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Sep

Users Will Be Able To Opt Out Of Kindle Fire/HD Ads For A One-Time Fee Of $15

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, News

When the new Kindle Fire and HD models were announced three days ago, the tech world was abuzz with the fact that Amazon has laced them with "Special Offers" in order to keep the cost down. Immediately, one question came to everyone's mind: will I be able to remove the ads?

Initially, there was some confusion on the answer to that questions. We actually heard reports from both sides of the fence - some said "yes, the ads will be removable," while others stated that they were there to stay.

The subject quickly became a bit of a hot topic, so Ars Technica decided to reach out to Amazon for a definitive answer: will users be able to opt-out of Special Offers?

Sep

New Kindles Available For Pre-Order From Best Buy, In Case You Prefer Brick And Mortar Instead Of Smiling Boxes

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Amazon, News

Yesterday, Amazon made waves by announcing what experts are calling "a bajillion new Kindles." Pre-orders went live yesterday from Amazon, but if you'd rather pick yours up from a store like they used to do when your parents were kids, Best Buy is now offering you that chance. You will have to give up that cardboard grin, though:

All of the new Kindles will be available for pre-order, including the non-Androidy ones. Here's a list of which devices will be available when:

September 14: Kindle e-reader ($69), updated Kindle Fire ($159), 7" Kindle Fire HD ($199
October: Kindle Paperwhite ($119, $179 for 3G)
"Before Christmas": 8.9" Kindle Fire HD ($299), Kindle Fire HD LTE ($499)

It's a little unnerving that Best Buy is using the "before Christmas" language, when Amazon stated that orders would ship on November 20th for some of the late-bloomers among yesterday's announcements.

Sep

Want To See The New Kindles Officially Unveiled? Watch Today's Event Now On YouTube

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, News, Videos

If you couldn't make your way out to Santa Monica today to watch Jeff Bezos and company take the wraps off the new line of Kindles (and live blogs just aren't good enough), you can now watch the entire event on YouTube.

Hit play above and you'll get about one hour and 12 minutes of pure, unadulterated Kindle-y goodness. We're talking the Kindle ~~Paperweight~~ Paperwhite, rehashed Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HDs, and all other Kindle typing things you can handle.

So grab some snacks and drinks, kick back, and enjoy the show. It's definitely one worth watching.

Sep

Hands-On And Initial Thoughts On The 7-Inch Kindle Fire HD Versus The Nexus 7

Posted by David Ruddock in Amazon, Android OS, Kindle Fire HD, News, Tablets, Videos

I had a chance to spend some time with Amazon's new Kindle Fires today at the company's event in Los Angeles, so I'm going to share a few thoughts about Amazon's newest Android-based slates. Disclaimer: Yes, I only spent about an hour with this tablet today, but I'm going to give you a sense of where I think the Kindle Fire HD is headed, who it's targeted to, and whether or not you should be interested in buying it.

Kindle Fire HD 16GB (7-Inch) vs. Nexus 7 8GB

Wow. For $200, the Kindle Fire HD has set a bar. Granted, Amazon's had a year to refine its original cheap-slate and really hone down the whole concept.

Sep

Amazon Introduces X-Ray For Movies, Kindle Serials, Immersion Reading, Whispersync For Voice, And Dolby Digital Plus With The New Kindle Family

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Amazon, Kindle Fire

Today has undoubtedly been a momentous one for Amazon. We've seen the introduction of a new family of Kindle products including the new Kindle Fire and a pair of Kindle Fire HD tablets.

Following today's announcements, Amazon decided to take some time to introduce a few awesome new features those who buy from the Kindle line can expect to enjoy from their new Amazon-branded tablets. In this post, we'll take a brief look at the bevy of new features, starting with X-Ray for Movies.

X-Ray for Movies

X-Ray for Movies, powered by IMDB is a feature that's being introduced exclusively with the Amazon Kindle family, and looks to "revolutionize the movie experience" by providing an answer the question "Who's that guy?" in a single tap while watching a movie.

Sep

Pre-Orders For All New Amazon Kindle Variants Are Live [Links]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Amazon, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, News

Last Updated: September 8th, 2012

Earlier today, Amazon announced a slew of new Kindle products: a refreshed 8GB Fire, brand new 16/32GB Fire HD 7" and 16/32GB Fire HD 8.9", including 32/64GB LTE-enabled variants, and a Kindle Paperwhite which doesn't run Android. The pre-order links weren't working right away, but they've just gone live, and I have them all for you right here.

Kindle Fire (2012 Refresh)

8GB - $159 (September 14th release date) - Pre-order link

Kindle Fire HD 7"

16GB - $199 (September 14th release date) - Pre-order link

32GB - $249 (October 25th release date) - Pre-order link

Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

16GB - $299 (November 20th release date) - Pre-order link

32GB - $369 (November 20th release date) - Pre-order link

Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G-LTE

32GB - $499 (November 20th release date) - Pre-order link

64GB - $599 (November 20th release date) - Pre-order link

Kindle Paperwhite

Repeat after me - "paperwhite." Not "paperweight." Amazon didn't think this one through, did it?

Sep

Amazon Signs Deal With Epix, Brings Paramount, MGM, And Lionsgate Films To Prime Instant Videos

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Amazon, News

Chances are, most of you only ever hear about Epix in an article discussing streaming rights (like this one). Epix is an online streaming video service a la Netflix that you can only get access to if you have a cable bundle that includes the site. Or, you know, if you have Netflix. For now anyway. The real value of Epix is the stable of movie rights it brings to the table, and now the joint venture is sharing its media library with Amazon Instant Video for all of the online retail giant's Prime customers.

According to Amazon, the deal will "more than double the number of titles available" to its customers who subscribe to the Prime service.

Aug

Amazon Announces Best-Selling Kindle Fire 'Sold Out' Ahead Of September 6th Press Conference

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Amazon, Kindle Fire, News

Amazon, in a press release posted this morning, announced that its "#1 best-selling product," the Kindle Fire, is now sold out. The release boasts the Fire's millions of sales, noting that it managed to eat up an impressive 22% of tablet sales in the US, and added to the overall success of Amazon's digital product sales.

What makes this announcement interesting is that Amazon has a press conference scheduled for September 6th, meaning we're likely to see the latest member of the Kindle family unveiled very soon. Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon, didn't comment directly on this possibility, but he did note "Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead – we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem."

The possibility of seeing a new Kindle device this September isn't so surprising considering this is around the same time we saw the original Kindle Fire announced, but it's always exciting to see a new product – particularly in such a successful line – make its debut.

Aug

Amazon Is Having A Press Conference On September 6th, Probably New Kindles

Posted by David Ruddock in Amazon, News

We just received an invite from Amazon to a press conference in Los Angeles 2 weeks from now, and it's sounding like it could finally be time for the company to unveil some new iterations of its Kindle line. No details were provided as to the content of the event, but really, what else would it be?

We've heard rumblings for some time that the new Kindle Fire is on its way, and this seems like as good a time as any to announce it. It'll also mark roughly a year since the launch of the original Kindle Fire last September, so even the timeline makes sense.

Jul

[Deal Alert Roundup] Kindle Fires For $140, Unlocked LTE Skyrocket For $385 And More eBay Daily Deals

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Deals, News

We've got a bunch of deals for you folks today! To start things off right, refurbished Kindle Fires are currently available from eBay Daily Deals for a mere $140. The Amazon-branded slate, as you will no doubt recall, was one of the hottest selling Android-branded tablets prior to the advent of the Nexus 7. While both tablets are priced to ship, the Kindle Fire is the closest to impulse-buy we've ever seen it. While the Nexus 7 absolutely blows the Kindle Fire out of the water in terms of raw functionality, if you're looking for an Amazon-centric device for a steal, it's hard to beat this one.