Amazon Lending Library, Kindle Paperwhite launch in UK October 12, 2012 - 11:14 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Amazon Kindle users will be able to rent digital books thanks to Lending Library and Kindle Paperwhite, the company announced. The £109 Paperwhite is Amazon’s first backlit Kindle to launch in the UK, and will ship on Oct 25 to customers who preorder it from today, Oct 12, according to The Daily Telegraph. The Lending Library will mean up to one book per month can be borrowed from a selection of 200,000 and read free on all Kindles, Amazon said. Lending Library members must join Amazon’s premium delivery service, called Prime, for £49 per year. Only one book can be borrowed at a time, but existing Prime customer will get the additional service free. Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and chief executive, said “We’re already seeing the program’s success in the U.S. for both readers and authors - customers are reading more and authors are reaching a whole new audience while making money in a new way.” Amazon’s touchscreen Paperwhite offers a manually-adjusted backlight and higher definition than its predecessors. Like the Lending Library it has also already been launched in America. Its battery lasts for up to eight weeks and it is also available with a 3G connection for £169 Rival ereaders with backlights, such as the Nook Glowlight, have already launched in the UK, although reviewers in America, including at Wired and Engadget, have largely hailed the Paperwhite as the current market leader. Amazon's cheapest Kindle, however, remains the £69 model, called simply the Kindle. The touchscreen version is £109 and a model with a keyboard costs £149. Bezos described the Paperwhite as “the Kindle we have always wanted to build”, and said it had 25 per cent better contrast and 62 per cent more pixels than its predecessor. It weighs 213g and measures 9.1mm thick. The device also adds new fonts and a meter that estimates how long a reader will take to finish a book. Amazon claimed that buying a Kindle means Amazon users buy four times as many books as those who only read paper versions. The Kindle Fire HD, its fully functioning tablet which will launch in the UK later this month, is already the company’s top seller. Partner news  Top stories Mobile users in Armenia will get a possibility to change their operator without changing the phone number. Microsoft revealed last week that it received 6-7,000 requests implicating 31-32,000 accounts in the last six months. It is believed that Fisa requests typically seek much more information. But it remains unclear how broad the Fisa orders might be. The acquisitions are the latest in a string under Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who is rebuilding the company on the fly.   Partner news |  Latest news No final decision on Yak-130 delivery to Syria yet  The aircraft are bare airframes only and have not yet been fitted with their engines or avionics, the source said.Rivaldo says Brazil unable to host World Cup "We are not able to host the World Cup at the moment, we don't need it, we need education and health," the 41-year-old said.Armenia gets highest status in combating human trafficking Each year, governments need to demonstrate appreciable progress in combating trafficking to maintain a Tier 1 ranking.Singapore haze soars to hazardous levels Singapore's buildings have been obscured by the polluted air and the smell of burnt wood has permeated the city-state. |
