Friday, October 12, 2012

UK gets Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Prime Library

Today, Amazon launched the Kindle Paperwhite to the UK. The Paperwhite has already been a huge sales success in the US, with demand pushing orders back 4 to 6 weeks, and Amazon setting a purchase limit of 2 per order.In the UK website it states:
"Orders are prioritised on a first-come, first-served basis. Kindle Paperwhite will be released on 25 October. Limit to two per customer.Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk."






One of the biggest selling features about the Paperwhite is the "patented built-in light evenly illuminates the screen to provide the perfect reading experience in all lighting conditions". This light shines on to the screen (not out of the screen like a tablet) meaning easier reading. It can be dimmed or brightened depending on your requirements.

It also has a more responsive touch screen, and you can tap to page turn, no need to swipe anymore so you really can read one handed, and not have to put the glass of wine down to turn the page. :)

For more info, visit:
Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High Resolution Display with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi or
Kindle Paperwhite 3G, 6" High Resolution Display with Built-in Light, Free 3G + Wi-Fi

USA: All kindles http://amzn.to/KindleFamily

Join our UK Facebook page (run by Denise) and US Facebook page (run by Danielle) for daily books and bargains for kindle, as well as tips and tricks for using them!


Also coming soon is the Prime Account Kindle Library. This has been in the US for a while now and I assume the features will be the same. In summary they are:
  • Free books loans of selected books to Prime account holders
  • Limit of 1 loan per month
  • No expiration date or overdue fees
  • No waiting - even a million people borrow the book at the same time
  • The publishers decide if a book is lendable, not Amazon. 
Why not unlimited lending? Remember this is a bonus for prime membership which will be heavily promoted in UK now that the Kindle Fire is available there. Prime lets you borrow many movies and TV shows for free, but for years was primarily a type of account that got you free/ reduced shipping.
So the book library is just a bonus.
And remember, Amazon is a business, not a government-funded library - it's goal is to make money. Libraries typically don't.


2 comments :

  1. How do you enter comments when there are no buttons? A touch screen, or what?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, Al. It's touch screen and a virtual keyboard pops up. I will post a screenshot sometime soon.

    ReplyDelete