Have You Checked Out Amazon Matchbook?

Amazon is now making sure it’s easy and affordable to get digital copies of books you’ve purchased in print. If you like to get the digital versions this will be a big savings for you. Below is some more information on this new offering from the large bookstore we all know and love:

Amazon also unveiled MatchBook, a program that allows customers to buy discounted digital versions of books they have already purchased in print. (Publishers will have to agree to make their books available for the program.) It’s similar to Amazon’s AutoRip program in music, which furnishes free digital copies of songs that customers have already bought as physical CDs on Amazon.com. Bezos is parlaying Amazon’s past dominance as a seller of physical media to strengthen its position on the new digital frontier. It’s a feature that beleaguered Barnes & Noble (BKS)can’t compete with. (Source)

Of course the publishers will have to make it available, so don’t get too happy just yet. It may take awhile for folks to implement this and make their digital books available via Matchbook, but we can hope, can’t we?

Paperwhite Finally Available

Amazon’s newest Kindle: Paperwhite is out. It was released last month and should be a big seller for Chrsitmas. If you haven’t heard about it yet, here’s some info you may find helpful. And if you were thinking of upgrading, this might just be the right time:

Amazon announced details today of its new Kindle Paperwhite, and its sixth-generation electronic reader again shows why the company has about 60 percent of the e-reading market in the U.S.  The new Paperwhite has the same glowing screen as last year’s model, along with the expected improvements in processor speed, screen contrast, and the receptivity of the touchscreen. Amazon says pages now turn faster, and it notes the device’s integration with Goodreads, the social network for readers it acquired earlier this year for an undisclosed amount. A Wi-Fi-only model starts at $119 (it will show ads in screensaver mode) and will start shipping at the end of the month. A 3G model costs $189 and won’t be available until November. (Source)

Wonder what my next book will look like on the new Paperwhite?