Author: Julie Campbell

Amazon Japan Kindle made with manga book storage in mind

| October 21, 2016

The new version of the Paperwhite device has huge available storage for the graphic novels.

The new Amazon Japan Kindle Paperwhite has been unveiled and this device has a massive amount of storage. It was created this way to help readers to be able to store books with much heavier file sizes. The reason is that manga books are immensely popular there and the graphics need far more room.

The Kindle Paperwhite manga version provides users with 32 GB of storage.

This is about eight times larger than the traditional model of the Amazon Japan Kindle – and those from around the globe for that matter – which is only 4 GB. This makes it possible for readers to store several whole series of manga comics on their ereaders, said an Amazon statement. Moreover, slow page-turning rates won’t get in the way of users of this new model. That function has been sped up by 33 percent to ensure that readers stay lost in the manga world.

Amazon Japan Kindle - Image of Kindle e-ReaderUntil now, the new manga Kindle had yet to be released. That said, Japanese consumers could pre-order it for only slightly more than the cost of the standard device. The pre-order price was about $157 (¥16,280). Amazon Prime subscribers can enjoy a hefty discount at about $118 (¥12,280).

The Amazon Japan Kindle manga version will start shipping today, with preorders heading out first.

This version of the Kindle e-reader will be the first one with the accelerated page turning rate. That said, the faster page turning performance will also be updated into other Kindles. Amazon expects that those improved features will become available to ereaders other than the manga-focused device by the end of October.

It is likely that the Kindle Paperwhite version for manga will remain a product exclusive to the Japanese market. The reason is that while manga does have a notable following around the globe, it doesn’t even approach the level of popularity in Japan. Moreover, the standard 4 GB devices are not small when it comes to standard books.

One ereader with 4GB can easily hold a library of up to thousands of standard books. As a result markets outside the Amazon Japan Kindle don’t have much reason to try to expand their capacity.

BlackBerry branded smartphones to continue through third-party manufacturers

| October 10, 2016

On the heels of an announcement of an exit from the in-house hardware market, it unveiled a new device.

CEO John Chen recently announced that his company would no longer be manufacturing hardware, following up with an announcement that BlackBerry branded smartphones are on the way. The company has revealed to upcoming launch of a new physical keyboard phone release. This new mobile device will hit the shelves within the next six months.

This announcement was made by a top sales executive at BlackBerry within an interview with the BBC.

Alex Thurber, the senior vice president of global device sales, explained that he was aware that the company’s withdrawal from in-house hardware production would make headlines. He added that they were counting on the headlines to draw attention to the company. Then, he explained that BlackBerry branded smartphones would continue to be produced. They will be manufactured by third party suppliers.

Blackberry branded smartphones - Image of Blackberry Passport phoneThe next smartphone to wear the company’s logo will feature its distinctive physical keyboard. In a market where many devices look exceptionally similar, BlackBerry continually tries to stand out.

The next BlackBerry branded smartphones will have the physical keyboard many users love.

The company will rely on its partners to produce the new keyboarded smartphone. It had previously been leaked that BlackBerry was designing a couple of additional devices. When John Chen announced the end of the company’s hardware manufacturing, it looked like those smartphones were scrapped.

According to Thurber, Chen didn’t discuss those models during the previous announcement as final decisions had not yet been made. He didn’t know if they would be brought to market. Now it appears that the decisions have been made. “There will still be a keyboard-based BlackBerry device, designed and distributed within the next six months,” said Thurber.

He pointed out that the keyboards in the BlackBerry branded smartphones will set them apart from Samsung and Apple. Those industry leaders offer exclusively touch screen keyboards. “think there’s a demand for keyboard phones. As we’ve been showing mockups of what we’ve been working on, to our carrier and distributor partners, they are very excited about this,” explained Thurber.