December 1st, 2011

Amazon launches native-language Kindle devices, Kindle Stores in Italy and Spain

Amazon this morning announced the fresh availability of a €99 Italian-language Kindle, and the opening of an Italian Kindle Store, offering customers over 16,000 Italian-language Kindle books. The same thing is happening in Spain, obviously with a Spanish-language Kindle and a custom Spanish Kindle Store (over 22,000 titles).

In addition, Amazon announced that authors and publishers in both… → Read More

December 1st, 2011

Amazon Launches Native-Language Kindle Devices, Kindle Stores In Italy And Spain

kindleit

Amazon this morning announced the fresh availability of an Italian-language Kindle, and the opening of an Italian Kindle Store, offering customers over 16,000 Italian-language Kindle books. The same thing is happening in Spain, obviously with a Spanish-language Kindle and a custom Spanish Kindle Store (over 22,000 titles).

In addition, Amazon announced that authors and publishers in both… → Read More

November 28th, 2011

Amazon: Kindles Are Flying Off The Shelves (But We’re Still Not Sharing Numbers)

fire

Amazon this morning pounded itself on the chest once more for selling Kindle devices as if they were hotcakes, particularly during last (Black) Friday. According to the company, it was the “best Black Friday ever” for the Kindle family, with Kindle sales “increasing 4x over last year”. As usual, don’t expect Amazon to share hard sales numbers, because they never do.

We’ll have to do with… → Read More

June 7th, 2011

Citi Analyst: Kindle Will Be 10 Percent Of Amazon Sales In 2012

As books goes digital, Amazon is managing the transition nicely with the Kindle. Amazon now sells more Kindle books than print books, and offers nearly a million ebook titles. In a research note that just went out this morning, citi analyst Mark Mahaney estimates that sales of Kindle devices and digital books will account for 10 percent of Amazon’s revenues in 2012.

Thanks to the Kindle… → Read More

February 28th, 2011

AT&T To Start Selling Amazon Kindle 3G In US Stores, Beginning March 6

Amazon still refuses to share how many Kindle devices it has sold to date, short from saying it’s the best-selling product in its history, but you can be sure it will become a whole lot more really soon.

AT&T this morning announced it will begin selling the Kindle 3G digital publication reader in company-owned retail stores across the United States, beginning March 6. → Read More

January 21st, 2011

Kindle DTP, Now Kindle Direct Publishing, Extends 70% Royalty Option To Canada

Amazon’s Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) is no more, at least not by that name. Starting today, the self-publishing program will be known as Kindle Direct Publishing.

With Kindle Direct Publishing, anyone can self-publish books on the Kindle Store, free of charge. → Read More

October 25th, 2010

Amazon Touts Kindle Sales Numbers Without Sharing Kindle Sales Numbers

Unsurprisingly, the fourth quarter is usually the best sales period for the Kindle (and most retail products), but it looks like this year will be especially strong as more consumers flock to e-books. After announcing a new e-book loan feature last week, Amazon is revealing a number of new Kindle stats today in time for the holiday shopping rush.

According to the company, sales of the new→ Read More

September 28th, 2010

Amazon Debuts "Kindle for the Web", Which Is Pretty Much What It Sounds Like

Amazon.com today introduced the beta version of “Kindle for the Web”, which enables people to read and share digital book samples in their browsers without the need to install or download anything.

The company says it aims to lure bloggers and website publishers who participate in the Amazon Associates Program to embed samples of Kindle books on their websites (here’s how). It seems like a… → Read More

August 25th, 2010

Hands-On First Impressions: Amazon Kindle 3

In my hands right now, ladies and gentlemen? The latest version of the Amazon Kindle, known colloquially as the Kindle 3. Here’s what’s what. → Read More

May 17th, 2010

Kindle For Android Hits This Summer — And You Can Buy Books In It

Easily one of my favorite apps for the iPad is the Kindle app. Weird, I know. But in some ways it’s superior to the iPad’s own iBooks experience. You can sync it across multiple devices, for example. And this Summer, that will also include Android phones. And there’s a nice big bonus for that platform too.

Amazon has announced tonight that Kindle for Android will available in the coming weeks. → Read More

January 21st, 2010

In A Pre-Apple Tablet World, Instapaper + Kindle Is King

Everyone is awaiting Apple’s tablet device. Some people (like me) won’t shut up about it. Others (like Paul) won’t shut up about shutting up about it. And while no one is exactly certain what its main use will be, there are no shortage of signs pointing to a definite role as a new way to consume written media. And several old-school publishers seem to be tripping over themselves to get on board… → Read More

January 15th, 2010

Amazon Opens Up Kindle Digital Text Platform To Authors Outside The U.S.

Amazon.com this morning announced that it is expanding its self-service Kindle Digital Text Platform worldwide, giving more authors and publishers the chance to upload and sell books in English, German and French to customers around the world in the Kindle Store.

Until today, DTP was only available to authors and publishers based in the United States. Amazon says additional language options with… → Read More

June 29th, 2009

Libre: And now iriver preps its own e-book reader (for Japan at least)

Sometime this year iRiver, which will soon change its name to MouseComputer, will release its very own e-book reader in Japan. It’ll be called the Libre, and it’ll probably be priced around ¥29,800 ($312). → Read More

May 28th, 2009

Video: Plastic Logic Prototype E-Reader

Plastic Logic is showing off a prototype of its thin-film electronic reader at the D7 conference. The main difference between what Plastic Logic is trying to build and the Kindle is that its screen technology is much thinner, lighter and can be incorporated into more flexible form- factors. I shot the video showing what it can do.

Check out the video after the jump. → Read More

May 7th, 2009

How Big Can The Kindle Get?

Yesterday, Amazon launched its larger-format Kindle DX with a built-in PDF reader and partnership deals with textbook and newspaper companies. Today, Wall Street analysts are weighing in on what kind of impact the DX might have on Amazon’s numbers. Barclay Capital’s Doug Anmuth estimates that the DX alone could add $800 million in revenues and $100 million in gross profits in 2012. Total Kindle… → Read More

May 6th, 2009

For Books Available On Kindle, Sales Are Now Tracking At 35 Percent Of Print Sales

The most startling thing Jeff Bezos said today at Amazon’s launch of the Kindle DX, it’s large-format Kindle optimized for textbooks and newspapers, was this statistic: For books that are available on the Kindle, sales are already 35 percent of the same books in print, up from 13 percent just a few months ago. In other words, if a paper book sells 10,000 copies on Amazon, it will sell an… → Read More

February 3rd, 2009

Is The Kindle Outpacing Early iPod Sales?

When the Kindle sold out during the holidays, I guessed that Amazon would end the year selling 500,000 of its electronic books. All I did was roughly double the 240,000 that had sold through the middle of the summer. But now Citi analyst Mark Mahaney has come to the same conclusion, using better data.

In a note today, he cites some numbers in Sprint’s 10Q filings that indicate 210,000 devices… → Read More

November 30th, 2008

Want A Kindle Before Christmas? Get Ready To Pay

Last year Amazon had trouble filling orders of the then-new Kindle, so eBay took over and prices rocketed to $1,500. This year, same problem. Amazon says orders for Kindles will take 11-13 weeks to fulfill (which is, we believe, when they will launch the Kindle 2). So you aren’t getting one by Christmas directly from Amazon.

But eBay and Amazon stores have them for sale. New ones are going for as… → Read More

November 25th, 2008

Amazon Kindle 2 Slated For "Early Q1"

Update on the Kindle 2: It was scheduled to be released in October in time for this holiday season, but Bezos himself reportedly pulled the plug for last minute changes to the software. Our sources now say it’s tentatively scheduled to go on sale in “early next quarter.”

The images that surfaced of the new Kindle in October are real – it’s a longer device but not as thick as the original Kindle… → Read More

August 23rd, 2008

Amazon Confirms Student Version Of Kindle

Amazon confirmed our speculation that they are planning to target colleges and universities with a new version of the Kindle, reports the Seattle PI. Textbooks are a $5.5 billion annual market, and most publishers now offer electronic versions of their textbooks. McGraw-Hill Education, for example, publishes 95% of their books electronically as well as in print. But there is no compelling device… → Read More

August 11th, 2008

Those Kindle Estimates Keep Going Up.

Ten days ago TechCrunch reported that Amazon has shipped 240,000 Kindles. At the time, I noted that Citi analyst Mark Mahaney’s estimates looked a little low by comparison. Those estimates, published in May, put sales of Kindles at 189,000 this year, 467,000 in 2009, and 2.2 million in 2010. “It might be time for him to revise those numbers upward,” I suggested. This morning, he… → Read More