The Kindle Fire HD has a 7-inch display running at 1280 x 800 resolution, and packs Bluetooth, dualband WiFi, and an HDMI output. A front-facing camera, 16GB or 32GB of onboard storage, and a battery rated for over ten hours round out the package. In our review, we rated its tight integration with Amazon’s ebooks, multimedia, and other cloud services, assuming you’re a frequent shopper from the retailer.

As for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, that steps up the display to an 8.9-inch panel running at 1920 x 1200 – more than Full HD. It also has a faster processor, TI’s OMAP4470, though the same connectivity options as the smaller version.

The Kindle Fire HD 7 is up for preorder from the equivalent of $214, while the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes in at the equivalent of $284. They’ll ship to those in Ireland and Gibraltar from the UK site; to Austria and Luxembourg from the German site; and to Monaco from the French site.

Back when we reviewed the Fire HD 8.9, we praised its pricing and the consistency of the experience, though as with the Fire HD it’s less well-rounded if you’re not entirely dedicated to Android. Both Kindles are positioned basically as mobile storefronts for the retailer, and since there’s no official Google Play access you’re limited to what third-party apps Amazon allows into its own Appstore.

The jump from seven countries to more than 170 is another sign of Amazon’s growing hardware ambitions. Earlier this month, leaks suggested the company was working on at least two potential smartphones, one of which would use a glasses-free 3D display with eye-tracking for improved performance over previous implementations of the technology.

A Sonos-style music streamer was also tipped, though there’s no guarantee that – even if the products are in development – Amazon won’t axe the projects before they see the light of day.

Update: Amazon has also announced today that its Appstore for Android is now live in “nearly 200 countries”, paving the way for the Kindle Fire HD expansion. The service will also come to Brazil “in the coming months” the retailer says.

Anything over 10,000 words will see the author of the fan fiction getting 35-percent of the net revenue, as per Amazon’s existing publishing deal. However, there’s also a new tier for shorter stories – anything between 5,000 and 10,000 words – which will pay the author 20-percent.

The three existing Worlds come from Warner Bros.’s Alloy Entertainment division, but Amazon says that’s only the start of it. The company is in negotiations with rights holders across multiple types of media – TV, movies, books, games, and even music – to try to encourage them to allow authors to borrow their characters.

For those content rights holders, Amazon argues that it’s a no-lose situation, with a fresh way to monetize their characters in addition to reaching out to new audiences. There’ll also be “content guidelines” – drawn up with Amazon – “that balance flexibility and openness for writers with what’s reasonable for the franchise.”

That probably means that some of the more outlandish fan fiction styles out there – particularly those which create unexpected romantic trysts – may not be approved for Kindle Worlds. Amazon has already said that explicit content is not allowed, nor anything excessively graphic, violent, or that includes hate speech of any sort. Interestingly, there’s also a ban on crossover between worlds, so you couldn’t have characters from Gossip Girl interacting with those from Pretty Little Liars.

Fan fiction has proved divisive among authors, with some appreciating the devotion and imagination the generally amateur writers bring, while others have proved less keen. Orson Scott Card, for instance, author of Ender’s Game, has been aggressively anti-fanfic for some time, telling readers back in 2004 that “the time to write fan fiction is ‘never.’”

Nonetheless, the opportunity to squeeze some extra cash from a franchise may prove appealing to rights owners, and for the authors themselves it’s a chance to potentially make some money from a hobby.

Positioned between 6th and 7th Avenues, and in the shadow of the high-rise buildings also intended by Amazon, the proposed structure would have a ground level for retail approached from 7th Ave, while the opposite entrance would open into the floor above, where some degree of retail would also be accommodated. Three further levels above would be filled with fully-grown trees and “living walls” of plant-life.

The new biosphere design is a significant departure from Amazon’s previous approach to the “Rufus 2.0″ block, which was approved before. Then, the retailer had intended a large, block-like structure, hardly unimpressive but certainly more mainstream than the updated vision.

In total, Amazon’s architects, NBBJ, have designed 65,000sf of high-ceilinged space within the structure, with a variety of “botanical zones” being modeled. In all, the project – along with the trio of 37-floor towers – is expected to take a minimum of six years to complete.

Amazon isn’t the only company with ambitious building plans of late. Apple’s spaceship-style “Campus 2″ is a huge undertaking in Cupertino, though the company has recently pared back plans after the project was revealed to be both behind schedule and a whopping $2bn over budget.

VIA: PhysOrg; GeekWire

The Department of Health and Human Services has signed on to use Amazon’s cloud services, adding onto the more than 300 government organizations already using Amazon’s Web Services, including the US Navy, NASA, and the US Department of Treasury. Amazon says that having the government on board cuts cost for both Amazon and government organizations, so it’s a win-win situation.

Of course, this by no means confirms that Amazon is working with the CIA on a private cloud service, but it does add on more evidence that a CIA deal could be true. Then again, we’re guessing that the CIA would require a much more secure cloud offering, so that technically could still be in the works.

Amazon’s Web Services has been popular amongst many company’s, including startups and even those with high-traffic websites such as Netflix. While Amazon has servers located all around the world, the government is only concerned with those located strictly in the US, and it’ll be interesting how it turns out, as the government will probably be more demanding with their cloud needs, so we’ll see if Amazon can keep up.

On a slightly related note, Amazon has launched its Cloud Drive service in Canada, offering users 5GB of space for free, with the opportunity to upgrade starting at 20GB for $10 per year. Amazon has been continuing to launch Cloud Drive in several countries, including Spain, Italy, and Japan just last year. Because of the launch of Cloud Drive in Canada, we cloud also see the Kindle Fire launching in the country as well at some point, so we’ll be sure to keep our ear to the ground for any Canadian launches.

SOURCE: Reuters

Among the shows that Amazon will add as part of its agreement are shows from USA Network including Covert Affairs and Suits. The agreement will also see the new SyFy show Defiance and two NBC programs, including Grimm and Hannibal, are coming to the streaming service. The shows won’t all show up at the same time.

Grimm, which is based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales, is available as of today. Both of the USA Network shows, Suits and Covert Affairs, are available today as well. NBC’s new show Hannibal will be available later this year. Syfy channel’s Defiance won’t show up until early next year.

Amazon says shows that are exclusive to its streaming service will offer access to prior season episodes. That would seem to indicate new episodes won’t be coming straightway. Along with the programs already mentioned, the deal also brings access to several other popular series.

Syfy’s Alphas, Eureka, and Warehouse 13 are also coming to Prime Instant Video. The service will also gets a new children’s shows including Curious George and The Land Before. Both of the children’s programs will be available in the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited content service.

SOURCE: Amazon

One US dollar is equivalent to 100 Coins, though Amazon will be offering discounts for bulk purchases. That could make converting real currency into virtual more cost-effective, if you’re a frequent shopper; Amazon says that buying large quantities of Coins will see up to a 10-percent discount.

So, 500 Coins will cost $4.80 at present, or a 4-percent discount. If you buy 10,000 Coins, however, it’ll come in at $90, or a 10-percent saving.

The Coins have no expiration date, and can be used on the 2nd-gen Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD 7″, Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, and on the Amazon Appstore on Amazon.com. Those with a 1st-gen Kindle Fire aren’t left out, though they’ll have to buy whatever they wanted to download on Amazon.com, not on their tablet, and then download it from the Cloud tab on the slate.

Right now, Coins and regular currency can’t be mixed, so you can’t empty your Amazon account of virtual currency and then top-up the rest with normal dollars. Instead, you’ll have to buy a new chunk of Coins; the smallest number you can buy is 500. If you don’t have sufficient in your account, the option to pay with Coins will be greyed out.

The launch of a virtual currency perhaps lends extra weight to speculation that Amazon’s hardware ambitions don’t end with the Kindle Fire range. Earlier this month, rumors circulated that the company’s hardware team was working on at least two new smartphones – one said to have a glasses-free 3D display – as well as a Sonos-rivaling streaming media box. Previous leaks have indicated a set-top box is also in the pipeline.

Those would all integrate well with a common virtual currency, and Coins may be Amazon’s glue to stick the ecosystem together. Users may perhaps be more likely to buy a tablet, phone, and STB all from the same vendor, if they can use the same cash-equivalent across all three (and get a discount in the process).

The new app from Amazon can automatically upload photos that you take with your iPhone directly to your Amazon Cloud Drive, and within the app, all your photos will be organized and ready to browse or share. However, just like with Dropbox’s automatic photo upload feature, it only works when the app is open due to limitations within iOS.

The Android version of the app launched back in November, and unlike iOS users, the app is able to upload photos directly to Amazon’s Could Drive whether the app is open or not. However, unlike Apple’s Photo Stream, you can view the photos in a web browser from any computer, just like with Dropbox and even Google Drive, which begs the question: Is Amazon’s cloud offerings good enough to take on Google and Dropbox?

Amazon offers users 5GB for free to start out with, and paid options are available for those who need more storage space (plans start at 20GB for $10 per year). With Google Drive, you also get 5GB free, with paid options starting at just $2.49 per month for 25GB). As for Dropbox, you start off with a measly 2GB for free, but can upgrade for $10 per month, which will land you 100GB. So, all of these options clearly offer different paying schemes, but if you’re already invested in Amazon’s ecosystem, the addition of Cloud Drive Photos will be a welcomed.

VIA: PC Mag

SOURCE: iTunes App Store

“Using retina-tracking technology, images on the smartphone would seem to float above the screen like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles” the insiders claim. “Users may be able to navigate through content using just their eyes.”

That’s only one of a number of smartphones Amazon is working on, with at least two tipped to reach the market. Fewer details are known about the second phone, which is known – alongside the other hardware – as Project A, B, C, and D within Lab126. The clandestine development is internally referred to as the “Alphabet Projects” its said.

As for the the media-streamer, that’s said to be an audio-only product, and could potentially be similar to a Sonos. Interestingly, despite previous rumors in April about Amazon working on a set-top box through which it would deliver streaming media such as on-demand Amazon Prime video, this musical product is said to be a different project.

In fact, Amazon is apparently looking to hardware on a grand scale, though the sources did also suggest that any or all of the projects could be axed before they actually reach the marketplace. That could be down to financial or other concerns, they suggest, or simply deciding that the smartphones and other devices aren’t ready for prime-time.

Nonetheless, it doesn’t come as a huge surprise to hear that Amazon is flirting with new products, particularly in mobility. The company’s ambitions in the smartphone space have been widely-rumored since before even the Kindle Fire tablets were released, with Amazon expected to use a heavily-customized version of Android tailored to suit its digital media sales ambitions.

As for the media streamer possibility, with Amazon already having an MP3 download store, and the Amazon Cloud Player service streaming content from the online locker to users’ smartphones, funneling it instead to home audio equipment doesn’t seem too far fetched. In that case, Amazon’s tablets and potential smartphone could then become a touchscreen remote, navigating through playlists.

Of course, glasses-free 3D has been met with mixed – though generally negative – reactions from the public when companies have tried to use it in mobile devices. The Nintendo 3DS, for instance, has struggled to carve a niche out, despite its relatively unique feature of 3D gameplay, while LG’s attempts to put glasses-free 3D in phones in the shape of the Optimus 3D also failred to spawn a sequel.

One possibility is that by using an eye-tracking system, the 3D effect could be considerably more impressive. Currently glasses-free systems lack precision, and can appear more like layers of stacked images than true 3D. Factoring in more accurate gaze-tracking, however, could improve on that, making a true 3D interface more usable.

Both Android and iOS devices working with Amazon Cloud Player are ready for action with Ford SYNC AppLink-equipped vehicles. The iOS version has been outlined this week with dashboard controls as well as voice recognition abilities. Users will also be hearing their tunes with high-quality 256kbps audio straight from their vehicle’s speaker system.

With Amazon’s system, users will have the ability to play music wirelessly from their iOS device or through their Cloud Player. With Cloud Player, music is accessed through Amazon’s online archive, this allowing the user’s vehicle and iOS device to free up local storage space for alternate media.

This push is affecting the 2013 Ford Fiesta, Mustang, Focus, C-MAX Hybrid, E-Series, F-150, Expedition, Fusion, and Super Duty models, and will quite likely be appearing on future vehicles with Ford SYNC AppLink embedded as well. This connectivity should be appearing on and with your vehicle and iOS device starting today. Android users should, by all means, have had this connectivity working nicely since February – if you’re still waiting, make a move!

Google’s Play store relies upon a retroactive checking system where malware is weeded out rather than blocked from ever being distributed. In that way, it has proved relatively straightforward for damaging titles to be released and downloaded, especially given the absence of official paid apps support from Google itself means many Android users look to cracked versions in order to use them.

In contrast, Amazon checks each title for safety before it offers it for download, meaning malware can’t get through. The downside is fewer apps compared to the official store, however, though Amazon says it is working with local developers to boost those numbers; membership in the developer program is currently free.

Whether the retailer can indeed persuade Chinese users to pay for titles that are broadly available free – if illegally hacked – elsewhere remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Google has declined to comment on when it might launch paid app support in China.

[via Reuters]

The Acer W3-810-1600 is an 8.1-inch tablet with a resolution the same as the Nexus 7 – 1,280 x 800 – running Windows 8. According to the specs list, inside users will find a 1.5GHz A4 processor and 2GB of RAM, as well as 32GB of internal storage space. Graphics come by way of Intel GMA, and the battery has a 3500mAh capacity with a reported charge life of 8 hours.

The only connectivity feature listed is 802.11b/g/n – no mention of Bluetooth. There’s a rear webcam with a decent 2-megapixels, and the entire unit measures in at 8.62 x 5.31 x 0.45-inches with a weight of 1.1-pounds. The color for the device is silver – it is possible there could be other color options, but only time will tell.

And finally, there’s the price: $379.99. While it isn’t the cheapest tablet out there, the price tag is nothing unusual for a slate, and it is important to remember that it runs full-blown Windows 8, not the less-than-consumer-embraced Windows RT. There’s nothing else to speak of on the device for now, but if the rumors prove true, we should start hearing about the slate – or others like it – by this fall.

[via PC Magazine]

According to Amazon’s Best Sellers list in the video game category, the game is in third place behind PSN and Xbox Live memberships. Thus, Call of Duty: Ghosts is the best-selling video game on the website. The game leads in the Xbox 360 category and comes in second place in the PS3 category behind BioShock Infinite. Sadly, it’s a no show on Amazon’s Best Seller list for PC games, but that could change.

As for the UK, Call of Duty: Ghosts takes the number one and two spots with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, respectively. While many people would argue that the Call of Duty series is quickly dying, it seems many gamers are still loyal to the series, and want to continue on with the story that each game extends on.

We’ll get our first look at the new game on May 21, when Activision and Infinity Ward will make an appearance at Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox unveil, which confirms that we’ll see Call of Duty: Ghosts come to next-gen consoles like the rumored Xbox 720 and the recently-announced PlayStation 4 from Sony.

Although watchlist functionality has been present for Netflix US on-demand subscribers for some time, the ability to create a playlist has been largely absent outside of that country. In the UK, for instance, Netflix lacks the ability to create a “My Queue” list, despite regular requests from users.

Now, though, LOVEFiLM users in the UK and Germany will be able to line up a number of shows to watch, with the list synchronized across all apps and sites that are logged into the same account. There’s also a new homepage layout, which includes a “last viewed” widget with details on what was last played, what device played it, and what viewing point was reached, making it easier to resume.

Otherwise, there’s new search functionality and an updated recommendation engine, and LOVEFiLM has tweaked the UI in general to make things easier to navigate. The new PS3 app is available now, though LOVEFiLM hasn’t said when exactly those with other internet-connected devices will get it.

The update also incudes a section in the sidebar meant for users who are new to the Kindle platform. This section is called Popular Samples, in which users can browse a number of free samples of books to read, to get them acquainted with the Kindle app, as well as find interesting books that they might like.

The new tablet interface has definitely changed according to our experience, and the home screen features the same Cover Flow-esque navigation that’s on the Kindle Fire, allowing you to swipe through different books, newspapers, and magazines. The sidebar also gives you quick access to other sections of the app, including the Kindle Store and the aforementioned Samples.

The app also comes with a slew of the usual bugfixes and general performance enhancements that we see in every app update, so if you’re not a big fan of the new design, you’ll at least have a more rounded-out app that’s a bit quicker and snappier than before. The update is available now in the Google Play store.

The company met its revenue expectations, however, with a guidance of between $15 billion and $16.6 billion that they set back in January. As for a breakdown of where the retail giant’s money came from, the US remains to be Amazon’s largest market, with $9.4 billion of sales revenue being from the US, with the rest of world ringing in at $6.7 billion.

As for expectations for the next quarter, Amazon is predicting revenues somewhere in the $14.5 billion and $16.2 billion range, or to rise between 13% and 26% compared with the same quarter last year. As for their operating income, they’re expecting another loss in the range of -$340 million and $10 million, compared to $107 million a year ago.

Amazon recently debuted 14 pilots from original series that they’re planning on running. However, only a few will make it through. According to the company, the shows that make it through will be entirely picked by the viewers based of feedback. All of them are available now to stream for free.

The set-top box will be deeply integrated with Amazon’s video selection, including its Instant Video service, and its collection of other video on-demand products. It will do wonders in getting Amazon more business for its Instant Video service as well as getting more viewers for its original series. It would also help it compete against other video-streaming services, like Netflix.

According to Business Week, the set-top box project is being led by Cisco’s former VP of Emerging Video Products, Malachy Moynihan, and the product is being built at Amazon’s Lab126 division. Lab126 has several engineers that are experienced in developing TV-related products, including Andy Goodman, who was a top engineer at TiVo and Vudu, and Chris Coley, who used to be a hardware architect at ReplayTV.

The name for the set-top box is still going under consideration, but sources say that it could be dubbed “Kindle TV”. There’s also a good chance that Amazon will include other streaming services onto the set-top box, including Netflix, YouTube, and Hulu, giving customers more options to view their favorite shows, and also giving customers more incentive on purchasing its product. And knowing Amazon, this product will be priced competitively against the other set-top boxes currently on the market.

[via Bloomberg Businessweek]

Amazon says that it’s Originals programs made up 8 out of 10 of the most streamed episodes across the entire video service following their Friday debut. Amazon says that customers have been rating the original programs very highly with 80% of all reviews ratings shows at four and five stars. That 80% four and five star review is after “thousands of customer reviews” according to Amazon.

Amazon is asking subscribers to continue submitting feedback because the feedback will help them determine which of these pilot episodes to turn into full series. Amazon hasn’t offered up any details on exactly how many people streamed their Originals pilots. There is also no word so far on which of the pilots are in contention for being picked up as a series.

“For the past year the Amazon Studios team has collaborated with some of the best actors and writers in Hollywood to produce top-quality shows. Now we’ve handed the remote to our customers to hear what they think,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “In just a few days the pilots have received thousands of helpful and sometimes hilarious reviews. Keep the feedback coming—and help us decide which pilots will be turned into full series.”

One thing I’ve never seen Amazon mention is how many of these programs than it might pickup to be turned into a full series. It’s unclear if Amazon is only looking for one show or if several or even all of them have a chance if viewers really like them. I’d wager with the expense of putting together these pilot episodes, every show that proves popular enough will be picked up.

[via Amazon]

Before you can install Xbox Smartglass onto your Kindle Fire, you have to make sure that your device is at least running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Smartglass brings the second-screen option to your Kindle Fire, allowing you to control your music and video through your tablet, type using your tablet’s keyboard, view second-screen options for movies/TV shows you’re watching, and interact with extra content provided by certain games. You are also able to track achievements, customize your avatar, browse the internet, and much more.

An example of the usefulness of Smartglass would be if you’re watching a movie. On your tablet, you can pause,play, fast forward your movie and more. But not only that, on the side panel, there will also be a description box providing you with relevant information regarding the media playing on your Xbox 360, including episode summaries, the TV show storyline, and much more.

With certain games, like Skyrim, your Kindle Fire will serve as a companion that will help you as you navigate throughout the game’s fantasy maps. You can use your Kindle Fire as a map to make sure you’re never lost in the game’s massive world. You can download Xbox SmartGlass for your Kindle Fire from Amazon’s App Store. The functionality of the app should be the same as the app for Android.

There will be eight comedy shows and six children shows for viewers to vote on. Several of the comedy pilots have big-name actors involved. The pilots include Alpha House, which stars John Goodman, and follows four US Senators living in a rented house in Washington DC.

Another of the comedy series is called Betas following friends working in Silicon Valley startups. Browsers is a musical comedy set in Manhattan following young people in their first jobs at a news website. Dark Minions is a cartoon about two slackers trying to living while working on an intergalactic worship.

Rounding out the remainder of the pilots include Onion News Empire, Supanatural (animated), and Those Who Can’t. One of the most interesting comedy pilots is Zombieland, a series based on the film of the same name. The kid’s series include Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Teeny Tiny Dogs, and Tumbleaf. The pilots for all of these shows are available to watch and vote on now.

[via LOVEFiLM]

We’ve already heard about a couple of them in the past, one being a Zombieland original series, as well as a geek-oriented comedy called Betas. Both pilots of these shows are available now, as well as 12 other shows split between the comedy genre and children’s variety. The six children’s shows include Annebots, Creative Galaxy, Positively Ozitively, Sara Solves It, Teeny Tiny Dogs, and Tumbleaf.

As for the remaining comedies not already mentioned, there’s Alpha House, Browsers, Dark Minions, Onion News Empire, Supanatural, and Those Who Can’t. You can watch all 14 episodes right now, but you’ll need an Amazon Prime account if you don’t have one already. You’ll get free two-day shipping, as well as access to Amazon Instant Video.

As for how many shows Amazon wants to begin producing, it seems that the company’s goal is to get half of the 14 shows currently available ordered up for a full season of about 13 episodes each. However, there’s no set number that Amazon has decided on, and it could turn out that even less than seven shows end up getting picked, so be sure to submit your feedback if you want to see the episodes you like continue on.

The tip comes from an inside source speaking with the Wall Street Journal, saying Apple’s plan was to have Goodreads data utilized inside iTunes. With Goodreads collection of data on book recommendations, the iTunes search interface would have become much more pointed in the way of customers finding books they’d find interest in based on their known interests. While the amount of cash exchanging hands in the deal between Goodreads and Amazon is not known in full, cash sums of over $200 million have been tipped.

While this report suggested that Apple “tried to stop the deal”, it’s also quite possible that the data mined by Goodreads could remain open for use by Apple in a separate deal once Amazon has finalized theirs. While it would seem that Amazon’s own interests should remain squarely on their own library of media and their Kindle series of eReaders and tablets, when it comes to Apple, anything is possible.

Rumors continue to persist that Amazon is bringing their own smartphone to the market as well. With suggestions from Goodreads and their own extremely vast ocean of media continuing to expand, tablets may be too small a boat for Amazon to continue to row in through the rest of this year. The battle will continue one way or another!

[via Apple Insider]

According to TechCrunch, anonymous sources are claiming that Amazon purchased Evi for $26 million. Furthermore, it’s said that all of Evi’s directors have been replaced by Amazon’s UK legal representatives, and the company’s records show that all directors have been replaced and all loans have been paid off.

Evi has been a bit of a controversial product in the past. It was pulled from the iTunes App Store for being too similar to Siri, but was later let back in. Evi works similar to Siri, where it uses a natural language search engine to find answers for questions that are asked by users. However, Evi can learn from your questioning habits and produce better answers in the future.

Back in January, Amazon acquired text-to-speech company IVONA, but that seemed to be mostly meant for Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet lineup. However, it’s a feature that we could also see in an Amazon smartphone as well. With the acquisition of Evi, Amazon may be looking to take on Apple directly, but we’ll ultimately have to wait and see what happens.

[via TechCrunch]

The patent, filed back in 2009, argues that many users prefer not to give out personally-identifiable details as a way of avoiding potential data theft or spamming. In contrast, Amazon’s system uses a series of temporary tokens that can be exchanged, either with the sender triggering the payment or the recipient requesting it, but with no exchange of personal information.

“It is commonplace for entities to conduct an electronic payment to complete a transaction. In a typical transaction, information about each party is typically exchanged to facilitate the electronic transaction. Some of this information may be personal or private information that a person may not desire to share with a stranger. For example, a customer may have to provide their address and telephone number during execution of an electronic payment” Amazon patent

In practice, if you had to give a friend a payment of $20, you could send a text message to Amazon’s server with the text “PAY 20″. A return message would have a specially created code, tied to your account, which – when your friend texted it to Amazon from their phone – would credit their account with the appropriate amount. Amazon suggests that the code could contain part of the recipient’s phone number: not enough to identify them, but enough to ensure that it would be unlikely that someone else could use the code from their own phone.

More complex versions of the system, meanwhile, would allow limitations to be placed on the temporary codes. For instance, Amazon describes how they could be set with expiration dates, so that recipients would have to use them before a certain periods; alternatively, a single code could be valid for multiple redemptions (potentially a limited number) such as to operate as an anonymous payment plan. Something other than money could be exchanged, too; Amazon suggests tokens, download credit, or other virtual currency.

Of course, any such system would require the intermediary infrastructure be set up, and enabled for accepting payments in multiple currencies across multiple locations. Amazon already has such a system, given its retail presence across the world, while its mobile ambitions have already been revealed in the form of the Kindle Fire range and the upcoming near-200 country expansion of the Amazon Appstore.

According to Amazon, those developers with apps already in the Appstore will automatically have their titles included in the new locations; if they want, they can opt out. The company is also putting out a call for new submissions, teasing would-be developers with case studies of huge increases in in-app payments and engagement.

In fact, Amazon claims, a study of over 500 games using Appstore in-app purchasing found those using the GameCircle social gaming system made 83-percent more revenue per use than those omitting GameCircle. Launched in November 2012, GameCircle is Amazon’s equivalent of Apple’s Game Center, designed for Kindle Fire tablets.

Whether that Kindle Fire hardware will also see broader expansion internationally remains to be seen. Amazon’s Appstore has mainly been a way for the retailer to better flesh out its relatively closed ecosystem – heavily reskinned Android, divorced from the official Play market – with the Kindle Fire hardware itself a path to encouraging users to spend more money on content.

The new content includes some of Warner Bros. most popular television shows. The content includes seasons one through seven of the television show The West Wing. The deal also covers all nine seasons of the TV show One Tree Hill.

Fans of the drama Nip Tuck will be able to watch every season of the Golden Globe winning series via the streaming service. Science fiction fans also will be able to watch every episode from both seasons of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Amazon says that the new deal with Warner Bros. helps bolster its already extensive and unrivaled catalog of TV programming available for instant streaming. All of this new programming is available right now for subscribers to the streaming service. It looks like subscribers have some new shows to catch up on this weekend.

[via LOVEFiLM]

Just like with CDs, the offer applies to vinyls that you’ve bought from the website since 1998 (how many people were really using the internet to buy vinyl records back then?), and any customers who purchases a vinyl record that is eligible for an AutoRip MP3 version in the future will receive a digital copy that will be automatically added to the user’s Cloud Player library.

Just like with CDs, AutoRip only supports a certain number of vinyl records. In other words, it only goes as high as Amazon’s current catalog of MP3 music that they have available. The company currently boasts 50,000 tracks and counting that are eligible on Amazon’s AutoRip, all of which come with 256kbps quality.

Sales of vinyl records have been making a comeback as of late. They were obviously a popular format back in the 1970s, but many audiophiles argue that vinyl records offer a better quality sound than CDs and even high-bitrate MP3s, thus marking the rise in popularity. Many modern musicians and bands still release their albums in vinyl record format to this day.

The filing states that base stations will provide the power and data for the displays. It says that these displays will last “for substantially longer periods and may not need to be recharged.” The base stations will also receive user input, whether it’d be from voice commands or user gestures, and will send the correct actions to the display corresponding to the input (i.e. turn pages, return to the home screen, etc).

Amazon states that while the display may be able to operate “without requiring an independent power source (e.g. rechargeable battery)”, having a rechargeable battery in the device can offer many benefits. Amazon also states that the display will be beneficial to college campuses. It stated a scenario where base stations are located all throughout the college campus, providing wireless power and data networks to students. Students would be able to access data anywhere on campus, and it would open many doors for things like electronic textbooks. The new display may be able to relieve students from their heavy, physical textbooks.

Amazon isn’t sure how it will charge users for accessing data with the display, but it’s thinking about implementing an access or usage fee. Whatever the case may be, we probably won’t be seeing these displays for a while. Perhaps this is why Amazon hired ex-Windows Phone GM Charlie Kindel? Amazon has a lot of potential new products and services coming out in the future, perhaps even an Amazon Smartphone.

[via GeekWire]

Kindel is unable to divulge any information regarding the project nor his current position at Amazon, but he states that the project has extreme potential. He stated to GeekWire that it was an opportunity that he could not refuse, and that “the idea that I can work in such a principled and customer focused company is really exciting to me.” There are a few speculations about what Kindel’s new project may be.

Many speculate that Amazon hired Kindel to work on its potential Smartphone device. It believes that Kindel has invaluable experience in the mobile sector of the technology business that can help them create a stand-out device. The Amazon smartphone is rumored to be revealed next year, giving Kindel enough time to mark out development plans for the device. With Kindel’s knowledge and Amazon’s huge user base of Kindle Fire users, they may be able to shell out a great, affordable device.

Of course, if he isn’t working on the Amazon smartphone, there are still plenty of other services that Amazon is working on. Amazon is supposedly working on a music subscription service. They’re working on a ton of original video content, with them just releasing the series “Betas” earlier last week, and they have a bunch of acquisitions in tow that they may modify in the near future. We should find out what Kindel will be doing with Amazon soon, so stay tuned to SlashGear for the info.

[via GeekWire]

The Windows and Mac apps for Cloud Drive have been updated with file syncing, allowing you to share files between multiple computers, which may not seem too enthralling at this point, and it’s certainly nothing groundbreaking, but it moves Cloud Drive one step closer to being a decent cloud storage service that could take on the likes of Dropbox and SkyDrive.

The new feature allows you to upload files from one computer and have them show up on other computers that you have connected to your Amazon Cloud Drive account, as well as the web interface, which you can access on any computer that doesn’t have the Cloud Drive app installed, allowing you to access your files from anywhere that has a computer.

Amazon Cloud Drive also comes with 5GB free, which is more than Dropbox’s 2GB free, which seems rather low compared to today’s standards. However, while Cloud Drive does have an Android version for mobile users, there’s no iOS version to be found yet, so Dropbox still has a slight lead right now, but it’s only a matter of time before they get some real competition creeping up on them.

AT&T will hold only the 32GB version of the tablet. Off contract, you can pick up a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 from AT&T for $399, the same price as it is on Amazon. However, if you sign a new two-year contract with AT&T, you can get $150 off the tablet, and purchase it only for $249. The latter would be an amazing deal considering most of us stick to our tablets for years.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 boasts some decent specs. The device has an 8.9-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution display with a pixel density of 254ppi. It has a 1.5GHz OMAP4470 processor, 1GB of RAM, a front-facing camera, custom Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers, and up to 10 hours of battery life. You will also have access to Amazon’s huge selection of entertainment, as well as Amazon’s exclusive features, such as X-Ray for movies/textbooks, Whispersync for voice/games, and immersion reading.

If you’re already an existing AT&T customer, you can pair up the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 with AT&T’s Mobile Share plans starting at only $10 a month. That way you can share the data on your plan throughout multiple devices. If you don’t have an existing AT&T plan, you can sign up for one for as low as $15 a month. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is a great tablet for regular consumers, and it has an easy-to-use interface. You can check out our review for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to see if it’s the right tablet or you.

[via Android Community]

While Walmart rules in the retail world, Amazon dominates online. Walmart is looking at all sorts of ways to help improve its online sales and take back some of the online market it has lost to Amazon and others. One of the ways Walmart is looking to do this is by figuring out how to be able to ship orders more quickly to online buyers.

Reuters reports that Walmart is considering crowd source shipping. Walmart is said to be considering allowing its customers to sign up to be able to deliver packages to online buyers on their way home from the store. In exchange for delivering packages, Walmart would offer some sort of discount the cover fuel and presumably the delivery person’s time.

If successful, this crowd sourced shipping push would likely save Walmart some money and get customers their online purchases more quickly. Walmart CEO Joel Anderson says that he sees the path to ground sourced shipping. However, senior VP of Walmart US innovations Jeff McAllister says that crowd sourced shipping is only at the brainstorming stage. However, he points out that it would be possible in a year or two.

[via Reuters]

Goodreads launched in early 2007 and it raised almost $3 million in funding since then, so it’s definitely been a successful ride for the founders of the service. Goodreads currently has over 16 million members who have added over 230 million books to the Goodreads database, with more than 30,000 book clubs. The service allows you to find your friends and share book recommendations with one another.

This type of social integration will only strengthen Amazon’s lead in the book and e-book market, where Apple has also been trying to leverage the industry with its own iBooks offering. With the acquisition, Amazon could easily implement Goodreads’ features into its Kindle lineup to give Kindle users better recommendations, and to even let users find their friends on Amazon’s network.

However, Goodreads CEO and co-founder Otis Chandler assures users that the service will not be going away or changing. With that said, it’ll be interesting to see how Amazon will integrate itself into Goodreads, and how Goodreads will integrate into Amazon’s ecosystem. Details on that front are scarce, but I’m sure we’ll hear more about Amazon’s plans for the service in the near future.

X-Ray is an Amazon feature that is also available on Kindle ereaders, and the feature first launched for books, allowing readers to gather more information about the story’s characters and even more information on the author. Now that X-Ray is available for TV shows, viewers can tap on an episode to learn more about the show, including characters, actors/actresses, and quick facts.

Amazon says that the X-Ray feature gives users a unique experience when watching streaming content that you won’t be able to experience anywhere else. Amazon wants the content portion of its physical products to be the most important aspect of the user experience, since that’s what the company makes a profit on mostly.

Of course, X-Ray only works with content from Amazon’s Instant Video library, so it’s an exclusive feature that the company hopes will encourage more people to choose Amazon Instant Video over other streaming services like Hulu or Netflix. Amazon will be expanding X-Ray to the Wii U, but there’s no word on whether or not they’ll put it on other platforms like iOS or Android.

Amazon already has its own MP3 store and Cloud Player, so it has the means to start the service, but considering how saturated the music streaming market currently is, it might not be the wisest choice. Amazon has yet to enter any formal discussions with record labels, so it’s basically feeling its options out. Considering how large the online retailer is, it may be able to set itself apart from the competition, especially if it includes the music subscription service with its Amazon Prime features. Free music streaming could be a major draw for consumers to purchase an Amazon Prime subscription.

YouTube and Google are also reportedly planning their own music-subscription services. Both of the services would have a free version subsidized by ads, and they would both offer an ad-free version at a cost of course. Apple has been in talks of starting its own music streaming service for a while, however due to its low royalty rate propositions, it has been seeing a lot of rejection from record labels.

The outbreak of all of these “upcoming” music subscription services is a bit overwhelming. All of these companies will be tempting to subscribe to, and Spotify will definitely be facing some tough competition. These companies will all have to come up with exclusive features that will interest customers and drive them away from the rest of the competition. Having mobile access to their service would be a huge plus.

[via The Verge]

The F-1 engines, as they’re called, came off of the famous Saturn V rocket that took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon. It was the mission that allowed humans to step foot on the moon for the first time on July 20, 1969. The rockets have been lying on the bottom of the ocean for more than 40 years, and Bezos and his team have recovered two out of the five engines.

However, Bezos is not 100% sure that the engines are, in fact, from Apollo 11, since the corrosion of the serial numbers will make it difficult to verify, but there’s certainly confidence that the recovered engines are from Apollo 11. Bezos wants to display the engines at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, although NASA may be involved in the decision on where they will ultimately be displayed.

The Saturn V is still the largest and most powerful rocket that was ever built in the US, and each engine is almost 20 feet tall and 13 feet wide. Each engine also weighs over 17,500 pounds. The massive size of the engines produced quite the thrust — around 7.7 million pounds of thrust to be exact, and it had a top speed of over 6,000 mph.

If you’re going to pick through a comment from a representative of a company creating gadgets, you may as well go all the way. What we’re seeing today is a very, very short comment from Amazon that’s committed to keeping a higher price point regardless of suggestions to the contrary – but what can we read into here?

“It’s not happening–we are already at the lowest price points possible for that hardware.” – Amazon Spokesperson

What if the company, on the other hand, continued to push the software edge along with the advertising element already present in several of their tablets? If Amazon was able to put enough bloatware into the Kindle – a future edition of the hardware, that is – could they make it free? Mobile carriers around the world make phones “free” all the time with connections to yearly contracts with monthly data costs.

When will it be time for the Amazon Kindle Fire – or whatever they call it by the time this happens – to be free to consumers? We’re not entirely convinced that time will ever come, especially considering the outcry that happens every time a Kindle is announced with non-removable ads. That’s a no-no!

Have a peek at the timeline below to see other recent moves Amazon has been making to make the Kindle universe a friendly place to work and play in, and let us know if you’re waiting for a cheaper model in the future!

According to FCW, Amazon won a cloud-computing contract with the CIA that’s worth up to $600 million over a 10-year period. According to the report, the new cloud service will help the CIA “keep up with emerging technologies like big data in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA’s previous cloud efforts.”

However, it’s not exactly clear what the CIA has planned for the new cloud system, but it seems that the CIA is mostly focused on becoming more efficient with newer technologies, and it seems like the new service will work just like most other cloud service, except it’ll be on heavy lockdown by the CIA, allowing only authorized users to access confidential files from any device.

While there’s no concrete confirmations on the deal between the two organizations, it wouldn’t be too surprising if the CIA ended up moving into the 21st century with a better cloud storage implementation, especially with Amazon behind the wheel. Neither Amazon or the CIA were willing to comment on the situation.

[via Gizmodo]

This update allows, first and foremost, users like you to work with a Send to Kindle button on your desktop or in your web browser. When you’ve got this button in your web browser, it’ll appear above the fold with the rest of your bookmark links. If you’ve ever worked with a site like StumbleUpon or Pinterest, this is a very similar situation – one tap and you’re in.

If you’re using the Send to Kindle button from the desktop, you’ve got a bit more wide open array of options – so to speak. You can send all sorts of desktop-sitting materials at will – it’s so easy, your grandmother could do it!

Website creators will be able to implement a button that’s not unlike the Facebook “Like” button you see so often – the Google+ button and regular all-encompassing “share” buttons you’ll be familiar with already as well. If you’re a webpage creator, you’ll just have to head to the developer page and choose your size and color – grab it!

There’s also an Android version of the button which you can access in app form, then send from your phone to your tablet, or your computer to your tablet, or your web browser from whatever machine you’ve got to your tablet. Go wild!

Have a peek at the timeline we’ve got below for more information on the Kindle series and don’t forget to check our reviews of the last several devices to hit the market – it’s a sweet reading and media-loving festival of love!

According to TechCrunch, the sub-$100 tablet will come with a Texas Instruments processor and will feature a 1280×600 resolution display, so it looks like it won’t have anything too revolutionary, but we shouldn’t be expecting anything ground-breaking anyway, except for maybe the price, but as far as components are concerned, expect a bottom-of-the-barrel type of device.

Of course, you can grab a regular Kindle Fire for just $159, so a $99 Kindle Fire tablet seems pretty realistic. None of the major companies have outed a $99 tablet yet, so Amazon being first to the punch could be great news for the company. However, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the tablet will sell at a loss.

Then again, $99 Android tablets already exist, but they’re mostly from generic brands, and they feature components and specs that aren’t too desirable to most people anyway. However, if Amazon could pull off a decent tablet at $99, it could be the start of something greater for prospective tablet buyers, and with the company’s large and lucrative ecosystem, taking a loss on tablet sales wouldn’t be a big deal.

UPDATE: We received word directly from Amazon that there are no plans for such a tablet: “It’s not happening — we are already at the lowest price points possible for that hardware.”

[via TechCrunch]

Previously, the 8.9-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD was priced at $299, while the 4G version costed $499, which means that the WiFi-only model received a $30 price drop, while the 4G LTE model received a healthy $100 drop, making it even more tempting to jump with both feet in and grab the tablet at a good price.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 features a nice 1920×1200-resolution display, which provides 254 ppi of pixel density. The tablet comes with a Texas Instruments OMAP4470 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz with 1GB of RAM. The WiFi-only version comes in 16GB and 32GB flavors, while the 4G model comes in 32GB and 64GB variants.

The Kindle Fire series of tablets are great companions if you’re particularly close with Amazon’s ecosystem. Prime members get a lot of exclusive features with the Kindle Fire software, including the ability to rent ebooks for free using Amazon’s lending library, something that normal Prime members can’t take advantage of.