May 27, 2017

3 Best Ways to Listen to Audiobooks on Mobile Device




Audiobooks offer us another way to give our eyes and mind to other things, as we can listen to the latest bestseller to get through our daily commute, devour a non-fiction piece while doing the dishes, or even we can check out the latest biography during a daily workout. Audiobooks enrich our daily life, and we all want to carry our whole audiobooks libraries around with us. Mobile device is commonly regarded as the inseparable for most of us which can help us deal with our basic necessities. So, how to listen to audiobooks on mobile device can be an interesting topic.

Thanks to the various audiobooks providers, we get the access to obtain all kinds of audio books, including the world-class literature resources from the app or website. How many ways to obtain them? Dozens, it is simply depended on the quality you desire and the amount you're willing to spend.

Audible Application 


Price:
$14.95 per month subscription

Support systems: Both of Android and iOS

Audible) remains the powerhouse in the audiobooks field, with more than 150,000 professionally voiced audio books. Audible's audiobook player offers solid playback features, with chapter navigation, bookmarks, a sleep mode, variable playback speed and multitasking support for background playback and downloading. Its increasing integration with Amazon's Kindle system is reaping added benefits for its users, as Kindle users can pay a small fee to upgrade a Kindle ebook with an Audible audiobook; Amazon's Whispersync allows users to switch between audiobook and text near-seamlessly. You can even have Amazon's Alexa pull up your audiobooks from Audible to be read through an Echo, Tap or Echo Dot.

However, audio books from Audible are protected by DRM, and you're restricted from using non-Audible apps or downloading the file to too many devices at once.If you want to break this restriction forever, TunesKit Audible Converter can be a perfect one-stop solution for you. With this profession Audible DRM removal, you can easily remove the restriction from DRM-locked Audible audibooks and transfer the AA or AAX files to MP3 or other plain audio formats. Then converted files can be played in any devices or players as you like.

Bookmobile



Price: Free trial for 60 days, after that, $ 3.99 USD for unlimited number of audiobooks.

Support systems: iOS

If you are looking for some apps to offer you DRM-free audiobooks, Bookmobile can be an ideal choice which is specially designed for iOS users. Apart from supporting DRM-free audio contents, this app also supports the DRM-protected audio tracks from iTunes and Audible. The app allows users to play and manage audio content from a wide range of sources: iTunes, Audible.com, librivox.org, CDs, public library downloads, RSS feeds, Dropbox, and etc. Extra features include a custom bookmarking feature that can automatically remember where you last stopped, playback speed controls, and AirPlay support. The free trial lasts for 60 days and allows you to import three audiobooks. 

Audiobooks Now



Price: You can buy audiobooks individually from the in-app marketplace, or join in their club plan which comes with a 30 day free trial and is $5/month thereafter, offers you 50% off the first audiobook you purchase each month and 35-40% off everything else you purchase.

Support systems: Both of Android and iOS

Audiobooks Now offers an integrated market and audiobook player with a library of more than 80,000 bestsellers and classics. Users can stream audiobooks for on-demand listening, or download titles to read them on the go. The app comes with bookmarking and playback controls, incoming call auto-pause and resume, and multi-device syncing.

Also Read: How to Convert Audible Files from AA to MP3?

May 23, 2017

How to Downgrade iTunes 12.6.1?




About iTunes 12.6.1


Last week, alongside the Apple release of a new macOS Sierra 10.12.5 update that brings some minor bug fixes and performance improvements, Apple has launched a new version of iTunes, iTunes 12.6.1.

This update includes minor app and performance improvements according to the Apple’s release notes.

Why We Need to Downgrade iTunes 12.6.1?

Since Apple released this new version iTunes, dozens of Mac users have found that some application can no longer be compatible with iTunes 12.6.1. Actually, these software producers are all working on how to make their software work again under the iTunes 12.6.1. TunesKit, as a professional iTunes DRM removal solution provider, offer a temporarily solution to its users to bypass the annoyance cause by 12.6.1 while their R&D team is dedicating themselves to find a permanent solution to make TunesKit M4V Converter for Mac, Audiobook Converter for Mac, Apple Music Converter for Mac fully support iTunes 12.6.1. This workaround is to downgrade iTunes 12.6.1 to 12.6 which can be supported fully by TunesKit.

Detailed Instruction of How to Downgrade iTunes 12.6.1:


(1) Download iTunes 12.6.0.100 from this page: http://www.techspot.com/downloads/71-apple-itunes-for-mac.html, where you can find all previous versions of iTunes in the sidebar.

(2) Open Activity Monitor and kill the process "iTunes-Helper".

a. Open up Finder on your Mac, go to the Applications folder, then the Utilities folder, and the shortcut to open Activity Monitor is right there.

b. Open Activity Monitor>> select iTunes Helper >> Quite



(3) Open Terminal and type: "sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app".

(4) Install iTunes 12.6.0.100.

(5) Disable auto-upgrading in iTunes.

(6) Run TunesKit and you will find TunesKit work perfectly again as it used to do.

About TunesKit DRM Media Converter

TunesKit DRM Media Converter for Mac is an ideal DRM removal tool to help you remove DRM protection from all iTunes videos, including both rented and purchased movies and TV shows. This iTunes DRM Remover is a home edition and for personal use only. With this smart DRM crack software, you can legally and freely strip DRM from any iTunes movies and TV shows at 30X faster speed to MP4, AVI, M4V, MOV, MPG, FLV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, 3GP, 3G2, SWF, MP3, AAC and other popular video and audio formats with original audio tracks, subtitles and quality preserved. TunesKitiTunes DRM Removal for Windows is also available for PC users.

If you want to convert iTunes videos to DRM-free1080p videos, you won’t miss the full review: TunesKit DRM Media Converter Review: Best iTunes DRM Removal Tool.

May 9, 2017

Apple vs Amazon vs Google: Which Digital Movies Provider is Best Choice?



We are living in a digital world, today, we can enjoy all kinds of digital products: like streaming music, audio book, e-book, digital movies with multiple mobile devices. In 2001, while CD was still popular among music lovers, Apple released its first iPod. And soon, folks started to accept digital music and transfer to digital music from physical music which was not such convenient to carry. Many people have such a question: Will digital music completely replace the physical music, will CD disappear in the future? In fact, vinyl as a format has survived since many people like the option to own music while digital music has many restrictions in playback devices or once the unsubscribe the streaming service they will lose the access to the music files forever. As for this question, people’s opinion varies in different point, yet we can’t deny that digital products have filled up most people’s daily life. And also, this digital world will also eat our movie collection, but, which digital provider would be your best choice.

Nowadays, many world-famous digital giant company have been competing to be our movies provider, like Apple, Amazon, Google and even Microsoft is belatedly getting into the mix. They all have their perks, but one unsettling fact remains true with all of these providers: you can't simply download your movie and use it on any device you want. You are locked into using that particular company's app, which may not be available on every device.

Many factors will make up users final choice yet you would be better not to make too many choice since it would split your library, which means you need to install multiple apple to sync different library. Thus, the choice may be decided by what devices you use as much as which company you like the most, so we'll go over the pros and cons of each provider.

1. Apple iTunes


For Apple’s loyal customers, it may seem like a simple decision to do your shopping in iTunes. As you can imagine, Apple's ecosystem works great together. The TV app on Apple TV and iPad brings your collection together with various subscription services like Hulu and HBO Now, which makes browsing for what to watch much easier. You can also download movies to your desktop or laptop and well as your iPhone or iPad, so you can enjoy your collection off line.

What you can't do is watch anything on Android, Roku, your Smart TV, Blu-Ray player with all the streaming apps. You have no ability to watch iTunes movies basically anywhere besides a PC or an Apple device. That's enough to give even Apple Watch owners some doubts on whether or not to put all those eggs in Apple's basket.

Apple iTunes Pros:
One of the first to offer streaming video, movies, TV shows and rentals and still a leader in terms of stability and performance.
Works great with the iPad's and Apple TV's new TV app, which will let you browse and select movies and TV from various sources alongside of your own digital collection including Hulu, HBO Now, Starz, etc.
Allows offline downloads to both PC and mobile devices.

Apple iTunes Cons:
Compatibility limited to Apple's ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV) and Macs and Windows-based machines. Users can’t watch iTunes movies at any devices at their will.

Actually, apple users can break this compatibility restriction easily by the means of third party professional video converter. You likely to notice that all purchased or rent movies are all in M4V format with DRM protection that is the answer why android device or other non-apple device can't support iTunes movies. In order to save the iTunes movies forever and watch them without limitation, TunesKit M4V Converter can offer a permanent solution. You simply need to legally convert iTunes M4V movies to MP4 files. With the help of TunesKit M4V converter, users can strip DRM protection from ITunes movies and convert them to plain MP4 files at one click. If you want to learn a step-by-step instruction, you can view this article: How to Remove DRM from iTunes Rentals without Quality Loss.

2. Amazon Instant Video


Amazon's biggest enemy is Amazon. It would be easy to recommend Amazon's Instant Video as one of the best digital provider's except for one crazy little thing: they refuse to sell the Apple TV. In fact, they kicked Apple TV out of the store. They also don't sell Google's Chromecast, although they happily sell other devices that use the same 'cast' technology.

Here's where it gets even crazier. Amazon kicked these products out of their store because they don't work with Amazon's Prime and Instant Video services even though the only reason those devices can't show Amazon's video is because Amazon hasn't put out an app (in the case of Apple TV) or modified their app (in the case of Chromecast) to work with those devices. Oddly enough, you can still watch Amazon's Instant Video and Prime streaming subscription on Apple TV if you use AirPlay.

While Amazon doesn't exactly play nice with others, Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant video are available on a wide range of devices, including the iPhone and iPad. Amazon also supports Android smartphones and tablets, Roku, XBOX, PlayStation, PC, most Smart TVs and (of course) Amazon's Fire devices, which run on top of Android. And while they don't have an Apple TV app, you can stream to Apple TV via AirPlay.

Amazon Instant Video Pros:
The tie-in with Amazon Prime video makes it easy to browse through available movies and TV from both Prime and your digital lockbox.
You can download to your mobile device for offline viewing.
Supports Disney Everywhere.

Amazon Instant Video Cons:
No downloads for the PC.
Amazon is known for not playing nice with others.

3. Google Play


Google Play streams their offerings on a wider range of devices than Amazon Instant Video or Apple's iTunes movies and television. Google's Android, Chrome and Chromecast platforms don’t exactly make them Switzerland, but they've played nice in the war for our living rooms. Google's philosophy is more about providing the opportunity to watch on the largest range of devices rather than battling it out for platform dominance.

You can stream Google Play on your iPhone, iPad, Android, PC, Roku, many smart televisions or through Chromecast. Google Play isn't available for Apple TV, but if you have an Apple TV, you can use AirPlay to stream your Google Play collection.

Google Play Pros:
Available on a wider range of devices than Apple and Amazon.
You can download video to your mobile device.
Offers an introductory $0.99 rental.
Supports Disney Everywhere.

Google Play Cons:
Doesn't work with your game console, so XBOX and PlayStation owners will have to stream from another device.
No offline downloads for the PC.

In conclusion, the best choice differs in different people since which company's products you used mostly will decide which digital movies provider you will choice.

May 5, 2017

Top 5 Hot New Released Audio Books on Audible 2017

As the worldwide largest audio book retailer, Audible keeps high frequency in replenishing various audio books resources. Audible updates the top charts of the hot new releases every week, here we introduce the new content of chart this week to help you keep pace with the newest popular audio books.

No 1. The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition

   
          

·Written by: Margaret Atwood , Valerie Martin - essay
· Narrated by: Claire Danes , Margaret Atwood , full cast
· Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
· Release Date: 04-04-17
· Publisher: Audible Studios


Summary: Featuring an all-new interview with Professor Piexoto, written by Atwood and performed by a full cast, The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition is a must-listen for both fans and newcomers alike. Emmy Award winner Claire Danes (Homeland, Temple Grandin) gives a stirring performance of this classic in speculative fiction, where the message (and the warning) is now more timely than ever. In addition to rich sound design that honors the audio origins of Atwood's classic, the special edition also includes a brand-new afterword from the author and an essay written by author Valerie Martin (Mary Reilly, Property).

After a violent coup in the United States overthrows the Constitution and ushers in a new government regime, the Republic of Gilead imposes subservient roles on all women. Offred, now a Handmaid tasked with the singular role of procreation in the childless household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife, can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost everything, even her own name. Despite the danger, Offred learns to navigate the intimate secrets of those who control her every move, risking her life for mere glimpses of her former freedom, and records her story for future listeners.

No 2. Into the Water



·Written by: Paula Hawkins·Narrated by: Laura Aikman, Rachel Bavidge,etc.
· Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
· Unabridged Audiobook | View Abridged
· Release Date:05-02-17


Summary: The author of the number-one New York Times best seller and global phenomenon The Girl on the Train returns with Into the Water, her addictive new novel of psychological suspense.

A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely 15-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from - a place to which she vowed she'd never return.

With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying listen that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present.

Beware a calm surface - you never know what lies beneath.

NO 3. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry




·Written by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
·Narrated by: Neil deGrasse Tyson
·Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
·Unabridged Audiobook
·Release Date:05-02-17
·Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.


Summary: What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.

But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in digestible chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. While waiting for your morning coffee to brew, or while waiting for the bus, the train, or the plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the big bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.

NO. 4 For We Are Many




·Written by: Dennis E. Taylor
·Narrated by: Ray Porter
·Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
·Unabridged Audiobook
·Release Date:04-18-17

Summary: The highly anticipated sequel to Audible's Best of 2016 - Science Fiction winner, We Are Legion (We Are Bob); a book listeners are calling "so much fun", "what science fiction was meant to be", and what would happen if "Andy Weir and Ernest Cline had a lovechild".

Bob Johansson didn't believe in an afterlife, so waking up after being killed in a car accident was a shock. To add to the surprise, he is now a sentient computer and the controlling intelligence for a Von Neumann probe.

Bob and his copies have been spreading out from Earth for 40 years now, looking for habitable planets. But that's the only part of the plan that's still in one piece. A system-wide war has killed off 99.9 percent of the human race; nuclear winter is slowly making the Earth uninhabitable; a radical group wants to finish the job on the remnants of humanity; the Brazilian space probes are still out there, still trying to blow up the competition; and the Bobs have discovered a spacefaring species that sees all other life as food.

Bob left Earth anticipating a life of exploration and blissful solitude. Instead he's become a sky god to a primitive native species, the only hope for getting humanity to a new home, and possibly the only thing that can prevent every living thing in the local sphere from ending up as dinner.

Listener favorite Ray Porter returns to narrate Bob - and his many incarnations - in all of their geeky glory.

NO 5. The Fix



·Written by: David Baldacci
·Narrated by: Kyf Brewer , Orlagh Cassidy
·Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
·Abridged Audiobook
·Release Date:04-18-17

Summary: David Baldacci's remarkable detective Amos Decker - the man who can forget nothing - was first introduced in the sensational New York Times best seller Memory Man. Now Decker returns in a stunning new novel....

Amos Decker witnesses a murder just outside FBI headquarters. A man shoots a woman execution style on a crowded sidewalk, then turns the gun on himself.

Even with Decker's extraordinary powers of observation and deduction, the killing is baffling. Decker and his team can find absolutely no connection between the shooter - a family man with a successful consulting business - and his victim, a schoolteacher. Nor is there a hint of any possible motive for the attack.

Enter Harper Brown. An agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency, she orders Decker to back off the case. The murder is part of an open DIA investigation, one so classified that Decker and his team aren't cleared for it.

But they learn that the DIA believes solving the murder is now a matter of urgent national security. Critical information may have been leaked to a hostile government - or, worse, an international terrorist group - and an attack may be imminent.

Decker's never been one to follow the rules, especially with the stakes so high. Forced into an uneasy alliance with Agent Brown, Decker remains laser focused on only one goal: solving the case before it's too late.


Convert Audible .AA Audio Books to MP3 Files 
Audio book is book-reading fans' best friend that allows listeners to enjoy audio books on their commute or while they exercise to make full use of time. If you are an Audible audio book lover, you may likely to keep track of these new released books on Audible. Nevertheless, after purchasing and downloading these files you may find that these files are all in AA or AAX format which can’t work with your common MP3 player. Don’t be frustrating, you simply need a profession Audible audio book converter to transfer the Audible files from AA to MP3. TunesKit Audible Converter is an excellent selection, it enables users easily to remove the format restriction and convert AA format to popular format like M4A, M4B, FLAC, AAC, OGG, AIFF, APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV, M4R, MKA, AU with original tags preserved. It also supports split large Audible audio books to small segments based on time or chapters. For step-by-step guide on how to convert Audible audio books from AA to MP3, you are highly suggested to visit: How to Convert Audible Files from AA to MP3

References: https://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/2402172011/ref=zg_bs_tab_t_bsnr

May 4, 2017

How to Convert Audible Files from AA to MP3?



If you are looking for ways to fit more books into your life, picking up audio books is a great way to do it. Audio books not only is more cheaper and more convenient to carry, it also allows readers to listen books without needing them to use their eyes. Hence, audio book is adored by large amount of readers. As the digital audio books industry grows larger, Amazon's brand Audible exists as a special audio book service provider and is regarded as the largest audio book producer and retailer.

Audible’s DRM Protection

Like iTunes store, Audible also applies DRM protection to their audio books to protect both the intellectual property rights of content providers as well as the authors. The starting point of applying DRM protection is good, nevertheless, DRM also bring many troubles to Audible users.

If you are an Audible's audio book lover, you likely to notice that, the audio books you downloaded from Audible are all in restricted format like .AA or .AAX, which prevent you from listening these audio books on your MP3 player that can’t support .AA format. You can neither play these .AA audio books on unauthorized devices. To break this limitation, the only method is to strip the DRM from the audio books and convert these .AA format files to mp3 or other plain format that can be compatible with common media players or devices. You may know that a general audio converters has no DRM breaking ability built in, if you want to crack this DRM protection from Audible files , you need to search for another specific DRM removal tool to achieve this goal.

Quick-guide: How to Convert Audible AA files to MP3 files?


TunesKit Audible Converter is such an professional audio book converter that can meet your requirement of converting Audible AA or AAX files to MP3 files. Thanks to the innovative decoding technology, TunesKit Audible Converter enable users easily convert Audible AA files to high quality common audio formats, like MP3, M4A, M4B, FLAC, AAC, OGG, AIFF, APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV, M4R, MKA, AU, etc. What’s more, TunesKit Audible Converter can completely run alone to remove DRM protection without requiring users to authorize their Audible account in iTunes in advance. Unlike other traditional audio converters using recording method, TunesKit simply strips the DRM from original files and won’t touch the status of the source files, thus, all original metadata info and ID3 tags, such as book title, artist, author, date can be preserved.

Try a clean install: TunesKit Audible Converter provides Mac version and Windows version for different system users. You can download the Free Trial Version for Windows or Free Trial Version for Mac to experience how to convert .AA Audible files to MP3 files.

Steps: Convert Audible AA Files to MP3 Files with Audible Converter

Step 1: Download the Audible AA files to your computer or Mac.

Step 2: Launch TunesKit Audible Converter, input AA files by clicking “+” button or directly dragging-dropping files to the conversion area.



Step 3: Select MP3 as the output format, then click “Convert” button, the conversion will complete in few seconds or minutes. TunesKit also perfectly supports batch conversion which can save users a lot of time and patience.

Tips: Covert Audible AA file to MP3 File by Chapters


I download audio books exclusively from Audible.com, and I hate large and long files. I want to convert my large Audible AA files to ‘chunks’ in MP3 Format as well. Is there a way to get a file with my needed settings (MP3, 192 kbps, 48000 kHz and split all files by chapters)?

If you have the same question, please pay attention to this tip: TunesKit Audible to MP3 Converter provides users with many practical and customized features. With the help of TunesKit Audible Converter, you can adjust the output format with detailed settings, you can get a convenient access to create segments based on time, chapters as well.

Take the case above for example, you can follow this tutorial to set the output parameters with TunesKit when converting Audible AA files to MP3 segments.

>> After you run TunesKit Audible Converter and add AA files, click the format setting at the lower left corner and set the Out format as "MP3" , Sample Rate as "48000n HZ", Bit Rate as "256 kps".



>> To split audio book into chapters, you can click the “edit” icon in TunesKit interface next to the book name. Then simply select "Split by chapters" and click "OK".