Amazon adding Twitter, Facebook to Kindle e-reader

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle e-reader is getting access to Facebook and Twitter, along with several other enhancements, as part of a software update being sent wirelessly to the devices.

In a posting on Amazon's site, the company says the new software will let users share book passages on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The update will also let people sort books and documents into collections and lock their Kindle with a password. There also will be larger font options and the ability to zoom in on PDF documents.

The update comes shortly after Apple released its iPad tablet, which could be the Kindle's biggest competition. Both can wirelessly download books.

Amazon said it has released the software to some Kindle owners and expects to send it to all users in late May.