Showing posts with label accessories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accessories. Show all posts

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Kindle Tips: Last full day on Amzn's 2-day holiday shipping schedule. Deals on Kindle accessories. Wireless bluetooth keyboards that work with Kindle Fire HD, portable tablet stands, expanded Kindle Daily Deal


Last days for Holiday Markdowns on Kindle accessories:

Amazon's pages have had these for awhile, in December, but today is the last day for the Prime program's free 2-day shipping for arrivals before Christmas. "Save up to 30%"


In addition to these special deals, I'll note some highly-rated but economical options for cases for Kindle Fire HD and for Kindle Paperwhite:

Roocase
for Kindle Fire HD 7"

amCase leather case
for Kindle Paperwhite



MoKo case
for Kindle Paperwhite


Wireless Bluetooth Keyboards - for use with Kindle Fire HD models

Logitech Keybd for Android 3.0+
for Kindle Fire HD 7"


Motorola WirelessKeyboard

Trent Wireless Keybd

Logitech
There's also now a newer Logitech model that is also good for Windows8 and RT as well as Android, but I really like the concentration on Android-feature keys on the one specifically for Android 3.0 Plus.

  There are no instructions (unless you go onto their web page) that alert you to the fact you need to press a button on the *back* of the keyboard in order to connect with another bluetooth device.

  The stand for the Logitech is very stable for either Kindle Fire Hd 7" or 8.9" tablets and is also a hard-protective case when unfolded.

  The older Logitech I bought offers a feature that the Motorola doesn't have -- the ability, when using Dolphin browser on the Kindle Fire HD, to edit with options of going to beginning or end of a line and movement by words.   It also allows a direct move to the top or bottom of a page, using Ctrl and Alt keys.

  Those editing key-combos don't work with the default 'Silk' browser though.
 Here's a quick how-to on using non-Amazon apps on the Kindle Fire,

  The function keys also provide PgDn & PgUp movement with the arrow keys.

Motorola
The Motorola Wireless Keyboard with trackpoint and Stand.

  Here's the larger image showing the unusual number of keys for a light device.  The Logitech is heavier but simpler and more straightforward (and less expensive).  They both make very fast typing possible.

The Motorola, with a central trackpoint and a full keypad, is expensive, but I bought it on Woot! a month ago for a one-day sale at $35 and the price has gone up at Amazon since then (Amazon owns Woot!), maybe because it's lighter than the Logitech and it has a tracking pointer and other unusual features.

  Its cover/stand is usually a mystery at first, because it seems likely to break if you use force to open it, but force is what's needed and it's fine but is not the smoothest operation.

  The little stand that the Motorola has is also, as mentioned, the cover and works better as a stand than expected but, being much less wide than the Logitech one, it doesn't provide as much support for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" though I do use it for that often as it's easy to pick up and use for a smart phone too.  The function keys on this Motorola (at least on mine) don't work for PgUp/PgDn though.

  However, its trackpoint in the center (acting as a mouse) means I don't have to have the screen right by me to be touching it all the time, and the full bottom KeyPad with left and right mouse-clicker equivalents works well, working with both Windows and Android 3+.

New Trent
  The New Trent iShuffle Multifunctional Wireless Bluetooth keyboard and stand combo works with iPad, Android, and Windows OS tablets, and the company claims it's the only keyboard with a "touch pad" compatible with Android and Windows Tablet and has three switchable models - iOS, Android, Windows.  I have no experience with this one, but the pull-out number pad, which seems to also work as mouse/cursor support somehow, doesn't work with the Apple iOS devices.

Apple Wireless Keyboard
  The Apple Wireless Keyboard is said to work well with the Kindle Fire HD also.  Its function-based keys are geared toward Apple users, with Cmd rather than Ctrl and Option rather than Alt.


Small, Portable Stands
Here's the fairly popular Arkon Portable Fold-Up Stand, with 813 customer reviews as of today and an average of 4.8 stars,

  Also, the Amazon Basics Mini Travel Stand, which costs less, with 99 ratings, averages 4.3 stars.



EXPANDED Kindle Daily Deal page
The Kindle Daily Deal now includes deals in genres such as daily romance and science fiction & fantasy.




Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.
NOTES on newer Kindles.
US:
Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159
Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249
Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369
Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599
Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89
Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139
Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $179/$199
Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web
Kindle DX - $379 $299, Free, slow web
UK:
Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69
Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £89 Refurb'd
Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149
  Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB
Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi
£109
Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK
£169
Kindle Fire 2, UK
 £129
Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK
£159/199

Canada - Amazon Canada
Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $89
OTHER International
Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89
Kindle Touch WiFi - $139
Kindle Keybd 3G - $189
  Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB


France Boutique Kindle
Deutschland - Kindle Store
Italia - Kindle Store
Spain - Tienda Kindle
Brazil - Amazon Brazil


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!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Kindle News: Sun-shade for iPad/LCD, Amazon net income, accessories for new Kindles, Kindle Fire: "Millions more" built + good video of demo

COVERS FOR LATEST KINDLES

I saw the "Snugg Amazon Kindle Fire leather case and flip stand w/ elastic hand strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior, high quality" case in a press release today.  It stated a normal price of $39.99, with a"Sale" price of $29.99 currently and will be released on November 15, the same date as the Kindle Fire tablet/reader itself.
  I'm partial to flipstands, but I wish this didn't have that stitching showing.  The product is not eligible for Prime.

Here's Amazon's entire assortment of covers for the Kindlefire.

Update: - See the later article on less-expensive covers also.


These are two more unusual covers I've seen and are for the Kindle Basic (NonTouch) and the Kindle Touch.  The first one is the New "York Times cover" ("View from Riverhouse") and the second one is the "Verso Prologue" cover.  Click on the images to

Here are the covers Amazon has for the new e-Ink Kindles.

Click on the images for more info at the product pages for those.

The most useful bookmark for these is the page for all accessories for each Kindle model.

 Note that although the Kindle Touch is a bit larger than the Kindle Basic (NonTouch), cover makers are making covers that will work for both units.


A good Kindle Fire demo on video
Richard B. Drake at the Amazon Kindle forums recommended a YouTube video'd demo of the Kindle Fire, saying it's the best demo he's seen so far.  It's the best one I've seen also.
  To Kindle-Edition subscribers: The video link for use on your computers is: bit.ly/kindlefirevideo.


A Kindle Confession
I got a kick out of this news story by Pat Snyder for Columbus Local News when I spotted the opening paragraph:
' This is hard to admit in pubic, but I'm finally coming out.

After telling my book club, my children, and the English major in me that real books are better, I've been sneaking around with a Kindle. '
  It goes on to describe the realities of public library lending, so if you have time, read the full article at the link.


"iPad to Kindle: ‘Move Over. You’re in My Sun"
Gadgets Technology features iclipstore.com's iclipse sunshade for iPad ! which is for shading the LCD screen from the sun, "solving the outdoor readability issue."

  I wonder if they or someone will make one for the Fire and other smaller LCD screens.  It's something extra to carry around (flat, they say, and doesn't need to be attached to the tablet) but will mean the difference, sometimes, with whether or not you can view or, especially, read the screen outdoors.


Amazon's lower profits in the 4th Quarter
I mentioned the other day that profits would 'dip' for this quarter and they certainly did, as reported by betanews.com -- a big increase in sales (39% increase over same qtr last year) and a decline in net income, which was down 73% year over year.  Shareholder reactions were as expected.  But Amazon finished the quarter with $2.8 billion in cash -- quite a bit over the same quarter last year, which closed out with $1.5 billion.

"Shareholders reacted poorly to the earnings report, driving down Amazon shares by 15 percent in after-hours trading."

  However, a really excellent article on Jeff Bezos by SUCCESS Magazine's John H. Ostdick, that I meant to post earlier, reminded readers of another period in which long-term growth was Amazon's focus rather than short-term gains.

  The familiar story of Amazon's beginnings with a "book beta test among friends" in a garage/basement in 1994 to a TIME magazine "Person of the Year" cover in 1999, involved an initial business plan that "projected that it would not show a profit for four to five years, and bottom-line anxiety created the first cadre of outside doomsayers Amazon would encounter."

Kindle sales in September after the new Kindles announcement
Expenses for the 4th quarter included development of new technologies - e-Ink Touch Kindles, Kindle Fire, the Amazon Cloud, etc., and now, Amazon needing to build "millions more" Kindle Fire units than originally planned.

 Other related costs are the building of many warehouses and hiring of thousands of new employees all over the country and abroad to handle the growing business, but here's what Bezos said about September:
' September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days," Bezos said in a statement today.  "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch.  And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned.” '


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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