Fire TV and Prime Shipping Tips: The Fire TV app selection has more than doubled, challenging Apple TV's, and Prime Instant-Video-ONLY categories have been expanded ... Amazon expands Same Day Delivery to more U.S. cities ... Amazon also offers a SLOWER shipping option to Prime members in return for a $1 Instant video credit.

Amazon's Fire TV's appstore has quickly become competitive with Apple's Apple TV offerings.

The Motley Fool, an investing site, reports today that "Amazon Fire TV Just Leveled the Playing Field With Apple TV."

  The article by Steve Symington draws our attention to Amazon's announcement that

' ... the Fire TV app selection has more than doubled, with "hundreds" of new services and games added since the media streaming device was launched in April.  Among Fire TV's new games are Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Dungeon Quest, Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, and the official Flappy Birds Family -- the last of which is currently a Fire TV exclusive.  Meanwhile, new services include WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Jr., MLB.TV, Animal Planet Live, and WWE Network.

If that wasn't enough, Amazon promised more significant Fire TV services to come by the end of the year, including WATCH ABC, WATCH ABC Family, NFL Now, A&E, Lifetime, Outside TV, Young Hollywood, North Face TV, Fashion TV, Green TV, and Dailymotion. '

The Apple TV box has been reviewed as slower than the Fire TV, with much less memory, and with less advanced gaming capability (although the Fire TV is not going to be the equal of an actual $300-400 gaming console).  Curiously, Symington writes that an Apple TV advantage is its full-screen mirroring functionality.  But not only does Fire TV have that (and it's very smooth, with no delays), the Fire TV also has "Fling" a feature that allows you to use your Kindle Fire HDX or HD2 or Fire Phone to send a video to the TV where it will be streamed via Amazon's Cloud and not take up processing power while you can continue to do other work on the tablet or phone AND get X-Ray'd info on who is in a scene you're watching with Amazon Prime videos.

Tips from other customers
You can browse the customer reviews for tips on how to minimize your Cable bill by using the Fire TV offerings.
 There's a search box in the customer reviews area that lets you search the customer reviews for words like "cable" etc.

Voice Search - Does it work for more than Amazon's videos?
Hulu Plus's is now included in the voice search, for the most part (they're building the database, and most of it is working).
  Netflix will be integrated with voice search control later.  From a recent Amazon press release, a quote from CEO Jeff Bezos:

'... innovative features like unified voice search, which we’re delighted is being adopted by so many new partners, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Crackle and Showtime Anytime... '

  Anyone doing keypad searches knows how arduous searches can be.

Finding Amazon Prime Instant Videos Only
Searching for only Prime Instant Video -- This has not been possible but customers have of course been keen to have this capability, and Amazon has said, earlier, that they are working on making Prime Instant Videos easier to find on the Fire TV.

  As of mid-July, Amazon added more Prime-Instant Only browsing categories.  One customer review mentioned it's not a Search, but it's much more helpful than it was. (Note that Apple TV does not get Prime Instant videos.)

  On July 30, Amazon explained the new features in a reply to a customer review:

' The Amazon team says                           July 30, 2014

. . . We wanted to let you know that we made it easier to find your favorite Prime content with the click of your remote.   You can now browse many more Prime-only categories, including
  Top Prime TV,
  Top Prime Movies,
  Prime TV for Kids,
  Prime Movies for Kids,
  Prime TV by Genre, and
  Prime Movies by Genre. '

They don't mention a coming Voice Search that searches specifically for Prime Instant videos, and even then it would take forever to show results that included large segments of the 40,000 or so that are available for a search-results page.  The Genre category should be very useful, as long as Amazon doesn't limit greatly the number of videos that will come up.  You can of course search for a specific movie to see whether it carries a charge for Prime members or is included at no added cost.

HOWEVER, there's another way to view what is available for Prime members at no added cost:
  You can use your laptop, desktop, or even tablet, to go to the Prime-Only pages, by categories and genres or by a listing that's sortable, with details.

Generally, it would be faster to go through these on a computing device when so many items are involved.
  I've read that due to various Agreements that are for varying terms, a video can go in and out of 'Free' category, so that may be an additional reason to have fixed categories that include only Prime Instant Video content.

  Some are also just putting Prime videos onto their "Watch" lists and these will show up on that list on the Fire TV.

If you're new to checking out Fire TV, see earlier blog articles for much more detail on the features and how to use them:
1. Intro to Features of the new Fire TV - April 2, 2014
2. Tips from further exploration of my Fire TV - April 8, 2014
3. The amazing Frequency app - April 14, 2014.


Amazon expands Same Day Delivery to more cities
Press release details are cited in a story by Forbes's Jeremy Greenfield, who reports:

' Amazon has launched Same Day Delivery in six more major cities, making goods from baby supplies to textbooks available almost immediately for millions more shoppers.

The program, which initially launched in Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle is now also available in Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
  For an additional charge of $5.99, Amazon Prime customers can have as many items as they want delivered to their doors on the same day they’re ordered.  Not all Amazon items are available for delivery same day and orders must be placed before noon.
. . .
It’s unclear from the Amazon release whether trade books — that is, books widely read by the general public like fiction, nonfiction, illustrated books, etc. — are included in the new program.  The release specifically mentioned textbooks, however: “Fill-up the back pack with things like pencils, glue, text books, lunch boxes and other supplies.”

Amazon has not yet replied to a request for comment. '

From the press release:

' ... Prime members pay only $5.99 for all the same-day delivery items they can order.
Pricing for non-Prime customers remains unchanged, with a $9.98 fee for the first item and $0.99 for each additional item. '

"Metro" areas:
I live across the bay from San Francisco but "the East Bay' (which includes Berkeley) is not considered part of the "metro" area of San Francisco, so it's not available where I am.  It's really rare that I ever need something in one day.  And I just received one item in 1 business day though it was estimated to take the usual two days.

  To view Same-Day eligible ZIP codes in select cities and see if your area is eligible:
    * East Coast & Midwest Cities
    * West Coast & Southwest Cities


In the meantime!
Amazon is encouraging Prime customers to opt for slower shipping if the item isn't needed in two days.
Cnet's Lance Whitney writes that Amazon is offering Prime members a $1 credit toward an Instant Video rental (usually costing $1.99 to $2.99) if they choose free "no rush" shipping.

It seems the expense of offering Prime benefits is having an impact on its bottom line, and this is one way to lower the costs for Amazon without having to raise the cost of Prime features any further.

  And it makes sense too.  Some commenters on news sites are saying that they can use their Prime to buy 3 separate items which will be delivered in slow motion :-) and get $3 toward video credits that way.  So far, it's being allowed.  Apparently some noticed that this option began to appear about 8 days ago.


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Amazon's PRIME MUSIC feature launches with more than a million songs for unlimited streaming by Prime members at no additional cost. Update2: Prime Music apps are ready for Android and iOS

Update2 - Amazon sent out an email today that said the iOS and Android apps are ready.
  Go to the new Prime Music apps page for these.

  Also, apparently, per the email just now, the software updates for the Kindle Fire HDX and HD 2nd Gen tablets also include the Prime Music capabiility, although the software pages linked to in this morning's blog article on the software updates did not say that.

[Blog article posted yesterday]

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Amazon's new banner alert today explains it pretty well.  To see the listing of some of the artists, songs, and works included in the newly launched Prime Music program's free, unlimited streaming, see the separate blog page I made for the info on artist and recommended playlists (we can of course create our own and add to existing ones):
  Prime Music - What and who's included in that Million plus?

The Prime Music feature is included at no added cost under the Prime program (free 2-day shipping is the basic feature, and Amazon's no-added-cost streaming Instant Video (over 40,000 movies and TV episodes) was added on top of that along with free rentals (one per calendar month) from an Amazon library of over 593,000 Kindle books -- no waiting-periods, no due dates -- and the new "free" music feature is, furthermore, ad-free, even with a base of over 1 million songs and "hundreds of playlists" with unlimited listening.  Negotiations with music publishers must have been interesting.

Amazon's press release is printed on several news sites this morning.  Included is this:

' Prime members can choose exactly which songs and albums to listen to, or they can sit back and listen to hundreds of expert-programmed Prime Playlists.

  Discovering music is easy thanks to Amazon’s personalized recommendations.  Music fans will find tons of music they’ll love, from Grammy winners to indie breakout singers, along with a huge music catalog that can easily be combined with their own collection.

  Prime members can also download songs from the Prime Music catalog to their mobile devices for offline playback on planes, trains and anywhere they’re without an internet connection. '

The new Prime Music streaming service is available only in the U.S. and Puerto Rico though.

Amazon adds examples of how this would be used.  I updated the blog to include the points below]:

' What Prime Music means for Prime members:

* Your music collection just got a lot bigger—for free with Prime: Over a million songs from artists like Daft Punk, P!nk, Bruno Mars, Blake Shelton, The Lumineers, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna, and hundreds of Prime Playlists, are now available for streaming and offline playback at no additional cost to your Prime membership, with new music added all the time.
* Your mix. Your music: Mix Prime Music songs with your own personal music collection to create the library you’ve always wanted.
* You be the DJ or let us be the DJ -- it’s your choice: Build the perfect playlist by choosing songs you already love or songs you just discovered through Amazon’s personalized recommendations. Or, just sit back and listen to one of our hundreds of Prime Playlists designed for all types of genres, occasions, artists, moods and activities, like “Feel Good Country,” “Bad Boy Rock,” “Beards & Baristas: Indie Beats,” “Hip-Hop Workout,” “'90s One-Hit Wonders,” and many others.
* No interruptions from ads: Enjoy an ad-free listening experience with unlimited skips and repeat plays.
* Listen where you want: Enjoy Prime Music on Kindle Fire HD/HDX, iOS, Android, PC, Mac and any Web browser.
* Take it offline: Download your favorite songs and Prime Playlists for offline playback on mobile devices.  With offline playback, you can enjoy your music wherever you are—and you can avoid costly data plan charges.

Prime members in the U.S. can start listening to Prime Music today at http://www.primemusic.com (Kindle Fire HD/HDX devices will get Prime Music in an automatic, over-the-air update
  [Note from ab:I don't know if this was included in the June 6 Kindle Fire software update.]

  Customers can [will be able to] also download the latest Amazon Music app in the Android and iOS app stores.  Eligible customers who are not already Prime members can try Prime Music with a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime by visiting www.amazon.com/prime. '

The first mentions I saw of Amazon's new Prime feature were from ZDNet and AppleInsider sites last night.

ZDNet's Matthew Miller writes:

' Until the iOS and Android Amazon Music apps (currently known as Amazon MP3) are updated you can log in through your web browser and stream music.  You will see buttons to add songs to your library, which can take a while to build up your library.  It is easier to go through their created playlists and add and enjoy these titles.  The mobile apps should be released soon.
  . . .
Amazon lets you upload just 250 of your own songs for free or pay $24.99/year for up to 250,000 songs...
  . . .
  . . .with today's release of Amazon Prime Music, I can now stop paying monthly for Google Music All Access and stream and download all the songs I want from Amazon's server.  I also like that I can access Prime Music and my own uploaded collection of songs from multiple devices and computers. '

He mentions that that now he's saving $95/year, as he no longer feels he needs the Google Music subscription, although Google has more songs available.

From AppleInsider:

' A mix between existing free services like Pandora and for-pay options like the Apple-owned Beats Music, Amazon's solution takes a middle-of-the-road approach by focusing on ad-free playback, loosely curated playlists and manual track searching.
  . . .
' Playlists range from 20 to 30 songs, are curated by "Amazon's Music Experts" and come with titles like "Pop to Make You Feel Better," "Boss, Not Bossy" and "Bedford Ave. Hipster Hits."  More generic collections include hits from popular bands and artists, while single tracks can be found by searching the Prime Music library.
. . .
Users can add to a Prime Music library, which is accessible on Macs and PCs via Amazon's CloudPlayer, while smartphone playback is handled by the Amazon Music app.

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Kindle Tips: Amazon's new Manage Your Kindle page, now 'Manage Your Content & Devices' page, is being rolled out to more customers. An intro -- What's new? A lot is different. Some answers to initial questions. Updated June 16 for triple-tap zoom feature.

Since January 2014, Amazon has been phasing in a new Content and Devices page to replace the old "Manage Your Kindle" ("MYK") page (normally used on one's computer rather than on any mobile device). '

  That link now leads many of us to this new page-layout (and title) that looks entirely different and is titled "Manage Your Content & Devices."  It's being rolled out slowly, and it appears that maybe half of the customers discussing this are seeing the new page.

  I didn't see mine change until today (but I haven't checked the Manage Your Kindle page often).
  On the other hand, a forum thread discussing the page, started in January, showing that only some customers were receiving the page, and then there was no activity between late March and May 29, 2014.
  Furthermore, the new page appears to be different from what some received in January.

  The important thing is that this is the new "Management" page for content and devices associated with your Kindles, once you receive or see the revised version of that Amazon webpage.

  Some have reported seeing the changed page when using Google's Chrome browser but not when using IE, Firefox, or Safari.  Others report it seen under Firefox but not IE, so it probably depends on your computer or location too, as far as distribution goes.
  BUT some have seen the newer version of the page if they LOG OUT of Amazon and then log back in.

NOTE AND CAUTION: Amazon has been changing the new content and device management page based on feedback and its own experience since January 2014, and customers at the forum report that the latest version looks quite different from what some saw and used in January-March.

What's definitely New with what used to be the 'Manage Your Kindle' Page?
This control page now allows you to do 'Deliver' or 'Delete' actions on multiple books at one  time.  You can also choose from other action options for individual books.

  The 'Search' option word isn't always visible and, in those cases, the magnifying glass icon for Search replaces it.  This tends to happen when the size of the browser window you're using is small, with less display space available then, for web information in that window.  But many had wondered where the 'Search' option was.

   The page uses normal text now, and the scrolling of books and information is MUCH faster! And easier to read too.

  HOWEVER, the sorting by Title is VERY GLITCHY.  I was checking "Cleopatra" which had an update on it and found that when sorting by "Title: A-Z" or "Title: Z-A" that book sometimes did not show up.
   The ascending sort had only four books beginning with 'C' while the descending sort showed 28 books starting with 'C'... If I waited a LONG time, then some of the missing books would show up but would be displayed out of alphabetical order (in both ascending and descending sorts). This display sorted by Title needs work.

  As usual, the Sort By Author sometimes uses FIRST name and sometimes uses LAST name for the order displayed -- it seems to depend on what the data inputter (or programming function) decided.
  Sometimes it sorts by last name even when showing first name + last nane (with no commas), but sometimes it sorts by First name under those circumstances.  No real change here, unfortunately.

  The sorting options are by title, author or purchase date, with options for ascending and descending order for each.

  EXPIRED library books show up now under Loans (a category under "All" box) even after you've tried to delete them forever, but this way we can see what we've borrowed, probably read, and returned.

  Also, while there are apparently more steps now to do a loan of a Kindle book to a friend,
  KaJoLa points out that::
    "I just did a book loan today right from the product page.  Maybe you would want to try that.  It was quite simple."

  NON-Kindle books (in .mobi, PDF, or txt format and not purchased from Amazon) are placed in the "Docs" category rather than the "Books" category.

  Settings and information for In-app subscriptions are now at the new layout's Subscription Settings


From customer discussions at the Kindle Community Forums:

FoundQuilting adds that the processes are now faster because
  "...you no longer have to wait for it to load all your books before you can start doing stuff with them."

CBP the bookworm points out "an easy way to delete pending deliveries that you no longer want to have delivered.  "Just bring up the ["Pending Deliveries"] category [found under "Books" box], select, and delete.  Easy!"

Re requesting an Update for a book book you purchased earlier:
  In the individual Cover view, if there is an Update for a book, that info shows when you click on "Actions" box to the left of the book title.

CBP the bookworm writes "...in Settings [a top-menu option on that page], click on "automatic book update" and opt in...

  And, for individual books, available updates show up for the book when there's an update available for it -- click on 'Actions' box for that book title to see this.  I've usually received emails from Amazon when there are book updates available, with the option to download it, or not.

Snowlady Sandy writes:
A nice thing about the search, for example , is that if you type Christmas then it will give you books of a Christmas theme, the word Christmas doesn't have to be in the title... The book All I Have To Give will come up as well as Sara In Montana..."


Other changes
If you have thousands of books, the main control page just keeps adding information as you scroll down it and it's therefore a slow process, so it's best to do a search for a given book.

  Add that this long forever-scrolling page (for those with thousands of books) can use up a lot of computer memory and become more sluggish as it goes -- worse, if you have thousands of books, you won't be able to view them all on that page.

At a certain point, depending on your computer, or when performing delete actions on multiple items, it can stop at a given point, taking you back to the beginning.  No fun in those cases.  Don't try to do too much at a time.
  Depending on your computer, maybe, some can perform an action on up to 10 items at a time. Others find they can, at least initially, act on up to 25 at a time).

SO, remember the SEARCH option as well as options to start from the opposite end of a sort or to display books by another display category (title, author, or purchase date).

  NOTE:  to return to the beginning of your full list of books after a Search action, you need to empty the search box.

Viewing the new Manage Your Kindle ["Content and Devices"] page on a SMALLER device (laptop or tablet), if you don't have a computer to do this, can seem difficult, as the normal resizing and zooming of FONTs doesn't work and the page can be unreadable then.

  Customer monilee writes:
  " I received an email from Amazon.  Just in case anyone else had a problem reading the newest myk page you have to triple tap on that page to enlarge it.  Made it much easier for me to use once I could see it. '

 BUT that did NOT work for my HDX 8.9" Kindle Fire Tablet, while my Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Windows 8.1 laptop CAN resize the page and fonts normally -- the Kindle Fire HDX resists any attempt to zoom the Manage Your Kindle and Devices page or fonts on fixed-size pages.  The page is readable, as-is, on the larger 8.9" HDX tablet though.

  [Update 6/16/14:  In the Comments section of this post, Tom Semple wrote that he believed this function would have to be enabled in "Accessibility" settings.
  Sure enough that's true; On my 8.9" Kindle Fire HDX, I found the setting labeled as "Screen Magnifier" option under the 'Accessibility' setting.
  My Kindle Fire HD 7" Gen 1 (Yr 2012) does NOT have this feature, but I think it's probably enabled in Yr 2013's Kindle Fire HD Gen 2.

  After enabling the Screen Magnifier, you can triple-tap on a page layout that normally doesn't allow zoomed enlargements of the text, and the text will be larger and definitely easier to read.  To get the text size back to normal setting, triple-tap the display again.  (Thanks, Tom! -- End of update]

Upshot
SO, it seems the new page is being rolled out in a second phase, starting a couple of days ago.

Most won't see it right away, I imagine.  I'm usually among the last to get new updates, so I thought I should get some info together, because the first phase of this was very confusing to some.  That earlier version (some reported that they were later returned to seeing the old Manage Your Kindle page) had an option to show the list of books with cover images but apparently that was just too slow-loading for anyone and that's no longer an option at this time.  (I'm glad).

   There were reports of an interesting new option in that first version, involving the option to select a device to see which books were already downloaded to it (those titles had checkmarks beside them)  and also showed 'downloadable' arrows for books in the Cloud library that were not on the device.  This interesting feature isn't on my version of the new Content and Kindle-compatible Device management page, but maybe they'll try adding that again later.

I'll be interested in what readers discover: joys or pains, etc., and any workarounds you've found.

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

US: New Kindle Fire HD 7" 2nd Gen - $139/169 Kindle Fire HDX 7" 16-64GB - $229/269/309 Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" 16-64GB - $379/429/479 - with 4G added: $479/529/579 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16GB - 1st Gen $269 $229   $299 Price rise ~2/24/14 - 32GB w/ no special-offers: $314 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi+3G - $189 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free web Kindle DX - $379 $199

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £59 Kindle Paperwhite 2, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite2 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire Basic HD 8/16GB, UK -  from £119 Kindle Fire HDX 7" 16-64GB, UK - from £199. 4G/3G Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" 16-64GB, UK - from £329. 4G/3G CANADA - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite 2 - $139 Kindle Paperwhite 2, 3G - $209 KFire HD Yr 2012 7" $214,  8.9" $244. Yr 2013 KFires: HD Gen2, HDX line India - Amazon India

*OTHER Int'l pages* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Paperwhite 2 WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $209 KFire HD Yr 2012: 7" $214,  8.9" $244 Yr 2013: HD Gen2 + HDX line Australia Kindlestore France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Amazon Japan - Japan

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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.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button
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A few thoughts while exploring the Amazon Fire TV - Revised Apr 12 and Aug 5, 2014

Just a status update, revised a bit April 12.

This is following my initial blog article on this, which highlighted the features.

This status update is to let you know I'd been exploring the new FireTV and reading others' experiences with it or questions they're asking, and organizing notes on how to do some of the many things it's capable of.

There are those who never got a Roku, Apple TV or Chromecast or even a Miracast adapter and want to know some basics;  others want to know more on the pros and cons than are seen in basic comparison charts, and then there is some curiosity about how mirroring and "Fling" technology works on this unit, which doesn't require a newer TV that includes those capabilities.

Currently, I'm somewhat addicted to using the unit (which will raise my electricity bill) because I'm into documentaries, and both Amazon and Hulu Plus have tons of those available, but it's the plethora of what is available in every genre in, for me, non-laggy ways and with great sound that's seductive for now.

The voice search works within 1 second for me and brings up a LOT, although this is usable only with Amazon Instant Videos as a rule while strangely reporting a Hulu Plus result now and then too, so maybe they're working on that.  The unit understood my spoken search words from the start (not an easy thing).]

  HBO Go is missing, but Amazon has told a couple of tech sites that they're working with HBO developers on that app.

  Workaround until then -- Since you can Mirror whatever is on your HDX and current HD tablet to an HDTV with a Miracast-capable unit, you can watch an HDX or current HD tablet's HBO Go app and mirror that content on a large HDTV via this FireTV unit.

   I tried the mirroring with the PBS Android app for tablets (which has great content on it), since there is no PBS-adults app specfically for the FireTV yet, which made the tablet app a good candidate for trying the mirroring feature.

  Amazon highlights the Smithsonian FireTV app on the new unit, and it has some, of course, educational full-episodes on it, with a lot of short clips for those wanting that.

  I tried Youtube for FireTV (it comes with the unit) and liked the video quality and sound but found it has the worst search function I've ever encountered.
  Vimeo is nice to have, but its search function is also ultra limited currently.

  My most recently viewed content always shows in the top row of athe Home page, which is similar to what we see with the Carousel on the tablets but without being outsized.
  Contrary to some reports, the top row showing most-recently viewed content includes videos seen via NON-Amazon apps as well.

  Here's Amazon's page of FireTV apps - specifically for the new unit.

  The remote control is well-made, small, and extremely comfortable for me, and economical in the use of buttons.  The batteries that came with it didn't function on the 2nd day although the batteries still had a full charge.  Odd.  New batteries I have did work though, with no problems on the 3rd day (today).

  The FireTV also makes "Fling" technology possible, which lets you send, from one of these tablets, an Amazon video to the TV so that it plays from the Cloud instead of from the tablet, freeing it so that you can use the tablet to just read about what you're seeing ('Xray' feature) or do normal tablet things on it while the movie or TV show displays on the HDTV for everyone in the room, with none of the buffering issues common to other ways of doing this.

  So, since HBO Go is available as an Android app on the current Kindle Fire HDX/HD tablets, you can mirror these (or anything you do on your tablet) to the HDTV via the FireTV box (which is smaller than I thought and I'll have pictures of it on top of my 10 yr old 34" reference Sony HDTV, which is a smaller TV than most HDTV owners today have and you'll see the size of the box with that).

I voice-searched "marlon brando" and got tons of his movies from the early 50s that I'd forgotten about and which are not available in streaming format on either Netflix or Hulu Plus.  Only a couple of them are free to stream, but the avg pricing to see one of these is between $1.99 - $2.99.
  As Prime users generally know, many of the Prime videos are downloadable these days too for the limited rental periods.
  Esoteric finds in some cases.  I even found a government film documenting Brando's testimony and that of several other film notables about a civil rights march, of all things.  I think super movie fans will like what's become instantly available in connection with favorite directors and actors.

  What is puzzling with Amazon's Prime is that some search results get you results that clearly show you that you can "Watch Now" because it's Prime at no added cost, while others return video info that doesn't mention it's Prime and available at no added costs, instead starting the info-display with standard rental cost and then you have to click on something like "Other ways to watch" which THEN mentions that it's an Amazon Prime Instant Video you can watch now if you're a 2-day Prime shipping member.

  Otherwise, on the ROWS of Prime videos that the FireTV highlights (a small subset of 40,000 said to be available) they have small diagonally-placed banners at the top left of the image to let you know it's Prime Instant video.

  It's easier, if wanting to see ONLY 'free' Prime videos,  to use your laptop, desktop, or even tablet, to go to the Prime-Only pages, by categories and genres or a listing, sortable, with details.

  Puzzle: These two pages mention a total of 17,000 Prime Instant videos rather than the 40,000 mentioned in the PR release.  That's because the 17,000 here refers to full series of tv shows as ONE video on the computer search, while the 40,000 videos count each episode as a separate video.

  But let's face it, they have 200,000+ videos, so at least 160,000 of them are items they hope will bring in some money as this is where their margins are to be made.  They produce tablets and now this new unit with higher quality hardware than available elsewhere and new capabilities for almost the same pricing, so the profit comes from sale of content.

  Older videos/films streamed tend to be $1.99-$2.99, and the newest ones are usually about $4.99, which does beat what my Comcast rentals are, and with Amazon's offerings, we can fast-forward (not so, the Comcast On-Demand ones, a limitation which drives me crazy).

  The relative power and speed of the unit, the abundance of good contentthe ability to do medium-level gaming, with an xbox-style game controller, parental control features, Amazon's information-filled X-ray features along with mirroring and 'Fling'ing are big pluses for me.

  I love being able to pause a movie to see info on the music in it (including how I might get it) as well as the now well-known "In-Scene" Xray features that show us who is in the current scene -- much better viewing this content on a large TV even if I enjoy viewing video on the 8.9" HDX tablet a lot (it's ultra clear and very smooth - at least when using cable TV rather than standard DSL).

  Again, with 'Fling' we can see info on a different device (Fling-enabled tablets) while watching the film full-screen on a TV without having to pause the video and place distracting info on the screen.
  It also frees the tablet for other uses while Amazon's Cloud runs the video displaying on the TV for more than one person to enjoy.

  Amazon MUSIC - Those who enjoy Amazon's streaming music from the Cloud, with lyrics for the songs provided for popular albums with publisher permission, will see this feature arriving for the FireTV soon too, they say.

  One thing not mentioned so far, this unit uses the most beautiful collection of screensavers I've ever seen -- photographed in beautiful light, the HDTV display of these images shows the quality of that light.  Now, if they would just add the XRay feature to those so I'd know where all of the photos were taken.  They even have Pitigliano in there.

---

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


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Kindle tips: The Big Deal - Over 500 Kindle books at up to 85% off - is back thru' March 30. Appstore birthday: Fourteen Kindle Fire and Android apps Free TODAY & TOMORROW (3/21-22), worth up $50. Also, 50% off top-brand SD/SDHC memory cards currently. Is Amazon readying a smartphone with 6 cameras?

Amazon's The Big Deal feature headline isn't super clear in the image, but that package is back for the rest of March and promises
  "Up to 85% off on more than 500 Kindle Books."

This special feature page is good through March 30, and carries the usual disclaimer re varying selection and pricing of books offered outside the U.S.

  The Big Deal page is organized this time by a more limited set of categories or genres than usual:

  . Biography & Memoir Deals
  . Science Fiction & Fantasy Deals
  . Teen Book Deals
  . Religion & Spirituality Deals
  . Children's Books

On the right of the page is a list of the Top 10 Best Selers and an option to "See all Best Sellers in The Big Deal"
  This is the top 100 out of the 500 offered.

' These lists, updated hourly, contain bestselling items. Here you can discover the best The Big Deal in Amazon Best Sellers ... For non-U.S. customers, Kindle content availability and pricing will vary. '

The bottom of the page is a scrolling list of over 500 books, one by one, with a default sort of "New and Popular" and alternate sorts:
  16 per page, if you choose (inside the gray strip bar above the list) the Orange grid for "Detail"
      OR
  60 per page, if you choose the 4-cell icon for "Image" which will show mainly book covers and basic info.

  Shortcut if you type it: bit.ly/thebigdeal-032114



Amazon's Appstore celebrates its 3rd birthday with free apps TODAY and Tomorrow (3/21-22, 2014)
According to INTOMOBILE's Ian Kersey, Amazon is "giving away fourteen hit titles today and tomorrow, which would normally run you $50 to purchase..." The listing:

Polaris Office ($12.99)
Runtastic PRO GPS Running, Walking & Fitness Tracker ($4.99)
Swype Keyboard ($3.99)
mSecure – Password Manager and Secure Digital Wallet ($9.99)
PrintHand Mobile Print Premium ($12.95)
Worms 2: Armageddon ($0.99)
Worms 2: Armageddon (Kindle Tablet Edition) ($0.99)
King of Math Junior ($1.99)
Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots ($0.99)
Dr. Panda’s Airport ($1.99)
MONOPOLY ($4.99)
Sketchbook Pro ($4.99)
Ski Safari: Adventure Time ($0.99)
SpinArt ($1.99)
Battle Maiden Yuko Runner ($10.00)

Some of you will have less Kindle Fire or pure-Android tablet storage than others.  For Kindle Fire users, getting any or all of these at Amazon's web page, after more easily perusing the features and reviews, will put them in your Amazon Cloud and you can download and install, on your device, only what you want or need when you're ready, without worrying about taking too much of the storage space at one time.

  When ready, you'd just choose 'Cloud' on your tablet's Apps "Cloud" top-bar choice and click on one to get it.

This special ends Saturday night, March 22. Thanks to Intomobile for the tip.


For photo buffs and snapshooters: Amazon's current 50% off deal on SD and SDHC memory cards
These are primarily name brand memory cards.


A prediction to monitor, re Amazon's coming smartphone
In Sept., 2011, while the rest of the tech world was saying Amazon would not be releasing new eInk eReader now that tablets were the main focus, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, often cited by AppleInsider, predicted Amazon would release TWO eInk tablets.  This was pooh-pooh'd by most watchers but he was right, including the smallest details.  So his predictions for Amazon's smartphone get more serious attention. Excerpts:

'.. Will feature mid- to high-range specs, including a Qualcomm Snapgragon 801 processor, a 4.7-inch display with 300-320 pixels-per-inch (ppi) and a 2,000-2,400 mAh battery. The most interesting thing that Kuo suggests about Amazon’s smartphone is not the computing hardware, but rather, its cameras.
...
... Amazon will cram a 13-megapixel main camera sensor made by Sony -- with five other cameras. While one camera will be front-facing for video chats, Kuo said "the other four cameras will be used for gesture control, allowing users to operate the smartphone without touching the touch panel.”
...
... Last year, reports said that Amazon was looking at a glasses-free 3D interface for a Kindle phone. The additional cameras might allow for interaction with hologram-like 3D images to bring a whole new dimension to mobile gaming...
...
... Might Amazon offer Prime members some other incentive for buying its phone to justify the higher price?..."
'

More details for those intrigued are at Thomas Halleck's article for International Business Times.



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Kindle News: Amazon gives some stats on its GameCircle social platform & Android tablet market share

Another Amazon offering with an added social layer

The normally tight-mouthed Amazon offered a few stats at the GDC conference in San Francisco, in connection with its GameCircle platform, launched last September alongisde the Kindle Fire 2nd Gen and HD models.

  This platform has a social layer for competition between players, which lets "players track how they're doing in games compared to friends," explains Polygon's Christopher Grant, who reports today on Amazon's sudden loquaciousness during a reception for developers and press in connection with its growing game business.

  Aaron Rubenson, director of Amazon's Appstore Initiative, wanted the group to know that, as Grant put it:

' GameCircle-enabled games have 80 percent more revenue per user (RPU) than non-GameCircle-enabled games.  Developers that have included GameCircle support in their games are a third more likely to convert free users to paid, and players are a third more likely to make in-app purchases, Rubenson said '

That's us! It's good news, though, that they'll be letting developers keep more of those payments after some real concerns about how the timing of promotions and "severity of discounts" were not proving beneficial to the creators of these apps.  Rubenson explains that they "changed these terms last year" and the new terms, Grant writes, "guarantee developers their usual 70 percent of the list price, regardless of what price Amazon drops it to..."

  The Free App of the Day doesn't work the same way though.  The guarantee isn't in effect but the developers "are compensated for making the game available."

  Amazon presented data from Localytics indicating, according to Grant's writeup, that Amazon has 56% of the U.S. Android tablet market and 33% of the worldwide tablet market.  That seems very high, but Apple is way ahead of other platforms, including Android, on this (having over 75% of that tablet market), so we are talking rapidly growing market share of a small subset so far, though not necessarily for long, the way Android is doing on smartphones.

  Several monitors of use and traffic on the web with respect to apps use have shown the Kindle Fire with a fast-growing share of the Android-based pack's share, often neck and neck with Samsung.

  On February 13, I posted the following about a January 2013 status report which I'll repeat here.

Is Kindle Fire going worldwide?
In more good news for Amazon, Localytics found that, as I Programmer reports, "Amazon's Kindle Fire accounts for a third of Android tablets on a global basis, even though it is available in only a handful of countries outside the United States."

  Of more interest to me, though, was the quote that I Programmer has from an Amazon rep:

' Localytics goes on to remind us that to date the Kindle Fire isn't even available in Canada, although at the recent launch event of the Kindle Paperwhite in Canada, Amazon’s VP in charge of the Kindle noted that they are working hard to launch the Fire lineup worldwide which should provide a boost for Android developers. '

The Localytics story has an interesting graph from January 2013 that I'll include here:

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FREE KINDLE BOOKS - NON-Classics Today + Under $1



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