Amazon Intros Silk Browser Upgrade and More with Kindle Fire Update
The online retailer adds new e-book utilities, cloud storage, textbook discounts, and a browser mode that 'elevates' targeted content from surrounding Web page 'clutter.'
Amazon on Wednesday released a software update for its Kindle Fire tablet that implements several convenient technological upgrades, student deals, and service fixes for users of the Android-powered mobile device.
Kindle Fire Software Update Version 6.3 is a free, over-the-air update that can be downloaded at a link provided by Amazon, but it will also be rolled out automatically to Kindle Fires in the coming days, the online retailing giant said.
Perhaps the most interesting new feature in the update, from a Web browsing perspective, is called Reading View for Amazon Silk, the company's split-architecture Web browser for the Kindle Fire. With Reading View enabled, articles or other content users want to view that are presented in multi-page formats or located on Web pages with other, competing material, get "elevated above the clutter," according to Amazon. So a multi-page story would appear in a single-page format and in a single-screen pane that's easier to read, while the rest of the Web page remains in the background.
The update also adds a pair of ereading features that give users a utilities they can use while reading without having to navigate away from the e-book they're enjoying. The first is a new "Share" option that appears when a passage is highlighted and is also present on a book's toolbar that lets readers share passages and notes from books on social networks.
The second is "Book Extras," which gives Kindle Fire readers access to supplemental material about a book from Amazon's Shelfari community. Book Extras, which is accessed through an e-book's toolbar, include "descriptions of characters, a glossary of common terms used in the book, information on the authors, and common locations referenced in the book, and more," according to Amazon.
Another new service rolled out with the software update involves the Amazon Cloud. Kindle Fire users can now store personal documents on the company's servers and re-download them using the tablet's Documents tab. Amazon's Whispersync technology for Kindle books, which syncs users' notes, highlights, and more on personal documents, has also been added for the Kindle Fire.
Amazon has also included some service changes and enhancements that should please a fair amount of Kindle Fire users. The company will now start up the rental period for rented movies when users start watching them, rather than when they begin downloading as was previously the case. The company also said the update delivers faster Wi-Fi reconnections after a Kindle Fire has been in sleep mode.
Finally, student users of the Kindle Fire will now get a 60 percent discount off the list price of a print textbook when they purchase what Amazon calls "print replica textbooks" for the tablet. The company said "thousands of print replica textbooks" are available as full featured e-books under this offer.