Technological World for September 28, consumer tech: Kindle Scribe, Fire TV Omni, changes to YouTube's Partner Program

Published
Comments None
Categories Consumer technology |

Amazon announced a bunch of cool new devices today, and YouTube wants to distribute more money to musicians and creators.

Amazon reveals Kindle Scribe, a new tablet designed for handwriting

The Scribe is a new Kindle that is so much like paper that you can write on it. The 10.2-inch device comes in storage capacities of 16 GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB, and with the included stylus you can mark up Word documents, PDFs, even take notes on the books you’re reading from the Kindle store.

You’ll also be able to import documents to the Scribe or export them to your computer. The Scribe releases on November 30 and is priced starting at $430.

New 4K QLED TV set added to Amazon Fire TV series

Amazon’s line of affordable televisions gets a serious bump in quality with the line of Omni sets with 4K QLED screens. The 65-inch model is only $1,070 and you can get a 75-inch screen for only $1,500.

These come with a photo mode built in that Amazon’s calling “Ambient Experience” that turns the television into a digital frame that will display artwork, photos, and more.

Other Amazon things of note

  • Amazon is building Eero mesh technology into select new Echo devices so they will double as a smart speaker and a way to extend your Wi-Fi. Existing, fourth generation Echo Dot devices will also get this functionality through a software update.
  • Alexa voice remote pro is a new, universal remote control that works with Fire TV devices and many other televisions, soundbars, and receivers. It leverages the sophisticated Alexa voice assistant to make it easy to watch TV. You can pair headphones to the remote and you can ask Alexa to help you find it when you inveitably lose it.

YouTube looking to pay more to creators and musicians

YouTube Shorts is a TikTok competitor, and short form videos that include music – and often choreographed movement – are popular. But creators of that content haven’t qualified for the same kinds of revenue sharing as more traditional YouTubers.

Next year, though, YouTube is expanding access to the Partner Program to make it easier for short-form creators to revenue sharing.

Creator Music is a related initiative that provides YouTube creators of all formats to a library of music they can use which will better compensate musicians and music rights holders.

Comments

Commenting is closed for this article.

← Older Newer →