Audible is now available on Apple Watch

Audible is now available on Apple Watch. Audible is releasing an update to the Audible App that will allow Apple Watch users to enjoy Audible directly from their devices. This is made possible by Apple’s new operating system, watchOS 5.  

With the new update, watch users can sync Audible books from their libraries to their watches; play Audible books on the go via Bluetooth; and control playback from the watch face – as long as they have downloaded the latest version of the Audible App. Most significantly, this means that users will no longer need to carry their iPhones with them to access any of this functionality as it will work directly from the Apple Watch.

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Andy Weir’s ‘Artemis’ comes to Audible, narrated by Rosario Dawson

You might be familiar with Andy Weir’s name because of his book The Martian. Now, he’s back with a new crime caper called Artemis, which is set on the dark side of the Moon. The book is now available not just in bookstores but also in audiobook form over at Audible with actress Rosario Dawson lending her voice to the project. The clip above has Dawson talking about her character and the recording of Artemis.

Artemis follows the story of Jasmine Bashara or Jazz, who is described as “another too-smart, devil-may-care twentysomething” who isn’t happy with the life she lives in a small town on Artemis, which is the first and only city on the moon. Life is tough in the city if you aren’t rich so competing petty crimes like smuggling in contraband isn’t unheard of. And when Jazz finds a chance to commit the perfect crime with an extremely lucrative reward it’s hard for her to turn it down. However, in the midst of this she finds herself caught up in a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.

Canadian audiobook listeners prefer Amazon and Audible over iTunes

David Clare/Flickr

A new study from BookNet Canada explores the local consumers’s audiobook listening habits and methods for discovering new titles. It was found in this follow-up to a 2014 study that most users found audiobooks on websites of retailers as well as from recommendations by friends. However, it doesn’t mean these are the top places for downloading. People still prefer to borrow from public libraries or make use of free downloads to acquire new audiobooks.

But for those who do purchase audiobooks from retailers, the popular retailers to turn to are Amazon and Audible. Amazon is used 21 percent of the time this year (compared to 21.5 percent in 2014 and Audible is used to buy audiobooks 20.7 percent of the time (compared to 14.2 percent in 2014). Apple’s iTunes sees a 3 percent dip in use from 2014—they’ve gone from 17.7 percent in 2014 to 14.7 percent this year.

Source: Forbes

Amazon adds Audible into the Kindle app

Would you like to be able to switch between reading an ebook to listening to an audiobook seamlessly? Amazon has updated its Android and iOS app to do just that. Amazon introduced Whispersync for Voice in its Kindle app to put together Kindle ebooks and Audible titles with Amazon’s one-click Matchmaker service. It will cost you as little as US$0.99 per title or around $3.99 if the title is a bestseller. This feature is available for over 45,000 titles.

Source: Cult of Android