Hasta La Gadget!

The Kindle DX (artist’s rendition shown here), Amazon’s 10-inch offering to the academic set, has been discontinued on the site and is only available from used dealers. Although there has been no official word concerning the DX, the product was reduced from $379 to $299 and the DX is currently out of stock on Amazon.

Amazon designed the 9.7-inch reader as a way to display full pages of content at once and allow readers to see images and text a bit more easily. Launched in 2009, the DX appeared just as readers were thinking about the differences between tablets and e-readers and magazine and newspaper publishers were excited to drop print and move into the ereaders. You’ll recall this is the same period that Hearst media tried and failed to launch the color Skiff e-reader for magazines.

The 6-inch form factor for e-readers seems like the way to go and while I don’t doubt Amazon will release a bigger reader at some point, it seems this heavy, hearty e-reader has gone the way of the great Dinornis novaezelandiae of New Zealand.

via The Ebook Reader

Amazon is reportedly in “advanced negotiations” to acquire Texas Instruments’ OMAP chip division, bringing chip design for its Kindle tablets in-house, and helping TI refocus on embedded systems. The deal in discussion, Calcalist reports, follows TI’s public distancing from its own phone and tablet chip business in the face of rising competition from Qualcomm, Samsung, and others, though Amazon taking charge of OMAP could leave rivals Barnes & Noble in a tricky situation.

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]

Amazon weighing TI mobile chip business grab tip insiders is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon is in “advanced negotiations” to buy Texas Instruments’ mobile chip business, according to Israeli newspaper Calcalist, with the price expected to be in the billions of dollars range. If the deal goes ahead Amazon would take a step close to rivals Apple and Samsung by gaining the ability to design and manufacture its own mobile chips.

At the time of writing, Amazon and Texas Instruments had not responded to a request for comment. We’ll update this story with any response.

TI chips are used in various devices including Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet. Calcalist also notes that TI is a supplier to Amazon’s rival Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader. The paper previously reported TI was considering exiting the mobile chips business because of increased focus on integrated technology solutions, and also Intel’s entrance into the market. TI has lost out to rival chipmakers such as Qualcomm when it comes to gaining significant mobile market share (Qualcomm took 48 percent market share in the first half of this year, according to Strategy Analytics).

Calcalist speculates that the rumoured Apple iPad mini could be the catalyst for Amazon to acquire TI. Amazon’s strategy to compete with the iPad has been to launch cheaper, lower-end tablets sold at cost price – but if Apple launches a cheaper iPad, that will erode the appeal of Amazon’s Kindle devices.

However Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi told Reuters she doubted whether Amazon wants to “become that intimately involved with hardware”.

A TI spokeswoman told Calcalist the company does not comment on rumour and speculation.

Update: A TI spokesperson provided the following complete statement

As part of a long-standing company policy, we don’t comment on market rumors and speculation.

As communicated in a recent investor event, the Smartphone market has become a less attractive long-term opportunity for TI’s OMAP and Connectivity products, and we are re-profiling our investment accordingly.

While the opportunity in Smartphone is less attractive, we are fully committed to  OMAP and Connectivity products – and we see a great opportunity for both OMAP & Connectivity in a broader set of embedded applications and we are accelerating our push into these new markets with product roadmaps optimized for automotive, industrial and other consumer applications. 

Examples of these embedded applications where OMAP & Connectivity are a perfect fit are:

o   OMAP: automotive (rich visual displays for infotainment systems and rear-seat displays), industrial (fluid, responsive touchscreens for human-machine interfaces and home automation), enterprise communications (high-definition video experiences for video IP phones and video conferencing) and robotics (cutting-edge vision analytics technology for intelligent home and industrial robots).

o   Connectivity: in-building (connected smart meters, intelligent appliances that automatically place a service call, electronic shelf labels at retail where pricing can be updated instantly across all stores), portable (smart bandages that sense body temperature, blood glucose meter, health and fitness monitor), automotive (tire pressure sensors, wireless rear view cameras, wireless seat adjustment systems to eliminate cost and weight)

 

You can more or less say that the Amazon Kindle DX is a dying breed, considering this device is no longer listed as in stock by its retailer Amazon, where it is available only to those who do not mind purchasing a tablet that is listed under the “used device” category. Heck, that means we will not be able to check out the refurbished units anymore. Perhaps the discontinuation of the Kindle DX is something natural, considering how the e-reader was introduced to the masses in 2009 – where 3 years is a long time in the world of consumer electronics. Sure, it received and update in the year that followed, but was more or less pushed to the sidelines since then. A price cut for the Amazon Kindle DX was introduced just a few weeks ago, and that’s that – it has been a decent run basically, but there is no room for sentiment when it comes to technology.

The Amazon Kindle DX does hold the distinction of being Amazon’s first large-screen model with a 9.7” display, and Amazon had hopes for the Kindle DX to end up in the hands of students worldwide as a textbook platform, where efforts to spearhead that vision included having several major US universities run pilot programs that saw the use of the Kindle DX in classrooms. Still, it did not take off as expected, so here we are at the end of the road. Still, Amazon has their fingers dipped in the tablet/e-reader market with their recent slew of Kindle releases like the Kindle Fire HD amongst others.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Amazon rumored to be interested in acquiring Texas Instruments’ mobile chip division, Best Buy to match the prices of online retailers this holiday season to prevent “showrooming”,

Amazon has begun notifying Kindle users that they may have a refund on ebook purchases in the pipeline, in the aftermath of the antitrust settlement around price-fixing by publishers. The message, sent out to users “in most US states and territories” impacted by the decision today, confirms that Kindle shoppers will be among those to gain from a $69m fund set up by Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, with the Attorneys General estimating that the refund will amount to $0.30 to $1.32 apiece on eligible ebooks.

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

Amazon to Kindle customers: There’s an antitrust refund incoming is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.