Yesterday,  Amazon  announced the Kindle Audio Adapter  and VoiceView for the Paperwhite. The dongle, which would help the visually impaired navigate menus and read via text-to-speech was only included in a special accessible Kindle Paperwhite bundle. As soon as the news came out about the new Kindle Audio Adapter yesterday, a flurry of posts started on Kboards, Mobileread and the Amazon forums with people saying they wanted one.  Well, it turns out Amazon didn’t keep us waiting too long! Today, the adapter is available for purchase separately for $19.99.

The adapter is compatible with VoiceView for Kindle on the Kindle Paperwhite – this is the 7th generation device.  It plugs into the micro-USB charging port on the Paperwhite. The device requires headphones which are not included with the dongle. It looks like you could also use a speaker with a 3.5mm jack for listening as well.

As I noted in my post yesterday, the battery life while using the adapter is only about 6 hours of continuous use and you will not be able to charge the Paperwhite while using the dongle.

Amazon notes that the adapter “Works with millions of Kindle books that are compatible with VoiceView.” It is not yet clear what that means – I have been spot checking and, while I find books with text-to-speech enabled, I haven’t yet seen any titles listed as VoiceView compatible. Amazon also note that the adapter “does not support music or audiobook playback.”

I ordered mine today to try it. Are you interested in trying the adapter? And have you seen any titles listed as VoiceView compatible?

Found via The Digital Reader