Amazon's FireTV is a reality, ready for pre-order, searchable by voice

Amazon announces the AMAZON FIRE TV

Fire Tv,Amazon's "tiny box" that you connect to your HDTV to easily enjoy "Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, low-cost movie rentals, and much more" (including WatchESPN) is even ready for delivery.  Didn't I just read that Amazon denied the rumors?

  The only surprise for me was that instead of the usual pre-ordering, it's available in one day to people who can't wait the usual Prime two days if ordered within ~4 hours from the time I'm typing this but I'm never in that much of a hurry for any product.  And 2-day Prime shipping (+ the program's InstantVideo + downloads and Kindle-book loans) is fast enough.

They offer an HDMI cable with it for $6 if you don't already have one.  If you don't, I'd get the one they are suggesting, as it's a decent price and they will have tested it together.  HDMI cables vary in effectiveness.

I'm editing to add that they have a separate page for "What's on" or available for the new Fire TV unit.

  They also suggest an Amazon Fire Game Controller for $40 currently (which needs batteries and those are suggested also, in their purchase box.  Their description of what you can do with this:

'...In addition to using the Fire TV remote and the Fire TV app available starting next month, you can also choose the Amazon Fire game controller, which enables more high-intensity and complex gaming with dual analog sticks and a complete assortment of controls. Simple and comfortable to use for hours, the Fire game controller pairs with Fire TV via Bluetooth.

The Fire game controller also intelligently manages power by automatically going to sleep when not in use, and waking at a touch of a button, so you get up to 55 hours of gaming on a pair of AA batteries. You can pair multiple game controllers with a Fire TV so the whole family can play together in the same room. ... The Fire game controller can also be used as a remote, with fast forward, rewind, play and pause, so you can control all your movies and music on Fire TV. The Fire game controller is available today for $39.99, and comes with a free copy of Sev Zero
[an Amazon's original game] and 1,000 Amazon Coins (a $10 value) for purchasing games.

They also have a page now for Fire TV apps: Apps for Android.

I'll just get this off by reproducing Amazon's wording, so people who've been interested can see what Amazon has to say about what they've actually done, and this one will be of interest to many.

   The VOICE-search is the thing that got my own interest, as I hate doing searches with the remote control, and I already have good experiences with the quality of Amazon's streaming of video and music. Here is what they're describing at their product page.  I'll add more detail later.

For $99:
The Features You Expect from Amazon

Amazon Fire TV is a tiny box you connect to your HDTV. It's the easiest way to enjoy Netflix, Prime Instant Video, Hulu Plus, low-cost movie rentals, and much more

Your partner in Prime—The best way to enjoy unlimited access to over 40,000 Prime Instant Videos on your HDTV, including Amazon exclusives like Downton Abbey and Justified Massive selection—Over 200,000 TV episodes and movies, millions of songs, and over a hundred games Voice search that actually works—Simply say the name of what you want to watch and start enjoying in seconds. Tiny box, huge specs—Fast quad-core processor, 2 GB of memory, dedicated GPU, plus 1080p HD video and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound Easy to set up and use—Pre-registered to your Amazon account so you can enjoy favorite titles and personalized recommendations Instant streaming—Exclusive new feature ASAP predicts what movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and buffers them for playback before you hit play Perfect for parents—Amazon FreeTime lets you easily limit screen time and create personalized profiles just for kids (coming soon) Great for gaming, too—Play blockbuster titles like Minecraft-Pocket Edition,The Walking Dead, and Monsters University, plus free games and Amazon exclusives. Paid games start from just 99 cents

At the moment, I'm not sure how much will be on it right away but here's what Amazon says it will do:  This is a small preview of the comparison chart with Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast that you'll get a larger version of at Amazon if you click on "Show me" on the Fire TV product page.

So, for now, if interested, take a look for yourself, as there are too many details for one blog space, and I'm reading info from other sources that I'll add later today.


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Kindle News: Follow-up on glitchy Kindle Fire software update, w/ workarounds...New Nexus 7" tablets, at Amazon...Chromecast-what-is-it and what about the free Netflix promo...Amazon and job creation + Obama's visit to an Amazon fulfillment center Tuesday...New jobs w/ benefits (warehouse and customer service)...Big Fall Books Preview

Assorted Odds and Ends in the News or from discussion forums the last week

I'll try to keep these shorter and give links for full detail, as there is quite a bit.

First, a caution.  The Kindle Fire software update that went out over the air to a few (but is not offered as a manual update, version [x].4.5 was first mentioned at the bottom of the blog article dated July 21), continues to cause problems, reported on the Amazon Kindle forums in various message threads about website Flash videos or Youtube suddenly not working.

  According to one customer who quoted a note from Kindle Support, this is not an intended effect, and they are studying the reports and working to resolve the problems.

  A few ways to work around it until then, for those who somehow received v[x]4.5 update (but these workarounds don't always work)...

1. At youtube, try going to http://m.youtube.com instead (the simpler mobile version)
or download TubeMate app and use that for Youtube to either play or download a video

2. Using the default Amazon Web browser (named Silk), use the web browser Menu [rectangle] to choose to enable Experimental Streaming Viewer when you see this at the bottom of your webpage after Amazon detects compatible flash video on the page:
 

3. In the meantime, while first-tier customer support may realize that the over-the-air update some have received is causing these glitches, the customer reps don't always know that some tech support have said it is not an intended effect and they're working on it.  This would, though, explain why the software updates page does not offer that software update on a manual basis.


New Nexus tablets - the 16 GB version is in stock for Prime delivery at Amazon
These are making big news this week because of their very high display resolution, large RAM chip, fast processor and much improved audio, all at a decent price, though some are not happy that it still doesn't have built-in HDMI-Out to an HDTV.  That may be due to Google's Chromecast -- more on that latter gizmo in a moment.

  Amazon had the 16 GB in stock for Prime Delivery late last night but apparently those are gone and a 3rd party vendor charging $12 more at Amazon is now offering these.  So this is just for info for those who will hear more about these in the coming days and they're probably the reason we saw all the leaks on the coming new Kindle Fire HD tablets, to be announced, it was said, in August or early September.

  The 32 GB Nexus (and, really, the one to get if you want the Nexus) is being sold by Amazon directly, and shipping via Prime is estimated at 3-4 weeks.  Shipping at most places is slow on this one.

  Here are the product pages for more detail and if you prefer purchasing via Amazon for their customer support policies:  New Nexus 16 GB     New Nexus 32 GB


Google's Chromecast
Chromecast is a 'dongle' that Google is selling for $35 that will stream some web video, music "and more" from a tablet, phone or laptop to a TV in many or most cases.  Reviews differ so far.

  Google was offering 3 months of free Netflix for this, even to those who already subscribe to Netflix.
  They discontinued that free Netflix offer this last week (due to overwhelming demand), to much consternation, especially since people had bought (from Google, Best Buy, and Amazon, et al) one of these gadgets with the expectation of getting that Netflix promo.

  Here is the upshot, on how Amazon will handle the Netflix promo for those who bought before the cancellation was announced:

' Netflix Promotion No Longer Available
Please note that the Netflix promotional offer (which was available in limited supply) has now ended.  Customers who ordered their Chromecast prior to 5:31 PM PST on July 24, 2013 will receive a Netflix gift code via email within 5 days of their product's ship date. '

  If you bought it from Google, their policy is: "Orders placed before 1PM PST on 7/25 will receive their promotion code once their order ships."

  Two excellent articles on Chromecast
  Here's a very informative set of explanations of what Chromecast does and how it does it, by RJ Raphael - "Android Power" column, at Computerworld.
  Also, one titled "... but not for everyone," by Craig Lloyd for Slashgear, includes some caveats.


Amazon and jobs - and an appearance by President Obama
President Obama will be making a speech about jobs at Amazon's Fulfillment Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Tuesday.  This is probably in connection with the heavy creation of new jobs (with benefits) cited this week.

  According to Reuters and other news sources, "the White House said he will discuss proposals "to jumpstart private sector job growth and make America more competitive, and will also talk about new ideas to create American jobs...The speech is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET."

  Amazon to fill 7,000 jobs in 13 states, per AP via Brandenton.com.

  This will include 5,000 full-time jobs at its U.S. distribution centers (see linked article for a list of cities in which they're hiring) and 2,000 jobs in customer service, including full-time, part-time and seasonal.   The customer service jobs are available "in Winchester, Ky.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Kennewick, Wash. and Huntington, W.Va.  Work from home positions are available in Oregon, Washington and Arizona."

  Amazon's own press release on the 5,000 Fulfillment Center jobs headlines the benefits involved:

' Positions pay 30 percent more than traditional retail jobs and include comprehensive benefits beginning on day one, including healthcare, 401(k) and company stock awards

Amazon offers employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where it will pre-pay up to 95% of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon '

For any job-seekers you may know:
  See more recruitment information at Amazon Fulfillment Careers and Amazon Customer Service Jobs.


What else is Amazon up to?
Here are some ideas from Brad Stone, who was "in Silicon Valley for most of this summer, working with Amazon’s hardware design arm, Lab126, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to discuss it publicly.)
...
  "... It’s hard to make much money when you’re opening refrigerated fulfillment centers around the country, manufacturing your first set-top box ([TV] , preparing to launch a phone, buying up video content in a furious competition with Netflix, and creating original programming, all the while diving into new product categories and revolutionizing the publishing business "

Earlier in April, Stone had written:

' . The e-commerce giant is planning to introduce a device this fall dedicated to streaming video over the Internet and into its customers’ living rooms, according to three people familiar with the project who aren’t authorized to discuss it.

They say the box will plug into TVs and give users access to Amazon’s expanding video offerings.  Those include its à la carte Video on Demand store, which features newer films and TV shows, and its Instant Video service, which is free for subscribers to the Amazon Prime two-day shipping package. '

I don't know how that might compare with Chromecast, since I haven't bought one (I can just beam my Kindle Fire HD contents to my HDMI TV's with the HDMI-out Kindle Fire HD feature, though I get better size results with the 8.9" model than with the 7" one).

Re the question of whether or not Amazon will include competing video streaming services on its device, Stone feels that they likely will (or go unbought!) but that Amazon's "own video and music services will be more prominently integrated into the device."


Amazon's Big Fall Books Preview was just announced
I'll spare you the details here, because they're available at the "20 Big Fall Books" page at http://amzn.to/fallbookspreview


I still have a lot more to write up, but that won't be until Monday night.

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

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$229 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $269/$299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $399/$499 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 (Yes)

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 - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $129 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $199 Kindle Fire HD 7" - 214.00 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284

*OTHER Int'l pages* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 KFire HD 7" $214,  8.9" $284 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

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Kindle News: Amazon makes deal with Epix, adding thousands to Prime Instant Video

Amazon has made a multiyear-licensing agreement with EPIX, adding thousands of movies to its Prime Instant Video service

As many know, Amazon Prime is a program that allows unlimited viewing of "Prime"-labeled video,  included in the yearly cost for free 2-day shipping on Amazon's directly-sold products

  In essence, Netflix lost exclusive rights to stream such movies as "The Avengers," "The Hunger Games" and "Mission: Impossible" now that Amazon has those rights also.

  The Los Angeles Times article by Dawn C. Chmielewski reports that Netflix's stock dropped 7% in midday trading on this news (east coast) and it dropped as much as 11% a couple of hours later.

  This deal added movies from Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to Amazon's Prime.

Other sources point out, though, that EPIX's movies are a small portion of Netflix's videobase.  They "account for just a fraction (mid-single-digits) of the viewing in Netflix households, wrote Vasily Karasyov of Susquehanna Financial Group."   Reuters' Alistair Barr adds that Netflix spokesman Joris Evers said that Epix accounts for about 5 percent of Netflix's viewing hours.

  The Netflix stock may be weaker now, Janney Capital Markets analyst Tony Wible says, because it's less likely that Amazon will acquire Netflix.  Found that an interesting take.

  Amazon VP of music and music Bill Carr said that the company is ""investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand the Prime Instant Video library" -- a larger number than I'd expect.

While Prime is $79/year ($6.58/mo. equivalent) for the free 2-day shipping of Amazon products (no minimum purchase), it also allows members to borrow a Kindle book (offered for lending by publishers and authors) once per calendar month) in addition to streaming from a collection of something like 25,000 movies and tv shows at no additional cost.

Bloomberg's Edmund Lee and Sarah Frier add that the agreement with Epix lasts three years but they say the source, "familiar with the transaction" asked not to be identified as "the terms aren't public."  Odd bit of info to release and then request no sourcing info.  "Cat Griffin, an Amazon spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Not earthshaking news, but it adds more to what many perceive as Amazon's strength - its ecosystem.  A wealth of free streaming video for Prime shipping members and its 145,000 titles in its Kindle Owners' Lending Library

The main Amazon page now includes the announcement of the additional 2,000 movies coming to Prime Instant this year, citing especially "Thor, Iron Man 2, and Captain America: The First Avenger, plus recent hits such as Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Warrior, Super 8, True Grit, and Rango."


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Kindle News: Android market growing due to Kindle Fire, + Amzn to compete w/ Netflix? + good Intro to Kindle e-Ink devices w/ tests of e-Ink screen differences (slight) + Best free comics on KFire, Amazon digital pirate unmasked

A GOOD ASSORTMENT OF NEWS
And I'll mainly point you to most of it.

ANDROID MARKET SHARE'S SHARP RISE
Intomobile's Blake Stimac writes that Android’s tablet market share rises to 39 percent in Q4 2011, according to Strategy Analytics, "which has counted the Kindle Fire into the Android mix." 

  Stimac, who presents the global table of operating system shipments and market share on Infomobile's page, says, "it's probably safe to assume that the sharp rise is likely due to the Kindle Fire.  See their page for considerably more detail.


NETFLIX AGREES WITH RUMOR ABOUT AMAZON PLANS
Tech Buzz Examiner Michael Santo writes that Netflix agrees that Amazon, which is obviously constantly expanding its streaming video service, Amazon Instant Video (many announcements about it recently), may expand their video service  "into a standalone subscription service" as described by the New York Post.  See story and detail at Santos' TechBuzz page and at the NY Post.   A Netflix comment stressed by Santo:

' “We expect Amazon to continue to offer their video service as a free extra with Prime domestically but also to brand their video subscription offering as a standalone service at a price less than ours.” '

BEST 15 FREE COMICS ON KFIRE
Comics Alliance's John Parker gives us a list of 15 best free issues of comics that he's found, based on "device readability, likelihood of drawing in new readers, and how badly they make you want more."

   He was surprised to get a Kindle Fire for the holidays and not initially excited about it due to what he terms his "tactile orientation" making it hard for him to "get along with the idea of digital comics" but he is coming along.  Profusely illustrated, his list gives you his reasons for his choices.


TOM'S HARDWARE LOOKS AT THE KINDLE TOUCH AND THE KINDLE NON-TOUCH
Writer Andrew Ku has some really good illustrations for his article on the new e-Ink Kindles and does an update on the 4th Generation Kindle screen quality issue.

  Newcomers to the new Kindle Touch and Kindle BASIC e-readers can easily be confused by Amazon's non-numbering of the many current Kindles, as shown even by this article and definitely in all the forums.

  On the screen quality issue having to do with the Kindle 4th Gen (Basic Kindle NoTouch), he updates the analysis of what is or isn't happening there but he then says he's extending this to the Kindle Touch and then calls them both "Amazon's fourth-gen Kindles."

  Unfortunately that perpetuates a misunderstanding.  The Kindle Touch is Generation 5, as these things go (and I'll explain this in a minute) and the Kindle Basic is what has been called "Generation 4."  They were born together and may seem identical twins but are more along the lines of fraternal ones.

  Ku references the concern seen in a Mobileread Forum thread over the screen display of the Kindle 4 vs the Kindle 3 (now called the Kindle Keyboard).

  That Kindle Keyboard is sold in the UK also, but only in the 3G/WiFi configuration (K3-UK)rather than the WiFi-only one.

  As Mobileread Forum's Blossom and I both explained today in the forum thread to any who were lumping the two e-Ink Kindles as "Gen 4" Kindles:

The numbers 3, 4, and 5 have been used for the "generation ID" of  any Kindle.

  Amazon has used "Kindle 3" (actually, "Third Generation Kindle" has been said in some marketing) and this matches its operating system software version 3.x.x

  The NoTouch $79 (confusingly named by Amazon as only "Kindle") is the Kindle 4 in the lineup, using operating system software version 4.x.x.

  The Kindle Touch would be Kindle 5, as its operating system uses what Amazon calls software version 5.x.x.

  Note that the Kindle Fire's operating system is software version 6.x.x .

  Since they're all quite different, I think it's important to separate
Kindle 4 NoTouch/No Keyboard (v4.01 currently) and Kindle 5 Touch (which has the v5.0.3 update)

  The Kindle 4 (Kindle Basic Non-Touch) has been the subject of the screen quality concern by some Kindle owners.

  As mentioned in the thread, we haven't heard much about the K5 Touch having the problems that some  K4 owners have seen.

  At any rate Andrew Ku does a great job on describing the new eInk Kindles' features and, as mentioned, he illustrates and describes the functioning of these models very well -- and it's important to be aware of the Kindle Touch's "Easy Reach" feature on the touch screen.   So be sure to go see the article   I am fairly familiar with how these Kindles work but the article was interesting to me.

 On the screen-quality issue, Ku's team did a terrific analysis of what might be happening there and why some see it and some don't -- they test many models of each.  Sometimes there's something to be seen, and other times not so much, and this may have involved a problem with batches.


UNMASKING A DIGITAL PIRATE ON AMAZON
Many Kindle owners having to browse huge lists of promo-free or low-cost books will be interested in this article.  I'm not going to get into it in this blog entry but those interested should definitely go read this article by Fast Company's Adam Penenberg

  It explains how this kind of thing is done (to too great an extent) and includes a "Who, me? I didn't know" story about someone caught (who didn't even make decent money on this) and saying he had NO IDEA what he was doing was not exactly ligit.  It also highlights the extent of "copyright infringement come-ons at Warrior Forum.



That's it for now! Kindle-Edition subscribers, who get the last 25 blog entries on their Kindles, can read these linked stories on their Kindles if they are uncommonly patient but will have an easier time reading that news by visiting this blog on your computer if wanting the details (Link: kindleworld.blogspot.com ).



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

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  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: 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."



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

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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.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle

(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Kindle News 10/25/11 - UPDATE - 39 free Kindle books Tuesday. Also, Kindle Fire, Amazon customer service, Steve Jobs's cancer.

KINDLE FIRE SELLING FASTER THAN EXPECTED BY J.P. MORGAN

Mobile Entertainment's Zen Terrelonge writes today that J.P. Morgan is "eating its words" that the Kindle Fire wouldn't do well relative to the iPad, and the financial services firm's hardware team now projects that Amazon will move 4.5 to 5 million devices in the 4th quarter.

  This is based on checks of supply chains that show production on this model has increased due to a large number of pre-orders and vendors reporting "an abundance of rush orders over the past fortnight."

  Douglas Anmuth, an internet analyst there who monitors Amazon, anticipates several models in 2012, including 7" and 10" devices with 3G and WiFi.

  One J.P. analyst disagreed saying the tablet is under-featured, something that was said about the iPad last year too.  Consumers seem to have different requirements from those with a largely technical focus, from what has been seen in pre-orders.  Other articles have explained that the minimum iPad cost of $500 has been more than some want to spend, and some want a smaller, maybe more personal style tablet for web browsing and email.

  Considering the streaming media content that Amazon offers (12,000 streamig-videos, including more current PBS ones, that come with Amazon's Prime package of free two-day shipping on most products for $79/yr ($6.58/mo.), it's not a surprise that this new, smaller tablet is doing so well on pre-orders.

  Amazon currently has over 100,000 movies and tv shows at a time that Netflix has lost about 800,000 subscribers due to their pricing decisions.  Despite better earnings than expected, Netflix stock plunged.  I'm a fan of Netflix's streaming video library, though, which works well through my Comcast.  At least we have several options these days.


Amazon expected to to show a profit dip this quarter due to low margins (if any) on the Kindle Fire
Slashgear's Chris Davies reports that some believe Amazon is taking a loss on the Kindle Fire, relying instead on resulting digital media sales to be enjoyed on the tablet.

Geeky-gadgets's Roland Hutchinson writes that Google's Andy Rubin has said there were around 6 million Android tablets out there, so if Amazon sells as many the next quarter as most analysts are expecting, the Kindle Fire would be the most popular Android tablet released so far.

  In the meantime ViewSonic will launch the 7" ViewPad 7e tablet soon, with several more features but an inferior display (800x600) and touchscreen ("resistive").  While Amazon should welcome the release of more tablets that can access their content, I imagine they'll be customizing (beyond the special accelerating features of the Silk browser on the Fire) content for their own tablet.


Reviews of Steve Jobs book by Walter Isaacson (Fixed link)
SecondAct's Patrick J. Kiger has a good summary round-up of reviews of Isaacson's book, which Amazon thinks could be the year's bestseller.

A couple of observations from the roundup:
  His summary of NY Times critic Janet Maslin ends,"Isaacson also explains that Jobs' mean streak, unpleasant as it was, also helped drive Apple to its phenomenal success."

  Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams focuses, he writes, on Jobs's controversial decision of postponing conventional medical treatment for a tumor in 2003.  As a cancer survivor, who knows how unpredictable cancer can be (and how unnecessarily destructive some treatments), I noted her sensible, "Jobs lived eight years after his initial diagnosis.  Anyone with experience of cancer will tell you that five is considered a relative triumph."

  I've known many who obeyed all the doctors' recommendations, and even when after the requisite operations their lymph nodes were diagnosed to be free of spread beyond the local area and they were announced to be cancer free, they were given chemo for 'prevention' and were dead in a few months to two years.  Others fare well.  It's just not utterly predictable as has been presented by too many about Jobs' cancer.

  I think people should get off his case, post mortem, for his personal decision though of course he would wonder what would have happened had he had the operation.  Not only did he survive 8 years with the less aggressive form of pancreatic cancer, he led a quite productive life during those 8 years.


CBS News story on Amazon's good customer service noted on Reddit (Link fixed)
CBS News's Chenda Ngak writes about a Reddit thread and Ngak's own experience with customer service.  I've posted a link to a recent customer support forum thread on the Kindle forums.


Tuesday's free Kindle books
UPDATED on Wednesday to show each book link for Tuesday, since most will stay free for a few days.  These will be shown on the 'next' page showing "More", so that those wanting to go through the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below)
*****
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ODD: On-Demand disorder

Xconomy's Wade Roush writes: "The main symptom of ODD is an aversion to any experience, product, or piece of content that can’t be obtained more or less instantaneously.  And the main long-term consequence may be a narrowing of one’s world-view to exclude ideas and materials that take a little more work to uncover."

Strike a chord?  This includes even the Roku Player vs Netflix, the latter so popular in recent years, but:
  "In the three months since I bought a Roku Player—a $99 wireless device that lets you view movies from Netflix and Amazon on your TV instantly -- I have watched dozens of movies and TV shows on the Roku.  In the same time, I’ve watched exactly two physical DVDs from Netflix... This despite the fact that the selection of DVDs at Netflix is still far greater than the selection of so-called 'Watch Instantly' movies.  In effect, I’m sacrificing choice for availability."

  Then, the obvious example of the Kindle is given, as well as the impact of digital imagery and "the difference between seeing a digital copy of a famous painting and actually being in front of it."  He worries about the long-term effects of this laziness and the loss of moments of real discovery.  I'm not as worried but it was an interesting read.  And I just liked the idea of ODD! Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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