Following a bit of backlash arising from the loss of popular Viacom-owned children’s TV shows, Netflix today launched Netflix Families, which is essentially just a destination website designed to tout Netflix’s family fare. The site includes rows of Netflix recommendations for parents and kids, as well as tips on how to stream and other promotional content. → Read More
After more than a year of speculation and delays, Amazon Kindle e-readers and tablets will reportedly be available for sale in China on June 7. E-readers like the Paperwhite and Kindle Fire tablets will be sold on Amazon China’s website, as well as Tesco stores operated by retail conglomerate Suning. Amazon Kindle kiosks have already been spotted in a Beijing Tesco, Sina Tech reports (link… → Read More
Amazon quietly launched its Appstore in China this weekend in a surprise move that paves the way for the rollout of Kindle devices in that country.
At the same time, Amazon also debuted its Chinese-language Web site for developers (link via Google Translate), promising that they will soon have access to customers in 200 countries. → Read More
Amazon today announced a number of new features for its Kindle for iOS app that aim to make it easier to use for blind and visually impaired users. Today’s update, Amazon says, will make it easier for these users to use features like “X-Ray, End Actions, sharing, highlighting and bookmarking.” Amazon says these new features are available on iOS today, but it plans to make them… → Read More
E-commerce giant Amazon looks like it is gearing up for the latest chapter in its international expansion: an operation in Russia. According to this article in Forbes (in Russian) the company has opened its first office in the country, headed by Arkady Vitrouk. Vitrouk is the former general director of ABC-Atticus, a publishing group owned by media barron Alexander Mamut. → Read More
Barnes & Noble subsidiary Nook today announced the launch of Nook Press, a self-publishing platform to help the e-reader and e-book seller attract more self-publishing authors. The platform will help Nook compete with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, providing a content creation and management tool that builds on Barnes & Noble’s aging PubIt! platform with tools designed in partnership… → Read More
How low will Amazon’s tablets go? We’re now hearing that a $99 Kindle Fire 7″ tablet is in production, and will be shipping this year. At a price that low, the Kindle Fire would be able to more easily compete at the tail end of the Android-based tablet market – an area which is today dominated by low-cost tablets out of China, often sold at the sub-$100 price point. → Read More
Amazon just launched the Send to Kindle button, which clips Web content and saves it to Kindle readers and apps, for Web developers and WordPress bloggers. The button is also now available on The Washington Post, TIME, and Boing Boing. → Read More
Amazon just announced that it would be dropping the price of the 8.9-inch version of its Kindle Fire HD. The tablet will now cost $269 for the Wi-Fi only version and $399 for the Wi-Fi and LTE version. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is now available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Japan as well. Canada won’t get the device this time around. → Read More
Amazon yesterday updated its Kindle for iOS app, which works across iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, to version 3.6.1. The update was meant to fix a few bugs as well as the registration process. Instead, that update seems to be wreaking havoc on bookworm-style iThing owners who watched as their Amazon digital libraries and saved settings were erased before their eyes.
Here’s just a taste of the… → Read More
A study from Matthias Schlesewsky at Johannes Gutenberg University found that readers older than 60 benefit markedly from the backlit screen of many ereader tablets despite their perceived dislike of the platform. While younger folks exhibited no difference in reading on multiple devices, seniors were able to concentrate more completely using a tablet computer. The researchers found that younger… → Read More
Amazon’s Lab126, the secretive R&D group behind the Kindle, is apparently on a hiring spree, as noted by the EETimes, which speculates that the organization may be planning to spin out the lab as a stand-alone company. There are currently about 250 job openings available, with most based in Silicon Valley, but several in Hyderabad, India, one in Shenzhen, China and another in Tokyo. → Read More
Same-day shipping became the big retailer craze this holiday season. Why? As the New York Times points out, retailers are living in fear of Amazon.com and trying to match what the online retailer offers.
The fear factor — Wal-Mart once had a trance on retail. Now it’s Amazon.com. But it’s not just retail that has begun to show deeper anxiety about Amazon. Its’ the enterprise giants, too, that… → Read More
Amazon has announced that Kindle e-readers are now available for sale in Brazil–but not from Amazon’s website for that country. Instead, the e-reader is available from electronic e-tailer Pontofrio.com.br and Livraria da Vila bookstores with a suggested retail price of R$299 (about $143). → Read More
The long-anticipated release of Kindle devices in China may finally become a reality. On Wednesday, the Kindle iPhone and iPad apps launched in the Chinese App Store; the Android version is also available for download. Meanwhile, Amazon China’s Kindle bookstore is now stocked with about 22,500 Chinese language titles. → Read More
The Kindle Paperwhite is Amazon’s latest ereader. After four generations of devices, Kindle users expected a slight incremental update from the previous Kindle Touch. But everything was improved in the Paperwhite, from the operating system to the display resolution. On top of that, Amazon added frontlighting. After two months of use, it remains the best reading device. → Read More
Amazon today launched FreeTime Unlimited, a subscription service that offers movies, games, and books for the kids. The launch follows the recent software update to Kindle Fire, which introduced FreeTime, a profile system designed to restrict access to certain content. → Read More
So let me get this straight: this year’s “Cyber Monday” (the worst fake holiday name in the history of fake holidays — and names) was a new record day for Amazon when it came to Kindle sales. So was “Black Friday” (at least this one sounds like a plague). Overall, the holidays brought “more than double” the numbers of last year’s record sales.
Great! So what were last year’s… → Read More
Amazon and Barnes & Noble have always been good at building portable reading devices. But what happens when video and apps try to elbow their way into the pure reading experience? Well, you get devices like the Nook and Kindle Fire HD – and now the Kindle HD 8.9-inch. This large tablet is so big that I’d be loath to call it an ereader at all but rather a fairly inexpensive, all-in-one device… → Read More
In October Amazon added Japan for the first time to the list of markets where it sells its Kindle and Kindle Fire tablets, which will go on sale December 19. Today, it’s giving those products a bit of services support: the Cloud Drive is now live in Japan, too. → Read More
Take that, Rakuten! Amazon continues to extend its reach into new markets and increase its focus in Asia: today it announced pre-orders for its first Japanese-language Kindle, the Paperwhite, and, in another first, it has now extended its Kindle Store into Japan, opening with 50,000 titles in the library. It also today kicked off sales of the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire in the country. → Read More
Now that Amazon has unblocked a Norwegian reader’s Kindle account after, without reason or warning, locking down her Kindle, I think we’re at a point when we need to start taking back our digital property. We literally have about a decade before printed books are gone – and I’m giving us a good long time to destroy what Gutenberg hath wrought – and soon digital content will be the norm. That’s why… → Read More
Apple executives will put the spotlight on the iPad’s educational value tomorrow at its planned San Jose event, according to a new report. Businessweek cites “a person with knowledge of the planning” of the event as the source, but doesn’t go into further detail. But if Apple’s introducing a lower-cost iPad mini as expected, the benefits in terms of institutional purchases are obvious. → Read More
The Kindle DX (artist’s rendition shown here), Amazon’s 10-inch offering to the academic set, has been discontinued on the site and is only available from used dealers. Although there has been no official word concerning the DX, the product was reduced from $379 to $299 and the DX is currently out of stock on Amazon. → Read More
The Kindle Paperwhite is an amazing ereader. It’s arguably the best on the market. But it’s not flawless. Some users, including several TechCrunch writers, noticed the lighting on their Paperwhite is not evenly spaced, resulting in odd, slightly distracting gaps at the bottom of the screen (see the pic). → Read More
Amazon had another European announcement today. The Kindle Paperwhite is now available to pre-order in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Canada won’t get it for now. → Read More
Amazon continues to roll out its content offerings in Europe. Soon, Amazon Prime members will be able to borrow books from the Kindle owners’ lending library. 200,000 books are available at the time of this writing. Amazon will increase the KDP Select program fund to catch up with the increase of demand in book lending. → Read More
Kobo announced today via its company blog that the Kobo Glo and Kobo Mini e-readers are now on sale at Canadian retailers Indigo, Future Shop and Best Buy, and in the U.K. at WHSmith. The $80 Mini and $130 Glo were announced in September, just ahead of the unveiling of Amazon’s new Kindle lineup. Kobo also announced today that its Arc 7-inch Android tablet will be hitting store shelves in Nov. → Read More
Amazon apparently underestimated the success of its newest e-reader. The company just updated its shipping estimate, pushing back the delivery date to four to six weeks after ordering. Both models, with or without 3G, are experiencing the same delay. And it’s no surprise — the device is more than an incremental improvement. → Read More
The e-reader arms race moves at a glacial pace. Barnes & Noble does one thing, Amazon follows. Amazon adds a feature and, slowly but surely, B&N adds the same thing. While the Kindle itself has been updated five times since 2008, it seems like it’s been around for decades and has only just now gotten much, much better.
The latest e-ink Kindle, the Paperwhite, is a beautiful device… → Read More
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