Kindle News: Amazon Studios' TV pilots free viewing + ratings get big audience this wkend. Xbox smartglass app. NYT on Amazon Singles. Cox TV app. Android apps going Global.

A few newer stories before I get to the backlog

Amazon Studios' new TV pilots (Amazon Originals) pulls in big audience on Amazon Instant Video.

These TV pilots - 8 comedy and 6 for "kids" - "comprised 8 of the 10 most streamed episodes on Amazon Instant Video over the weekend" and thousands of customer reviews have been posted since the launch just 3 days ago, "with more than 80% of reviews at 4 and 5 star ratings," Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios said.

One draw is the participatory aspect - the customer viewing these "call the shots" as "your opinion matters" when it comes to which will make the cut for full series treatment.

Amazon of the big, long arms, into everything these days, is producing TV pilots (free to watch and review for another month or so) that are getting these high ratings against other fare that is more or less free for many of its most active customers.  Using established actors, the pilots are also receiving quite a few well-written rave reviews, a sampling given in one of Amazon's more interesting press releases.

  DigitalTVEurope reports that "The final, expanded slate of 14 pilots are available now to watch for free on the Amazon site in the US and free the Amazon-owned video-on-demand service LoveFilm in the UK."  One of these is "a Sony Pictures Television adaptation of Hollywood comedy movie Zombieland and Betas, about a group of tech-savvy millennial, which comes from Michael Lehmann (Dexter) and Michael London (Sideways). Both were added to the slate in March."

  They add that Amazon is "now developing scripts for a second round of pilots, which will also include dramas for the first time" as well as more comedies.

  While Amazon is most-discussed these days as a bookseller and tablet maker, going against large publishing houses and high-margin hardware companies, and is a general low-cost retailer for just about everything imaginable, it's showing unexpected and quite high creative energy.
  Some of this has been seen in the more or less unexamined plethora of features plus compatability and syncing services for its ereaders and tablets, which most mainstream gadget-reviews don't explore.


Xbox SmartGlass for Android, released today ($0.00) promises to turn your Kindle Fire 2nd Gen and Kindle Fire HD into a controller for the Xbox 360.   Engadget's Joseph Volpe writes that this app has been configured to scale natively on the three newer Kindle Fire models (though not on the original Kindle Fire), allowing users to navigate their Xbox 360 remotely, "push and pull streaming content, as well as access achievements, messaging and Xbox Music."

  Many customer reviewers are giving it 1-star because it doesn't work on the original Kindle Fire (which it does say on the 'purchase' listbox on the product page), but Microsoft developed the app for Android OS v4 and the original Kindle Fire is on v2.x.  The 2nd generation standard Kindle Fire works with it, however.

  One commenter at the app page cautions that it doesn't connect to HBO Go's second screen of content for Game of Thrones, so the map you can see while you drive, on iPad or Windows tablets, is not on Android devices, he says.

  XBox'rs who do have 2nd Generation Kindle Fires are very high on the app.


Amazon Singles store, its Editor and the reasons for its success
The NY Times's Leslie Kaufmann has an interesting story on the Amazon Singles service (novella-length journalism and fiction), its development, and its editor David Blum.

 Some points made:
  . Blum cherry-picks pieces from 1000 unsolicited manuscripts each month.
  . Authors can share in the profits instead of getting a flat fee. “The idea that writers would participate in the publishing model is just very bold,” he said.  
  . It's profitable, with almost 5 million copies sold since opening January 2011.
  . "Amazon has become the bête noire of the industry, using its market share to keep the prices of books lower than publishers and authors would like."  Brick-and-mortar bookstores have refused to carry these works, but the "literary terrain" for Singles is not crowded, and with magazines folding or shrinking because of financial pressures, long-form storytelling has few places to flourish" and Amazon, along with a few others, is filling that void .

  There's a lot more there about the resistance to the service, more details on how it works for authors, the concerns of publishers.  That includes an amusing description, by a formerly undiscovered author he's nurturing, of the challenges in working with Blum.


Those of you on Cox Communications can now use the Cox TV Connect app on the Kindle Fire
This is true for Google's Nexus® and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 and Note tablets as well.
  "With access to over 90 national cable channels, "the application creates a 'second screen' experience for customers to watch live television programming in their home on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch device."


Amazon is finally expanding global app distribution to~200 countries.
Here's just a bit from their full description of their long-awaited movement in this direction.

' ...developers can now submit their apps for distribution in nearly 200 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, India, South Africa, South Korea, and even Papua New Guinea and Vatican City.  These apps will be made available in the coming months when the Amazon Appstore for Android launches internationally for consumers.

Registered developers who want international distribution will have their apps automatically made available for download, unless they designate otherwise. This international expansion is the latest in a series of Amazon Appstore for Android launches, which have included the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan. '

There's a lot more information for developers there.

---

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

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 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 Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

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 - $89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China Japan - Amazon Japan

---

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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(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
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Kindle Tip: Today only - 40 Mysteries & Thrillers, Each $1.99 or less.

Back from vacation time with a quick tip on today's Kindle Daily & Gold Box Deal of the Day

This is just an alert on an Amazon Gold Box Kindle book offer for Sunday, April 21 only.

They're offering 40 Kindle mysteries and thrillers today for $1.99 or less, each.

Will catch up with news to blog late tonight, as I did not carry a laptop or tablet on this particular vacation time, a first since March 2009 since starting the blog.

Thanks for your patience.

I did see that Amazon's Android App Store is definitely expanding in a big way, finally, globally, and they're asking developers to submit apps.  This fits with rumors of their plans for a smartphone in addition to the eReader and tablet lines and the fact that they just acquired "Siri-like" app Evi for $26 million.

There's even a rumor that Amazon may open its first retail store, in London.   More later.



  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *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 Fire News: Kindle Fire HD (7 and 8.9 inch) + Kindle Fire (2nd Gen) get software fixes in updates 7.3.1, 8.3.1, and 10.3.1

Amazon's product pages are showing software update for the Kindle Fire HD 7", 8.9" and Kindle Fire 2nd generation models

There was no notice of this, but at about 5pm Wednesday, I just noticed, there were notes in the Kindle forum that a couple of Kindle Fire owners saw updates happen on theirs.

  My Kindle Fire HD tablet hasn't received the update, so I checked the product pages.  However, there have been reports of glitches on the three software updates x.3.0 made to the three models on March 30.

  The sofware update pages that the changes include: "bug fixes and performance enhancements."

As usual, am adding UK software pages to the info here, though their pages haven't been updated.  The link will go to whichever is the current software version for that model.

Here are the software update pages for each model:

Kindle Fire HD 8.9":
  [v8.3.1 here]   [Probably soon: UK software page].

Kindle Fire HD 7":
  [v7.3.1 here].   [Probably soon: UK software page].

Kindle Fire 2nd Generation:
  [v10.3.1 here].   [Probably soon: UK software page].

If you need assistance with one of these updates, please visit the Kindle Help Forums. '

IF Choosing to Manually Download the Latest Version

(instead of waiting for it to arrive via WiFi)
This update automatically downloads and installs for most Kindle Fire customers; however, you can initiate the software update from your Kindle or manually download the software update via USB (some use the excellent WiFi File Explorer PRO app rather than the USB cable hookup).

Again -- before you begin, confirm your current software version:

1. KF: Tap the top of the device -- KFHD: Swipe down from the top of the screen.
     Then tap More.
2. Tap Device, and then tap About.

The instructions for manually downloading -- if needed -- the update via USB are at the software update pages mentioned above.  Most will find it more convenient to have the update arrive via the automated download.

NOTE that when it does arrive, your Kindle Fire will reboot and sometimes it does that twice, so don't be alarmed when it happens while it's idle and you're nearby.


EARLIER posts on Kindle Fire HD

  . Follow-up info on v7.3.0, v8.3.0, and v10.3.0 updates (Apr 9)
  . Software Updates for v7.3.0, v8.3.0, and v10.3.0 updates (March 30, 2013)
  . Getting non-Amazon apps on Kindle Fires (non-HD Kindle Fires have storage space limitations)
  . More comparisons on iPad mini and Kindle Fire HD
  . Basic Features Comparison Table for iPad mini, Google Nexus 7", Kindle Fire HD 7"
  . Comparison reviews of the Kindle Fire HD 7" and Google Nexus 7" tablets
  . Step-by-step guide for installing a working Adobe Flash player when needed.
  . Google Maps, Street View and other apps on my Kindle Fire, via enabling one device setting
  . Downloading and playing YouTube videos on Kindle Fire HD
  . Using the camera and Video, Panorama mode, Time Lapses
  . App for WiFi file transfers w/o cable.

---

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.

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!

Kindle News: Amazon launches "50+ Active & Healthy Living" store, w/ 22,000~ Kindle books. Comparison: Movies on Kindle Fire and iPad

Amazon launches new 50+ Active and Healthy Living Store

  Here's Amazon's new 50+ Active and Healthy Living Store itself, which features "hundreds of thousands of items" in one place.

  And of course, there's a Kindle Book area for topics of particular interest to this group.  This link goes to the list of books sorted by Low to High pricing.  Here's one for the listing sorted by New and Popular.

Featured are "nutrition, wellness, exercise and fitness, medical, personal care, beauty, entertainment items and more."  There's also a Resource Center with tips on healthy eating (might be good for younger folks as well), caregiving and other topics.

 

A particularly popular item with people I know (I'm not active enough to have one) is the Fitbit Activity Plus Sleep Tracker, which also wakes you, but not your partner, with a silent alarm.

Correcting bad information seen in a comparison report between Kindle Fire HD and iPad just now
It's frustrating to see this happen so much.  At TV Predictions, the TV Answer Man answers questions.  Today's is "Which is Better for Movies? Kindle Fire HD or iPAD."
  You can read it for yourself at the link, but here are my corrections to what he said and additions to another commenter who gave reasons he doesn't himself prefer iPad for movies.

  There are probably some details here that many don't know, so I'm hoping this will help to have more correct info somewhere.

' Did you realize you were comparing display resolution of the 7" Kindle Fire to the 10" iPad instead of using the 8.9" Kindle Fire's higher resolution for that comparison?

1. The 8.9" resolution is not 1280 x 800 pixels; it's 1920 x 1200, which is quite a difference.

Even on the 7" model, the lower 1280x800 on a 7-inch device looks very good on the much smaller device and is much higher actual resolution than the comparably-sized iPad mini (7.9") , the iPad mini being only 1024 x 768 pixels and almost 8" large (and of course more expensive).

The 8.9" wider screen on the Kindle Fire, with that 1920 x 1200 pixels (that's Retina standards on a 9") also fits the new wide-screen movies much better, leading to less letterboxing (black bars above and below, for the very popular wide-screen movies today) so the image winds up being almost as large.

  Using the Dolphin web browser and an ice-cream Android copy of Adobe Flash Player, I can easily see full episodes of TV series on several TV networks on-demand.  These are in Flash, which Apple itself doesn't support and therefore specific apps must be done for each on the iPad.

2. Yes, both Kindle Fires have a built in microHDMI port and can be cabled directly to an HDMI TV, which some have done in hotel rooms even, to watch Internet (or tablet) fare.  With Apple you can buy extra hardware and do that too but it's just adding a cable to the Kindle Fire HD's.

  Also, the Kindle Fire has stereo speakers on each side of the tablet when viewing movies (Landscape) and also Dolby Digital Plus which adjusts frequencies for material or content, like speech, to make it clearer.  (The Apple has speakers right next to each other on one side only.) '

For a $231 difference (the 16GB iPad is $500, the 16GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9" is $269), the above is worth knowing.

  But then, the 32GB 7" Kindle Fire which is HD also, in its smaller size, is now $229, while the 32GB iPad is $600, a $371 difference.   The 8GB storage spec has been dropped by most and not far off, so will the 16GB if you look half a year ahead, due to the very large files involved in multimedia tablets.

---

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.

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!

Kindle Tips: Free Android App of the Day - Shred Guitar Mastery - LickJungle. Amazon's rating system and fairness to creators and other customers

Today's Free App of the Day, for Kindle Fire and other Android-based devices
- "For intermediate and advanced players"

Shred Guitar Mastery - LickJungle is a music app for guitar players although NOT for beginners.

  Even if a customer reviewer says that 'tablature' is "very good for beginners" -- the app itself is definitely not for beginners, and app creator AmparoSoft makes that clear in the Product Description.

  But since this app is normally $3.99 and is the free app for the one day only, I thought I should draw attention to it for those who would benefit from it.

As another customer mentions -- if you don't know how to play guitar, there's no reason to download an app that's marketed to intermediate to advanced players and expect it'll be something you can understand.

  Unfortunately, Amazon's policy is to allow customer reviews with lousy 1-star ratings from people who say they've not read a book because they don't like the premise, and Amazon keeps a 1-star review here from a customer who doesn't play guitar and who then gives the poor developer just one star, which lowers the overall rating.  This lowest rating is given even when the customer adds "If you play the guitar you will like it."

  Amazon could leave the words up but just leave the stars blank if they care about being fair to creators and other customers (once Amazon is notified of inappropriateness, since they request alerts that they then tend to ignore).

  I don't play guitar and don't plan to, so I'm not likely to download the app, but if I wanted to -- in case I wanted to learn later -- I sure wouldn't be doing a 1-star review on it.  Amazon really should take another look at their review system for entries which are not reviews.

  At least they've now started requesting 'feedback' on reviews in place of just reports of reviews that aren't 'appropriate.'
  I've seen Amazon intentionally leave 1-star product reviews up when a product was shipped late or not shipped by a marketplace vendor (which is definitely not a review of a product or work), and yet the creator has to see an important marketing tool (genuine feedback on a product that took a lot of work as a sullied by this type of policy, which is not helpful to interested customers.

  Customers who use the 'average customer rating' feature need to be able to trust the overall ratings more.

  Again, all Amazon has to do is show blank stars and not count an entry for 'review' when it's clearly not a review -- OR at least do some weighting of the rating (after people report real problems with appropriateness) that doesn't give that rating EQUAL weight with other reviews.

---

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.

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!

Kindle Tips: a 4-USB port car-charger for Kindle, Android, Apple devices

A 4-USB port car charger I just bought
Thought others would be interested in this very useful gadget for your car.  It will charge, using four high output ports (2.1A max total), both Apple and Android/Kindle devices at the same time.

There is also an alternate 2-USB port model, with one port that promises compatibility with Apple, using a 2-Ampere port for iPad, plus a 1-Ampere port for other devices, including Kindles, on the other port.

The iFlash High Output 4 USB Car Charger - 2.1A Output is said to work with "iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPhone 4 / 4S, HTC, Droid, EVO, Galaxy S2, Kindle Fire, GPS, and Other Tablets, Smart Phones and USB Powered Devices"

(Ports that work for Kindle Fire also work with the e-Ink Kindles.)

  So far, this 4-USB port charger has about 25 customer reviews with an average rating of 4.6 stars.  For $9.99 and Prime shipping, I didn't think twice.
  Most reports on that page are very enthusiastic.  However, there are a couple of reports that it interferes quite a bit with the reception of radio stations with weak signals or, in one case interferes with a 'whining tone' that 'wanders in pitch, with weak station signals.  One customer said to start your car first and let it run for awhile before plugging it in, as otherwise it spiked her battery and resulted in the trip mileage and clocks resetting themselves, but she otherwise headlines it as "Awesome for multiple gadgets when traveling."
  The other 22 reviews as of today are 5-star ones.
  One aspect mentioned in the product description: "...monitors charging to direct the power to the device that needs it most."

  (Note: There is also a "Skiva PowerFlow QuadFire" device that's advertised to be twice as fast with twice the wattage and it gets many positive reviews (for 3 times the price), but it also gets a lot of bad customer-reviews for suddenly not working, being actually slower than the 2.1 amp devices, and in one case reported to work with only 2 ports at a time.)

  Here's one with two USB ports, this combo using Apple protocol on one port (2-ampere and designed for Apple products but useable by the mentioned other devices), the other port being for Standard devices, usually phones (1A only).
  Made by iFlash, which makes the 4-port one I bought, it's SAID by the vendor to also work on 'all' Apple mobile products, providing output for all 4 at a time, but I'd double check with the vendor on the newer iPad 4.

  Here are some other options.

---

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.

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!

Kindle Fire News: Amazon's 32GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet now $229 ($20 lower).

Screenshots from Google Maps and Street View apps on my Kindle Fire HD 7"

Google Map of San Francisco Bay Area

Via Street View app, here's the Presidio area.

(Click on an image to see the larger version.)

Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 7" Tablet product page shows a new, lower price on 32GB model

  The 32GB model (which I did buy w/o thinking twice because video, alone, takes a lot of storage space, and so do any enhanced Kindle books and certainly graphics-rich magazines) has been $249 but the price was changed today to $229.

  That's likely due to reduced prices on parts for Amazon, and they may not have sold as many of those as the 16GB model because many people don't realize how much storage space can be taken up with the multimedia files that are so popular on tablets.

  I've changed the comparison table for Kindle Fire HD 7", Google Nexus, and iPad mini to reflect the new pricing.

Will restate something I inserted the other day in the middle of a blog article on the new Enhanced Kindle books with audio/video, because it's germane here, and now the price difference between the 16GB and 32GB models of the 7" HD tablet is just $30.

  The basic Kindle Fire HD 7" tablet can store 16 Gigs but a few gigs are used for system files.  I bought the 32G model and 5 gigs are set aside for system files.

  If I'd bought only the 16G basic Kindle Fire, I'd have almost no storage space left by now, as I have only 16 gigs remaining on my 32G tablet.

  Of course we can always remove files from a device, and any Kindle purchases (and personal documents we've sent to our "Personal Documents" storage space (via EMail) are re-downloadable at any time, when we actually want or need to read them.

  I tend to keep a lot of favorite Youtube video files on my tablet, but there's no reason that I need to have as many books ON the device as I do.

So, I'm glad they lowered the price on this, as I feel it makes more sense with multimedia devices to get 32GB, even if with care via use of the Cloud and computer backups, the 16GB ones can be fine.

---

  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *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. )
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!

Kindle News: 'Inside Story of the Kindle' ... Will Walmart same-day delivery fill Amazon w/ dread?

Why am I showing an old Kindle 2?

After seeing the story below, my mind went back to my older Kindles, and this Kindle 2 was one I enjoyed a lot in its day.

  Saw today, in the Huffpo, an excerpt from Jason Merkoski's Burning the Page -- the chapter on Inside Story of the Kindle

  From what I gather, Merkoski, as a former Amazon staffer and early innovator on Amazon's Kindle team, doesn't offer a glowing look at the whole scene, and the New Times blog area recently had this quote:

' "Q. Why did you leave Amazon?

A. Working at Amazon was like getting an M.B.A. and a Ph.D. at the same time.

It was an incredible education. These were the smartest people I ever worked
with.  But Amazon had a dark side as well, as if it were the mean stepmother in a
fairy tale.

There was this push to get great products out to consumers.  It makes
a lot of teams very haggard.  Amazon is held together by adrenaline, spreadsheets
and people running around like crazy." '

Note to Kindle Edition readers (subscribers) (UK page) of the blog (which shows the most-recent 25 blog articles) - When you click through a link, you can get a more readable version of the web article by selecting Menu/Article View. (Then, press 'back' arrow or Menu/Web View.)


"Will Amazon tremble at Walmart’s same day delivery dream?"
Mediajob's Cheryl Ross describes Walmart's possible plans for same-day delivery, which she apparently feels Amazon might fear, though she then explains why it might not.

  I don't know. What do you think about it? From the story: (emphases mine)

' The idea? Offer in-store visitors a discount on their purchases if they agree to deliver a same-day package to a Walmart e-customer on the way home.

Karen E. Edwards, an e-retailing expert from the University of South Carolina, explains:
“Walmart would want to have a proof-of-delivery system, as well as a written agreement with the delivery person that includes a reimbursement clause if the goods are damaged or not delivered. That would probably have a chilling effect on some people who otherwise might have performed the service, but would also reduce the likelihood of theft...”

The company would also need to find a way of establishing that such delivery persons are not Walmart employees and aren’t entitled to Worker’s Compensation, Edwards continued, and there’d need to be a waiver to release Walmart from liability if the deliverer got injured during the errand... '

How many of us would welcome delivery by strangers not officially employed by the store, who would bring us what we ordered, to our doorstep?  Granted, there'd be a record of the customer who was sent out to bring you your package...

---

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.

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!

Kindle Fire Tips plus one KindleTouch Tip. Follow-up Info on recent software updates. Free audio/video enhanced Kindle books to try.

FOLLOW-UPS ON RECENT KINDLE SOFTWARE UPDATES: Touch - v5.3.2.1;
Fire - v10.3.0, v7.3.0, and v8.3.0

Kindle Touch, v5.3.2 and 5.3.2.1
Q: "After the software update, my Collections are no longer listed.  The books are just listed in abc order.  So, I tried to reenter a title such as Suspense, and it says the title is currently in use and to enter a different title.  Does anyone know what I should do?"

A:   Amazon made an odd decision there.  Normally, when you tap 'Recent' or 'Title' or 'Author' sorting options while choosing "Books" to view on the Home Screen, you'd expect to be able to see another option, which would be 'Collections' -- but that option doesn't show up when you have selected only "Books" (where they SHOULD show up).

  You have to lightly tap 'Books' (or 'Periodicals,' 'Audible,' 'Docs' etc.) below the top row and choose "My Items" instead before you can get the 'Collections' choice for sorting now.  It may be due to Amazon's defining 'Books' as Kindle Books only, while "My Items" includes Docs, etc.


Recent Kindle Fire updates, x.3.0
  Enhanced Kindle Editions with Audio/Video feature that came with the recent Kindle Fire updates.
  There is an added step to see these, if you've downloaded the book previously.

Q: "How do you get the audio/vidio to work?"

A: People are finding out that they need to remove any current copy of an Enhanced Kindle Edition from their Kindle Fire (2nd gen, 7" HD and 8.9" HD) and then RE-download the title previously purchased with audio and video, before they can access the audio/video portions of the book with the Kindle Fire.

  Hyperion offered, In Sept. 2011, the Audio/Video Edition of the Jacqueline Kennedy Historic Conversations, for $10 rather than the regular $16.49 price, but it was usable only on "iPads, iPhones, and iPod Touch devices" (and it's still described that way despite the software updates).

  Nevertheless, at the time, figuring Amazon would make this available for their own tablets someday, I bought the enhanced edition at that price (it was and still is available without the audio/video for $10 too,  but why not get the one with more features, for later?)

  So, this week I downloaded the never-read Kindle book from my Cloud, and sure enough the audio and video features work very well on the Kindle Fire HD 7" and 8.9" tablets I have.

  Bear in mind that that the Enhanced Edition will take up a LOT of tablet storage space.
  For instance, the Kennedy Conversations Edition WITHOUT audio/video (readable text and photos only) is s 5 Meg file, which already (because it has photos) is over 5 times larger than an average novel.

    The Audio/Video Edition, however, is a 500 Megabyte file, 100 times larger, and essentially HALF a GIG.  The basic Kindle Fire HD 7" tablet can store 16 Gigs but a few gigs are used for system files.  I bought the 32G model and 5 gigs are set aside for system files.
  If I'd bought only the 16G basic Kindle Fire, I'd have no storage space left by now, as I have only 16 gigs remaining on my 32G tablet.

  Of course we can always remove files from a device, and any Kindle purchases (and personal documents we've sent to our "Personal Documents" storage space (via EMail) are re-downloadable at any time, when we actually want or need to read them.

  I tend to keep a lot of favorite Youtube video files on mine, but there's no reason that I need to have as many books ON the device as I do.

  BONUS Tip - Here are a few FREE Enhanced Audio/Video Kindle Books (from time to time) that you can try, via this special link.


Q: "Why does Time to Read (the remaining pages of a chapter or book) seem to work only sporadically if at all?

A: 1. You need to be on WiFi for this to work, when reading a book, as the servers keep track of time taken to read, and they calculate time remaining based on that.  This information, they say, is not retrieved for the server but kept on the Kindle device.  Some people like to know, when they need to sleep or leave, how much time it might take to finish the chapter (or the next one).

    2. Also, when you're seeing location number (and page number for books that have this) and the timeline bar at the bottom of a screen, you can get the other options (Time to Read, Page No. only, Location No. only) by lightly tapping just above the bottom timeline bar.

  Then tap whatever NON-timeline-bar option is showing at bottom left to get the other options.
  If you want the timeline bar back, lightly tap just above the normal bottom-bar area, near the center.

  Note: When the timeline bar is showing, don't touch the bar itself, as it changes where you are in the book if you move it at all (which is too easy to do).


Comments and advice from the Amazon Kindle Forum Kindle Fire software update x.3.0 topic.  Emphases and bracketed comments are mine.

'
Kim Shown says
  [in response to questions about glitches after the update]
I suggest contacting kindle customer service, Scott. My kindle hd 8.9 was fixed in less than 15 minutes. He had me go to another power outlet & plug it in, then wait a couple of minutes before depressing the on button & hold it down for 30 seconds. After that, He asked me to wait 20 seconds & repeat the process. I did this 3 times, at his request; then he told me to remove it from the charger & power it back up (holding the power button for less than 15 seconds) & voila, it magically came back to life with no problems. I did get the update & that is what caused the problem, but it works fine now! I hope this helps!


A. Rupert says
" ... I made it so my email wouldn't check for new mail. "

  [I turned that one off from the start.  I don't want my tablet to be checking email all the time.

  I also make sure that my applications don't automatically update. (See Settings / Applications)  I just don't want that activity going on all the time, especially when I don't use most of my apps that much, so I don't need the constant updating that would occur.]

Murtaza Aliakbar says:
Hi I develop for Kindle Fire, and I confirm that "Collect App Usage Data" surely has nothing to do with the Battery Drain issue.

  [I posted, re this new Kindle Fire setting, found under 'Applications']
Murtaza,
Are you actually saying that gathering info on app use and taking it back to the server does not use battery life - I don't mean extraordinary use but any WiFi activity does use battery and we don't know how often you're taking that info.


mbuff says:
I had the battery drain issue (Kindle Fire HD 8.9" wifi), and now it is resolved.  Not sure exactly what fixed it, but here's what I did:
1) I turned off "Collect App Usage Data"  (I suspect it was this, not sure)
2) I [then] held down the power key for 20 seconds until my Kindle shut itself off.  Then, turned it back on.  Previously I had tried shutting it down multiple times the "normal" way without success.


KiddWilliams says:
Battery drain issues for my Fire 2nd gen., after receiving the update, seem largely resolved for me now after
1) turning off the Collect App Usage Data, and
2) doing a hard reset: press and hold the off button for a full 30 seconds, ignoring all screen prompts, etc., then waiting for a minute and turning it back on.


Dr. Bobby H. Wang MD says:
  Good news is that 7.3.0 & 8.3.0 can finally handle a >50,000 Item Cloud Library.
[ Emphasis mine -- this is good news. ]


Alan Harrah says:
For those with battery drain problems, you might try turning off location services.  Once turned on by an app that used it, it was THE main reason my battery was draining.  It seems to not allow the kindle to sleep. This needs to be fixed obviously, but turning off location services for now is something you might try to see if it helps in your case as well.

[That's another setting I do turn Off unless an app I am using REALLY needs it for something I want.]

[I also do not have Weather apps active.   The constant use of battery for some weather apps may be worth it to some, but not to me.] '

That's the latest I've seen on the discussions following the recent software updates.


  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


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Kindle Fire News and Tips: X-Ray feature being added to TV shows. A brief listing of recently X-ray-enabled TV shows and movies.

The Latest TV and Movie Instant Videos with X-Ray Feature This feature lets you see who the actors in the current scene are, when you tap the screen or pause the video. Videos with the X-Ray feature are ID'd at IMDB, an Amazon subdidiary whose databases are used for the X-Ray features. For TV, these now include episodes from: Doctor Who; Grey's Anatomy; Justified, Downton Abbey; Glee... For movies, these include: Zero Dark Thirty; Walking Dead; Les Miserables; Life of Pi; Lincoln; Skyfall... (Django Unchained isn't for Amazon rental currently.)

X-Ray for Movies & Tv is available on Kindle Fire and Wii U devices.
  To access this info while watching an Amazon Instant Video title, tap the screen or pause the video to launch X-Ray (then tap it again or start Play to continue the video).

  IMDB plans to "add X-Ray to more television content each week."

IMDB's pages say that to see if a title supports X-Ray, you should look for the "Includes X-Ray" icon on the title's Amazon Instant Video detail page.  (I'm not sure it always shows up -- maybe they're behind on that, or I'm just missing it.)


Will end this here, as I'm working on some follow-up info on the recent Kindle Fire software updates, and I'll do that separately to save the eyes and minds.

---

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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(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 Tip or Alert: Amazon's latest Kindle Book deal - 20 Kindle books for $2 each, thru' April

Amazon's latest Kindle Books deal: 20 Kindle Books for $2 Each, through April 30, 2013

  Amazon says nothing beyond this except that they include "literary fiction, mysteries, science fiction, thrillers..."

  Just an alert for those who don't receive the special offer alerts.  I've kept them on one of my Kindles.

For those who missed the April 1 monthly round-up of ongoing deals, you can find that here.







Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
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Kindle News: Amazon Vinyls now come w/ free mp3s, StatsPac app, normally $9.99 is free Mar. 5. Cloud Player for Sonos is ready. Google's Same-Day shipping pilot.

Amazon will provide free digital versions of vinyl records you buy or bought, from 1998

AFP report carried by TimesLive, New Zealand.

"...like the initial service for CD purchases, launched in January, the service is being back-dated, meaning that customers with cloud players who have already bought records at any point in Amazon's history that are now recognised as AutoRip titles are set to receive digital copies of those purchases."

Steve Boom, vp of Digital Music for Amazon: "Many of our music customers are vinyl fans and it's traditionally been very difficult to make digital versions of vinyl records-now customers can enjoy the albums they buy wherever they are, not just when they have access to a record player."

  Caveat pointed out by Wired's Roberto Baldwin: "For albums with tracks that appear only on the vinyl version, the record label or artist must supply those exclusive tracks to Amazon for downloading. For example, if you buy The Lions This Generation box set on vinyl with four tracks exclusive to the to the non-digital format, it’s up to the artist and the label to supply Amazon with those tracks."


What happens to get an Amazon shipment to you
Amazon's latest one-million square foot fulfillment center shown in Tennessee
  Local NewsChannel5 cameras gave TV watchers a look inside its new Murfreesborog facility today, and there's a brief video at their page.  The facility is active 24/7.

  Newschannel5's Shannon Royster writes that the center has enough space to contain 25 football fields and "features more than four miles of conveyor belts.

  The center was opened back in September, with 400 employees and that's grown to the 1,100 full-timers they have now, in addition to a smaller group of temporary workers.  Most 'associates' in these centers start as temporary employees.  Amazon has 3 others facilities in Tennessee and another one opening there this Fall.  They seem to be building and opening new ones fairly often these days, one reason for their lower net operating margins (1.1% relative to much higher percentages for EBay and Walmart, not to mention Apple's 22%).

  A longer story yesterday, by Scott Broden for The Daily News Journal, pointed out that the general manager Brian Owens started as a temporary employee in Delaware 15 years ago.
  This article describes the various stages of package preparation in these facilities.  I take these deliveries for granted and don't think about the How, particularly, and this was interesting to me.

  Work hours and pay: "Employees work four 10-hour shifts a week, and the jobs pay a median of $16.50 an hour."


Amazon Cloud Player for Sonos is ready to go
Those with Sonos systems can now stream music, via new Cloud Player for Sonos app, from their Amazon Clouds everywhere in the house.  As expected, you can search, browse, play songs, albums and playlists, controlled from wherever you're sitting.  I've never wanted such a system and wonder what percentage of customers uses these.


StatsPac - for Numbers people
Any stats- or math-heads awake and reading this on Friday April 5 and with Kindle Fires or other Android-based tablets can go download today's free Android app, StatsPac, by MobileCaltronics.com, from Amazon's Appstore for Android, where you can test-drive it first or read reviews. If you get it for free on that page, it'll be in your Cloud and downloadable on your tablet.

 Description excerpt: "Includes all basic descriptive statistics like IQR, boxplots, histograms and scatterplots. Performs regression analysis, linear regression T-testing and proportion-test..."
  It's normally $9.99


Tech Media and its typical war-like language
One gadget or new feature is generally viewed as "killing" another entire lineup, in the tech blog world.  I still remember the big tombstone image Jason Perlow posted in his article on the imminent death of the Kindle back in early 2010.  The thinking:
  "April 3, 2010 will mark the beginning of the end for Amazon's great hardware experiment -- the Kindle. Faced with inexpensive, multipurpose tablets such as the iPad, which will be able to consume content from multiple sources including Amazon itself, consumer interest in the Kindle will fade into oblivion."   The tombstone read "amazon kindle 2007-2010"  :-).

  Today we read, in Seeking Alpha's article by Schlomo Wiesen today, that "Google Can Sink Amazon with Same-Day Shipping" (what about the products that are being shipped?).  Why "sink"?  Might they all fill varied needs?

  Wiesen's referring to Google's announcement of the launch of a "same-day delivery service, starting with its pilot program in San Francisco."

  The questions are not only about what the products being shipped are but what the customer support policies might be on unsatisfactory products (Amazon's current reputation strength). Google will provide express shipping but customers will be dealing with companies who've signed up for this, including Target, Toys "R" Us, Walgreen, Staples, American Eagle, "and a few local SF shops.

  Google Shopping Express will be free to start, during its SF pilot stage and "is expected to hire local courier services to carry out the same-day shipping."

I'm very impatient when it comes to shipping, but two-days free shipping with Prime has taken care of my overemotional needs on this and, currently, I have reason to believe that Amazon stands behind the shipping expectations and the quality of the merchandise delivered.

If you got this far down the page today, and have thoughts on this (whether this same-day delivery is exciting and you'd go for it, past the pilot stage, for whatever the charges will be), I'd love to hear the thinking of others, either in the Comments area below or, if you're a Facebook user and it's more convenient, at the Facebook page.



  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *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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(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!

Kindle News Roundup: AT&T Kindle Fire 8.9" for $249 w/ 2-yr data plan. Amazon Cloud gets File Sync. Amazon's new Kindel, Director of mobile-something.

AT&T is offering, "for a limited time," starting April 5, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 4G LTE (cellular network access) tablet for as low as $249 (rather than $399) if you agree to sign a two-year contract for an AT&T data plan.

  This is to clarify a bit what you get and what you agree to, for that price.

The lowest cost option for this is $10 per month to connect the tablet with an AT&T Mobile Share plan, which requires a smartphone with a data plan.

 As their press release states:
  "With Mobile Share, new and existing customers can share a single bucket of data across smartphones, tablets, and other compatible devices. Customers can select Mobile Share or choose one of AT&T's individual or family plans."

  As quickly as tablets are upgraded these days, a 2-year lock-in is something to ponder though.

  As mentioned -- for the Mobile Share plan, a smartphone with data plan is required.  And if you already have one with a data plan, it would cost you $10/mo. to share its 4G LTE (4G where it's available and 3G otherwise).

  I pay $20/mo. to do that tethering, using the cell phone as a modem, giving the Kindle Fire WiFi capability that way when no WiFi network is available.  It uses the smartphone battery at the same time of course.  And there is a limit to the amount of 4G data on the smartphone plan.

  According to their description you can get $100 off any tablet if you agree to a 2-yr wireless agreement with data for a minimum $14.99/mo.* or the Mobile Share plan.
  "...An additional $50 activation credit is available for customers who purchase their device at AT&T retail stores."  And that's how you arrive at the $249 figure.

  Once you've used the max data alloted for a month on any plan, it's "$15 per GB for add'l data."


* Currently, AT&T's normal $20/mo. plan covers only 300MB/mo and that's only enough to do some email and text reading (not so much web browsing and certainly not movies).  In January, AT&T's $20/mo. plan replaced their $15/mo. plan that offered only 200MB/mo.

  Amazon's own $399 price comes with the option of 4G/LTE for one year at 250MB/mo. for $50 per year the first year and there's no requirement to be on a data plan the 2nd year.
  That's a total of $449.

  That's important because with the cheapest, smartphone-sharing plan at $10/mo. that's $240 over the $249 price, or $489 total required.  For the $15/mo. individual plan for a tablet, it's only 300MB~ data/mo. and that would be $360 above the $249 cost, for a total $609 total price over two years.

  If you want that 4G data, 300MB/mo. won't be enough if you use it for web browsing, and it will cost another $15 per GB of add'l data in a month.

  If you do want 4G for your tablet (and why else would you buy the 4G model, except that it does offer 64GB storage space) and you already have a data plan on your smartphone, then that $120/yr to share your phone's data plan is worthwhile but they require a 2-year sign-up for that, so consider the $240 additional in your price comparisons.


"Amazon turns Cloud Drive into a Dropbox rival with file syncing."
  ArsTechnica's Jon Brodkin writes:

' "The new app for Windows and Mac now includes File Sync, which lets users easily store and access files in the Amazon Cloud from a folder on their computer," an Amazon spokesperson told Ars in an e-mail. "Files in this folder are automatically stored in Cloud Drive and can be accessed from a computer or the Web.

  When you install the app on a second computer all of your synced files are available there as well. The updated app makes it simple for users to put files in Cloud Drive and to access them from any of their computers, ensuring that they always have access to the latest version of their files from home and on the road."

... The desktop application supports all Windows versions from XP to 8 and Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8. '

Unfortunately, unlike Dropbox and Google Drive, it doesn't provide syncing to Android, iOS or other mobile platforms and apparently Amazon has "nothing specific to share" when asked about their future plans on that.


Kindle's Kindel
redOrbit's Enid Burns reports that Microsoft's former GM for their Windows Phone, Charlie Kindel, coyly updated his LinkedIn profile to post his new position at Amazon as "Director, Something Secret," per Mashable.  Burns wrote that Kindel added that he's working on "something wonderful" at Amazon.

  In her round up, Burns adds that GeekWire quotes Kindel's added description: "I’m building a new team going after a totally new area for Amazon.  I’m hiring cloud and mobile developers and testers, program managers, and product managers...”

  Burns points out:

' As mentioned in his LinkedIn profile, Kindel’s hire list suggests the secret project is related to a mobile product but also mentions cloud computing.  It is undetermined whether this could be a smartphone with cloud capabilities or a cloud-based service for smartphone users. '

That's the roundup for today.
(The photo used is of Google Earth on my Kindle Fire HD.)

---

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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April's Monthly 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less - Editors' Choices + Free non-classics by publication date + discounted-book alerts. Antarctica photos.

APRIL 2013's 100 Kindle Books deal, for $3.99 or less


I highlight the monthly deal at or near the beginning of the month for those who don't know about it or might not remember.

  April pricing for this group of 100 Kindle books ranges from $0.99 to $3.99, as usual for this monthly deal, and are "hand-selected" by Amazon's Editors each month.

What you'll see on that special monthly-deals page (UK version is here) are new for April 2013.

(US Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4,  UK Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4uk)


FREE KINDLE BOOKS (Non-classics) for April (and March)
I've updated the "Temporarily-free books -- Non-classics" search results to show free contemporary Kindle books for APRIL, sorted by publication-date, as of today, April 1, 2013.  There are only a few shown on the first day of any month, and these include pre-orders due that month.  As ever, on the first day of the month, most of these are listed as "free preview" of whatever chapters chosen, some are short stories, and a few (overnight) not-entire-family-safe titles may show up.

  Here, also, are the current Search results for still free Kindle non-classics, by publication date during the last month (March).


The Kindle Daily Deal page
for any given day now shows a lot of books since it includes children's books, a couple of genre-specific deals, and the monthly daily deals as well.


DISCOUNTED / Price Dropped Kindle eBooks II - the ongoing Kindle Forum message thread
  There is an ongoing message thread in which Kindle owners share information on recent drops in pricing on specific Kindle books, often with some added info by the person posting it.

  Here's a link to the thread, starting at a March 30 posting that includes some books that are still on sale Apr. 1.
    These tend to be very short-term discounts.

  The forum topic link is to a specific day to start, in this case, 3/30, as mentioned, but you can look at previous days or keep up with ongoing alerts after that, as Amazon keeps track of the last message# that you read, so that you can start from there next time.  While most of the better deals seem around $1.99-$4.99, but there are many larger-publishing house deals included that tend to end in a DAY, so you'd need to double-check the current pricing of ANY Kindle books that interest you to see if the discounts are still active.  I see the still-popular Twilight books were heavily discounted for one day (on the 30th) and are still lower than the usual price but higher than they were on the 30th, and I've started the browse-link at a point after that.

  Again, prices are discounted for only a very short time, too often, and are promos, and that's another reason to watch the list.


DISCOUNTS ON ACCESSORIES Amazon's current (some, ongoing) on accessories for Kindle e-Reader and Kindle Fire
  1. Up to 30% on covers for Kindle eReaders
  2. Up to 50% on covers for Kindle Fire (Gen 2) and Kindle Fire HD tablets


CURRENT AND ONGOING SPECIAL DEALS
  1. Spring Outlet Event deals
  2. Goldbox and Lightning deals
    This Goldbox-page now also includes Best Deals
      and AmazonLocal Deals


Included on that page also, is a holdover sale on Canon cameras which I highlighted in a blog article March 11 and I'll include that here, for those who missed it, since those camera deals are extended now to April 27.
Here's the page for the Canon Powershot sale, while the "Best Deals" including other Canon cameras are seen here.  

  I was able to appreciate these creatures almost up close, with a newish pocket camera with a built-in 20X zoom (Canon SX260) that has excellent image stabilization and really good image quality for a camera that size and in that price range, and the zoom-in/out flexibility makes it my most-used everyday carry-camera now.  Recently $260 or more, it's $214 for the sale.

  While it's not ideal (slower lens) for fast-moving children indoors, some have said, I've had good luck with it indoors, with moving jazz musicians, and in a short videoclip in that lighting.  The videoclip uses the zoom-in feature.

  For those new to the camera, I recommend using the "Live" mode which is mostly automatic but lets you, with a press on the back control-wheel center button, adjust, live, the brightness/darkness of the final image and matches that to the LCD display image you see.  That also also lets you adjust color strength and a cool/warm tint to your preference on any shot.  Outside of that, I tend to like to use the Canon's spot-meter feature, but "Live" is good for a lot, and it has a night-time hand-held function that works really well.

  Photography is a favorite hobby for me, and my Canon SX260 sets are at PBase -- If you want to view the larger-sized versions of the shots (1024 pixels wide instead of PBase's 800 pixels wide), click on "Original" under any single normal-sized photo to get the larger versions during the viewing session.


  Even better: my cousin got this camera, a couple of weeks before going to ANTARCTICA, because of the easy zooming (she also brought her trusty Canon S95 but wound up using this one almost the entire time).
  Her photo-sets, which some of us asked her to make public, as she does these just for family:
  Antarctica I,   Antarctica II, and Antarctica III.  I was wow'd by what she saw and captured for us from that cruise.
 
For the very large versions of these, click on the top-right corner arrow of any photo.

---

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

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 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 Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

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 - $89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 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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