Pocketbook Color Finally Launched in Europe!

The most eagerly anticipated color e-reader of 2020, Pocketbook Color, launched in Europe on Monday. Pocketbook Color is the first English e-reader that is employing the new E Ink Kaleido, which can display 4,000 colors. It features a 6″ Color E-ink Screen with a resolution of 1072 × 1448 and 300 PPI. The dimensions are 161.3x108x8 and weigh 160 g. Pre-orders will be shipped out at the end of the month.

There are two page turn buttons, so you can use the touchscreen display, or employ taps, or swipes. There is a front-lit display with a fair number of LED lights to illuminate the screen. It has a 1900 mAh battery, a dual core 1GHZ processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and it has an SD card port, capable of an additional 32GB. 

It has a micro USB port to charge your device, it also comes with a micro USB to 3.5mm headphone jack to listen to music or audiobooks, or just read your ebooks aloud via TTS (Text to speech). It also has bluetooth for wireless headphones. And you will be able to browse the internet via WIFI. 

One of the benefits of a color Pocketbook e-reader is that it will be able to display cover art in full color. Textbooks, art-books, medical guides, and comics now are more enjoyable to view on an e-reader. All pictures, diagrams, maps, and other illustrations will now be colored.

Tips: if you want to read encrypted Kindle books on Pocketbook Color, you should follow this step by step guide to make it happen. 

Kobo’s New Entry-level Kobo Nia is Released!

On July 15, 2020, Kobo officially unveiled their latest ebook reader, the Kobo Nia, which will be available in stores and online as of 21 July for $99.99.

Kobo Nia is Kobo’s new budget model and it is replacing the Aura 2 as the entry-level eReader. However, the Nia has twice the storage (8GB ). Kobo Nia has essentially the same internal hardware as Kobo’s other models and runs the same software. It has a 6-inch E Ink Carta screen with a resolution of 1024 × 758 (212 ppi), adjustable ComfortLight front lighting, 172-gram weight, and 1,000 mAh battery that will run for weeks on a single charge.

You may also realize that Kobo Nia looks a lot like the entry-level Kindle. There are only marginal differences in size and weight. 

Kobo Nia Key Specifications:

With Kobo Nia, you can access your local library and borrow library eBooks distributed through OverDrive right from your eReader(OverDrive available only in select countries) and read saved online articles with a free Pocket account.

Kindle Cloud Reader Removes Download & Pin Option

Kindle Cloud Reader is a web app that allows you to read Kindle ebooks instantly in any compatible web browser - no Kindle device or app required.

However, recently, On the Kindle Cloud Reader website, Cloud and Downloaded tab have been removed. Most important, right-click option to download & pin Kindle books is also gone. Therefore,  now the only solution to download Kindle books is to open one Kindle book and wait for it to be downloaded completely. 

Tips: Do not exit the current page until this book has been downloaded completely. Or it will stop downloading immediately.

Good news, if you want to pull Kindle books from Kindle Cloud Reader, you can follow this guide to use Epubor KCR Converter to export Kindle books as DRM free files. By the way, Epubor KCR Converter is a lightweight tool that helps you export Kindle books from Kindle Cloud Reader, removes Digital Rights Management copy protection and converts your Kindle books to PDF, EPUB, MOBI, TXT or AZW3 format with only one click. 

New Kindle Firmware 5.13.1 Released！

New Kindle Firmware 5.13.1 was just released and now was available for the latest Kindle Paperwhite, all Oasis models, two recent Kindle basic models, and one recent Kindle Voyage model. 

It added new features for kids in Amazon FreeTime, which includes a new layout, improved search, book details, and Audible support. Kids can get more out of Amazon FreeTime.

Dark Mode feature was already available since Kindle Firmware 5.12.5. But this time they made Dark Mode easier for users to turn it on/off. 

Other features, like updated page flip navigation and new search experience, will be added over the next few months.

Here's the release note for the Kindle Firmware 5.13.1.

What's new:

New features for kids in Amazon FreeTime: Kids are getting more out of Amazon FreeTime with new features that include: a new layout, improved search, book details, and Audible support. For customers in supported marketplaces who are Amazon FreeTime Unlimited subscribers, your kids will see rows of recommended eBook and Audible content that are age-appropriate and included in your subscription. Just access Amazon FreeTime from the menu to get started.

Search: Over the next few weeks, you will see a new search experience that makes it easier to navigate through your search results in the book without losing the page you were reading. To get started, simply search for a term in your book and tap on a search result.

Dark Mode: We have made it easier for you to turn on Dark Mode. You can easily turn it on/off in Quick Actions.

Updated Page Flip Navigation: Over the next few weeks, you will see an updated Page Flip experience that makes it easier to navigate to the right page in your book. The new experience shows recently read pages as dots on the progress bar, including your most recent page read from another device. To get started, tap the top of the screen while reading to display the Reading Navigation toolbar, then tap the left Page Flip icon (single page view) at the bottom of the screen.

Performance improvements, bug fixes, and other general enhancements.

Bonus tips:

Want to take full control of your legally purchased Kindle books?

Let's follow this guide to pull your Kindle books from the Amazon platform for personal use. 

How to Get Kindle Dark Mode?

The dark mode is not available on all Kindles. Right now only Kindle Oasis and the new Kindle Paperwhite 4 come with a dark mode that can turn black into white and white into black.

Beware, only version 5.12.4 and 5.12.5 Kindle firmware can enable dark mode. So you must update to the latest Kindle firmware to get this feature. 

However, the dark mode works just fine for text. So do not apply this feature while reading comics or graphic novels. 

Bonus tips: if you want to pull your legally purchased Kindle books from the Amazon platform, you can follow this guide to convert Kindle books to take full control over your property.