Amazon Prime Reading is a relatively new program that launched a few months ago. If you live in the United States and have an active Prime membership plan you can get access to thousands of e-books and read them to your hearts content. Amazon has quietly added numerous audiobooks to the platform and they are compatible with Immersion Reading and WhisperSync for Voice.
Immersion Reading brings new harmony to ebooks from Amazon and Audiobooks from Audible. It basically allows readers to synchronize a Kindle text with the Audible audio version of that work. While you are reading, the ebook is highlighted as the audio track moves along, making it easier for the reader to follow along. One of the more useful ways you can employ this is by reading a book and listening to the audio version at the same time. People learning new languages could also tremendously benefit from this and don’t forget kids ebooks.
Whispersync for Voice is another popular option that, in essence, allows you to read the ebook at home and then pick up where you left off on the audio version. “The ability to seamlessly switch back and forth between reading text on any Kindle and listening to the same title in audio on your smartphone — and always pick up where you left off — means that the story can continue during those times of the day when you cannot look at a screen,” said Audible Founder and CEO Donald Katz in a statement. ”We think that Whispersync for Voice can help us all enjoy more books, which is good news indeed.”
Prime Reading has been a popular platform for US readers because it is far superior to the Kindle Lending Library and does not come with an added subscription cost of Kindle Unlimited. The addition of audiobooks will hopefully introduce more people to the format and eventually turn them into regular Audible customers.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
