Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD tablets are impressive and aggressively priced, but unlike prior Kindles, you can’t pay extra to turn off the special offer ads. Business models are clearly changing to reflect the new digital economy, but has Amazon gone too far this time? Read more »
Back in April, Barnes & Noble one-upped Amazon by introducing the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, taking e-ink reading out of the dark. So how did Barnes & Noble get light evenly across the display? It’s not just technology magic, but science that makes it work. Read more »
Look for e-reader sales to jump in Argentina now that the government has declared paper books a public safety hazard and impounded millions of titles. Read more at paidContent »
Amazon has turned off the buy button on nearly 5,000 Kindle titles from distributor Independent Publishers Group after IPG refused to capitulate to Amazon’s demand for better terms… Read more »
While the iPad has solved the problem of too many paper magazines accumulating in my office, it has created another problem — me spending way too much on impulse magazine purchases. Here are my experiences with Zinio, the Amazon Kindle app and Apple’s Newsstand. Read more »
Amazon is reportedly preparing to dip its toes into the brick-and-mortar retail market with its first boutique test store in the Seattle area. The move, which could face a lot of challenges, makes sense as Amazon extends its buying experience to retail stores. Read more »
Apple’s iPad still the tablet market leader in terms of sales, despite gains by the Kindle Fire, and a recent survey of tablet user satisfaction suggests it’s well-poised to stay ahead. Setting the standards for tablet-buyer expectations will help Apple continue to lead the pack. Read more »
The most striking thing about Amazon’s Q4 filing was that head count was up a whopping 67 percent to 56,200 full- and part-time employees, compared with 33,700 from a year ago, according to Amazon’s 8-K filing; 67 percent is a very big number — even for Amazon. Read more »
The Kindle Fire in just a couple months has barely edged passed the Samsung Galaxy Tab as the most used Android tablet with 35.7 percent of application user sessions, according to Flurry. This is despite the fact that the Fire only hit the market in mid-November. Read more »
Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the latest example of a growing trend to move traditional computer activities to tablets and smartphones. AlwaysOnPC, a $25 mobile app, connects the Kindle Fire to a cloud instance of Fedora Linux with Open Office, Firefox, Chrome and integrated Dropbox support. Read more »
Apple’s iPad sold 15.4 million units during the final calendar quarter of 2011, representing a 111-percent year-over-year increase in tablet sales. Android tablets may have gained market share during the same period, but it’s PC makers that should fear that growth. Read more »
Just under two years since Apple introduced the original iPad, the company said Tuesday that it’s now sold a total of 55 million units. And in the last three months of 2010 alone, Apple sold 15.4 million, a company record. Read more »
Although there’s some overlapping functionality between tablets and e-readers, it doesn’t seem to set up either device to cannibalize the other; at least not yet. The number of adults who owned either a tablet or an e-reader doubled this holiday season. Here’s why neither is “winning.” Read more »
In just a short time, modern tablets have become potent shopping tools that generate an outsize effect on online commerce. 2011 was the year that the tablet became an online retailer’s best friend as it emerged as the preferred device for many shoppers to make purchases. Read more »
It’s time to start placing bets as to how many iPads Apple will sell in 2012. Sterne Agee’s Shaw Wu is starting things off with an estimate of 48 million, he said Wednesday morning. Wu says that number could end up being “conservative,” and I agree. Read more »
Amazon’s Kindle Fire was one of the most popular devices on sale this holiday season. The tablet, which is based on a version of Android OS, is expected to rival iPad. Data from Read It Later, a time-shifted reading app, only proves that point. Read more »
Amazon has now broken out its touch-friendly shopping experience for the iPad from its Kindle Cloud Reader product, in an effort to make it easier for everyone to buy books from the Kindle Store, and quickly read those purchases in Amazon’s native iPad Kindle app. Read more »
According to reports circulating Monday, Apple could be hosting a special media event in January. The event won’t be about Apple’s next iPad if reports are correct, however. Instead, Apple will be talking directly to the publishing industry, and the time for that talk is ripe. Read more »
As I look ahead, I hope that over the next few months, some of the technology products that I use the most will make incremental changes that could make life better for the people who use their products – including me. Read more »
The outsize growth in online spending this holiday season suggests that e-commerce as a sector of the economy has passed some kind of tipping point and that factors beyond simply convenience and price — both long-standing hallmarks of online shopping — are propelling the e-commerce sector ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Good news for fans of streaming media who also like low-cost tablets: Plex has ben approved for sale in the Barnes & Noble Nook Store. The app should be downloadable for Nook Tablet and Nook Color users sometime within the next 24 hours, according to Plex. Read more »
There will be millions of new Kindle Fire owners unwrapping the tablets over the holidays. Amazon wants users to buy movies and TV shows on the Kindle Fire, but those who want to transfer their own videos to the device can now do so with Miro. Read more »
Apple’s plans for a 7-inch iPad are a very hot topic heading into the new year, but they may not bear any tangible fruit for consumers in 2012. A Wedge Partners analyst doesn’t think it’s in the cards. Instead, Apple might offer a cheaper iPad 2. Read more »
Earlier this week, I grilled Amazon for attempting to control web browsing activities on its Kindle Fire as the device was blocked from browsing Google’s Android Market website. With the new Kindle Fire software update, Amazon no longer blocks access, which is the right move. Read more »
Amazon updated its Kindle software for the iPad and iPhone/iPod touch on Tuesday, introducing new features that ensure its app stays on the top of the e-reader pile, even now that it has its own tablet platform available in the Kindle Fire. Read more »
Amazon’s promised software update for its Kindle Fire is now live and rolling out to devices over the air. If you can’t wait and you’re not near a computer to download the software, no worries: You can do it all directly on the Kindle Fire. Read more »
Amazon is now offering free, two-day shipping on all Kindles including the Touch and Fire. To take advantage of this offer, customers simply add a Kindle to their cart and select two-day shipping when they check out. Amazon has seen a huge surge in demand for its Kindle devices, […] Read more »
Millennial Media is providing another solid bit of data on Kindle Fire sales, saying that the Fire’s ad impressions have been growing by 19 percent daily since its mid-November launch. The Kindle Fire is now on a faster initial pace than the iPad. Read more »
Amazon’s successful 7-inch tablet, the Kindle Fire, is locked down more than people might think: browser requests to Google’s Android Market are redirected to the Amazon AppStore. Imagine buying a new car and then being told you that it can only be driven on certain roadways. Read more »
Rumors regarding Apple’s plans for a new, smaller tablet got resurfaced on Friday, thanks to new reports from the component supply chain via DigiTimes. The site says that Apple will likely introduce a 7.85-inch iPad before the fourth quarter of 2012 Read more »
» At least someone in the market is optimistic about Spain and Italy – *Amazon* has just launched the Kindle there. (paidContent)… Read more at paidContent »
Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) made sure Discovery won’t ruin its hopes for the best Christmas ever by settling a lawsuit that accused the Kindle and K… Read more at paidContent »
Connectivity changes everything. That’s the credo driving just about every corner of our day-to-day lives. As human beings, we are now connected to one another through not just our social networks but also our cars, the books we read, the albums we download and even our own health and wellness habits (to name just a few areas). With that in mind, GigaOM Pro has singled out certain areas in the technology industry where we see this shift to constant connectivity taking place most drastically. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Amazon’s Kindle has lit a fire under the e-book market, but don’t count out the smaller players. Bookeen, an e-book company since 1998, has a new high-speed E-Ink technology that supports scrolling menus and web pages. Is the e-book market ready for more innovation? Bring it! Read more »
Apple’s highly anticipated iCloud consumer cloud service went live last week in a debut marred by snafus that show that cloud providers addressing the consumer market still have some kinks to work out when it comes to easing data transition from device to cloud. Read more »
They say Apple has met its first real tablet competitor. And no, it is not Samsung or Motorola. Instead it is from Amazon. And while there is some truth to that assertion, I wouldn’t put a lot of weight in the argument. Here is why. Read more »
At its highly anticipated Kindle Fire launch, Amazon also took the wraps off its own browser. Amazon Silk, which relies on the Kindle Fire end point — for the cool UI — and Amazon’s powerful cloud — for the heavy lifting — promises a better user experience. Read more »
Apple no longer allows e-book sellers to link out to their stores, which is likely why Amazon introduced a new web-based app that works outside of Apple’s official software distribution channel on Wednesday. Here’s a look at the new Kindle Cloud Reader, and its integrated store. Read more »
Kindle now supports viewing of over 100 of its newspaper and magazine titles, and Nook for iPad will soon offer access to over 175 digital periodicals. This adds yet another vector through which iOS users can access magazine and newspaper content. So which will you use? Read more »
In just the past few weeks, Amazon has launched two new book imprints, hired the former CEO of Time Warner books to launch more, making clear their intentions to grow publishing’s Big Six by one. Can the publishing industry withstand the Amazon onslaught? Read more »
