If you know someone serving in the military whom you would like to send an e-reader, iPad, or other device powered by lithium-ion batteries, better send it now. As of May 16th, the US Postal Service is banning the international shipment of lithium-ion batteries or devices containing them due to the potential safety hazard of the batteries exploding on board mail planes. (This only applies to international shipments, not domestic.) Neither UPS, DHL, nor FedEx ships directly to APO, FPO, or DPO addresses. FedEx offers a service for military boxes, SmartPost, which is subject to the...

From the Amazon press release: Owning a Kindle just got a whole lot better for magic-loving Muggles. StartingJune 19,Amazon.com(NASDAQ:AMZN) is adding all seven Harry Potter books (in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) to the Kindle Owners’Lending Library(KOLL). Harry Potter is the all-time best-selling book series in history, andAmazon has purchased an exclusive license from J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore to make the addition of these titles possible. The Kindle Owners’Lending Libraryis a benefit of Amazon Prime membership—Prime members also enjoy free two-day shipping on millions of items and unlimited streaming of more than 17,000 movies and TV episodes. The Kindle Owners’Lending Libraryhas now...

Ever wanted to read articles from your Instapaper account on your Kindle? This simple video tutorial from Amazopia will show you how to do it. Via Amazopia – YouTube. Read an ebook. Get one from Kindle Store, Barnes & Noble or Kobo. (Via Ebook Friendly » Tips & More.)...

From ReadWriteWeb.  More in the article. Paulo Santos (who is short AMZN) has a great post on Seeking Alpha about the nasty secret hidden in Amazon's otherwise-strong Q1 earnings. The reason Amazon's razor-thin margins look just the teensiest bit better is that sales of the break-even Kindle have fallen off a cliff. Is e-ink doomed? We sure hope not. Amazon never, ever talks about how many Kindles it sells. That's what lots of tech companies do when their devices aren't selling. So Santos did the sensible thing and looked for clues lower down the supply chain. Sure enough, E Ink Holdings, the world's biggest e-ink display...

I have a confession to make, and it's one that surprises me as much as anybody else: my Kindle has been collecting some serious dust this year. I always swore that tablets and e-ink were different animals, that use of one need not threaten use of the other, that you would have to pry my Kindle from my cold, dead hands and so on. Well, now, I stand corrected. 90% of my reading this year has been on my tablet device, and here's why. 1) Sometimes, you just need a backlight. I like to read just before bedtime, and since my...

From A Kindle World Blog.  More details at the site: KINDLE FIRE UPDATE v6.3.1 was announced by Amazon at the Amazon Kindle Forum by Kevin G., Community Manager, and involves additional parental controls. The software v6.3.1 update was announced today, May 3, as ready for download.   Download it at the software-update page (good instructions there) and you can also read there the information they include from the last, recent update (v6.3) to get a fuller picture on many changes that were made in late-March 2012.Here's the extremely brief announcement Amazon has added on that software update page today.  I've boldfaced the changes. 'We have a new, free software update available for...

When my friend Greg Seaton brought up a problem he saw with the way reference material such as maps are presented in e-books, I encouraged him to write his opinions up for TeleRead—and here they are. —C.M. As someone who reads a lot of fiction books, and enjoys a good fantasy novel every now and again, I feel there is a great deal to be said about J.R.R Tolkien. Lord of the Rings has had a lasting effect on the genre. Best known, of course are the fantasy races other authors have used again and again. However,...

Remember when Target started selling the Kindle, almost exactly two years ago? It appears that the bloom is off the rose. The Verge reports that Target is going to “[phase] out Kindles and all Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012.” However, Target will continue to offer other e-readers, including Barnes & Noble’s Nook. Other blogs such as Engadget are speculating on the causes. Might it be because Target is going to open mini-Apple stores, and Apple asked Target to phase out goods from its closest competitor? But Best Buy has its own mini-Apple stores and it...

Just saw that the used and refurbished Kindle DX units are going for $245 on Amazon today.  They have 31 used and 1 refurbised left.   In addition I saw, through and Amazon tweet, that, for today only, you can get a new DX (list $379) and a leather cover for it (list $40) for $299. When I'm not using my tablet for reading, I have replaced my Kindle Touch with my DX.  I love the size and, for some reason, the text seems crisper than the Touch....

On sale for today only, a certified refurbished Kindle Fire is on Amazon for $139. Limit of 5 per customer. Not much more to say than that.  I'm quite happy with my unit....

When you look at this ebook game from a distance it seems to make a little sense: 1) Microsoft & NewCo. = Content, Device, Apps + possible future Mobile play via Nokia & Windows 8 2) Apple = Content+ Device, Apps + Mobile play 3) Amazon = Content, Device, Apps + Whispersync making Mobile already a significant play in my book but an actual partnership not yet to hand 4) Google = Content (-ish), Apps + Mobile (with Motorola) and a Device neutral stance Leaving Sony and Kobo somewhat on the sidelines missing some element of the game. Of course those two, like the previous four...

Would you like your Kindle case to look like a paper book? If so, Mashable has a slide show of ten different cases that imitate the appearance of paper books in one way or another. Some are commercially-manufactured, but there are also ones you can commission through crafts site Etsy if you’re not up to the task of crafting one yourself. It’s interesting to see how many different ways there are to make a Kindle look, from the outside, like a paper book. Might these ease the pain for those people who prefer the look and feel of classic...