Kindle News: Kindle Fire gets Netflix, Pandora, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon said to have increased Fire orders to 5 million + before year-end

NO SURPRISE AMAZON IS INCREASING KINDLE FILE ORDERS

A lot going on -- Note that Tuesday's free books article added 18 more newly-free books late at night -- and there were two new ones + a featured free book Wednesday morning.

  Also, I add a Barnes and Noble web-page reference or sourcing for anyone wondering where the info about the likely 1 gig of internal storage for non-BN-purchased files was seen. That's in an update at the Nook Tablet and Kindle Fire Face-off, near the top, introduced in red.


DIGITIMES REPORT
Digitimes's Yenting Chen and Rebecca Kuo reported Nov. 10 (they're ahead of us in time zones) that "Amazon has recently increased its Kindle Fire orders to more than five million units before the end of 2011 as pre-orders for the machine remain strong, according to sources from upstream component suppliers."

They'd already raised the order volume from 3.5M to 4M in the middle of the 3rd quarter, Digitimes says. Their upstream partners "including including Wintek, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT), LG Display, Ilitek, Quanta Computer, Aces Connectors and Wah Hong Industrial will all benefit from the short-term orders."


AS SAID EARLIER, KINDLE FIRE IS GETTING NETFLIX AND OTHER APPS
1TVT's Steve Donohue reports (from Amazon's press release earlier today) that the Fire will allow Netflix subscribers to watch movies and tv shows from its "Watch Instantly" library.

UPDATE - 11/11/11 - Amazon announced the Kindle Fire will also get Hulu Plus and ESPN in the coming week.

  Other apps supported:  Facebook, Pandora, Rhapsody, Zynga, Rovio, The Weather Channel and games from Electronic Arts.

  Other examples Amazon cited as available for download to the Kindle Fire include: Allrecipes, Bloomberg, Cut the Rope, Doodle Fit, Fruit Ninja, Jenga, LinkedIn, Zillow, Airport Mania, Battleheart, Pulse, The Cat in the Hat, Quickoffice Pro, Jamie's 20-Minute Meals, IMDb Movies & TV, and Monkey Preschool Lunchbox, Donohue added.
   Christianpost.com added that Comics by comiXology and popular games from Gameloft and PopCap are included as well.

As has been true for some time, Android tablet users, including those on a Kindle Fire device, will be able to download for free each day a normally 'paid' app.

Idealab's Carl Franzen says that the Facebook app is not an actual fully native mobile app done by Facebook -- it's the Facebook's mobile website "wrapped in a Kindle Fire/Android skin."

Gadget Review mentions that Netflix can stream 1080p video if your device supports it and your Internet is fast enough to deliver it (not that common but Comcast does allow us to download at 20mbps at the best of times). Amazon streams at 720p (more than needed for the small tablets, which aren't 1280x720 devices).

As Newsfactor's Jennifer LeClaire points out:

' "The Kindle Fire is a consumption-oriented tablet, where you are buying into Amazon's extensive list of content and services," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "But that doesn't preclude using other people's content as well. ...

"If you want a more computer-centric device or if you want access to Apple's ecosystem, which is significantly larger than what Amazon is offering, there are still plenty of reasons to buy an iPad," Greengart said. "But in the 7-inch category, the Kindle Fire looks like the tablet to beat." '

Hulu is not, as I said yesterday, included in Amazon's announcements, but they are reported as final bidders on any possible sale of Hulu, so that's up in the air. B&N does have an arrangement with Hulu for the NookColor though, so that's a consideration for some.

Tech Crunch's Chris Velazco writes, "Maybe the Kindle Fire isn’t as ‘media-deficient’ a tablet as [Barnes & Noble] CEO William Lynch would have us believe."



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    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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Digitimes says 8.9-inch tablet display may be next

DIGITIMES NOW PREDICTING 8.9 DISPLAY ON NEXT TABLET"

Digitimes' Yenting Chen and Steve Shen report that Amazon is "likely" to shift the display size of its next-generation Kindle Fire to 8.9-inch "instead of" the originally planned 10.1-inch one reported for awhile.

  They cite "sources in Amazon's supply chain."

' Amazon's current 7-inch panel suppliers Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and LG Display (LGD) reportedly have begun to prepare production capacities for 8.9-inch displays, added the sources. '

They add though that Amazon "may" also release 9.7-to-10.1-inch models in 2012, according to their sources.

In other words, be prepared for anything.  Sources talk but nothing's done until it's done.


Earlier
A history of the stronger tablet and e-reader rumors


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
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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.
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Amazon Tablet rumors: Digitimes says 10-inch tablet STARTS mass production in 1st Qtr 2012

DIGITIMES'S LATEST ON ANDROID TABLET RUMORS FROM PARTS MAKERS

  I had mentioned conflicting information on July 27 when Digitimes had reported on July 15 that Quanta was already shipping 7" tablets to Amazon but on July 27 was saying that Quanta "will be solely responsible for assembling the tablet, the sources noted."

Digitimes' Yenting Chen and Joseph Tsai write today a headline that conflicts with earlier information from other sources (one being BYTE magazine's August 10 article on what they described as dual-screen technology on a device that was being pushed up from early 2012 to shortly after Thanksgiving this year).  Par for the course with rumors.

TODAY's Digitimes article says that

' Mass production of Amazon's 10.1-inch tablet PC reportedly will be conducted in the first quarter of 2012 with Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) to handle the orders, according to sources from upstream component suppliers. '

  The headline they used -- capitalized emphasis mine:
  "Amazon 10-inch tablet PC to START mass production in 1Q12"

According to Digitimes, the 7-inch tablet to be supplied by Quanta Computer "is expected to start shipping in October, the sources added"

  Many had hoped for an 8.9" display on the first tablet, but articles are fairly consistent that a 7-inch one is coming.

  They also put out an impossible to substantiate statement (volume-wise) that Foxconn, to which Amazon is said to outsource the production of its Kindle readers, is involved with "an estimated volume of 15-18 million units, accounting for 60-70% of global e-book reader shipments of 25-30 million units in 2011"


For a history of earlier tablet-rumor articles: see the ongoing List of stronger Amazon tablet rumors with dates, titles, and links to the Kindleworld blog articles with sources.


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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.

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Kindle Rumors - 8/25/11: New Amazon domain names not meaningful? Digitimes says Amazon adds third 7-inch touch panel supplier. Shipments late?

A Wave of Kindle-Domain Names

KindleZen alerted us to Domain Name Wire's article on Amazon registering the KindleWave.com domain name, soon after Amazon had claimed "KindleScribe.com."

CAVEAT TO ALL THE SPECULATION ABOUT DOMAIN NAMES
DomainNameWire adds this (emphases mine):

' To be fair, both the Kindle Scribe domain names and Kindle Wave domain names could be merely defensive registrations by the company.  KindleScribe.com and KindleWave.com recently expired and Amazon picked them up after they were deleted.  KindleScribe.com was registered to a Los Angeles company; KindleWave.com was registered by a Tennessee company. '

DIGITIMES ON THIRD SUPPLIER FOR 7" TOUCH PANELS
Digitimes' Yenting Chen and Adam Hwang report that Amazon has added TPK Holding as a third supplier of 7-inch touch panels, the other two, Wintek and J Touch, having been mentioned earlier.

HOWEVER, on July 1, Digitimes reported, per an earlier Kindleworld blog article, that Amazon had "held talks with TPK Holdings" and others for the supply of touch panels."  That doesn't mean they contracted to do this at the time, but these talks were almost two months ago.

  Digitimes adds that the other two suppliers "clarified" that they'd not lost orders but that it's reasonable that clients select additional suppliers when supply is tight.  The Taiwan industry newspaper also reports that "Wintek stressed that it will start production of touch panels for Amazon as originally scheduled, with shipments to begin in September."

  That would mean shipments to whatever entity would be assembling these, so any devices with Wintek-supplied 7-inch touch panels would likely not be seen that soon.


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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.
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Digitimes Adds Yet More to Rumors re Amazon TabletS

EVEN MORE FROM DIGITIMES ON YOU KNOW WHAT

Subtitle: Send in the Chips!

Can we take any more of these Android tablet rumors?  Just launch them already! :-)  But by everything that's said at Digitimes, they're not quite  ready.  Each time, the latest is whatever myriad of of companies are involved in getting orders or doing shipments for this or for that.

  So far, we haven't read of units being assembled, tested, delivered, refined, etc. (though we can't expect that either), although Quanta was said at one point to have delivered some 7" tablets already but if true, they could have been samples or proposed prototypes.

On July 27, Digitimes's Cage Chao and Steve Shen reported that several Taiwan chip design houses may see their sales increasing 'vigorously' in 2011's 3rd quarter due to "their shipments of IC parts to the supply chain for Amazon's 7- and 10-inch tablet PCs to be launched in the quarter, according to industry sources."  They add:

' With Amazon targeting to ship four million tablet PCs in 2011, IC [integrated circuit] orders from Amazon have become the second largest order from the tablet PC sector, trailing only the iPad, the sources indicated. '

So, this report has the 10" tablet in view for this year also, although that was a secondary target in other reports, with the basic expectation for early 2012 on those.

Their sources are almost certainly from those involved with a "number of Taiwan-based IC design houses", who are hoping to strengthen their presence in the tablet segment and be more competitive against international IC players.

The resourceful Digitimes adds an interesting table of suppliers:

Amazon tablets: Major suppliers for parts and components
Item	Vendor
Touch panels	Wintek, J Touch, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT)
CPU	Nvidia
Touch controller ICs	ILI Technology (Ilitek)
LCD driver ICs	Novatek Microelectronics
Ambient light sensors	Capella Microsystems (Taiwan), Sitronix Technology
Power management ICs	Richtek Technology, Global Mixed-code Technology
Gravity sensors	Sitronix

Sources: Industry sources, compiled by Digitimes, July 2011

Also see the ongoing List of stronger Amazon tablet rumors with dates, titles and links to the Kindleworld blog articles and sources.



Old-fangled dedicated e-readers at lower prices:
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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
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    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.
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Latest Amazon Tablet Rumor - on a 7" model due end of September

MORE FROM DIGITIMES ON EXPECTED SCREEN DISPLAY

Another update from Digitimes, which is considered a somewhat more solid source of rumors than most, but they tend to give conflicting information.

  Last time out, Quanta was already shipping 7" tablets to Amazon.  This time, they say Quanta "will be solely responsible for assembling the tablet, the sources noted."

Yenting Chen and Adam Hwang write:

' Amazon has settled on a Taiwan-based supply chain for its tablets to be launched in the third quarter of 2011, with TFT-LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) to supply touch sensors for use in 7-inch G/G (Glass on Glass) touch panels, according to supply chain makers.
...
While Wintek will be the major supplier of ITO touch modules for use in the G/G touch panel, CPT will provide touch sensors for J Touch to make such touch modules, the sources indicated. Based on Amazon's launch plans, 2.0-2.4 million touch panels should be shipped by the end of September and Wintek will account for 70-75% of the volume, the sources pointed out. '

E Ink Holdings is the liaison, and it seems E Ink will become a shareholder of CPT, making it possible for them to use CPT's 6G production capacity.  In addition, the touch screen of Amazon tablets may involve use of E Ink's FFS (fringe field switching) technology.

See this blog's article on E Ink's FFS technology earlier.


Also see the ongoing List of stronger Amazon tablet rumors with dates, titles and links to the Kindleworld blog articles and sources.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($139)   DX Graphite

---

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.

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(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!

Now it's a 7" tablet that's due first and already being shipped to Amazon?

QUANTA SHIPPING 7" TABLETS TO AMAZON AND FOXCONN RECEIVING AMAZON ORDERS FOR A 10.1" SOMEWHAT LATER?

That's what everyone's favorite source these days (though it sometimes produces conflicting information) said yesterday.
  Digitimes reported that "Quanta Computer has begun shipping a 7-inch model to Amazon" and that Foxconn "has reportedly landed orders for 10.1-inch tablet PCs from Amazon with shipments to begin in 2012."

While saying that Foxconn declined to comment, they write that "sources at the tablet supply chain" explain that they were able to "land tablet PC orders" because they've been producing the Kindles.

They go on to say that Foxconn "is also likely to produce 12 million units of Kindles for Amazon, and 38-40 million units of iPads as well as 80-85 million iPhones for Apple a year, the sources indicated."

' Amazon is outsourcing the production of touch sensors to Wintek, with total purchasing volume to top 1.8-2 million units before the end of September. Amazon also purchases touch modules from J Touch and Young Fast Optoelectronics, with industry sources indicating that Amazon may also add touch panel makers TPK Holding and Cando to its supply chain later. '

They conclude the report with "there is a possibility that Amazon may launch the 10.1-inch model in advance in late 2011 to meet the year-end holiday demand in the US and Europe. "


See the ongoing List of stronger Amazon tablet rumors with dates, titles and links to the Kindleworld blog articles and sources.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's)   K3 Special ($114)   K3-3G Special ($139)   DX Graphite

---

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!