Kindle News: Kindle Fire leads increase in web traffic share. Apple exclusive-'appstore' claim rejected. Lookout Mobile Security app now on Kindle Fire HD. Throw in the Vowel 2. Amzn 3rd party sales 40% higher. E-readers losing ground?

The Chitika Insight reports on their survey of "a sample of hundreds of millions of smartphone and tablet impressions from the Chitika Ad network ... drawn from a date range of December 1st to December 27th" and including only traffic from the U.S. and Canada.

Kindle Fire and purer Android tablets gained web share at the iPad's expense -- though, really, not by much.

'...this Christmas marked a serious diversification in tablet shares, with the iPad falling 7.1% in its share in the days after Christmas, from 86.0% to 78.9% following the holiday.
...
...This substantial change underscores the inroads non-iPad tablets made this holiday season, reflecting some initial holiday sales estimates released by companies like Amazon.  Their Kindle Fire HD tablet was the top-selling product on Amazon.com on Black Friday. '

  The Wall St. Journal report that Chitika cites actually reported Amazon estimates for Monday following Thanksgiving rather than Black Friday.

  Chitika's graphs of traffic show the Kindle Fire and other Android-based tablets gained market share at the iPad's expense, if only temporarily, but the results are still surprising.

  I was intrigued by the relative numbers for the Kindle Fire, the Samsung Galaxy and the Google Nexus tablets - with the Kindle Fire at 3.03%, Samsung Galaxy at 1.38% and the Google Nexus at 0.92%

Chitika Insights expects "the iPad's share of tablet web traffic will return to the 80% range" but lower than pre-holiday levels, "as users return from vacation and browse with their new device less frequently."

But does that mean iPad owners were not that busy on the web with their own newer iPads during the time when many were buying tablets and on vacation?


A US judge on Wednesday rejects part of Apple's lawsuit around Amazon's use of the term "App Store"
  The Times of India reports that "US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California rejected part of Apple's lawsuit against Amazon.com's use of the term App Store, ruling Apple cannot bring a false advertising claim against the online retailer.
...
"In her ruling on Wednesday, Hamilton wrote that the mere use of 'Appstore' by Amazon cannot be taken as a representation that its service is the same as Apple's.

"'Apple has failed to establish that Amazon made any false statement (express or implied) of fact that actually deceived or had the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of its audience,' Hamilton wrote."
  More details here.


Lookout Mobile Security app
Lookout Mobile Security is a free app now adapted for the Kindle Fire HD, to help protect it from viruses and other malware and to help find the device when it's not nearby (it can "Scream" even if it's on Silent setting).

  It also can save an extra copy of your contacts on your Kindle and restore it as needed.

Released December 22, it has 14 customer reviews so far, with an average rating of 4.4 stars.  Unfortunately, it is for Kindle Fire HD only, per their blog.

Developer info: "Lookout has millions of users across 170 countries and 400 mobile networks worldwide.  Lookout was selected as a PC World Top Product for 2010, has won a CNET five-star review..."



Throw in the Vowel: Volume 2 app - Fans of Throw in the Vowel, or other word games on the Kindle, may want to investigate this new version with 750 more words.


Other, sometimes entertaining, post-holiday reports:
1. "Kindle Fire HD more addictive than I could have ever imagined" - a high schooler's report on finding the video pleasures of Prime.

  '...With that, I decided to raid the Amazon app store for every eye-catching free game I could find.  Now, I am addicted to “Gnome Village,” which is the cutest game ever, another version of what we all know as “Farmville.”..
  Better yet, after searching through “Doctor Who” games that were not free, I checked in the “videos” section and found something magical. With “Prime,” I can watch every season of “Doctor Who” for free! Nothing can beat that. '

2. Amazon third-party sellers saw 40% increase in sales - The article explains the Amazon features that were key to Marketplace sellers.

3. Are E-Readers dying, per conjecture of a few tech writers after the focus on tablets in e-toy churn?  Judging from forums I read, people just enjoy the ones they have and most are not looking to get the latest one as they do with tablets just because one is there.  Many are still using Kindle 1 and 2, per a thread last week

  . Paul Fidalgo, at FreethoughtBlogs makes the point (very well) that "E-readers Aren’t Dying, They’re Entrenched."

  . Bronxville School Receives $35,000 Grant for Kindles to buy 90 Kindle eReader devices containing more than 400 books for students in grades 5-12.

      How times change.  The following stood out, for me.

' Seventh grade student Mina Petrovich, 12, said the Kindles are much easier to work with than traditional books.
"All my friends are into eReaders because it's what we have grown up with," Petrovich said.  "Maybe it's not for everyone, but it's something that I wouldn't know what to do without.  It doesn't strain my eyes and it’s nice to not have to carry so many books around with you.  I'm very appreciative the school got them, and it’ll certainly make me read more.”

 The Kindles make kids want to read more, which is the most important thing, Mann said. '

      The article also points out the features of an eReader that are important to
      teachers and librarians.

  . The Financial reports "EReader User Increases Slow but says, in the first paragraph, "...single-purpose ereaders still enjoyed a strong 44.2% surge in adoption in 2012 and will continue moderate growth in ownership in the coming years."  It cites data from eMarketer and Pew Internet & American Life Project.


While I'm here, here's what Amazon describes for Thursday's Kindle Daily Deal -
"Today only, save on great books by Alice Walker, Kajsa Ingemarsson, Gillian Bradshaw, and Jennifer L. Armentrout."

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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

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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 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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ZDNet's Jason Perlow goes Kindle

March 2010
ZDNet's Jason Perlow, over a year ago (March 23, 2010), announced the burial of the Kindle during 2010, the article headed by a large image of a tombstone for the 'Amazon Kindle 2007-2010,' and said that April 3, 2010 (the Advent of the iPad) would "mark the beginning of the end for Amazon's great hardware experiment -- the Kindle."

And, Perlow felt last year that if the Kindle and Nook apps for iPad would continue to be viable, "...then by all means, put a fork in the dedicated e-book readers, they’re done."

August 2010
In August 2010, the Kindle 3 was released, and that changed things quite a bit.  As others had predicted, the iPad and e-Ink readers were complementary, too different in their features to be compared, with any idea that one would 'kill' the market for the other).

May 2011
But give Perlow credit.  Today he wrote a column titled, "Why I finally joined the Amazon Kindle bandwagon"

It's a somewhat tortured piece, explaining that he just thought it was too high-priced, too closed a system (though he'd mentioned the existing Kindle and Nook apps ready for the Ipad) and then adds today that he's "still a firm believer" that:

' "dedicated e-readers will one day go the way of the dodo bird — extinct.  And I’m sure the future of the Kindle brand itself is almost certainly going to be in the form of a tablet computer running on the Android platform."

Translation: "I was right but my timeline was off."

Why do I say that?  He and his wife have bought two Kindle 3's for their vacation :-)

 Why?  Because Kindles are not LCD tablets! :-) They have an iPad but a dedicated e-Ink reader will meet their other needs.

  He adds that he was right in predicting that e-reader prices would drop.  That was a common prediction;  we're talking Electronics!

  The reason they've bought Kindles?  The same reason that so many have chosen it (or the Nook, Sony, Kobo) while also buying tablets.  It's far easier to read in bright daylight.  And I guess that catchy pool ad got to him (I'm just teasing here.)  What Perlow doesn't mention is that the Kindles are far lighter, easier to carry in a purse or pocket, and easier to hold for long periods of time, when you just want to read books.

  I'm puzzled because he states that he firmly believes the Kindle will eventually be a tablet and to explain this belief, he links us to all the recent news stories about the Android tablets. WELL, they're just like iPads in basic features and readability, and yet he's buying two Kindles. :-)

In time, all our current gadgets/toys will be discarded for 'better' ones.  That's a very safe bet.  (I'm hoping for a vivid-color e-paper type screen that's as fast as an LCD one or a somehow-light dual screen solution someday.)

In the meantime, congratulations are in order.  He didn't have to write a column saying he bought them, since he could have just been doing research.  Hoping they do enjoy them.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

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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.
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!