Google brings Smart Resume, Bookmarks and more to improve audiobook listening experience.

Audiobooks are not my thing at all and some attempts to indulge ended with me sleeping after about 45 minutes struggling to stay focus on the voice in my head. Same too when I listen to an unnecessarily prolonged podcast. So, when Google launched audiobooks two months ago, it was a non-event for me. But that does not mean I do not cover any news pertaining to audiobooks if this post is any indication.

Two months after the launch of audiobooks in Google Play, Google is releasing some new features and improvements to enhance the listening experience.

Smart Resume
It's hard nowadays to engage in any activity without some form of interruptions. Well aware of that fact of life, Google is introducing 'Smart Resume'. A feature the company says "will intelligently rewind you to the beginning of the word or sentence when you pick up your audiobook again, so you'll jump right back into where you left off."

Bookmarks
Google is making it easy to save bookmarks that readers can refer back to later. Simply tap the new bookmark icon and you're done.

Routines
Thanks to Google Assistant, readers/listeners will be able to add audiobooks to their 'Routines' to begin listening on their commute by simply saying "Ok Google, tell me about my day". Google Assistant will tell you about traffic, whatever item is on your calendar and continue playing your book.

Speed it up or slow it down.
This update lets users choose their reading pace. If you're a speedster, you can listen to audiobooks at 3x speed to get to the end faster. Or you can slow it down to 0.5x for whatever reason.

Share with Family Library
Depending on the book you're reading and the country you live, you can share audiobooks and eBooks to five family members. This feature is currently rolling out in 13 countries including Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Chile, Mexico, Japan (audiobooks only) and South Africa.

These new features are rolling out today on Android and other supported platforms.

Source: Google

Download: Google Play

Amazon Kindle for Android now displays the clock right in the book or magazine you're reading.

One can easily lose track of time when reading and Amazon Kindle is aware of that. In their latest update to Amazon Kindle for Android, they introduced a clock that becomes visible at the top left corner of supported books or magazines after enabling the feature in the app settings. According to the change log, the same feature can be toggled on or off by tapping the upper, left-hand corner of the page. And I confirm that this useful feature just works.

In addition, Amazon also added a new font dubbed the Amazon Ember Bold in the Display Settings. A heavier font Amazon says may make reading easier.

Go check these new features by downloading or updating the app in Google Play Store.

Amazon Kindle for Android updated with Word Wise to quickly understand difficult words without much interruptions.

As a father, I find Word Wise to be a super useful addition to Kindle. With Word Wise enabled, readers will see short and simple definitions automatically appear above difficult words. And Amazon Kindle does that without being too intrusive. Briefly putting it to the test today, I found that Word Wise did indeed offered a clear definition of words that I would have otherwise stopped my reading to get the definition - using the good old press and hold. Again, as a father of a little girl who's main spoken and written language is French, this makes my task of teaching her English so much easier.

The update, which was released two days ago, brings you more info about the book itself and the author. See the full change log below:

• Read more challenging books with Word Wise.
• Learn more about the book and author before you start reading.
• See popular highlights from other Kindle readers.
• Create flashcards from textbooks to help you study.
• Look up words with any dictionary.
• Control Audible playback easily without leaving the page.
• Navigate manga easily with a table of contents.
• Bug fixes.

Source: Google Play Store

Amazon Kindle for Android lets you switch between reading and listening.

Amazon published an update today to the Play store for it's Kindle app that reminded me that it has been a while since I last read a book. I am very busy these days and reading activity has been relegated under the if-time-permit category, unfortunately. I'll have to sort this out.

In this update, which bring Kindle for Android to version 4.5.0.123, Amazon added a nice feature that makes it possible to switch between reading and listening when the audio version of a book is added to Kindle. A feature that book listeners will very likely appreciate.

The other added features are:
- Jump directly to previous locations from the progress bar.
- Copy a word or phrase, paste into another program.
- Multi-color highlights
- Improved notifications

The update is available free in the Google Play store.