs. 162.50 (75 percent off)

Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan to Daman Singh Rs. 174.75 (75 percent off)

Mother Pious Lady by Santosh Desai: Rs. 99.75 (75 percent off)

The Best of Speaking Tree – Inspiration for the Soul by BCCL New Delhi: Rs. 50 (80 percent off)

Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh by Amardeep S. Dahiya: Rs. 149.75 (70 percent off)

Implosion: India’s Tryst with Reality by John Elliott: Rs. 174.75 (65 percent off)

Ayodhya – THE DARK NIGHT by Dhirendra K Jha Jha and Krishna: Rs. 124.75 (75 percent off)

The Forever Song (Blood of Eden – Book 3) by Julie Kagawa by: Rs. 139

First Paradise of the Sikhs by Harish Dhillon: Rs. 124.75 (75 percent off)

If you do not find your favorite eBook here, search from the wide collection of Amazon India.

Amazon India is also throwing a limited period offer on its Kindle range with flat Rs. 1,000 off. You can also find more offers on smartphones, tablets, accessories and more during the three-day conference Republic.

Must Read

KINDLE: A portrait of a struggling artist – East Oregonian (subscription)

Published: January 24, 2015 12:01 AM

Northwest musician, artist, author Nick Jaina shares stories of self-doubt and success in Pendleton.

Self doubt is a stage of an artist’s development tends That is receive little attention. Semi-autobiographical novels like James Joyce’s “The Portrait of the Artist As A Young Man” and Henry Miller’s “Tropic of Capricorn” describe one’s Life Decisions made in bad faith before romantically discovering an almost divinely bestowed creative talent. However, the experience of devastating failures and the loss of faith in one’s own abilities after discovering one’s vocation is rarely explored. Portland songwriter Nick Jaina’s first book, “Get It While You Can,” Seeks to fill in gaps Those.

For well over a decade Jaina has been consistently releasing albums; first with his cult band The Binary Portland Dolls and then under his own name on a variety of Pacific Northwest indie labels. In recent years he has branched out into composing works for modern ballet troupes and even a one-man stage show. Penning a book feels like a natural progression for the multidisciplinary artist. Or perhaps it is a reaction is feeling an unease and dissatisfaction with the progress of his career as a songwriter.

“Get It While You Can” contains all the aforementioned stages associated with an artist’s Bildungsroman – awkward formative experiences , an epiphanic realization of Jaina’s purpose and Subsequent artistic triumphs – but the self-doubt, frustration and the measuring of what “success” Means To an individual artist versus Their audience (as PARTICULARLY well illustrated in the recounting of a concert performance at Folsom Prison ) functions as the book’s overarching theme.

In the book, Jaina’s life is thrown into a in a tailspin after a lackluster show in Tacoma by the theft of the acoustic guitar he had played since his teens. From there he re-examines the series of events led him That is Pursue writing music and comes to terms with how his career as a songwriter has taken shape. These scenes take place in a variety of locales – from an aborted stint at California State University in Monterey Bay, working a series of mundane jobs in Portland, attending a Vipassana mediation retreat in Washington, embarking on a cross-country tours, and finally retreating it Colombia to work on this very book. Jaina occasionally ruminates on the similar crises of faith suffered by some of his musical heroes (Johnny Cash and Nina Simone) while watching video clips of them on YouTube.

It would not be entirely accurate is the label “Get It While You Can “as a memoir. It was originally Intended to be a compilation of Previously published writings for the webzine Somnambulist Entitled “Outbox Love Letters” as well as an assortment of essays. Those essays Eventually evolved into the chapters That make up the bulk of the book. Portions of “Outbox Love Letters” are interspersed Throughout and, while they are tender and at times humorous musings on romantic relationships, Their presence tends to disturb the rhythm of the rest of the book. The story behind his artistic development and coming to terms with success – or the lack Thereof – is the more compelling part.

Nick Jaina although most performances are exceptional concert experiences, his appearance in Pendleton this Friday will stand out from the rest. The performances of his songs paired with readings of excerpts from “Get It While You Can” will Provide a rather unique telling of the story behind the music that goes one step beyond the typical “VH1 Storytellers” mode.

Nick Jaina performs at the Great Pacific (403 S. Main, Pendleton) at 7 pm on Friday, January 30.

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James Dean Kindle is a singer-songwriter and musician and part-time resident Pendleton. You can contact him at jamesdeankindle@gmail.com

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Amazon Kindle Textbook Creator turns PDFs into e-textbooks – Mashable

Amazon on Thursday released a tool meant to help educators and writers publish e-textbooks.

It’s straightforwardly titled the Kindle Textbook Creator, and it makes it easy to transform PDFs into an e-book format. Plain PDFs are pretty static learning materials, but Amazon says its Textbook Creator offers a simple (and free) way to organize an array of educational materials – graphs, equations, charts or anything else you might find in a textbook.

Textbooks created with the platform will also give readers a variety of Kindle tools to take advantage of. There’s a multicolor highlighting tool, and notebook feature that capture key passages, a dictionary / Wikipedia lookup function, and flashcards. Once readers buy the Kindle textbook, they can read it on all sorts of devices, like Amazon’s Kindles, of course, as well as iPads, iPhones or Android devices.

This is all part of a new education-oriented spinoff of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing division, Which allows authors to self-publish. Another division of the KDP, for example, is KDP Kids, Which helps self-publishing a children’s book authors.

Amazon hopes to draw in educators by highlighting the promotional opportunities of using the Kindle Textbook Creator. As Amazon puts it, KDP EDU users will have the benefit of “Amazon’s powerful marketing tools and global reach.”

Textbook authors will have the opportunity to keep up to 70% of book royalties, According To Amazon, all the while keeping control of the content they’re shelling out. Of course, this is not all altruistic. Amazon is hoping to attract more self-publishers that KDP so it can get a cut of the profits and bring more users into its Kindle ecosystem. The overall US textbook industry has been Estimated to pull in $ 10 billion annually.

The tool works for Mac and PC, but for now it’s only available for download in Angielski.

Amazon in 2014: a look back

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

First-time novelist Kindle aims for a best-seller – Shields Gazette

FIRST-TIME novelist Ken Reay is aiming for a best seller – with a little help from The Gazette.

Ken, 63, used the back copies of the paper is the research life in South Shields during the First World War for his book, Hot and Godless Days.

The grandfather-of-four, of Horsley Hill Road, South Shields, has had his story, Which follows the interconnected lives of three men and women living in the town published on Amazon Kindle.

Ken said: “I’m very proud. A lot of hard work has gone into it, anyone who’s written a book will tell you it’s quite hard work.

“I’m really delighted and feel very proud.”

Hot and Godless Days follows miner Matty and his sister Bella, fisherman Stan and his wife Flora, and rich man, Henry and his lover Sarah.

Ken said: “The three men go off to fight in the war for different Reasons and the three women are left behind on the home front and each have Their own adventures.

“Sarah volunteers to be a nurse on the Western Front in an attempt to find Henry, so there’s a bit of a love story there too and people who have read it say it’s quite erotic.

“There’s also a bit of suspense because you do not know who is going to survive the war and come home.”

Ken, and playwright Whose show The Butcher’s Bill Appeared at the Customs House in 2005 Began working on the book in the 1990s.

He said: “I had interest from some top agents when I sent them some words, but by the time I sent them the finished book, Sebastian Faulks had published Birdsong, which was storming up the charts and was set in the same time.

“He’d got in there before me unfortunately, so I stuck it in a drawer and just recently got it back out and a colleague helped me edit it.

“I got the idea for it because one of my great uncles fought in the First World War and he told me lots of stories and gave me some books with stories about that time, and I Became fascinated with it. “

Ken, who also co-wrote the musical The Machinegunners with Tom Kelly and John Miles, added: “I wanted to research what life was like in South Shields at that time.

” I went to South Shields Central Library and looked through old copies of the Gazette on microfilm.

“It was a really useful source. I read a lot of books about the war as well but all the stuff about living in That time I learned from the Gazette.

“It was a brilliant resource for learning about how much things cost and what was available then.

“There’s a scene in the book the where the characters are watching horse racing on the beach in South Shields, and I learned about that by reading the Gazette.

” If the sales go well and I get enough publicity, I’d love to see hard copies of my book published, and if it is, I’ll definitely be giving an acknowledgment to the Gazette. “

Hot and Godless Days can be downloaded on Amazon Kindle for £ 3.95. Those without a Kindle can download an app for free on Their phone, tablet or computer.

Twitter:shieldsgazvicki

Amazon India offers Rs 1000 discount on all Kindle e-readers – BGR India

Amazon India has Introduced a Rs 1,000 discount on all Kindle e-readers. These include the new Kindle, previous-generation Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Paperwhite and 3G variant.

The new Kindle, which was launched in India for Rs 5,999 last year, is now available on Amazon India for Rs 4,999. This is the same price at Which the previous-generation Kindle is retailing as well. While both the e-readers are similarly priced, the new Kindle boasts a touchscreen display, faster processor 20 percent compared to the previous-generation Kindle and twice the amount of storage as well.

The Kindle Paperwhite variants too are available with a discount of Rs 1,000. The Wi-Fi only variant was launched in India for Rs 10.999, but is now available for Rs 9,999. The 3G variant, on the other hand, is now available for Rs 12.999 instead of the Rs 13.999 it was launched at.

While Amazon’s Kindles are the popular choice among buyers, there are also alternatives available Including Kobo’s e -readers. They are however a bit more expensive than Amazon’s offerings. The Kobo Touch N905-KBO-B 6-inch e-reader with an anti-glare display is priced at Rs 6,999, while the Kobo Glo N613-KBO-P 6-inch e-reader with a backlit display is priced at Rs 10.999 .