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.

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The iPad 2 and the e-reader app situation

APPLE IPAD-2 NEWS IN CONNECTION WITH E-READER/KINDLE INTEREST
In the articles linked and summarized below, note the Apple-device revenue-sharing issues that were described in a blog entry Feb. 24.

Many Kindle owners also own iPads for color-intensive books, web-surfing, and shorter, lower-light reading sessions, and many are (according to article comments) waiting to hear what Apple plans are for Kindle, Nook, Sony, and Kobo apps for iPhone and iPad in July.

"Why you should wait before buying an iPad 2"
That is the headline for a Communities Canada parenting blog by Chad Skelton, who makes the following points:

' Of the people I know who have an iPad, or who want one, one of the reasons they want one is to use it as an ebook reader... in addition to Apple's own iBooks, you can also download other ereading apps for the Kindle and Kobo -- even library ebook apps like Overdrive.  It's the one device that doesn't force you to lock in with a particular book buyer -- meaning you have the broadest possible selection to choose from and can comparison shop for the best deals.

  But all that versatility is at risk.  Apple's new subscription and in-app purchase policies -- which will require apps like the Kindle to cough up 30% of every book purchase to Apple -- may well force other ereading apps off the device.
  [The wording should be "might require" rather than "will require" as the wording is still for subscription apps until we know more.]

Which would, in one stroke, turn the iPad from the most versatile ebook reader to the least.  Instead of having your choice of several ebook stores, you'd have a choice of just one: iBooks. '

Now that Random House is adding 17,000+ e-books to Apple's iStore, it could be that some Apple execs could decide to consider B&N, Amazon, Sony, et al, "middlemen" -- said to be of no interest to Apple, and the way to get them off the iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch would be to just grab 100% of the revenue-share of these competing online bookstores wishing to have their apps included on the Apple devices.  One can understand a 3-10% fee, but 30% from 'middlemen' who get only 30% in the first place would be indicative of unparalleled, open greed.

 If that turns out to be the case, I don't know why Apple wouldn't just say they no longer want competing online bookstores on their devices.  I think that's better than just saying they want 100% of the revenue that the other stores would normally get (30%).

The article ends with:

' But if you're interested in using your tablet as an ereader, you'd be wise to wait a few months to see what happens before plopping down $500 or more on what could be a very lame ereader come this summer. '

The many comments to the February 16 article linked in the quotes are an indication of how many Kindles (UK: K3's) might be bought due to such a decision by Apple.


"THE IPAD 2: LIPSTICK ON A PIG"
"Apple’s new subscriptions policy takes the lustre off launch"
This mentions other apps that may not be available on the Apple devices.
The New Stateman's Jason Stamper

' Rhapsody said in a statement that, "An Apple-imposed arrangement that requires us to pay 30 per cent of our revenue to Apple, in addition to content fees that we pay to the music labels, publishers and artists, is economically untenable. The bottom line is: we would not be able to offer our service through the iTunes store if subjected to Apple's 30 per cent monthly fee vs a typical 2.5 per cent credit card fee." '

  Rhapsody will be looking, with its market peers, at "an appropriate legal and business response to this latest development."

  Apple did buy Lala last year, though, and may have its own plans, Stamper said.  Also:

' The chief executive of Pearson, the publisher of the Financial Times, said on Monday that it may pull the FT out of Apple's ecosystem if it refuses to give up customer information.  "It is unclear how their proposal is going to work, we are still talking to them," said Marjorie Scardino.  "The important thing to remember is there are many, many tablets coming out and multiple devices ... [from] Kindle to mobiles.  If indeed Apple are not happy to give us customer data then maybe we will get it somewhere else." '

Stamper adds:

' It's little wonder that if the Wall Street Journal is to be believed, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are "looking at" Apple's new rules for possible antitrust violations.  At the heart of the issue isn't the 30 per cent fee but that requirement that in-app subscriptions have the same price as offers outside the app. '

  The coming (March 11) iPad 2 is considered "more an update than an upgrade" by some reviewers, and as a result some expect an iPad 3 in September with real changes instead of something to keep momentum up while the myriad of tablets are released in the next few months, while others feel that Steve Jobs's statement Tuesday that 2011 will be the year of the iPad 2 means this is IT for this year unless they also release a 7" of some type (whether a large iPod or a small iPad).  In any case, those who prize the e-reader capabilities available today will be waiting for further developments before dropping money automatically for Apple's latest edition of the iPad.

  Already, although Android apps are not plentiful yet, the Xoom WILL support Adobe Flash, will have true multi-tasking (apps actually running in the background rather than suspended, and their activity showing in a window), have a USB port and an SD slot and, most important for book readers, will run the various e-reader apps.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   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 highest-rated 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!