Amazon Offers Promotional Prices on Tablets, Kindle Readers – 24/7 Wall St.

By Paul Ausick February 11, 2016 8:35 am EST

On Wednesday, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) replaced a $ 2 billion share buyback program the company instituted in 2010 and replaced it with a new $ 5 billion program. The old program still had $ 763 million left for share repurchases. One might be forgiven for questioning Amazon's sincerity about spending $ 5 billion on something it clearly doesn't like doing at all.

When Amazon reported earnings that were short of expectations in late January, analysts mostly reaffirmed their prior ratings but lowered their price targets. The current target is $ 738.13 (down about $ 10 since the earnings report), and Wednesday's closing price was $ 490.48, a bump of 1.7% for the day. That was the largest single-day gain since the company reported earnings. Shares have lost 27% since the beginning of the year and 6% since the earnings report.

To help boost revenues going forward, Amazon has put a limited-time offer on many of its own branded devices. The seven-inch Amazon Fire tablet with Wi-Fi and 8 gigabytes (GB) of memory is available until February 13 for $ 39.99, a savings of $ 10 (20%) off the regular price.

The Fire Kids Edition with a seven-inch display, Wi-Fi and 8 GB of memory is on sale for $ 79.99, a savings of $ 20 (20%) off the regular price. The offer expires February 13 and several accessories are also available at sale prices: a backpack is 50% off and a 32 GB memory card is offered at a 35% savings.

The new Fire HD10 with a its high-definition display, Wi Fi and 16 GB of memory is available until February 13 for $ 179.99, a savings of $ 50 (22%) from the list price of $ 229.99.

Amazon is also offering deals on its Kindle e-reader. Customers can save $ 20 on the six-inch Kindle, priced at $ 59.99 (25% savings) until February 13, and $ 20 on the six-inch Kindle Paperwhite, priced at $ 99.99 (a savings of 17%).

Tablet sales have slowed for all manufacturers, so it's no particular surprise that Amazon has offered these deals. The time may be limited now, but there's little to suggest that the market for tablets will return to growth mode, so tablet prices will either continue falling or sales will dry up even more.

By Paul Ausick

Amazon’s Kindle e-readers are getting a big software update soon – The Verge

Amazon has revealed a new firmware update that’ll hit its Kindle e-readers later this month, and it sounds like the software will make it even easier to — you guessed it — buy books from Amazon. There’s a revamped home screen with shortcuts for books on your wish list, downloaded samples, and reading lists from Goodreads, and the update will also provide quick toggles for features like airplane mode and cloud syncing.

You’ll also be able to share quotes from books directly to Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads, and anyone who sees the share can read a preview of the book right in their browser without needing to sign in to Amazon. And while the list of recommended books remains at the bottom of the home screen, Amazon is implementing a new system to help hone those suggestions; you can enter your favorite genres and rate some specific books to give Amazon a better idea of what to surface.

The update will come to the 2013 and 2015 models of the Kindle Paperwhite, as well as the Kindle Voyage and the 2014 standard Kindle. Amazon says the update will roll out in the next few weeks, and you don’t need to do anything to receive it — the software will download and install automatically.

Can I Run iTunes on my Kindle? – Boulder Daily Camera

(Dave Taylor / For the Camera)

Q: I have a Kindle Fire HD, a great, low cost tablet that lets me apparently watch TV and movies in addition to just read books. And I have a bunch of movies and TV shows I’ve purchased on my AppleTV. Can I also watch them on my Kindle?

A: You would think that if you buy a movie in digital form on one platform that it would then be available to you on all your players and devices, right? Unfortunately, this is the beginning of the 21st Century, not the end, so at this point every content owner has its own protection system and is more worried about controlling distribution than giving you the ability to watch your content across various hardware platforms and delivery systems.

The protection systems are known as “DRM” systems, which stands for digital rights management, and they’re generally invisible if you have all devices from a single vendor and have them all logged in to the same account. So with your AppleTV, if you had an iPad and both devices were logged into the same iTunes account, you should be able to watch your movies and TV episodes on either device (albeit there might be some downloading from iCloud for it to work properly).

But wait, there’s more, because while it seems easy enough to reference the “Amazon Kindle” the fact is that there are two different classes of Kindle with two very different operating systems. The Kindle Paperwhite and other ebook readers using the eInk display technology (black and white, not color) run Kindle OS and they can’t really display much of anything that’s moving. They’re splendid ebook readers, but not so much for watching movies while on an airplane or in bed.

The Kindle Fire HD is a newer breed of Kindle, and they’re running a custom version of the popular Android operating system, originally from Google. Unless you have an older Kindle Fire which is running the earlier KindleOS from Amazon that isn’t Android, of course. If all you see is the “carousel” of book covers, you’re not on the Android based Fire OS.

You can access the Amazon Prime Video library through your Kindle Fire HD easily enough, but that’s the problem: Your iTunes purchase on your AppleTV doesn’t give you the license rights to also watch that movie on the Amazon platform, so you’d be out of luck.

And I haven’t even mentioned the problem of The Cloud when you might not be online 24×7. Want to download a movie you’ve purchased prior to boarding the plane to Sydney, Australia? That can be just about impossible to accomplish, a whole ‘nother proverbial kettle of fish…

——

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since 1980 and runs the popular Ask Dave Taylor electronics review and tech tutorial site. You can find him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

Amazon sets up Kindle ebook gift card kiosks – Geek

News By TJ Dietsch Jan. 26, 2016 1:31 pm

Looking for the perfect gift for the ebook fan in your life, but don't want to go the general gift card route? Amazon is working on title-specific ebook gift cards in their home state of Washington.

In fact, the company started putting kiosks featuring individual titles as well as access to Kindle Unlimited in drug stores going back to October. However, the initiative seems to have gone largely unnoticed until now.

The setup looks very much like the gift card displays you see at your local grocery store or places like Target while the cards themselves come printed with story summaries and a quote from an Amazon summary.

Titles include The Martian, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Lean In, Grey, Inferno, and many more that are often purchased as gifts for other people. Right now, Amazon has only set up the kiosks in 61 Bartell Drugs stores and no further plans have been announced.

Amazon has yet to make a big deal out of the cards at this point, but does have a help page for the products up and running. One interesting bit of news on the page is that, even if someone gives a gift card for, say, The Martian and you've already read it or have no interest, you can trade it in for credit on Amazon to spend on whatever you want, not just an alternative ebook. Along similar lines, if your Martian gift card is for $ 14.99 and the book winds up going on sale, you get the difference in credit.

11 reasons to prefer Kindle over Paperbacks – Times of India

Kindle or paperback? This is an argument that would perhaps never end; each has its own advantages. Though we have grown up reading paperbacks and few still hold pride in them, several others have moved on to the Kindle. Here are 11 reasons why you need to give Kindle its due:

1. Carry an entire library with yourself
If you are an avid reader who happens to walk out of the library with books piled up to your chin, Kindle is for you. Kindle helps you carry thousands of books at a single time. You would not regret leaving your book at home because it was just too thick.

2. No one can borrow
For book lovers, one of the major issues is that they forget who they had lent their books to. It is tough to remember from a library of hundreds of books. Kindle, however, becomes your own personal library.

3. You can share without regretting
An Amazon account enables you to share what you are reading. Kindle allows you to join together two different adult accounts and four different children profiles into a single household. Is this not a better way to inculcate the habit of reading among the family members?

4. Any book anytime
As you finish a book, you always have the option of ordering another one even at midnight or while waiting for a flight. This also saves you a lot of time and effort to buy one from a bookstore.

5. Read in the dark
If you happen to be an insomniac and love reading at night, Kindle should be your best buddy. You can read, under the covers without pestering your siblings. You can read it in complete darkness because of the light that Paperwhite produces.

6. In-built dictionary
Do not know the meaning of a word that you just came across? Kindle helps you get away with the task of fetching a dictionary, for which honestly, most of us are very lazy. All you have to do is press on the word for a few seconds and its meaning appears. Does that sound appealing?

7. Classics are for free
Everyone loves free books. The best part of possessing a Kindle is that classics are free on Kindle. If you are a classics lover, this happens to be a concrete reason for owning a Kindle.

8. Reading a series without a pause
If you are reading a series then it becomes compelling to pick up the next book. For a paperback, you will have to be patient enough to head to a bookstore and grab it. For Kindle, you can instantly download the next one.

9. No wear-and-tear

Even if you maintain your books with utmost care, the pages of the books fade away with time. There is a risk of the books getting wet and are even prone to termite problems. With Kindle, you will not face these issues.

10. Saves a lot of paper
Most of the traditional book lovers are often seen saying that the smell and touch of the books are very pleasant and comforting. However, if we see it from a bigger perspective, books are all about stories that leave an everlasting impact on the reader. The stories give the book its value and not the paper. Be eco-friendly and contribute towards saving a lot of trees.

11. Fear of being judged
At several occasions, people don’t want to reveal what they are reading publicly (since the cover of the book tells it all). Kindle becomes your secret friend. It doesn’t have a cover or a name. and hence, you are saved from being judged too.

11 reasons to prefer Kindle over Paperbacks – Times of India

Kindle or paperback? This is an argument that would perhaps never end; each has its own advantages. Though we have grown up reading paperbacks and few still hold pride in them, several others have moved on to the Kindle. Here are 11 reasons why you need to give Kindle its due:

1. Carry an entire library with yourself
If you are an avid reader who happens to walk out of the library with books piled up to your chin, Kindle is for you. Kindle helps you carry thousands of books at a single time. You would not regret leaving your book at home because it was just too thick.

2. No one can borrow
For book lovers, one of the major issues is that they forget who they had lent their books to. It is tough to remember from a library of hundreds of books. Kindle, however, becomes your own personal library.

3. You can share without regretting
An Amazon account enables you to share what you are reading. Kindle allows you to join together two different adult accounts and four different children profiles into a single household. Is this not a better way to inculcate the habit of reading among the family members?

4. Any book anytime
As you finish a book, you always have the option of ordering another one even at midnight or while waiting for a flight. This also saves you a lot of time and effort to buy one from a bookstore.

5. Read in the dark
If you happen to be an insomniac and love reading at night, Kindle should be your best buddy. You can read, under the covers without pestering your siblings. You can read it in complete darkness because of the light that Paperwhite produces.

6. In-built dictionary
Do not know the meaning of a word that you just came across? Kindle helps you get away with the task of fetching a dictionary, for which honestly, most of us are very lazy. All you have to do is press on the word for a few seconds and its meaning appears. Does that sound appealing?

7. Classics are for free
Everyone loves free books. The best part of possessing a Kindle is that classics are free on Kindle. If you are a classics lover, this happens to be a concrete reason for owning a Kindle.

8. Reading a series without a pause
If you are reading a series then it becomes compelling to pick up the next book. For a paperback, you will have to be patient enough to head to a bookstore and grab it. For Kindle, you can instantly download the next one.

9. No wear-and-tear

Even if you maintain your books with utmost care, the pages of the books fade away with time. There is a risk of the books getting wet and are even prone to termite problems. With Kindle, you will not face these issues.

10. Saves a lot of paper
Most of the traditional book lovers are often seen saying that the smell and touch of the books are very pleasant and comforting. However, if we see it from a bigger perspective, books are all about stories that leave an everlasting impact on the reader. The stories give the book its value and not the paper. Be eco-friendly and contribute towards saving a lot of trees.

11. Fear of being judged
At several occasions, people don’t want to reveal what they are reading publicly (since the cover of the book tells it all). Kindle becomes your secret friend. It doesn’t have a cover or a name. and hence, you are saved from being judged too.

Amazon sets up Kindle ebook gift card kiosks – Geek

News By TJ Dietsch Jan. 26, 2016 1:31 pm

Looking for the perfect gift for the ebook fan in your life, but don't want to go the general gift card route? Amazon is working on title-specific ebook gift cards in their home state of Washington.

In fact, the company started putting kiosks featuring individual titles as well as access to Kindle Unlimited in drug stores going back to October. However, the initiative seems to have gone largely unnoticed until now.

The setup looks very much like the gift card displays you see at your local grocery store or places like Target while the cards themselves come printed with story summaries and a quote from an Amazon summary.

Titles include The Martian, What to Expect When You're Expecting, Lean In, Grey, Inferno, and many more that are often purchased as gifts for other people. Right now, Amazon has only set up the kiosks in 61 Bartell Drugs stores and no further plans have been announced.

Amazon has yet to make a big deal out of the cards at this point, but does have a help page for the products up and running. One interesting bit of news on the page is that, even if someone gives a gift card for, say, The Martian and you've already read it or have no interest, you can trade it in for credit on Amazon to spend on whatever you want, not just an alternative ebook. Along similar lines, if your Martian gift card is for $ 14.99 and the book winds up going on sale, you get the difference in credit.