New Kindle Paperwhite

Amazon acquired the book-centric social network in March and is integrating the site's 16 million users and 30,000 book clubs into the Kindle Paperwhite. A new "G" icon in the navigation will take book lovers to Goodreads on Kindle, where they can discover new titles, add books to their shelf, add ebooks to Goodreads, view profiles, and rate books. The Paperwhite must be connected to WiFi to use Goodreads.

While reading, Kindle users can increase their vocabulary by adding unfamiliar terms to a list. A new feature called "Vocabulary Builder" compiles these new words and generates flashcards. Access the new feature in the top left of the navigation bar by tapping "Words."

Read the word's definition, and then tap the book title to see the term used in context. Mark as "Mastered" once you've gotten the word's usage down.

The one thing I miss about physical books is being able to turn quickly to a map or reference sheet. The Paperwhite's new Page Flip feature mimics that quick reference by offering a preview of other chapters, pages, or the table of contents in a pop-up window, so readers don't lose their place.

For items that require an encyclopedia, and not a dictionary, Kindle readers can now use Smart Lookup. After highlighting a phrase, a window will open that provides the Wikipedia and X-Ray pages. You might use Wikipedia for a term like "credit default swap," and X-Ray puts that definition into the context of what you're reading. X-Ray also gives you a profile of characters.

Amazon customers who have purchased hard copies of books will be able to download the ebook version of that title for $3, $2, $1, or free. Over 10,000 books, with some titles dating back to 1995, will be eligible for the program come October. All Kindle features — Whispersync, X-Ray, and popular highlights — will be available in the Matchbook versions.

Kindle FreeTime is an achievement program to incentivize young readers to spend more time with books. Parents can select particular books and achievement badges to reward their kids once they hit their reading milestones. FreeTime also provides analytics like total time spent reading, number of words looked up, and books finished.