Budget tablet head-to-head: Tesco Hudl vs Google Nexus 7 vs Amazon Kindle Fire HD

A few years back buying a budget Android tablet meant seriously compromising on every aspect of the hardware and software. 

Going for a low price tag meant you could expect to get something with a slow CPU, tiny helping of memory and very limited storage. Not to mention there was every chance that whatever ancient version of the Android OS it was using suffered numerous bugs, and you could usually forget about after-sales support.

But now that the price and performance of components has reached a pleasing balance, and Android's performance and user experience on big-screen devices is vastly improved, there's a new wave of affordable Android slates which offer top specs at knock-down prices that seriously undercut even the cheapest Apple iPad. 

The original Google Nexus 7 was the first to really show that it was possible to make a really great device without an outrageous RRP. Since then many others have entered the fray, and the most recent pretender to the throne is grocery giant Tesco with its oddly monikered 'Hudl'. 

Tesco's gigantic retail presence and formidable buying power make it a serious threat to more established names, but it's not going to be an easy ride. Google has released a brand new edition of the Nexus 7 and Amazon recently cut the price of its Kindle Fire HD.

That's great news for prospective tablet buyers who now have more choice than ever, but how do these low-cost tablets stand up against each other, and which one you should buy?

7", IPS LCD, 1440 x 900, 242 ppi7", IPS LCD, 1920 x 1080, 323 ppi7", IPS LCD, 1280 x 800, 216 ppiGPS, light, accelerometer, gyro, compassAccelerometer, gyroscope, light3.5mm audio, slimport HDMI (adapter)Polycarbonate, Corning Gorilla Glass Polycarbonate, Corning Gorilla Glass£199 (16GB) / £239 (32GB) / £299 (32GB w/ 3G & LTE)

Unsurprisingly, the most expensive of these three has the biggest advantage in terms of raw horsepower: the latest Nexus 7 is packing a very fast quad core chipset and a hefty 2GB RAM.

This doesn't mean the Hudl and Kindle are slouches, though. The Kindle may only have a dual core CPU, but benchmarks indicate that it's marginally quicker than the older Kindle Fire and around the same speed as the original Nexus 7. 

The Tesco Hudl has been clocked at 5443 on the Quadrant benchmark and 18,456 on the Antutu test. In comparison, the Nexus 7 scored 5475 and 20011. 

Benchmarks only tell part of the story of course, but it's good to see that even these very cheap tablets offer reasonable performance. In real world use you aren't likely to notice much difference unless you really push their capabilities with some demanding apps and games.

The Nexus 7 has a spectacular 1080p screen that's vastly improved over the original model, good enough to justify an upgrade in our opinion. 

But then it does cost almost £100 more than the Hudl and Kindle Fire HD. These two are fairly evenly matched - the Hudl does have a slight advantage in resolution and pixel depth, however the Kindle Fire HD has been praised for its sharpness and bold colours, and it's certainly better than the disappointing display on the first Nexus 7. Crucially, both are capable of displaying 720p video natively. 

If screen quality is a prime consideration in your buying decision then the Nexus 7 is the clear winner, but the Hudl and Kindle both provide very good screens for the price.

All three tablets offer at least 16GB internal storage, with 32GB options available for the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. But Tesco provides something neither of the others do: a microSD slot. This allows you to expand the storage by up to 32GB, providing far more flexibility. That's a big plus in our book, and it's disappointing to find the Nexus still missing expandable memory.

One of the major complaints from last year's Nexus 7 was its lack of a HDMI port. These are extremely useful on tablets as it allows you to throw the display up on a TV - brilliant for turning your tablet into a portable media centre or games machine (Android natively supports Bluetooth game controllers, including Playstation 3 pads). 

For some reason Asus and/or Google have chosen not to include HDMI once again, which is a big black mark. All is not lost though: it does now support slimport HDMI though this involves having to buy an additional adapter at a cost of about £20-£30.

Thankfully the Hudl and Kindle Fire HD both provide micro-HDMI as so you can enjoy some big screen action with the minimum of hassle.

All three include standard microUSB sockets for charging and data transfer. 

On the wireless side we get the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support across the board. Only the Nexus 7 has NFC but, erm, is anyone actually using that?

The sensor suites are fairly standard throughout with the typical gyroscopes and accelerometers that enable motion sensing functionality. The only notable omission is the Kindle Fire's lack of GPS, but we don't see this as a big downside on a tablet unless you planned to use it for something like an in-car entertainment system.

If mobile broadband is important the Nexus 7 is the only one at this time to offer a model with built-in 3G and 4G capabilities, however this will set you back £299. Consider purchasing a Wi-Fi hotspot dongle instead.

You may not consider this side of things too much, after all Android is Android, right? But in fact it can be a crucial point of difference. 

One of the most appealing aspects of the Nexus 7 is its stock Android OS installation. You'll get new system updates as soon as Google deploys them, benefiting from bug fixes and new features much sooner than tablets with customised software. The newest Android 4.3 release is really quite nice, too.

The Tesco Hudl is largely unmodified. It looks and works pretty much like stock Android 4.2, however there are some bundled Tesco apps, and a persistent Tesco shortcut button in the lower left of the screen. We'll leave you to decide how annoying this might be. 

More concerning is how often - or even if - Tesco will issue OS updates. Some manufacturers have a very poor track record, but Tesco is a complete unknown on this front.

The Kindle Fire HD is an entirely different beast altogether. While it is powered by Android it's a heavily modified version created by Amazon and dubbed 'Fire OS'. 

The system is built around Amazon services such as Lovefilm and Kindle ebooks and the most important thing to keep in mind is that out of the box the Kindle does not support Google Play, only Amazon's own far more limited App Store, so you may lose access to favourite apps. While there are warranty-voiding workarounds it's an unusually restricted system that could prove a headache for unsuspecting Android fans with a large library of content.

Google Nexus 7

Fast hardware, brilliant display, solid build quality, stock Android OS, mobile broadband option.

No microSD slot, HDMI requires adapter, expensive compared to budget rivals.

Get the Google Nexus 7 if: you want a powerful full HD tablet at an affordable price.

Tesco Hudl

Low price tag for reasonably powerful device, HD display, microSD slot and HDMI port.

Tesco branded OS, future software updates are an unknown quantity

Get the Tesco Hudl if: you want the full Android experience for less, or a tablet for the family.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

User friendly OS with easy access to Amazon services, recent price drop is attractive.

Locked-down and heavily customised OS, no access to Google Play.

Get the Amazon Kindle if: you're heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem.

Add your comment now See all >

Griffin Survivor / OtterBox Defender for iPad Air, mini & Kindle Fire HDX

Summary: The current generation of ultra-protection lands for the iPad Air, mini and Kindle Fire HD/HDX.

Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet, is a technologist with over two decades of experience integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies. Jason is currently a Partner Technology Strategist with Microsoft Corp. His expressed views do not necessarily represent those of his employer.

Budget tablet head-to-head: Tesco Hudl vs Google Nexus 7 vs Amazon Kindle Fire HD

A few years back buying a budget Android tablet meant seriously compromising on every aspect of the hardware and software. 

Going for a low price tag meant you could expect to get something with a slow CPU, tiny helping of memory and very limited storage. Not to mention there was every chance that whatever ancient version of the Android OS it was using suffered numerous bugs, and you could usually forget about after-sales support.

But now that the price and performance of components has reached a pleasing balance, and Android's performance and user experience on big-screen devices is vastly improved, there's a new wave of affordable Android slates which offer top specs at knock-down prices that seriously undercut even the cheapest Apple iPad. 

The original Google Nexus 7 was the first to really show that it was possible to make a really great device without an outrageous RRP. Since then many others have entered the fray, and the most recent pretender to the throne is grocery giant Tesco with its oddly monikered 'Hudl'. 

Tesco's gigantic retail presence and formidable buying power make it a serious threat to more established names, but it's not going to be an easy ride. Google has released a brand new edition of the Nexus 7 and Amazon recently cut the price of its Kindle Fire HD.

That's great news for prospective tablet buyers who now have more choice than ever, but how do these low-cost tablets stand up against each other, and which one you should buy?

7", IPS LCD, 1440 x 900, 242 ppi7", IPS LCD, 1920 x 1080, 323 ppi7", IPS LCD, 1280 x 800, 216 ppiGPS, light, accelerometer, gyro, compassAccelerometer, gyroscope, light3.5mm audio, slimport HDMI (adapter)Polycarbonate, Corning Gorilla Glass Polycarbonate, Corning Gorilla Glass£199 (16GB) / £239 (32GB) / £299 (32GB w/ 3G & LTE)

Unsurprisingly, the most expensive of these three has the biggest advantage in terms of raw horsepower: the latest Nexus 7 is packing a very fast quad core chipset and a hefty 2GB RAM.

This doesn't mean the Hudl and Kindle are slouches, though. The Kindle may only have a dual core CPU, but benchmarks indicate that it's marginally quicker than the older Kindle Fire and around the same speed as the original Nexus 7. 

The Tesco Hudl has been clocked at 5443 on the Quadrant benchmark and 18,456 on the Antutu test. In comparison, the Nexus 7 scored 5475 and 20011. 

Benchmarks only tell part of the story of course, but it's good to see that even these very cheap tablets offer reasonable performance. In real world use you aren't likely to notice much difference unless you really push their capabilities with some demanding apps and games.

The Nexus 7 has a spectacular 1080p screen that's vastly improved over the original model, good enough to justify an upgrade in our opinion. 

But then it does cost almost £100 more than the Hudl and Kindle Fire HD. These two are fairly evenly matched - the Hudl does have a slight advantage in resolution and pixel depth, however the Kindle Fire HD has been praised for its sharpness and bold colours, and it's certainly better than the disappointing display on the first Nexus 7. Crucially, both are capable of displaying 720p video natively. 

If screen quality is a prime consideration in your buying decision then the Nexus 7 is the clear winner, but the Hudl and Kindle both provide very good screens for the price.

All three tablets offer at least 16GB internal storage, with 32GB options available for the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. But Tesco provides something neither of the others do: a microSD slot. This allows you to expand the storage by up to 32GB, providing far more flexibility. That's a big plus in our book, and it's disappointing to find the Nexus still missing expandable memory.

One of the major complaints from last year's Nexus 7 was its lack of a HDMI port. These are extremely useful on tablets as it allows you to throw the display up on a TV - brilliant for turning your tablet into a portable media centre or games machine (Android natively supports Bluetooth game controllers, including Playstation 3 pads). 

For some reason Asus and/or Google have chosen not to include HDMI once again, which is a big black mark. All is not lost though: it does now support slimport HDMI though this involves having to buy an additional adapter at a cost of about £20-£30.

Thankfully the Hudl and Kindle Fire HD both provide micro-HDMI as so you can enjoy some big screen action with the minimum of hassle.

All three include standard microUSB sockets for charging and data transfer. 

On the wireless side we get the usual Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support across the board. Only the Nexus 7 has NFC but, erm, is anyone actually using that?

The sensor suites are fairly standard throughout with the typical gyroscopes and accelerometers that enable motion sensing functionality. The only notable omission is the Kindle Fire's lack of GPS, but we don't see this as a big downside on a tablet unless you planned to use it for something like an in-car entertainment system.

If mobile broadband is important the Nexus 7 is the only one at this time to offer a model with built-in 3G and 4G capabilities, however this will set you back £299. Consider purchasing a Wi-Fi hotspot dongle instead.

You may not consider this side of things too much, after all Android is Android, right? But in fact it can be a crucial point of difference. 

One of the most appealing aspects of the Nexus 7 is its stock Android OS installation. You'll get new system updates as soon as Google deploys them, benefiting from bug fixes and new features much sooner than tablets with customised software. The newest Android 4.3 release is really quite nice, too.

The Tesco Hudl is largely unmodified. It looks and works pretty much like stock Android 4.2, however there are some bundled Tesco apps, and a persistent Tesco shortcut button in the lower left of the screen. We'll leave you to decide how annoying this might be. 

More concerning is how often - or even if - Tesco will issue OS updates. Some manufacturers have a very poor track record, but Tesco is a complete unknown on this front.

The Kindle Fire HD is an entirely different beast altogether. While it is powered by Android it's a heavily modified version created by Amazon and dubbed 'Fire OS'. 

The system is built around Amazon services such as Lovefilm and Kindle ebooks and the most important thing to keep in mind is that out of the box the Kindle does not support Google Play, only Amazon's own far more limited App Store, so you may lose access to favourite apps. While there are warranty-voiding workarounds it's an unusually restricted system that could prove a headache for unsuspecting Android fans with a large library of content.

Google Nexus 7

Fast hardware, brilliant display, solid build quality, stock Android OS, mobile broadband option.

No microSD slot, HDMI requires adapter, expensive compared to budget rivals.

Get the Google Nexus 7 if: you want a powerful full HD tablet at an affordable price.

Tesco Hudl

Low price tag for reasonably powerful device, HD display, microSD slot and HDMI port.

Tesco branded OS, future software updates are an unknown quantity

Get the Tesco Hudl if: you want the full Android experience for less, or a tablet for the family.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

User friendly OS with easy access to Amazon services, recent price drop is attractive.

Locked-down and heavily customised OS, no access to Google Play.

Get the Amazon Kindle if: you're heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem.

Add your comment now See all >

Amazon Selling PS4 and Kindle Fire HDX Bundle for $599

To celebrate the launch of the PS4 (as well as giving its own products a bit of a promotional boost), Amazon is selling a PS4 bundle that includes a 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX tablet for $599. This means that you’ll essentially get the Kindle Fire HDX for just $200, which is $30 off the normal price.

It’s certainly not a huge discount, but if you’ve been thinking about getting a PS4 and a Kindle Fire HDX, you might as well kill two birds with one stone and get the upcoming bundle. Sadly, it’s currently shown “unavailable” due to the PS4 itself being sold out, but it will hopefully be brought back in the near future. The bundle initially went on sale at midnight earlier this morning.

The pairing of the a PS4 and a Kindle Fire HDX might seem a bit odd, but Amazon assures us that the two work together nicely, saying that ”while the PS4 heralds in the next generation of consoles, Kindle Fire HDX does the same for tablets with improved visuals, a faster processor, and the revolutionary ‘Mayday’ button…Partner these together with the interactive Second Screen feature for a completely immersive entertainment experience.”

If you’re not familiar with the PS4's second screen capabilities, it’s exactly what it sounds like; you’ll be able to fling videos to your TV, send and receive PSN messages, manage your game invites and even purchase games using the PlayStation app that Sony released a few days ago.

Of course, Amazon also has regular bundles of the PS4, as well as the Launch Edition, but those seem to all be sold out as well, since the listing says “unavailable.” However, if you want to save $30 on a Kindle Fire HDX, there’s no harm in waiting for that bundle to come back, although $599 is a hard pill to swallow, especially considering how you can simply just get the console itself for $399.

The PS4 officially launched today, marking the beginning of the next-gen console era. The Xbox One will be launching next week, and that’s when the war will officially begin. This holiday season should be a good one, and we’ll see who becomes the ultimate victor after the Christmas trees and lights have been taken down.

iPad Air vs. Kindle Fire HDX: Which is the best tablet?

Summary: With Amazon and Apple both having unveiled their offerings ready for the holiday spending extravaganza, consumers are faced with a choice. So, let's put Apple's iPad Air up against Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX and see which comes out the winner.

Given their popularity, I expect that tablets will be found underneath a lot of Christmas trees this year, and what a good time for it, since consumers are going to be spoilt for choice. With Amazon and Apple both having unveiled their offerings ready for the holiday spending extravaganza, consumers are faced with a choice, and judging by my mailbox, people are having a hard time making up their minds as to which is the best.

So, let's put Apple's iPad Air up against Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX and see which comes out the winner.

Note that the Kindle Fire HDX comes in two flavors – 7-inch and 8.9-inch – but for the purposes of this review I'll be focusing primarily on the 8.9-inch version.

(Image source: Apple and Amazon)

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Microsoft Update Skype to new Kindle Fire, 7 iOS devices tablets

Overview: Microsoft is releasing new versions of Skype for Android tablets, including new lighting fires, as well as for 7 iOS devices.

Microsoft has updated Skype for Android and iOS in recent days, with support fire HD & HDX, comes to new Kindle tablet as well as current support for Apple device running iOS7.

Skype for Android version 4.4 is for Android tablets of all kinds. The biggest change, according to an October 8 blog entry, is that tablet users "will now see a new interface that puts first, talks showing their recent calls and chat." The post added that the new update benefits version 4.0 "total rewrite" for phone users.

Microsoft post notes with "good network conditions," Tablet Android users can get up to four times the video resolution of previous versions. Users of Kindle fire HD and HDX will still be able to make use of accelerated by hardware HD-quality video, they said that Microsoft executives. Non-Kindle fire users can get the update 4.4 from today in the game shop. Fire Kindle users will be able to get the update "more later this month".

On 7 October, the Skype team released version 4.13 Skype for iPhone and iPad. The new version offers a "fresh" look for iOS 7, in addition to improvements in accessilbilty, audio and video call, according to a blog post. The update is available on the App Store starting Monday.

Mary Jo has covered the technology industry for more than 25 years for a variety of publications and websites and is a frequent guest on radio and TV, podcasts, talking about all things related to Microsoft. She is the author of Microsoft 2.0: how Microsoft plans to stay relevant in the era post Gates (John Wiley & sons, 2008).

Amazon Kindle fire HDX: a potential guardian BYOD

Amazon has improved his last line of Tablet Kindle Fire making them lighter and renew fire based on Android OS 3.0 as well is much more rapid and sensitive. The big question is if the consumers Tote Kindle fire HDX to work and their employers will welcome the tablet.

One of the most interesting elements with the launch of Kindle fire HDX was that Amazon went out of his way to highlight the chops of the company's tablets. Please note that many manufacturers of tablet have promoted business functions - notably Samsung - the theory that consumers will have devices to work. And while these tablets work makes sense do management as easy as possible for information technology equipment.

BYOD and Consumerization.

Special report: phenomenon bring your own device is reshaping the way is bought, managed, delivered and secured. We look at what it means, how to handle and where to go in the future.

I played with the HDX 7 inch Kindle fire for a few days and find the latest version of the Tablet improved on its predecessors. The biggest difference - apart from the screen resolution has pointed out on several occasions - was the construction of software. The Kindle fire HDX is only more agile and left menus are a nice addition. Fire OS already feel as an overlap of Android. Meanwhile, the hardware is enhanced with a price that is right.

Also:Windows 8.1 tablet vs Amazon Kindle fire HD: business meeting | What with Amazon fire OS 3.x |? Would Kindle Fire HDX: when you get one and how much trouble? | Kindle Fire HDX reaching the cabin with the Microsoft Surface in its places of interest | Debut Amazon renewed range of Kindle fire HDX, fire OS 3.0 (photos) | Amazon Kindle fire wants to work with OS 3.0 fire | Amazon distancing itself from moves of Apple with Kindle fire HDX | CNET hands on: Kindle fire HDX

It was also clear is that my iPad at 10 years of age also liked the Kindle fire HDX. The Kindle fire HD last year not to bring so much interest. Why is it that remarkable point in one brings his own overview of the device? In a world BYOD, if tablet makers have no consumer they will not get the company. Period. Of course, there may be some cases - Microsoft Office Tablet almost ensures the corporate absorption of Windows 8 device - but corporations these days is through employees.

In fact, Amazon Kindle Fire was the No. 2 table are used for work in the United States, according to Forrester Research. The Kindle Fire tied the Samsung Galaxy for the use of labour in the United States and was no. 3 in worldwide in tablets work. The trick: Samsung Galaxy is actually aimed at the company. Apple IPad is among the workers. While Forrester classifies BYOD Kindle fire potential highly noteworthy that good technology has not seen similar developments in your network.

Amazon is offering sufficient business management tools so that companies accept the HDX Kindle in the workplace. Forrester called Amazon and Kindle Fire a BYOD stealth play obviously leaving the quiet stunt and courting the company. Samsung has a similar strategy with its software of Knox in the S4 Galaxy and Galaxy note. Apple also added updates iOS 7 that also help the company.

The more different approaches with Amazon and Samsung are being more vocal Woo at the company. Apple always wins company touted, but it has been relatively quiet with its business ambitions.

For example, Amazon said in a release that it would offer the following through a software in mid November update:

Wi-Fi support WPA2 for secure access to corporate data and SharePoint.An mail electronic updated app that hooks to change easier. Access wireless printer. OfficeSuite built in. Native VPN access. Hardware encryption.And device management hooks to packages of mobile device management.

These features are aligned with most popular enterprise mobility deployments, according to Citrix.

Meanwhile, Amazon has reinforced its line of productivity application with staples such as GoToMeeting and Documents To Go. If Amazon gets traction company without doing anything, thinking is a little love company could really help.

What is clear is if it is shops will adopt the Kindle in bulk. The jury is in that. Certainly, hooks of the Amazon to MDM packages will help the cause of Kindle Fire. And companies already use to Amazon via Amazon Web Services. In other words, there plenty of familiarity with Amazon in the workplace so that no one would Quake if a Kindle Fire show up at work.

The wrench to reflect is that Kindle fire HDX not also integrates with Google Apps. Google Android partners will provide hooks for companies using Google Apps much. The lack of a smartphone could also hurt the BYOD aspirations of the Amazon. Don't worry, Samsung will sell Galaxy smartphones and tablets to corporations in bulk. Microsoft will aim for similar agreements.

One certainty is that Android will walk more in the company such as Amazon, Samsung and Google are running corporate accounts with a weakened BlackBerry, a device unknown in Microsoft and Apple iOS singular efforts. Thing is that because of Android in the company may end up being fed by three different mobile OS flavors.

CONCLUSION: it is likely that the HDX Kindle fire will see more traction in a company near via BYOD.

Windows 8.1 tablets vs. Amazon's Kindle Fire HD: Enterprise face-off

Whose tablets are the most enterprise-ready of them all?

One of the most interesting pieces of Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablet announcement this week was the company's focus on "enterprise-ready" features that will be part of its two newest tablets. Amazon dedicated a separate press release to the enterprise functionality in the new devices, listing features such as WPA2 Wi-Fi support for secure access to "resources like SharePoint"; data encryption; built-in Mobile Systems Inc.'s OfficeSuite viewers for office documents; mobiile-device-management support and more.

Amazon execs, citing Forrester data, claim Kindle Fire "is already the second most popular tablet at work in the U.S." (The No. 1 workplace tablet is from a company that only recently has been touting its appeal to business users.)

What about Windows -- specifically, Windows 8.1 -- tablets from Microsoft and third-party PC makers? Though the Softies didn't emphasize it much, there was some enterprise functionality built into Windows 8, and there's even more in Windows 8.1, especially in the Enterprise SKU.

On the management, networking and security fronts, here's how the four different Windows 8.1 SKUs (Windows RT, Windows core, Windows Pro and Windows Enterprise) stack up, feature-wise:

 

A couple of the management features here are probably worth re-explaining.

There is still no support for domain join for Windows 8.1 RT or Windows 8.1 core. But there is now support for those two SKUs for two new Windows 8.1 management features: Workplace Join and Work Folders. These two features are designed to provide a middle ground between devices that are either domain-joined or not. Workplace Join allows users to have some IT-sanctioned access to corporate resources. WOrk Folders allow users to sync data to their devices from their user folders located on Windows Server in a company's data center.

"Assigned access" -- which is available for Windows 8.1 RT, Pro and Enterprise (but not core) -- is the name for the ability to lock down a device so that it can run only a single Windows Store application.

   

Other new, business-focused Windows 8.1 networking features that Microsoft announced earlier this year include NFC tap-to-pair printing, Wi-Fi direct printing and broadband tethering using a personal Wi-Fi hotspot.

On the office suite front, since Amazon is highlighting availability of free OfficeSuite viewers, it's probably worth mentioning that Microsoft is bundling its own Mail and Calendar apps on all Windows 8.1 devices. If you're running an ARM-based device, you also get the basic Home & Student Office suite, plus Outlook RT, for free, as well. Microsoft has said its four core Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) also will be preloaded for free on smaller screen (less than 10-inch) Intel-based Windows 8.1 devices. Microsoft also makes viewing and basic creation/editing of Office documents available for free with Office Web Apps, which work in IE, Chrome and Safari browsers.

Microsoft's chart comparing the four different Windows 8.1 SKUs, from a feature and functionality standpoint, is a handy one for business users and IT admins who may be considering Windows 8.1.

Amazon MatchBook provides Kindle ebooks for your old print purchases

Summary: Amazon will be launching their new MatchBook service in October where you can purchase, for a small fee, your old print purchases dating back to 1995.

(Image: Amazon)

Many years ago I went to Amazon primarily to purchase print edition books since they had a great selection and competitive pricing. I now read almost exclusively on my Kindle Paperwhite or in the Kindle app on my devices and today we see Amazon making it easier to bring those old purchases to your device with Kindle MatchBook.

This is a service I have wanted for years and starting in October you will be able to get Kindle editions of your past, present, and future print purchases for a very low cost or free. Prices for getting Kindle edition copies of books you purchased range from free to $2.99, in increments of $1.

You will be able to get Kindle edition books for book purchases you mae all the way back to 1995 when Amazon first opened its online bookstore. Publishers need to enroll titles in Kindle MatchBook and Amazon states that there will be over 10,000 ready to go when the service launches in October.

Amazon already syncs Audible books with Kindle books so the next step is for Amazon to enable Whispersync between print and Kindle editions :)

Matthew Miller started using a Pilot 1000 in 1997 and has been writing news, reviews, and opinion pieces ever since.

Amazon's new Kindle Paperwhite ramps engagement with Goodreads integration

Amazon on Tuesday rolled out a new Kindle Paperwhite with hardware improvements such as a new touch grid, faster processor and higher contrast display, but the real win will come with an over-the-air update that aims to boost engagement with Goodreads integration and a gamification-powered Freetime for kids.

The company, which already spilled the beans with an early store update about the new Paperwhite earlier, has Kindle e-reader update that may be worth an upgrade. What's unclear at this point is whether Amazon will add Goodreads to the previous version of the Paperwhite. If not, the new Paperwhite is worth the upgrade. Even so, the brighter screen and in-line use of tools like footnotes and vocabulary builder may be worth it.

Amazon is holding the Paperwhite prices the same---$119 for a Wi-Fi version---and a Wi-Fi + 3G one at $189. Coupled with Amazon's launch of Kindle MatchBook---a service where buyers of previous physical book purchases can get e-versions for 99 cents to $2.99---and the master plan boils down to more engagement with the assumption sales will follow.

Peter Larsen, vice president of product management at Kindle, walked through the new Paperwhite. On the surface, the new version looks like last year's model, but it's hard to ignore the better resolution. The new one has a higher contrast, light that is easier on the eyes, a 25 percent faster Freescale 1GHz processor, touch technology that cuts down on mistake page turns and Goodreads integration.

The latter will probably show the synergy between social and shopping. Amazon bought Goodreads earlier this year, but today Goodreads lives in a separate place---a PC or a phone. With the new Kindle software, Goodreads reviews, recommendations, friends and followers are all integrated as you're reading. Larsen's walkthrough showed a deep integration that will be useful.

Amazon has integrated Goodreads as a top menu choice next to home and the shopping cart with a simple G. In other words, you can go from friend recommendation to review to purchase in a few seconds.
.
"We look at Goodreads as a customer experience problem to solve. People love Goodreads, but today it's in two different places," said Larsen. Goodreads continues to run independently like Zappos, but the integration makes reading much more social. Larsen didn't have the overlap between Kindle readers and Goodreads, but it's far from 1:1. 

The other notable addition is Freetime for the Kindle Paperwhite. Amazon went with a gamification approach with this feature. Kids can earn badges and accomplishments can be sent to parents in a report. Freetime was originally designed for the Kindle Fire as a way to limit usage of video and apps. The problem with Freetime on a tablet is your kid will ask you why she only gets an hour of Minecraft. With Paperwhite Freetime the options are limited to reading. I'd also bet that messages in the lower left quarter that says "you read an extra 10 minutes" will probably boost reading overall.

Amazon's software updates and Goodreads integration will be available in the next couple of months in an over the air update.