Kindle News: Len Edgerly's "In the Hangar" Amazon Single. 20~ Classic Kindle books WITH Audible audio narration for free. Throw in the Vowel, on sale

SOME NEW OR RENEWED AMAZON OFFERINGS

Author and Podcaster Len Edgerly
Len Edgerly, of the popular weekly Podcast The Kindle Chronicles, has published an Amazon Single (by request of his readers), with his thoughts on the event.

Titled Inside the Hangar at Amazon's Santa Monica Press Conference - September 6, 2012, it is an engagingly written, informative take on what he heard during the announcements, what he saw during the hands-on demo stations afterward, and what he heard in his interviews with the several Kindle VPs who were made available for two hours of Q&A with approximately 400 representatives of the media, at various stations against the walls -- the usually hard to find VPs simultaneously doing show & answer sessions with often time-consuming lines of individuals from the media with microphones and videocams.

  Edgerly organizes the material well, puts everything in context and gives it all a balanced perspective.  He enjoys both Amazon and Apple offerings and has recently also been enjoying the Nook Glowlight.  There are things he finds impressive about the new Kindle offerings and things he wishes were different, and he gives some guidance from a wider frame of view and hands-on background than is normally experienced in this type of report.
  In the appendix he has links to other reading with varied and unique points of view, though I haven't finished those yet.

  Highly recommended.


My own thoughts on some of this
  He also covers the aftermath, when it became more apparent that the lower cost of good hardware and many software features not seen in competing e-readers comes at the cost of seeing more 'Special Offers' than many might prefer, although some consider the lock-screen ads no problem due to some actual attractive discount offers and the fact it usually involves only a brief glimpse of an ad before starting the Kindle, especially if you have the Kindle in a case.

Jeff Bezos emphasized at the press event that while they never plan to take a loss on hardware (as some media had thought), they obviously focus on lower margins on these and hope to make their revenue on the use of the devices, meaning they're being enjoyed, but the obvious meaning is they hope the owners will spend money at Amazon via those devices.  Amazon is a store, but a creative one that focuses on adding quite a bit of informational content in the many special features, for its book-leaning consumers.

  As investors in the stock market know, Amazon's margins are kept low, in general, unlike other successful companies, so there ARE product suggestions, based on items you've bought.  I do feel that those who'd prefer a tablet free of any online store should buy something like the Google Nexus.  (I just noticed that Amazon now has a separate Tablet Store, while looking at this product page on which Digitz is selling that tablet for a bit more {maybe because they're in shorter supply these days?} and the orders are fulfilled by Amazon).
  Buyers should keep in mind, though, that for $200, the Nexus has only 8 GB of storage space, in a world of large HD files, while the Kindle Fire HD starts with 16 GB.  Also, the Nexus has one mono speaker vs the KFireHD's two Dolby-enhanced speakers, and the KFireHD has an "HDMI out" to show its HD files on an HDTV.

 Buying-suggestions on the bottom of the Home screen (not unlike what is seen on the bottom area of the B&N Nook home screen) are, at this point, not covered by the $15 ads-opt-out, but they can be replaced by a screen of one's Favorites with a click of the star icon or avoided entirely by viewing in Landscape.

  Amazon is said to be considering an opt-out on those too, though I found today that they are keyed to specific books I've bought that are displayed on the Carousel as recent reading, and they change depending on which book is shown in the middle.  As a personal note -- and many won't feel the same way -- I've come to find it useful, while I'm hoping for a general opt-out choice on that too.
  At any rate, Edgerly discusses the post-event reactions also, from his own point of view.



Throw in the Vowel

Throw in the Vowel is a popular word game for all e-Ink Kindles except the Kindle 1 (the latter has no direct access to the screen) and is briefly available on sale at 99 cents.

I was late to get to this, so the sales window is shorter on this.



"Kindle Classics on Audible.com, for Free"
Commenter John Sauter sent in a great tip, which (as with Throw in the Vowel) I wasn't able to get to sooner, but the deal is still active.  These are free Kindle books (classics) that come with professionally-narrated audio versions (also free at this point), but read on...

  Olivia Flores Alvarez, reporting for Art Attack, a Houston press blog, reminds us of a great, no-cost, way to become acquainted with and benefit from excellent examples of classic Kindle books that come with the new Whispersync for Voice technology announced at the press conference Sept. 6.

Amazon has a list of 20 free classics on Kindle that come with, for now, a free copy of the narrated version on Audible.

  The FIRST classic on that listing, however (A Tale of Two Cities) shows at the moment a $7.95 price for the audio narration and is likely a mistake, because of the promo-list it's on and since the other books I clicked on, so far, come with free audio versions as part of that promotion.
  I would wait on that one, and I've asked for clarification of that Kindle/Audio book status.

Example - using a book I enjoyed long ago
Amazon, which has owned Audible.com for years, now is able to sync material between professionally-narrated Audible versions and corresponding Kindle books purchased by its customers, so that Kindle book owners, after ending a reading session, can pick up at the last book-location read, when wanting to use the audio version and vice versa.

  Generally, if you buy the Kindle book and it has a corresponding audio narration, the cost of getting the audio book this way will be between $0 and $3.95 (but much higher for the audio version when not bought with the Kindle version).  While the Paperwhite model has no audio, the Kindle book and audio can also be read and heard on a mobile device owned.

  How you get one of the free promos:
First, 'buy' the Kindle book linked to, for $0.00 and make sure the audio version for this promo is also $0.00 (it's noted in a box lower in the header section) since you're doing this to learn how Whispersync for Audio works in response to an Amazon promo.

  Once you've 'bought' the Kindle version, then you're told you can get, in this case, the $19.59 audio version for $0.00 because you bought the Kindle edition also.  When you click to get the free audio version, but are not yet a member of Audible.com, you're given a short membership form to fill out and they allow just the Amazon password to be used and there's no added cost to join.

  I just completed my purchase of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it's nice to see all those $goose-eggs, when exploring how useful a feature might be.

  So, as I've mentioned before, it's a form of bundling that's been much requested, except that in most cases, it's not free but a fairly hefty discount is applied.   Information may 'want' to be free, as some put it, but those who labor to fulfill a request may want/need to be paid for the work.

I'd like to receive feedback on how well this works for anyone trying it and your thoughts on the combo pricing.  Thanks.

UPDATE - We've received quick and detailed feedback from QZA, who downloaded six of the currently-free Kindle/Audible combos and reports on the quality. He also has excellent advice on the amount of device space these will take.  An excerpt:

' ... Every hour of audio will take up about 29MB of space on your device.  An average audio book classic is about 7 - 8 hours (Moby Dick is much longer) so make sure you have about 250 MB free space before you download an audio book.  Amazon does not display file sizes, only book length in hours and minutes.  All 20 audio books won't fit on your Kindle even if you were to delete all your books so it's better to download a few and keep the rest in your archive for free fast delivery as needed. '

You can read the rest of of QZA's feedback here

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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.

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Kindle News: Quite a bit more on the expected Amazon announcements

A bit more on the Amazon announcement

As a result of the raised expectations and Amazon's announcement Friday that the company has "expanded its licensing agreement with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal adding, to its Prime Instant Video feature, "hundreds of popular and award-winning TV episodes, including prior seasons of Parks and Recreation, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica and more..." Amazon's stock hit a record high ($246.87/share)

Rumors from Staples
At first (on July 23), it was Demos Parneros, president of U.S. Retail for Staples Inc, who was reported by Reuters' Alistair Barr (paraphrased -- not an actual quote) to have said, in Reuter's words:

' Amazon is to introduce up to five or six tablet SKUs, or stock-keeping units ... The tablets will be different sizes, including a 10-inch model, Parneros said. Amazon spokespeople declined to comment on the company's plans. '

And, with that, the news sites began reporting that there would be 5 or 6 tablets, when actually "stock keeping units" are more often variations on a basic model.

  That can mean, for example, that a Kindle Fire could be sold in configurations of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of storage with 8GB or 16GB of RAM and you'd have 4 to 6 "tablet SKUs" already.  Add that they might even add 3G capability as an option to one or two of those and you have more tablet SKUs.

  People are expecting they'll keep a basic Kindle Fire model with a configuration close to the one we have now (maybe at $149) and add an upgraded one with the heavier specs we've discussed for a few months.

  However, Barr also reported that Parneros mentioned there will be a 10-inch model.  We don't know exactly what he said though.   A 10" version had not generally been expected until closer to the holidays or even early Spring 2013, but they might announce the plans and timetable at the coming press conference.  Or they could surprise us with one.  Personally, I like the 7" or even 8.9" form factor but then I already have a 10" tablet (Samsung) that I don't use nearly as much as I use the Kindle Fire, though I do like it.  It's just not as practical for carrying outside and is not as comfortable to hold for extended reads.  The 7" one is more like carrying a book (and easier on the eyes when reading books).

More rumors from Staples
1.  While re-reading a CNet story I'd recommended the other day, I noticed a comment from someone identifying himself as a Staples employee.  This reminded me of having seen and reported a comment at Engadget.com in April 2010 from a Best Buy employee who reported seeing cases for Kindle on the truck, before there had been verification Best Buy was to be a seller and while it took those Kindles quite some time to show up at Best Buy they eventually did.  At that time, it seemed odd to think of Kindles selling there, for some reason.

  The CNet story commenter (ss5joshua) this week said the following:

' I work at Staples, and our store is getting a reset in two weeks.  Part of the reset is taking out the two endcaps that the Kindles are currently using (one for the standard E-Readers, the other for the Kindle Fire) and giving them a 20' display on the first aisle of the technology department.  I figured four devices wouldn't be able to take up that much space :P '

  A 20' display IS quite large, especially compared to the current two endcaps.  So there may well be quite a selection in store, so to speak, for us.  They may also have opted to stock up on much more in the way of accessories.

  That commenter's info does seems plausible though.

2.  Another one I noticed is just a wish and a question and probably has no basis in fact at this time, although many have wished we'd heard anything about a color e-Ink model.  We'd be lucky to get a front-lighted b&w model, and I think it's important they do that.  Users of the Nook Glowlight have shown they don't care that much about any resulting loss in contrast due to the added layer.  (I hope Amazon keeps at least one e-Ink model without the light, as I love the contrast of the Pearl screen the way it is.)

  But the commenter (paulej) links us to the Eink company's page on their Triton or Color Active Matrix technology.  The color is, as always with these e-Ink devices, very muted and not to be compared with LCD devices' vivid colors, but they may be good for understanding color charts, graphs, and other illustrations in textbooks that can also be read in bright daylight.

  HOWEVER, again, I've seen *zero* rumors credited to the usual chatty "supplier" sources when orders are involved) and then proudly described to reporters in Taiwan.  There's just been no inkling (pun intended) of that, and it's not something that could likely be hidden either  However, it might be possible for next year's batch.  In demos of this technology, which also involves a second layer, there has been a reported loss of contrast seen.  Imagine a third layer to shed front-light on a 2-layered color e-Ink device.

But the many possibilities will keep us guessing for the next 13 days.

That same Reuters article -- the section on Lab 126 growing
The Reuters article had a substantial section on what the Lab 126 staffing growth indicates.

They had 500 employees listed on Linkedin when Amazon launched the KFire and that's
up to 865 as of mid-July, including 792 of them in the San Francisco Bay Area.

An emphasis has been on hiring hardware and software engineers who have experience with cellular products and one post involved responsibility for "adhering to carrier requirements," so it's pretty obvious Amazon has been working on mobile technology involving cell/smartphones.

The postings of jobs is anything but private, and they quote this also: ""Prior wireless or related field test experience that covers smart phones or smart devices a plus..." The hiring of experienced managers in this field is telling also.

One (of two hired from Microsoft's Windows-Phone area) is, Reuters says, director of product management for Kindle Cross Platform and blogged his good luck in getting to work on a product he really loves, before and after joining Amazon, and adds:

' I can't really say much about some of the things on which I am working.  I can say that the goals of some of the teams are huge. Huge." '

  He also mentions something he was told by an Amazon senior VP during the recruitment process:

' He said, "the goal of Kindle was to enable a system to allow someone to buy any book ever published, and have it delivered anywhere in the world in 60 seconds.  It's time to think bigger." '

Maybe we'll get a hint of that.

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links

US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

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.

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Kindle News: About time? Amazon finally announces a press conference for Sept 6 - Update

Amazon finally announces it will make announcements :-)

After yesterday's endless Kindle product-page changes with Buy boxes disappearing and then reappearing before disappearing again, it was time for something to be said.

See Update below.

I just got back here and a note from vigilant commenter Edward Boyhan said we probably know about the press conference announced for Sept 6 in Santa Monica. Last year, announcements were made in NY, so this time the West Coast gets the event, and it probably has something to do with all the recent streaming-video Agreements Amazon has been making.

Expectations
  I browsed the news and saw that most are expecting 'just' a Kindle Fire 2 (calling it Amazon's "e-reader" (which IS a key function for Kindlers) and maybe a Kindle Fire 10" announced for year-end or early Spring as mentioned before.  Some hope for a smartphone announcement too.  Very few mention e-Ink readers probably because they may seem passe for those interested only in tablets these days.  But it's the e-Ink Touch Kindles that have been noticeably missing from product pages recently and appearing "on hold" in a quiet way.

E-Ink Readers too
  This reminds me of something in last year's atmosphere. I remember that a key analyst for Apple Insider predicted two Touch e-readers along with a Kindle tablet would be introduced and he gave price points also, but he was almost alone in this, and the other press conference attendees were quite surprised with a fairly full lineup and some attractive pricing.

  A lot has happened in just the one year since.

What kind of Kindle device announcements are done (or not)  via press conference?
  In August 2010, there was no press conference when they released the Kindle 3 Keyboard model and the new Kindle DXG 9.7" - both with the Pearl 'Graphite' display which had considerably more contrast than previous Kindles. These more were more 'evolutionary' than something really new though.

  Last year we had the unveiling of the new family of Kindles, including the colorful latest member.

  It'll be definitely interesting to watch what's to be introduced with some fanfare this time.

Front-lighted e-Ink Kindle reader?
  I did see one columnist hoping that the front-lighted e-Ink Kindle is going to be ready, finally, although I'm hoping they really did take the time to work out kinks of the type we've seen with the Nook Glowlight's fragility and some relatively minor contrast loss due to a 2nd piece of glass over the display.

  I'm happy with my Beam N Read so will be more interested in what's happening with the follow-up tablet(s).

Tablet capabilities
  The tablet's capabitilities will be key, though I'm still enjoying mine, as I don't fill it with stuff but enjoy video streaming on it, including via the Wi-Drive external storage and simultaneous streaming (for up to 3 devices) of videos and documents from it and being able to read e-books and periodicals with photographs.

  A key factor with the conservatively spec'd Kindle Fire has been the ability to read DRM'd ePub on it because Amazon allows Kindle Fire owners to install apps on the tablet from "unknown sources"

Important for any new Kindle Fire
  What I personally want most from the next tablet will be  1) at least 16 gigs of storage so others don't have to worry about running out of space between richly featured apps and data,  2) 16 gigs of memory, and  3) an SD card slot, which the Google Nexus is lacking, and which I feel will be a key factor in the success of the next tablet.

  I haven't read any rumors of an SD slot being installed in coming Amazon tablets, but I feel it'll be an very strong plus for Amazon if it's there and quite a drawback if it's missing.  At least my Samsung 10" tablet and ipads have connector kits for USB and SD card adapters.

  If an SD card is not there they will have missed a large opportunity to pull ahead instead of playing catch-up.  Barnes and Noble put one on their Nook Tablets but they are far more restrictive than Amazon in that they don't allow non-company-store apps to be placed on the Nook while Amazon allows these on its Kindle Fire..  Most tablet owners who use tablets for entertainment don't want to depend on having to 'root' a tablet (with subsequent rooting updates necessary) to get basic functionality and flexibility out of it.


 So, in about two weeks, we'll finally hear what they're planning.

This time the global community will be watching with great interest, as Amazon has asked that developers provide Android apps outside the U.S. (finally) for whatever it plans.

CNet's David Carnoy has expanded their article on this.

If I read anything unusual on this today, I'll be adding it to this blog article.

Update - Forbes's Eric Savitz describes the venue a bit.

' The dramatic ceiling vaults to impressive 43-feet at the center, providing an arched steel truss over a 150- by 234-foot cement floor ... The 35,000 square foot hangar is one of the biggest and most versatile venues in Los Angeles '

And Savitz says Amazon must expect a good crowd.

Whimsically, I'll add that the Department of State's e-documents distribution needs as described in its latest Request for Information, requires centralized management of multiple Kindle e-reader models and also tablets but that a key requirement is that the devices must be capable of 3G delivery of documents via 3G wireless to its staff and to schools worldwide.

The Kindle Fire would need to have 3G cellular phone access capability if it is used eventually in any Agreement made with the DoS, not necessarily in the coming model but eventually.
  3G wireless is turned 'off' by going into 'airplane' mode on many devices, so having the announcement in an airport hanger would be somewhat humorous (and far-fetched but I enjoyed the idea momentarily today).

 Also, Savitz mentions that "Google’s Motorola unit and Verizon are also holding a product launch event in New York on the 5th" and that this will be annoying to those wanting to catch both events 3,000 miles apart.  Apple's own planned announcements may take place on the 12th of Sept. in San Francisco.

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US: Kindle Fire  7" tablet - $199 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $79/$109 Kindle Touch, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Touch, 3G/WiFi - $149/$189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189, Free, slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £89 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi, UK - £169 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $109 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

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

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Here We Go. Amazon press conference September 28 - UPDATE 2

This is it

Business Insider's Steve Kovach writes that Amazon will hold a press conference on September 28, at 10AM Eastern.

The last large press conference I remember was for the Kindle 2 which was then released February 2009 (and included unveiling the voice of 'Tom' in text to speech).

Not sure if they'll be unveiling only the rumored tablet. Maybe a Kindle 4 e-Ink also?

UPDATE Len Edgerly added on Twitter that it will be at the Stage 37 in NYC {End of Update]

UPDATE2 - See, in chronological order, what has been predicted and sourcing for it, to see what MIGHT be coming (and also David Carnoy's mentions of a Kindle e-Ink upgrade).

For those of you who are buying Kindles during the last week, remember that Amazon allows 30 days of use and the ability to return a Kindle for a full refund for any reason during that 30 days. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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