Hasta La Gadget!

We got a peek at Amazon’s Kindle FreeTime during its press conference back in September, but now it’s making the family-friendly feature part of a subscription package available across the family of Kindle Fire devices. More than just a submenu of video like the ones offered by Netflix and Hulu Plus, it resembles the Kid’s Corner launcher in Windows Phone 8 by password locking children out of the rest of the device, but with a preselected package of content to fill it.

Available to Prime subscribers for $2.99 per month, per child or for $6.99 for a family-wide license of up to six kids (don’t have Prime? you can pick it up for $4.99/$9.99 a month), kids can browse through the selection of educational apps, games, books, movies and TV shows. It also throws in other features parents will dig, with a personalized login and bookmarks for the kids, plus the ability to set time limits on use that can be specifically tailored by category.

All of this happens with them seeing any ads or racking up a bill for video on-demand or in-app purchases, since those hooks have been removed, creating an environment endorsed by Common Sense Media. Big names like Disney, Nickelodeon, DC Comics and PBS are all on the list, with the promise of a store of content to keep the little ones distracted/learning as long as necessary. To set it up on your device, you’ll only need to create a FreeTime account if you haven’t already, and hit the free trial button.

Want to see it for yourself? The feature is available in an OTA software update rolling out over “the coming weeks” to the new Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9, with a free month of trial access available to owners. There are more details in the press release after the break, or beyond the source link.

Continue reading Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited launches, bundles kid-friendly media, menu for a fee

Filed under: Tablets, Amazon

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Source: Amazon Kindle FreeTime Unlimited

Canon has announced its new wireless PIXMA printers, the MG6320, MG5460, and iP7220, as well as the CanoScan 9000F Mark II photo scanner. These additions to Canon’s rather vast catalog of printers and scanners represent a nice addition for photographers. No word on when they’ll be available, but we’re guessing it’ll be soon.

The MG6320 and MG5420 are all-in-one (AIO) printers, both of which offer wireless connectivity and can print a 6-inch x 4-inch photograph in approximately 21 seconds at max color. The MG6320 features six color tanks, while the MG5420 offers five; the six tank on the MG6320 is grey. Both printers support Full HD Movie Print, which allows high-quality prints to be made from HD videos recorded with PowerShot and Canon EOS cameras and VIXIA camcorders.

The PIXMA iP7220 wireless printer isn’t an all-in-one, and is aimed at consumers who want a simple, yet feature-rich, photo printer without the extra cost associated with AIOs. The iP7220 has a print rate of 15 images per minute in black and white, and 10 images per minute in color. Like the other printers, it can print a color 4 x 6 in about 21 seconds. Last but not least is the CanoScan, which is a consumer-level photo and document scanner offering 9600x9600dpi for film and 4800×4800 for everything else. The scanner includes an adapter for scanning 35mm film strips.

While none of the devices are available yet, Canon has given us estimated selling prices. The PIXMA MG6320 AIO printer has an estimated selling price of $199.99, while the MG5420 AIO printer is a bit lower at $149.99. The PIXMA iP7220 printer, meanwhile, is the lowest of the three printers, with an estimated selling price of $99.99. The CanoScan 9000F Mark II Photo Scanner is the same as the MG6320 at $199.99.

Canon unveils CanoScan scanner and new PIXMA wireless printers is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
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I don’t know about you but I’m getting really tired of the hysteria over this so-called, somewhat media created, “fiscal cliff” thing. The White House called the Republican’s latest proposal “fairy dust.” But I do think we are in for some changes in health care as a result of the discussions going on in Washington DC, so I thought you should know what to expect.

First, try to ignore the hysteria. Whatever laws will expire December 31, there will be a solution and at some point we will need to restructure and reform some of our government programs. Which ones? Probably Medicare. Maybe Medicaid. And at some point, although certainly not urgent now – Social Security. The Republicans want you to think that without “entitlement reform”, we cannot reach a deal on the so-called fiscal cliff.

But step back for a moment. We call Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security “entitlements” although this term does recall something akin to Romney’s 47% idea. Perhaps we should rename these programs. Does everyone who depends on these programs think they are somehow “entitled” to something they don’t deserve? We pay into Social Security. We pay for Medicare – and don’t you think we do not. ( Medicare Part A may be without premium, but Medicare Parts B and D extract significant premiums from beneficiaries, and the more you make the more you pay for these “entitlements”. ) Don’t even get me started on why we need to attack these programs and gut them. They protect some of the most vulnerable disabled and elderly among us. If you had to look these folks in the eye and tell them they were taking too much and not giving enough back – good luck if they could reach out and punch you.

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Amazon today launched FreeTime Unlimited, a subscription service that offers movies, games, and books for the kids. The launch follows the recent software update to Kindle Fire, which introduced FreeTime, a profile system designed to restrict access to certain content.

Independent from its existing Amazon Prime subscription, FreeTime Unlimited adds to this safe environment by including an entire library of content from Disney, Nickelodeon, DC Comics, Marvel, HIT Entertainment, and others. And to build out its games collection, Amazon has worked with app developers to institute safety measures. Kids are presented with stripped-down versions of existing apps minus in-app purchase capability, Facebook or Twitter integration, and advertisements.

With the launch, Amazon introduces different ways for kids to browse the library. For example, kids can select a character, such as Elmo, Dora or Buzz Lightyear, then see everything related to each character. For existing Prime members, the service costs $2.99 a month per profile, or $6.99 for a family. Non-Prime subscribers will have to pay $4.99 per month per profile, or $9.99 for the entire family. Of course, you can choose to make all your kids use the same profile. It works on the first-generation Kindle Fire and the two new Kindle Fire HD models.

When asked whether it was hard to negotiate with Disney, Peter Larson, VP of Amazon Kindle, answered “it’s hard to negotiate with us as well.” It remains to be seen whether content partners provide a meaningful collection or just a sample of their productions. The latest Pixar movie won’t be included, for example. International support is another issue, as well.

With the launch of FreeTime Unlimited, Amazon adds another component to its content strategy. The company has said for months that it makes little to no profit with each Kindle sale. Instead, they want people to use their devices and buy content.

As I previously wrote, people buy an Amazon device because it is very easy to watch movies or read books if you are already using Amazon’s content platform. The FreeTime Unlimited subscription creates another use case for the Kindle Fire.

WASHINGTON — There are zombie banks, the zombie apocalypse, and now, according to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), zombie homeland security programs that spend money without adequate oversight or cost control.

According to a new report by the Oklahoman, often a critic of Department of Homeland Security programs, the waste extends to a staged zombie apocalypse.

In that case, the report said, DHS authorized up to $1,000 a head for law enforcers to attend a five-day security conference at a “paradise” island getaway with security industry companies. The conference featured a simulated attack — involving the undead — as the centerpiece.

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