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.

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 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]

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]

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!

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.

The IDC believes that Android tablets will claim the top spot in the tablet market with a 48.8% market share. iPads will drop down to second place with a 46% market share, and Windows-based tablets will have a combined total of a 4.7% market share. In the future, the market share for both Android tablets and iPads will decrease as Windows-based tablets gain more momentum in the market. All in all, there should be a combined total of 350 million tablets shipped by the end of 2017.

Jitesh Ubrani, an analyst for IDC’s Tablet Tracker, states that “One in every two tablets shipped this quarter was below 8 inches in screen size. And in terms of shipments, we expect smaller tablets to continue growing in 2013 and beyond.” Manufacturers are seeing a trend in smaller tablets outselling the more larger 10-inch tablets. The smaller tablets are much easier to carry around and to use when performing daily tasks.

The IDC believes that the low-budget Android tablets are the main reason for Android’s success in the tablet market. Consumers don’t want to spend $500 on a high-end premium Android tablet or iPad when there is a $150-$200 tablet, like the Kindle Fire, that can give them everything they need. Low-cost Android tablets are also hurting the sales of eReaders, which have seen a decline year-over-year due to the more efficient, tablets. The IDC has reduced its forecasted shipments of eReaders by 14% from the years 2013 to 2016.

[via IDC]

The Cloud Player app was released on iOS over the summer last year as an app optimized for the iPhone and iPod Touch only, but Amazon has updated to app to version 2.0 today with native support for the iPad as well. The app now features an interface that is consistent with Amazon’s other major iOS apps: Kindle and Amazon Instant Video.

As for the Kindle iOS app, Amazon updated it to version 3.6.1, but after hearing reports of randomly-deleted ebooks from users libraries upon updating, Amazon is warning users not to update, although the update is still available and hasn’t yet been pulled. However, Amazon says they’re currently working on a fix and should be releasing it soon.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that this has happened with app updates. While it’s not common for updates to cause major problems, it’s a factor that developers think about each time they push out an update to its thousands and millions of users, so there’s always bound to be some users who identify problems with an update, but a major issue like this seems to be a first for Amazon.

Sadly, there’s not a lot of details available at this point, but the virtual currency will launch in the US sometime in May, and it will provide users with a secondary choice to buy apps or make in-app purchases. You’ll still be able to use a credit card like normal, but the new Coins system will also be an option.

Amazon plans to give away “tens of millions of dollars worth” of free coins to customers to celebrate the launch of the currency system. As far as developers are concerned, those who don’t yet have apps in the Amazon Appstore will have until April 25 to submit them in order for them to be compatible with the new currency system.

Since the new currency platform will allow you to use Coins for in-app purchases, as well as apps and games themselves, parents will have a bit more control over what their kids can buy on their Kindle Fire tablet, and it could be an a great alternative that would prevent you from having to put down your credit card information.

Amazon has also announced that Canadian customers can now access the Canada Kindle Store directly from their Kindle digital readers. Amazon says that the Canadian version of the Kindle Store offers a large selection of popular books, including most bestsellers from the Globe and Mail and Le Devoir bestsellers lists. The Canadian Kindle Store also offers books that were winners of the Giller prize and lots more content from Canadian publishers and authors.

Amazon says that its Canadian Kindle Store has over 1.5 million books including 250,000 that can be purchased anywhere else. 50,000 of those books are French-language titles. If somehow you have missed all the coverage of the Kindle Paperwhite, it is billed as the world’s most advanced E-reader by Amazon. The display has a pixel density of 212 ppi giving it 62% more pixels than the previous generation Kindle. The screen also promises 25% more contrast than the previous generation.

The Paperwhite also has a built-in backlight, which means you can read in the dark without having to have an external light source. One of the best features of the reader is that it has eight weeks of battery life even if you leave the backlight on all the time. The reader is also available with free 3G connectivity for downloading content and supports Wi-Fi. The digital reader with Wi-Fi and 3G will sell for C$199 with the Wi-Fi only version selling for C$139. The normal Kindle will sell for C$89.

[via Amazon.ca]

Facebook for Android took the jump up to version 2.1 today, and we were right there to go hands-on with it, while the first picture of the unannounced Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 surfaced. The chairman of the FCC wants gigabit Internet in all 50 states by 2015, and we got our first look at BlackBerry 10 voice commands today in a new leaked video. Opera has announced Opera Ice, a new browser for mobile devices, and today Amazon introduced the world to Kindle Rentals, which is obviously a new feature allowing users to rent eBooks for a pre-set period of time.

It seems that the Exynos security hole has been fixed in the Verizon Galaxy Note II, with a new update being sent out to users today. Bethesda revealed that all Skyrim DLC will be heading to the PlayStation 3 in February after months and months of waiting, and it seems that Google is working with Yubico for password USB rings. XBMC has come to Android and we tell you how to get it on your device of choice, and with the NHL lockout finally (finally!) over, NHL GameCenter has arrived on Xbox 360.

Dynamism today showed off its new KUPA Ultranote X15 Windows 8 Pro tablet today, while a new bill in the House wants stronger laws for video game ratings. AVADirect announced the world’s first quad NVIDIA Tesla system today, and Forbes named Google the best company to work for. Finally tonight, Chris Burns walks you through why Facebook not offering a “hide from search results” option isn’t anything to worry about. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the rest of your night folks!

If you’re paying for a digital book, you have the right to look at that book as much as you’d like – and in most cases, download it to a limited number of devices at any one time. Here with Amazon’s Kindle rentals, you’ll be doing the same – but instead of your limits stopping at the amount of devices you can download to, you’re limited to time. The price being significantly less for these limited amounts of time may just be the ticket to those of you out there that have steel trap memories and tight pocketbooks in the e-generation.

If you have a peek at one of the very, very few titles available with rentals thus far by the name of Theories of International Politics and Zombies (courtesy of tipster Karen at Zats Not Funny, you’ll find that the Buy Price is (as it usually is) a little more than half of the price of the list price. The rent price, then, is less than half that cost – 80% off the original list price. Of course that’s the price to rent a digital copy for 30 days instead of owning the original print book forever, but the price difference is extremely important to the author in the end.

Is this the future of literature? Will we be working with Spotify services for books before too long where authors are compensated for each read? Maybe that’s better for the author than the print process – who can tell? One way or the other, you’re going to be able to rent books with your Kindle tablet or Kindle-capable mobile device immediately if not soon – have a peek and see if you can find any titles with the ability!

[via Engadget]

Amazon Student Members with an active Prime account (free six-month or $39/year plan) are only eligible for the deal. However, the company is letting students who aren’t Prime members sign up today to take advantage of the deal. In order to become an Amazon Student member, simply sign up using your .edu email address.

The offer is good towards either the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 WiFi-only model or the 4G LTE variant. The $50 discount means you’ll spend as little as $249 on a new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD, which is the same price as the 7-inch 32GB model of the Fire HD. We have to say that’s a pretty good-looking deal for a great budget tablet.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes in four different flavors in all. The WiFi-only model comes in 16GB and 32GB sizes, while the 4G LTE version comes in either 32GB or 64GB flavors, all priced at $249, $319, $449, and $549, respectively, after applying the $50 discount. Read our full review of the device to learn more.

In fact, Kindle is an Amazon success story all round, not just the more direct iPad-rivaling models. In addition to the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire, the Kindle Paperwhite and regular Kindle ereaders together hold the top four positions in the Amazon worldwide sales charts.

That hardware has seen digital content demand jump too. Amazon says it saw its biggest day for digital downloads ever on December 25, as over 23m movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, apps, and games, were downloaded on Christmas day. That’s not solely to Kindle devices, of course, since Amazon also offers the Appstore for general Android devices, and streaming media to other platforms.

Kindle Fire HD sales were already buoyant. Amazon had announced back in October that the tablet was the best-selling product across all the countries it operates in.

The deal includes $20 off a Kindle Fire (now $139), $25 off a 7-inch Kindle Fire HD (now $174), and $50 off an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD (now $249). Essentially, that same deal that we saw on Monday is back, as well as a little bit of savings for the other two Kindle Fire tablets. The Kindle Fire series is already a good deal, so these extra savings are pretty astounding.

It seems like Amazon is on an inventory-clearing spree this holiday season, and it seems since Monday’s deal didn’t quite do the trick, today’s deal looks to be a second effort to clear Kindle Fire stock. And while today’s deal is only targeted for mothers, it’s a great way to get kids in on the Kindle Fire fun.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is Amazon’s newest addition to the Kindle Fire family. It sports an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display with a huge resolution of 1920×1200. On the inside, there’s a Texas Instruments OMAP4470 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz accompanied by 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage. We highly suggest checking out our full review of the device to learn more about it.

[via Gizmodo]

We’ve had a peek at the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 very recently in our full review, this showing off how you’re not just getting an ereader with this package, you’re getting a full tablet. But not just a full tablet, mind you, an Amazon window into their full content library – don’t expect an Android tablet here, it only runs the software under the hood. This device has a full-color display as well, nothing like the Barnes & Noble offering. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has been discounted by $50, this making the price closer to $250 USD in its least expensive iteration.

The Nook Simple Touch on the other hand is an ereader in every sense of the word. Here you’ve got an eink display and a size that’s much tinier than the comparatively massive Kindle Fire HD 8.9. This machine has “16 levels of gray” and is made for reading text-based-books from start to finish. The hardware here is 6.5 x 5 x 0.47 inches and weighs in at a tiny 7.48 ounces, and the discount is permanent, it seems: $79 USD total, down from the $99 it was previously.

Have a peek at our lovely 2012 holiday gift guide for tablets as well to make sure you’re up to date on all of the best-of-2012 action for the holidays. It might be time to decide between the ereader and the full tablet experience here at the dawn of 2013 – perhaps time for a switch?

To take advantage of the deal, you’ll have to be quick, since it only lasts for today and “quantities are limited.” All you have to do is head to the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 product page on Amazon, add it to your cart, and type in FIREHD89 at checkout. From there, the deal will take affect and you’ll save yourself $50 in an instant.

Amazon announced the deal on their Twitter feed, noting that it’s a “special, one-day deal” on the new 8.9-inch tablet. And while you have all day to ponder over the deal, the company notes that you should hurry, since supply is limited. Even if they had an abundant supply of these tablets, we wouldn’t be surprised if they all sold out sometime today.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is the company’s latest tablet to add to their Kindle Fire lineup. It has an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display with an impressive resolution of 1920×1200. On the inside, there’s an OMAP4470 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz from Texas Instruments and 1GB of RAM. It also has a front-facing 1.3MP camera for video chatting.

However, if you’re still thinking about ordering one off of Amazon instead of driving to your local GameStop, the brick-and-mortar store will give you a $25 Amazon gift card if you buy a Kindle Fire tablet from them, which would essentially bring the price of the non-HD 7-inch Kindle Fire down to just a measly $135.

The deal will only last until January 31, so be sure not to putz around if you’re thinking about grabbing a Kindle Fire tablet anytime soon. If you already happen to have an original Kindle Fire and aren’t getting much use out of it, GameStop will also buy it from you and give you in-store credit for up to $100. You might be able to get a bit more cash out of it on Craigslist or eBay, but this is a great way if you need cash quickly.

GameStop has been growing its business for selling non-gaming devices for a while now. Last year, they started a pilot program to sell tablets in 200 stores, and expanded the program to over 1,600 locations later in May 2012. Back in March, GameStop also began selling refurbished iOS devices.

The Kindle app for iOS was updated today with X-Ray functionality in tow, but that wasn’t the only thing getting an iOS update. Gmail for iOS was updated to version 2.0, with YouTube getting an update on iPhone 5 and iPad. In other words, it wasn’t a bad day if you’re an iOS user and you happen to be using some of the platform’s most popular apps. Netflix has signed a deal with Disney, but unfortunately for all of you Disney fans, that deal won’t go into effect until 2016 rolls around, so you’ve a while to wait.

Speaking of Netflix, we found out today that the PlayStation 3 has become the number one device for streaming Netflix, while the Fuhu nabi Jr has arrived with an aging Tegra 2 processor under the hood. The cool little Black Diamond III multi-sensory Bluetooth speaker launched today, while the LaCie d2 external hard drive has been re-released with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt functionality. Toshiba announced its new Excite 10 SE 10-inch tablet today, while the Samsung S Pebble music player touched down in the United States.

Samsung also introduced a new Pico Projector for Galaxy devices today, HP has a new printer out in India that doubles as a hotspot, and we got word that Google I/O 2013 will be kicking off on May 15 with tickets going on sale early next year. Moshi has a new line of accessories for the iPhone 5 and the Retina MacBook Pro, while Apple delivered an update for the iWork suite that brings mobile/desktop compatibility with it. Google confirmed that it had one time looked into creating its own wireless network, and finally tonight, Chris Burns gives his review of Gmail 2.0 on iOS. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night folks!

The X-Ray feature is powered by Wikipedia and Shelfari (Amazon’s own community-powered encyclopedia), and it basically allows you to break a book down into different sections like people and terms, and then dig deeper into those individual sections to learn more about them. It’s a really handy for those who are really wanting to fully understand the book they’re reading.

The feature is only compatible with English titles at the moment, and not every single book supports X-Ray — it’s mostly just the popular titles that come with it. However, X-Ray is available for a select number of textbooks, and it gives you “instant access to all the most important terms and concepts, with glossary definitions, links to relevant textbook pages, and related content from Wikipedia and YouTube.”

You’ll need to be running iOS 5 or later in order to update to the newest Kindle app version, but the update is free and it’s available now in the iTunes App Store. We have to give it up for Amazon, though. Their business model is impeccable, and allowing anyone to access and purchase Amazon content, whether they have a Kindle tablet or not, is a good way to get as many customers as possible, no matter the platform.

Collectively, Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2012 “were the best ever for the Kindle family.” The company had more than doubled last year’s sales numbers, and while they don’t disclose any specific figures, it’s not too hard to believe. The $130 Kindle Fire deal was simply too good to pass up for a lot of people.

Amazon did release a couple of statistics and facts that might prove interesting for you. First of all, the top four spots on the worldwide Amazon best sellers list are Kindle ereaders and tablets. Also, Amazon claims the Kindle Fire HD to be the most gifted and most wished for product on Amazon since its launch.

Sadly, the Kindle Fire deal is over, and you’ll have to go back to paying at least $160 for the last-generation tablet, but that’s still a decent price. However, for just a bit more cash, you can pick up the newer Kindle Fire HD for only $200. That’s probably a better bet if you’re wanting to get the latest and greatest.

For the past five years, the Kindle has been a staple in the book industry, and each year Amazon has improved on the device to make it better and easier to use for consumers. Putting Amazon’s latest Kindle, the Kindle Paperwhite, next to the original Kindle side-by-side makes you shake your head at the strides that Amazon has made to the ereader throughout the past five years.

The first-ever Kindle featured an 800×600 e-ink display and had 250MB of internal storage, with the option to expand storage with a microSD card (the only Kindle that had a memory card slot). The device sold for $399 and ended up selling out within the first few hours of launch. It wasn’t until April 2008 when stock of the ereader was replenished.

Since then, Amazon has slowly been slimming down its Kindle ereaders and even adding touchscreens in order to eliminate all the buttons for a sleeker design. Last year was the first time Amazon introduced a touchscreen on a Kindle device, called the Kindle Touch. It came with 4GB of storage and retailed for as low as $99.

Starting today, you’ll be able to get your comic fix through the official stores of your respective devices. DC also reported that for the year to date, its digital comic sales are up 197% year-over-year. Hank Kanalz, DC’s senior vice president of digital, says that the addition of more digital content won’t detract attention from physical comic book stores, but will expand the audience instead.

Previously, DC Comics sold its content through apps from Comixology including its own DC Comics app in Google Play and iTunes. However, those were the only two places that users could buy DC-owned comics. Now, users can go through the official bookstores on various devices without having to download additional apps in order to buy comic books.

Today will see 70 titles available in iBooks, the Kindle store, and the NOOK store, including the week’s New 52 superhero books, several Vertigo issues, select “digital-first” titles that publish online before print, as well as some back issues. A combination of same-day new titles and backlist titles will be added in the coming months.

Naturally, the Kindle app for Windows 8 emulates the tile-based theme of the OS, displaying all of the books you have in clean layout. You can pin individual Kindle books to your start screen, meaning that you can have quick access without having to go through the Kindle app first. Kindle fanatics can also you use Windows 8′s search function to find books in their library or in the Kindle store, which should prove to be quite handy considering how nice Windows 8 search is.

Of course, all of your purchased books will sync across all your devices, so you’ll be able to download purchased books to your Windows 8 device the first time you log in. The Kindle Windows 8 app also comes equipped with Whispersync, so your books will sync to your last page read on all of your devices. Other than all of that, you’ve got the typical Kindle functions at your disposal, including the ability to highlight passages and add your own notes.

The Kindle app is free on Windows 8, as it is everywhere else, and it’s available now on the Windows 8 Store. Naturally, most of us won’t be able to download it until Windows 8 is released, but the launch of Windows 8 is now less than 12 hours away. Will you be downloading Amazon’s Kindle app once you have Windows 8 installed?

[via Windows 8 Store]

In Japan, the Kindle Paperwhite is priced at 8,480 yen, while the WiFi + 3G version of the illuminated ereader goes for 12,980. It uses NTT DoCoMo 3G, which is all prepaid so there’s no bill for downloading ebooks on the move (bar the cost of the title itself, of course). Both will begin shipping from November 19.

As for Amazon’s tablets, they’re a little more expensive in general. The Kindle Fire is priced at 12,800 yen with its 7-inch touchscreen, while the Kindle Fire HD is available from 15,800 yen for the 16GB model; the 32GB version is also available.

Both tablets are up for preorder today – as is the Kindle Paperwhite – and the Fire duo will ship from December 19. Amazon will also offer them in-store at Japanese retailers K’s Holdings, Bic Camera, Joshin Denki, and Kitamura.

Amazon hasn’t officially announced anything about the discontinuation of the Kindle Touch, but it seems that’s a trend of theirs now, as they didn’t say anything about the Kindle DX either. Currently, the Kindle Touch is “currently unavailable” from Amazon’s website, and it directs users to a “newer model” of the item, which is the Kindle Paperwhite.

This isn’t a huge deal per se, but those who are wanting a Kindle ereader are left with very few options at the moment. The Kindle Paperwhite is still back-ordered by “4 to 6 weeks,” and that may even change in the coming weeks if or when Amazon re-evaluates their inventory. That’s enough to make holiday shoppers a little nervous if they plan on buying a Kindle Paperwhite for a loved one.

The only Kindle ereaders currently available are the regular Kindle starting at $69, and the Kindle Keyboard at $139. Both models are barebones and come with only a fraction of the features of the Kindle Paperwhite, so we’re guessing not a lot of people will want to jump for those models. In any case, the Kindle Touch is dead. Long live the Kindle Paperwhite.

[via Paid Content]

With the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon notes that they retain the crown for bestselling 7-inch tablet, that term once again not specified exactly. In this case though, selling the most of a 7-inch tablet wouldn’t be out of the question for Amazon, as the Kindle Fire line has been doing extremely well over the past year. This press update notes that they plan on continuing this trend with enhancements to the Kindle Fire HD already in consumers’ hands.

Today Amazon says they’ll be pushing a new free update to the Kindle Fire HD, software that will be coming to your device over-the-air. This means it’ll show up on your tablet as a notification and you’ll only have to press “yes” to get it on the device and loaded. This update includes Kindle FreeTime, a feature made specifically for kids.

This Kindle FreeTime allows parents to select the content that a kid can see and lock the tablet with a password. This update should keep the Kindle Fire HD Amazon’s “best-selling product since launch” up until the 8.9-inch tablet is launched. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 will be shipping on November 20th and will be starting in at $299 USD. Get ready for that one with a lovely read of our first Kindle Fire HD review right now!

For businesses, Amazon is keen to highlight Kindle’s compatibility with digital documents, even if they’re not ebooks purchased from its own store. PDFs and other content can be pushed out, to employees and to customers, and the system will work with company-owned Kindles or Kindles/Kindle apps running on users’ own hardware.

“Today, we are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to their users” Dave Limp, Kindle VP, said of the new system. “Organizations can also design bring-your-own-device programs at school or work using personally-owned Kindles, Kindle Fires, and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for receiving content.”

The system works with both the dedicated Kindle hardware Amazon offers and the free apps provided for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. Individual users can be assigned to groups – whether that’s classes or grade levels for schools, or teams within businesses – and content limited to certain groups.

Whispercast for Kindle is a free service; there’s more information here

That’s because B&N’s NOOK Color and newer NOOK Tablet HD/HD+ tablets all use Texas Instruments’ OMAP processors, potentially leaving them sourcing chips from a company owned by their direct rival. Should the deal go through, B&N would likely turn to a alternative source for its silicon, though the cost of switching architecture could prove problematic.

According to the sources, the potential acquisition is valued in the billions of dollars. TI would be left to bring its attention to bear on embedded chips, which it has singled out as – though less instantly lucrative than mobile chipsets – more stable in the long-term than the highly competitive phone/tablet processor market.

For Amazon, it would be an opportunity to follow Apple and Samsung in developing chips tweaked specifically for its own purposes. Apple has used that freedom to create the A4, A5, and A6 that have appeared in recent iOS devices (and which have long been tipped to show up, in more advanced form, in future MacBook notebooks), carefully tailoring hardware to software so as to maximize performance and battery life.

In the case of Kindle, about which Amazon has already confirmed that it makes no profit on hardware sales, custom chips could mean cheaper tablets and ereaders, thus helping lower the cost of entry to new customers for ebooks, movies, music, and apps. TI has declined to comment specifically on the rumors, though reiterated its previous position of looking to transition its market of choice.

[via Bright Side of News]

For those ebooks to be eligible, they need to have been purchased between April 2010 and May 2012, and of course have been published by one of the three settling publishers. The settlements themselves are still yet to be approved by the Court, Amazon warns, something which isn’t expected until February 8, 2013.

“In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices” Amazon highlights. “We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future.”

Credits from the fund will automatically be added to eligible Amazon users’ accounts, though they will also be able to request a check instead. However, if individual customers want to sue any of the three publishers individually, they’ll have to opt-out of the settlements.

“If the Court approves the Settlements, eligible consumers like you will receive automatic credits to your E-reader accounts. The credit can be used on any purchases of E-books or print books. The amount of your payment has been determined based on the qualifying E-book purchases identified by Amazon.com in your E-reader account” Amazon

Finally, Amazon points out, a separate suit against Apple and two remaining publishers is on course for a trial in 2013.

Amazon email to customers:

Dear Kindle Customer,

We have good news. You are entitled to a credit for some of your past e-book purchases as a result of legal settlements between several major e-book publishers and the Attorneys General of most U.S. states and territories, including yours. You do not need to do anything to receive this credit. We will contact you when the credit is applied to your Amazon.com account if the Court approves the settlements in February 2013.

Hachette, Harper Collins, and Simon & Schuster have settled an antitrust lawsuit about e-book prices. Under the proposed settlements, the publishers will provide funds for a credit that will be applied directly to your Amazon.com account. If the Court approves the settlements, the account credit will appear automatically and can be used to purchase Kindle books or print books. While we will not know the amount of your credit until the Court approves the settlements, the Attorneys General estimate that it will range from $0.30 to $1.32 for every eligible Kindle book that you purchased between April 2010 and May 2012. Alternatively, you may request a check in the amount of your credit by following the instructions included in the formal notice of the settlements, set forth below. You can learn more about the settlements here:
www.amazon.com/help/agencyebooksettlements

In addition to the account credit, the settlements impose limitations on the publishers’ ability to set e-book prices. We think these settlements are a big win for customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future.

Thank you for being a Kindle customer.

The Amazon Kindle Team

One caveat Amazon mentions is the lack of audio or Text-to-Speech on the Paperwhite. The feature can be found on the Kindle Fire series, but in order to make the Paperwhite as small and light as possible, Amazon was forced to leave out the audio features for now. Maybe we’ll see them in the Paperwhite 2?

A lot of users have also been complaining about the uneven lighting from the LED front light, where the display would seem darker towards the bottom than at the top. However, Amazon says this is normal and that the illumination is better than a normal book light anyway. We’d have to agree there, since the Paperwhite’s lighting is certainly better and more convenient than any fancy book light around.

Amazon also brought up the limitation of only 2GB of storage in the Kindle Paperwhite, as opposed to other Kindle models that had 4GB. The company actually didn’t explain why they limited the storage to 2GB, but they noted that it’s enough to hold over 1,000 books. Plus, users also have free cloud storage that they can use.

However, users don’t really need to be worried if they’re thinking about buying a Kindle Paperwhite. They sold out fast, and it seems a majority of customers are seeing the Paperwhite as a huge step up from previous Kindle generations, so if you’re in the market for a new ereader, the Paperwhite may be a good option for you.

[via The eBook Reader]

“We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware” the chief executive said. “We want to make money when people use our devices, not when people buy our devices.”

The strategy has allowed Amazon to continue to increase pressure on its ereader rivals, with price cuts by Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others all usually being parried by trimming of Kindle pricing too. More recently, Amazon has introduced its “Special Offers” system, in which the price of the ereader itself is discounted in return for showing advertising on the lockscreen and homescreen.

According to Bezos, Amazon’s approach has paid off in media sales. “What we find is that when people buy a Kindle they read four times as much as they did before they bought the Kindle” he explained. Nor, perhaps more surprisingly, do they necessarily switch entirely to digital. ”They don’t stop buying paper books” Bezos revealed, “Kindle owners read four times as much, but they continue to buy both types of books.”

Amazon put the new Kindle Paperwhite up for preorder in select European countries today, having seen the illuminated ereader sell out in the US. It will be accompanied by an expansion of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library system, which allows Amazon Prime subscribers to borrow ebooks as part of their subsidized shipping package.

In the UK, the Kindle Paperwhite is priced at £109 for the WiFi-only model, and £169 for the WiFi+3G version which allows you to download ebooks outside of wireless hotspots. In France and Germany, meanwhile, the two models are priced at €129 and €189 respectively.

Amazon is limiting orders to two per shopper, and demand for the Paperwhite is likely to be strong. Sales in the US quickly saw shipping estimates stretch out to 4-6 weeks, and the addition of Amazon’s Kindle Owners’ Lending Library in the UK, Germany, and France later this month will only increase attention on the new ereader.

We’ve already played with the Kindle Paperwhite, and you can see how the illuminating system works in the video below. If you’re still hungry for details, there’s more on the Kindle Paperwhite in our full review.

Amazon says that there will be over 200,000 titles for readers to choose from, with local-language ebooks as well as high-profile inclusions like the full Harry Potter series. Kids, mystery, science fiction, romance, non-fiction, and other categories are catered for.

As for publishers and authors, the Kindle Direct Publishing platform will support Kindle Owners’ Lending Library inclusion too, and the KDP Select fund - which pays out royalties per loan – has also been boosted to accommodate the predicted increase in demand. For October, it’s gone from $100,000 to $700,000, and Amazon says it is planning on another increase for November.

In September, Amazon says, authors were paid $2.29 per-borrow. To use the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library you’ll need an actual Kindle hardware device and to be a Prime subscriber – in the UK, that’s currently £49 per year.

The Kindle Paperwhite has only been available for a few days now, and there’s already a jailbreak for it. Then again, it seems that hackers were able to break into it pretty easily from the looks of things. It turns out the exploit is similar to the hack that was initiated on the Kindle Touch, so half the battle was already complete.

Installation is quite easy as well. It only requires you to upload a certain file to the root directory of the Kindle Paperwhite and then restart the device. When it boots up again, your Paperwhite should be completely jailbroken. From here, you can do a lot of cool things that you normally wouldn’t be able to do, including displaying different information like the weather, or hooking it up to a Raspberry Pi for some extended fun.

Despite how easy this certain jailbreak works, we obviously want to warn you that jailbreaking anything is not for the faint of heart, so if you’re not sure you have the capabilities or even the guts to do such a thing, it’s probably best to just let it be. If you’re giving yourself the green light, just be aware that there’s always a chance of bricking your device no matter how experienced you are — things just happen in mysterious ways. Good luck!

[via Hack A Day]

It’s really no surprise that Amazon‘s new Kindle device was a big hit. It comes with an all-new e-ink display that shows whiter whites and blacker blacks, as well as featuring a front-lit LED display that makes it easy to read in the dark, but doesn’t go so far as to cause eye strain like a traditional back-lit display would.

It also has a higher-resolution display, so the image is a lot more crisp than past Kindle models, and the performance is about as good as it gets for an ereader. Plus, at only $119, it’s about the best performance to price ratio you can achieve from an ereader at this point. Read our full review of the device for more details.

With all of the new features that are in the new Paperwhite, it seems customers have responded more positively to the device than Amazon was expecting. With the device already sold out and put on backorder for 4-6 weeks, it proves that Amazon definitely wasn’t expecting this kind of a turnout. However, it’s still a good sign when your products are in demand, and it’s even a better sign when you can’t even keep up with demand.

[via TechCrunch]

This release is what Amazon is calling the “most advanced e-reader built” and lets the world know without hesitation that they’ve got technology that’ll back up their claim. In our full review, you’ll find that Cory Gunther had a fabulous time taking a peek at how this device functioned. In addition to this device having a free 3G connection at all times in 100 different countries around the world, it’s got advanced display technology that brings your reading experience up to a new level.

“Essentially what we have here is a front — or side-lit display — instead of a backlit screen that will strain your eyes after an extended period of time. What makes the new Paperwhite that much better than the Touch is not just the built-in light on the screen, but the 6-inch display has 62% more pixels (221PPI) with a 1024 x 768 resolution too. The screen looks better, text is crisp, vivid, and easy to read, and of course the light makes the reading experience top notch.” – Cory Gunther

This device will work with Amazon Prime for 210,000 books right out of the Lending Library, and of course the full Amazon e-book library is open to anyone who purchases the device – buy em up! This device also comes in a wi-fi-only iteration for a slightly smaller cost. The wi-fi version of this tablet will cost you $119 USD while the 3G version will run you $179. Expect these devices in stores this week – and again, if you’ve pre-ordered a Kindle Paperwhite, it’s time to start waiting by the mailbox!