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Amazon's new Kindles: Everything you need to know (FAQ)

Q: What's the quick and dirty version of Amazon's announcement today?

A: Amazon has unveiled a pair of new e-ink readers and three new tablets -- but each one is available in several versions. Here's a breakdown, with pricing and availability.

Kindle e-reader: A new bare-bones e-ink reader. Slight upgrade from last year's version (improved display, still no touch screen), and a tad cheaper: $69 (ad-supported), $89 without ads. Available now. Kindle Paperwhite: Amazon's first self-illuminating e-ink reader, and now its only touch-screen model. It's $119 with Wi-Fi, $179 for 3G (both ad-supported; add $… Read more

Amazon lights a new Fire under iPad

Thursday's tech news roundup has a glow about it:

Amazon unveiled several new Kindles on Thursday. Here's the quick breakdown with links to the full first-take reviews:

• The new Kindle Fire HD comes in three flavors. There's a 7-inch model with 16 GB of memory for $199, and it ships Sept. 14. Coming out late November is a larger 8.9-inch model with 16GB of memory, selling for $299. If you want double that memory and the option for 4G LTE wireless, that'll cost $499 -- the same as a new iPad. • That 4G LTE wireless … Read more

Barnes & Noble fixes Nook Simple Touch sync issue

Barnes & Noble has fixed a library syncing issue with new Nook Simple Touch devices after customers took to support forums to complain for at least two weeks.

Barnes & Nobles spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said the issue, which according to the company affected less than 0.3 percent of Nook customers, was resolved overnight.

"We had a temporary and minor glitch as a result of recent internal maintenance," she wrote in an e-mail to CNET today. "All customers should be able to register and sync their devices. We apologize to those few customers affected by this … Read more

Free your PDF files

Adobe Acrobat Reader has broken-down hardware and software platforms to enable the viewing and printing of Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) files. This version, Adobe Reader for Mac, is easy to use and, despite its long list of great features, the application's clean and professional interface achieves its goals: you have all the primary features just a click away.

Acrobat Reader for Mac excels at what it is supposed to do: help you read PDF files, as well as print and e-mail them. However, it doesn't stop there. As the popularity of PDF files increased, Adobe complied with … Read more

Flipboard celebrates year two with 20 million users

News-reading app Flipboard has 20 million reasons to celebrate today.

The app, which lets users integrate social media accounts into its feed and presents updates as news stories or blog posts, marks its 2nd birthday with 20 million users, 1.5 million of whom access the app daily.

The company has picked up steam over the years and now boasts a new Flipboard user every second, with users spending an average of 86 minutes per month on the app, according to its blog post.

With 3 billion items shared each month, Flipboard breaks down what its most popular sections and … Read more

Top news-reading apps for the iOS touch screen

The iPad is great for many things, but one of the best uses for me is relaxing on a Saturday and flipping through the latest news. There are plenty of basic news apps that grab all the latest headlines for you, but some offer a sleek layout that lets you browse the news using an elegant interface.

I recently reviewed Trapit for iPad, a fairly new newsreader you can train to give you the latest stories about any subject. You simply search for a keyword and Trapit makes a "Trap" of the latest news stories on that subject … Read more

Barnes & Noble Q1 loss narrows to $40M as Nook sales decline

Barnes & Noble narrowed its fiscal first-quarter loss, but suffered through a few hiccups with its Nook e-reader business.

The book retailer posted a loss of $40.9 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with a loss of $56.6 million, or 99 cents a share, from a year ago. Revenue rose only slightly to $1.45 billion from $1.42 billion a year ago.

Analysts, on average, estimated that the company would post a loss of 98 cents on revenue of $1.48 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company's Nook unit, which includes the e-reader and … Read more

Nook line to expand to U.K. with mid-October launch

Barnes & Noble will for the first time expand its Nook business internationally.

The company announced today that its e-readers and digital bookstore will be launching in the U.K. in mid-October. At that time, customers will be able to access the company's e-books, as well as purchase either its Nook Simple Touch or Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight.

As with its service in the U.S., Barnes & Noble will let U.K.-based customers read titles on their Nook or "mobile and computing devices."

The Nook Simple Touch has earned high marks from CNET, landing … Read more

Maxthon mobile Web browser surfs to the iPhone

iPhone users now have yet another choice for a mobile browser.

Maxthon has finally made its debut for Apple's iPhone. As of today, the new version of the mobile browser is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S, and with the iPod Touch 3G and 4G.

A dedicated iPad app has been around for a while. Maxthon also provides desktop clients for Windows and the Mac, as well as mobile versions for Android phones and tablets.

Like its big brother iPad edition, the iPhone flavor offers several features not found in Mobile Safari.

Maxthon starts off with a … Read more