Friday, November 28, 2014

That new free Washington Post app on Kindle Fire HD/HDX tablets - what happens after 6 months? and other details. A couple of Fire OS update feature tidbits for older HD/HDX tablets. Updated for tip on getting larger text displays with Screen Magnifier setting.


The new Washington Post app for Kindle Fire HD/HDX tablet owners exclusively (for now)

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, bought the Washington Post with his own money in early 2013, so it's not really a surprise to see the new Washington Post app that's been added to the apps store (which already has the less-colorful Washington Post Classic app.

  Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablet owners have free, unlimited access to articles on this app for 6 months, and the app will be available for Android and iOS tablets next year (which isn't far away).

  I've used it for a few days now and am really enjoying it.  I also subscribe to the e-Ink reader version of the NY Times Latest News, which has about 7-10 headline news stories in full each day, with updated versions through the day, for $1.99/month.

I don't review many products at the Amazon customer reviews page, and when I do, it's usually only because I really like the product or, rarely, when I want to caution others about problems.

  I did write an Amazon review for this app and will include my review in this blog article.  There's high interest in what happens after the 6 months is over, and the review covers that also, so here's my initial take on this new feature.

  (By the way, as mentioned earlier, older Kindle Fire HD and HDX tablets are getting a Fire OS software update that includes new features first seen in the current Fire tablets, and I really like that, while using an app, I can swipe right-edge-to-left to see the other apps that I can just switch to that way.  And now I see that 'Firefly' is on it ... just tried it on a less-known CD and it worked instantly.  I'll write more on the updates this weekend.)


From my review at Amazon:
Am editing this to move subscription info to the top after seeing high interest in what happens after the first 6 months. I'd found their explanation under Settings/Frequently asked Questions. It explains that it's free for 6 months, and then AFTER that, there'll be an OPTION to continue for another 6 months for $1 for the entire *additional* 6 months if we decide to subscribe afterward. So, no automatic opt-in after the first 6 months.

... If we do choose to purchase the optional *additional* 6 months for $1 payment at the Amazon apps store, this action will automatically opt us into a full-price subscription after the 2nd 6-month term is completed, which will be $3.99 per month.

I like the layout. Quality images in high-resolution head the full-text, meaty articles in easy-to-read, well-spaced text - an especially clean look in comparison to most news apps. There are usually additional photos and apparently sometimes a video although I haven't run into one in my two days of quick browsing. Am reading with an older Kindle Fire HDX and have no speed problems.

You get morning and evening editions, "with updates for major breaking stories."

I especially like the responsive pinch-zoom in and out. You can change the layout, that way, between one- and two-page reading and enlarge a story for eyes that require larger print, with great control over the size of photos and text.

You can save articles (tap the ribbon tab at top right) and the saved articles will be listed at the bottom of the table of contents at the left (accessed with the Menu icon or a swipe from left).  However, since the edition changes at least twice a day, I'd save a story if you don't have time to read it right away, as some stories will be dropped as new ones come in. Saved articles can still be read after the issue has been replaced with the current one. A great feature.

If you like a lead photo, you can tap it to select it and tap it again to isolate it and even do a screenshot to save it for personal use. You can pinch-zoom other photos to see them even more clearly, since the quality of images is fantastic.

Each time you open the app, you get today's news, in the current edition, so that solves any storage problem, as a graphics-heavy daily newspaper app is of course very large. (This will be somewhat slower-loading on the Yr 2012 models.)

There are of course ads, as with paper newspapers, but the ads don't interfere with story space and are separate, at intervals.

Very easy to navigate, and it's fast, smooth, and beautiful. Kudos to the app developers.

The NY Times app option to read more than 10 articles a month is currently $20/mo., so I personally find the $4/mo. after the first year, for all articles, a decent price.

If you're an avid news reader, or even a light one (it's well-organized for quick access to categories of interest), this is a no-brainer, for at least the first 6 months.

Suggestion to developers: A somewhat darker font would be easier on the eyes that are often already fixed on LCD screens for hours. Grayish text is 'in' but Black fonts give more contrast, more like a book or newspaper.

Additional tip for screen displays when wanting even larger font
You can go into Settings/Accessibility and choose to turn Screen Magnifier to ON.

Then you can quickly tap 3 times on the display when the largest text size isn't quite large enough for you.  You'll see a blue border that'll indicate you're in Screen Magnifier mode.

That will magnify that area. And at that point, you can pinch zoom with two fingers to enlarge or reduce the area and scroll from left to right.  The 3 quick taps are position-sensitive, so you can tap at the left if you want info from the left margin to definitely be shown first in resulting enlargement. Same idea for right-margin text, although the easiest thing is to 3-tap in the middle and then pinch-zoom in and out.

When you want to go back to normal view, tap quickly 3 times again (or turn the tablet to portrait mode if you're in landscape orientation -- and of course vice versa).

I use this a lot for fixed screens where double-taps don't lead you to max enlargement (as can be done with browser screens).



Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Quick Alert for special deal on one print book, starting tonight, at 9pm PST (no e-books or Audible)


Special sale starting tonight

I received an email alert that "...With Black Friday two days away, Amazon has announced another great deal starting at 9pm PST tonight where customers using the promo code HOLIDAY30 will receive an additional 30% off of purchase for one book, not including eBooks or Audible Audiobooks. The offer is available for a limited time and starts at 9PM Pacific Standard Time tonight.

For additional information (starting at 9pm) and a full list of Amazon Black Friday deals, visit www.amazon.com/blackfriday.

IF we can apply this to any print book, that would be a good deal, but we won't know until 9pm PST, which is fairlylate for Easterners.



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-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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Alert: Black Friday Amazon device deals include UNlocked GSM Fire Phone including add'l 1 yr of PRIME, for $199 total, not locked into any cellphone services provider ... plus Kindle device deals thru' wkend or Cyber Monday


In case you didn't see these yet, there are some unusual deals for the next few days.

Received an alert from Tom Semple, who drew my attention to the unusual offering of an UNLOCKED model of the Amazon Fire Phone, which includes 1 year of Prime (for new membership or additional year for Prime members).
  (List price $449 - States taxes are based on the $199 price, per Tom Semple's exploring.

  This is especially good (and economical, as unlocked phone prices go) for those who did not want to be locked into using AT&T.

  He also saw that "Amazon Amazon helpfully enumerates all of the 'compatible' GSM carriers" but that he will just use its WiFi capability with the features, which is how I use my old Samsung Galaxy 2 phone, which is older and now like a very small tablet for me that saves my cellphone battery when WiFi is available.

The 99 cent deal that goes with a specific 2-yr data plan is still a current one.


The listing from Amazon for Black Friday and extended through the weekend

Black Friday deals for Amazon devices beginning tomorrow. These deals will extend through the holiday weekend. Deals include 

·          Kindle for just $49  (11/27-11/29
·         New Bundle : 6 months of Kindle Unlimited plus a Kindle for $79;
          also available for Kindle Paperwhite for $129 (11/27-11/29)
·         $119 Kindle Paperwhite for $99 (11/27-11/29
·         $99 Fire HD 6 for $79 (11/27-11/29
·         $139 Fire HD 7 for $109 (11/27-12/1
·         Fire phone is now available unlocked with a no contract price of $199 through Cyber Monday
          (11/25-12/1

Amazon's details and wording are below:


Kindle (deal running 11/27-11/29)
All-new Kindle - featuring a touchscreen display, a 20% faster processor, and twice the storage. Kindle e-readers are lightweight and easy to hold, measure battery life in weeks, not hours, and allow for reading with no glare even in bright sunlight. 
Kindle Paperwhite (deal running 11/27-11/29)
Kindle Paperwhite is one of Amazon’s most popular Kindles, with a touchscreen that has no screen glare in bright sunlight, a battery that lasts for weeks, not hours, and a built-in light that allows you to read without eyestrain.
Kindle Unlimited/Kindle Bundle (deal running 11/27-11/29)
Better together: Get the $79 Kindle and 6-months of Kindle Unlimited for just $79 or Kindle Paperwhite and 6-months of Kindle Unlimited for just $129. Kindle Unlimited offers unlimited reading from over 700,000 books, including best sellers like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Landing page:
Fire HD (Fire HD 6 deal running 11/27-11/29; Fire HD 7 deal running 11/27-12/1)
The new Fire HD tablets are available in both 6” and 7” and five color choices - black, white, cobalt, magenta, and citron. The new Fire HD, features a quad-core processor, front and rear-facing cameras, an HD display and a world-class ecosystem of exclusive features, services, and content.
Fire phone (deal running 11/25-12/1)
The Fire phone is now available unlocked.  The unlocked Fire phone works with GSM carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, Metro PCS and Cricket and for a limited time only is only $199. Fire phone includes a full year of Amazon Prime membership for access to Amazon’s vast digital ecosystem and unlimited photo cloud storage as well as exclusive features like Mayday, Second Screen and X-Ray.

Since this is an alert, will get this off.

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Saturday, November 15, 2014

Software Update v5.6.1 for Kindle Paperwhite2, Kindle Voyage, and $79 e-Ink Kindle (Gen 7). US and UK -- Tips and detailed info





Amazon has released a software update for their current line of e-Ink Kindles.  

The free update will be rolled out automatically in the coming weeks, and those who prefer to manually download the update can do that, as before.

At the left is a screenshot of the expanded X-Ray for Books feature.

I received confirmation that Amazon's "goal is to make this update available for the first gen Kindle Paperwhite" (Paperwhite 1) as well. 

  (Updates for older generation devices tend to follow a few months later.)
New features include [quoting their forum announcement and press release]:
·         Word WiseFor readers learning English and children learning to read, Word Wise makes it easier to understand more challenging books more quickly. Short and simple definitions automatically appear above difficult words, so you can keep reading without having to stop and look up a word. To see the various meanings the same word can have in different contexts, just tap on the word to quickly bring up a card with definitions, synonyms, and more. You can adjust the number of definitions you see with a slider, dialing them up or down as you learn and grow your vocabulary. Word Wise is already available on thousands of titles, including The Hunger GamesThe Giver, and Wonder. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/wordwise.
  [A sample is show below.]
·         Family Library—For the first time, you can access not only your own Kindle books, but also books from the Amazon account of a spouse or partner. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/family-library.

·         Kindle FreeTime Unlimited—For as little as $2.99 per month, kids get unlimited access to hundreds of hand-picked chapter books and early readers, all curated for age-appropriateness, so parents don’t have to spend time and money guessing what their kids will enjoy. Includes favorites such as the Harry Potter series, The Borrowers by Mary Norton, Big Nate and Friends by Lincoln Peirce, and Newberry Medal and Honor winning books such as The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, and Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.

·         Expanded X-Ray for Books—X-Ray now makes it easier to explore as you read—quickly flip through all the images in a book, and use the new timeline view to easily browse the most notable passages. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/x-ray-for-books [and above].

·         Deeper Goodreads Integration—Goodreads on Kindle now allows you to easily share your reading progress updates, add books from your Kindle library to your Goodreads shelves, and see your friends’ updates, ratings and reviews when looking at a book on Goodreads. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/goodreads-integration.
  
·          Enhanced Search—Makes it even easier to find what you are looking for by combining and previewing results from your Library, Goodreads and the Kindle Store on the same page. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/kindle-search.  
  
·         About This Book—See information about the book as you start to read, including its place in a series and author information, plus mark it as “Currently Reading” on Goodreads. See a screenshot: www.amazon.com/about-the-book


This is a screenshot of Wordwise

To Manually download updates if not wanting to wait for automated over-the-air updates:

Here is the umbrella Kindle Software Updates page that covers ALL current Kindle devices (U.S.)
  Here's the equivalent UK page for Kindle software updates.

Again, the free update will be rolled out automatically in the coming weeks.

New Kindle Software Update Version (The version no. will be the same for the UK models)
All 3 models are getting the v5.6.1 software update.

Kindle Basic (7th Gen):
  NOTE: I've made a specific page link here, because Amazon's software updates page isn't clear in the left column about which "Kindle software update" is for the current basic Kindle (Gen 7).  The other models are clearly shown at the left of the umbrella page for updates.

  If you scroll down the general updates page, viewing the images of the models in the body of the page, it's easier to see which device-link to click for your software update file.

  Remember, the update is *automatically* sent to Kindles over an interval of a few weeks and it will be easier for most to wait and get it that way, fully automated.

Otherwise:
HOW to do a manual USB transfer and install of a Kindle software update
Here's Amazon's general page of instructions for USB transfer and installation of updates to a Kindle device.
 Each update page for a specific device has a Determine Your Software Version link that needs to be used before trying to transfer a file for installation

Tips and Reminders
How does Family Library work?
Amazon has a very clear write-up on this book-sharing feature. It starts:
' Use Family Library to share content between two adults in your household.

Family Library lets you link your Amazon account to that of another adult in your household so you can easily share Kindle books across your Amazon devices and Kindle reading apps. Each adult chooses what they want to share: they can share all of their Kindle books, or, they can choose to only share individual titles.

Once you’ve set up Family Library, shared content will appear in the Cloud tab of each of your supported devices, which you can filter (for example, See My Books, See My Partner's Books, See All Books, etc.). When accessing shared content, each adult has their own settings for that content, such as furthest page read, notes and annotations, and more. '

    See the About Family Library help page for much more detail.

A Reminder about how syncing of your reading between devices and apps is done
In order for this to work reliably, the changes to your last page read and any new annotations done (highlighting, notes and bookmarks) must be 'seen' by the servers at Amazon -- this means that your WiFi or 3G wireless connection would need to be 'on' at the time you close the book by tapping the Home icon.
   Once the Amazon servers note the changes, they'll be available to the next Kindle-compatible reader or app you open (with Wireless on that device turned On also).
  You can turn 'off' the WiFi or 3G Wireless connection after leaving the Kindle book reading, which will help maximize battery use on that device.)

  When an eInk screen is displaying a page but there is no change to that screen, the display is having no effect on the battery.
  When you change what's being displayed (changing or adding anything on the page, as in tapping it on the side to get a new page or when an action brings a pop-up window or dialog box), the display IS using the battery.  That's why just pressing the power button for only ~1 second puts the Kindle to 'sleep' during which it displays an image, which doesn't use the battery, but the Paperwhite light turns off.

  Leaving it in this sleep state doesn't draw battery power as a result of the image display itself.  If, however, WiFi is On during Sleep state, any activity with subscription downloads or a Special Offers download -will- use battery power.

  There is always very slow battery drain in between charges even when a device is turned off.

  So, the "Screen Off" is a relatively new choice on mine.  This just blanks the screen and puts it into sleep state.  SOME have requested a blank screen so they know it's "Off" but, in this case, it's only that there's no image seen - not even Amazon's default images during normal sleep-screens.

Mentioned previously also:
  "Restart" acts more like a soft-reboot on a computer and clears up memory states that may be causing problems.

(Using the Paperwhite as an example)
  There is no option on my Paperwhite to completely Power Off or Shut down the Kindle.  My options are to (1) Cancel a longer key-press action, (2) Restart the Paperwhite (mine is a Paperwhite 1), or (3) choose "Screen Off." On other devices, some will see an option to "Power Off" or "Shut Down" the Kindle.

  Also, holding in the power button for over 20 seconds (rather than 5 seconds) does still cause a Restart (and a clearing of current memory use), as in the past.


IF you experience unusual battery drain
Note that keeping your Kindle always connected to a Wi-Fi network can drain the battery faster under certain circumstances.  If you're experiencing that, then once you've got the update "over the air," put the Paperwhite back to "Airplane Mode ON" via the 'Settings' option on the Menu -- the option lets you toggle Wireless OFF, using the "Airplane On" choice.

  Amazon's Paperwhite development team hasn't returned the Wireless Off/On choice to the front menu as they did one year for the Kindle Touch when they removed the 'airplane mode' icon that confuses many.  It's inconvenient to have the WiFi On/Off setting on a secondary menu and many, as a result, don't even know that they can actually turn WiFi Off if needed to conserve battery power.

  Amazon may prefer that we keep Wireless 'On' due to delivery of Special Offers but a battery-drain problem can occur when circumstances involve (1) subscriptions that are downloaded regularly (my New York Times Latest News subscription updates the Kindle edition about five times a day - $1.99/month)) or (2) due to a weaker connection that results from the distance from the WiFi router, in which case the device keeps trying to connect when a download is due (and that can be for the special offers that Amazon regularly needs to send for those who choose to opt for the less-expensive model with the special-offers feature) and is then often active.

  On the other hand as mentioned earlier, WiFi needs to be 'On' after you've read a book and made annotations for a session AND when you then want to be able to continue reading later, on another device (like a smartphone), starting at where you'd stopped.
  If WiFi isn't turned on, the Amazon servers won't have any way of knowing the last-page-read location nor any notes or highlighting you've made, which you'd want to be able to access on the other device.  So, a reminder on my usual recommendation:
1. When you're finished reading, tap the top-toolbar and press the HOME icon.
  On most e-Ink devices, this will 'close' the book session and record the last page read and log the annotations.
2. Tap the top of the eReader to bring up the toolbar and menu icon.
3. If you see an airplane icon at the top, your WiFi is Off (and you're in "airplane" take-off mode).
4. Tap 'Settings'
5. Turn Airplane Mode OFF, and that'll turn WiFi ON.
6. At that point, the Kindle will try to sync your changes to the Server and will download anything that is pending (a subscription to a newspaper, magazine, or blog, usually).
7. After that's done, you can go ahead and leave WiFi ON if you have no problems with faster battery drain
      OR you can turn OFF the WiFi if you need to save battery power.

Again, and only if you'd rather not wait -- DOWNLOADING and transferring the Update via USB
US:  Go to the Kindle Software Update page (or to the UK page to get the instructions for the download for your specific Kindle eReader and to transfer the appropriate update file to your Kindle via USB:




Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Amazon offers Free, Unlimited Photo Storage to active Prime Members in the U.S. Updated for link to main Prime Unlimited Photo Storage page



Updated same night to include the main PRIME PHOTOS link
The new Unlimited Photo Storage plan for Prime members actually is quite an offer because photos can be huge, with today's many-megapixel lenses.  My Nokia Lumia 1020 cell phone's camera is a 40 megapixel one.  In the past, Amazon customers worldwide have received 5GB of storage free, to use for miscellaneous files, which could include normal work files, photos and even videos, but one video could use up most of it.  The popular sharing host, Dropbox offers all of 2 free Gigabites for storage of anything, although with flexible features and fast upload time and encourages us to refer others for an additional storage allowance of 500 megs (half a Gigabyte).

Amazon's existing file requirements for photos (videos are not part of the new Unlimited Photo Storage feature) include a limit of 2 GB for a photo.  Well, I've never made a photo that huge.  The new feature is for non-commercial use, for which you'd seldom see any photo be that large, even in 'tiff' or normal Photoshop-file size.

So, to have free, totally unlimited, photo storage as yet another feature for the Prime membership program is amazing.  As most customers know by now, Prime membership includes free 2-day shipping on most of Amazon's products; free access to Prime Instant video (about 40,000 movies and TV show episodes); Prime Music (ad-free Prime stations plus over a million songs, with X-Ray feature of scrolling lyrics); and the Kindle Lending library, which allows Prime mebers to borrow one Kindle book each calendar month without waiting periods or due-dates.

According to their Prime Photos Help page:
' Store your photos safely in Cloud Drive and you can access them anywhere, from almost any device by signing in with your Amazon account. Cloud Drive offers free mobile apps, secure access from any computer, and it's built in to all Fire devices. '

I've used the app that lets me back up photos to the Cloud, and access for viewing them is unexpectedly fast with a normal fast connection.

CAVEATS - This is also from the help page.  Read these carefully (I've bold-faced some of the points).
  . Prime Photos requires an Amazon Prime, Amazon Mom, Amazon Student or Amazon Fresh membership.  If you cancel or do not renew your Prime membership, you will lose the unlimited photo storage benefit associated with the membership and your uploaded photos will count toward your Cloud Drive storage limit.
  For more information about your Cloud Drive storage limits and what happens to your content if you exceed those limits, go to About Cloud Drive Storage Limits.

  . Prime Photos is for your personal, non-commercial use only. You may not use it in connection with a professional photography business or other commercial service.
Certain photo formats are excluded.  For more information, go to Cloud Drive Photos & Videos File Requirements.

If you're not already a Prime member and are interested in this, Amazon has a 30-day free Prime trial.  This is a strong incentive for those for whom photos are important.



  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:
Temporarily-free books - Non-classics
USA: by:
   Publication Date  
   Bestselling   High-ratings

UK: PubDate   Popular

The Kindle Daily Deal

What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care

Highly-rated under $1
,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3
Most Popular Free K-Books
U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):
   Top 100 free
UK-Only:
   Top 100 free

Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.

USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):
  99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,
  99c Calendar,   99c Converter


  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Alerts: Today's Free App of the Day is a good one - Elements of Photography Pro, usually $3.50. Sale pricing on Fire TV and Fire HDX 7" tablet, as well as on a FireTV-tablet bundle

Alert to a very good free App of the Day for Android and all Kindle Fire tablets

It's Elements of Photography Pro by Arkenstone Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and, so far, has 25 reviews with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 (edited to add that a new app user just low-graded it because he thought it was a camera he could use).

  This app also has integrated Google Translate and is available in 14 languages.]


At the right is a sample lesson screen
from the app.

At any rate, it should be useful to anyone wanting to understand how to use combinations of settings for any given photo situation.   Included are tips and a quiz section.


Updated the Free Books search links
(Non-Classics/Contemporary) available for November, with October also accessible.
    October 2014  November 2014.
    Also, all currently free non-classics sorted by:
    Publication Date   Bestselling    High ratings

Quick alert for limited-time pricing on a couple of tablet and streaming tv options
Amazon is starting its limited time pricing deals as they approach Black Friday, and online stores seem to be starting earlier every year.

Unfortunately, Amazon is now showing only starting prices for tablet products and asking customers to choose added storage and/or Wireless options (WiFi or WiFi+3G) after adding to the cart.  However, it's a little less confusing than it was when they had the 'hover' chart of different pricing based on storage and connectivity options.

The Kindle Fire HDX 7" tablet, recently given a regular price of $199 (down from $229), to start, is being sold for a limited time at $179 to start.
  And the Fire TV is available currently at a discounted price of $84 (down from $99).  There's no indication of expiration date for the sale, but this sold for a few days recently for that price and then was raised to 4.99

  They are also drawing attention on the tablet product pages to a current bundled pricing for the FireTV with a Kindle Fire HDX 7" tablet with 16 GB of storage space.  There is NO option to add storage to this tablet when bundled with Fire TV.  I'm personally more comfortable with 32 GB of storage, but Amazon pushes its Cloud storage for apps you use less frequently and these are downloadable at any time.

  At $259 for both, this allows the FireTV to have tablet content "mirrored" to your HDTV or even "flung" to it so that an Instant Prime movie starting on the tablet can be shown on just the HDTV, freeing up the tablet to be used for other things.
  That means that a few people can enjoy the video on the TV, with the Amazon Cloud processing the stream and freeing up the tablet's processor.  This includes being able to use the feature of checking who's in the current scene being watched, seen via Amazon's X-Ray feature available when viewing Amazon Instant Video -- but the tablet can be used for books, games, and other apps, while the video is shown on the TV.

That's it for now, as I have to be gone until tomorrow, but I wanted to send the alerts out to anyone who might be interested in them.




Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

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