Hasta La Gadget!

Remember that legal dealio with Apple that erupted after the Norwegian Consumer Council, Forbrukerrådet, read the iTunes EULA? Right, that toothless complaint that waffled on for years until it was finally rendered moot by Apple going DRM-free — long after Apple benefited from the iTunes-to-iPod lock-in. Well, it’s brewing again only this time the council has focused its meticulously crafted aluminum spectacles, often highlighted with vibrant reds or blues, upon Amazon’s practice of tying its content exclusively to the Kindle’s new international reader. According to a critique published by the Council’s boss, Hans Marius Graasvold, the fine print in the Kindle’s terms of service, “violated several provisions of Norwegian consumer protection law.” He takes exception with Amazon’s ability terminate the terms of service entirely should customers violate said terms. In other words, Amazon could deny you access to all your purchased books if you make an illegal copy of just one — unimaginable by brick-and-mortar standards where a Wal-mart could take your entire CD collection should you decide to rip a single disc. Graasvold’s also miffed at Amazon’s ability to change the agreement at any time without advanced notification. The Council does not currently have official support from the country’s Consumer Ombudsman as it did when it went after Apple. For the moment, the council says that it’s awaiting feedback from Amazon and Norwegian publishers before proceeding with what Graasvold calls, “an iTunes 2 case if we are not satisfied.” Good luck with that.

Important Norwegian consumer reads Amazon Kindle’s EULA, sends angry letter originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peek’s never been one to shy away from the wacky and opportunistic marketing schemes but launching a whole product just for Twitter? That’s courage, drive, and possibly a mental health issue. Yet here’s the TwitterPeek — what looks to be the same old Peek you know, love, and probably haven’t purchased, stripped of its email and SMS functionality and re-oriented towards telling the entire world too much about your body and what you’re doing to it every waking moment of the day. Now, to be fair, we’re getting a distinctly strange feeling of phoniness about this whole thing, but there’s already an Amazon listing and a picture of the box has already surfaced on — where else? — Twitter, so this could really be happening. Just think about that for a second. And then tweet about it, of course.

[Via LiveDigitally]

Read – Amazon TwitterPeek listing
Read – Peter Ha’s TwitPic of the box

Continue reading The TwitterPeek is… a Peek for Twitter?

Filed under: Handhelds

The TwitterPeek is… a Peek for Twitter? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That black Nintendo Wii bundle Nintendo is gifting to Europe on November 6th has found itself home amongst the Amazon UK listings. Recommended price is £179.99 but the online retailer is knocking off eight percent to make it an event £164.99 — that’s about $269 to the US gamers who still don’t have a shot at getting this. What makes it interesting is that the identical bundle in white doesn’t have that £15 discount, but Amazon is sweetening the pot with the choice of two free titles, including FIFA10. Of course there’s still the £142.99 white, non-bundled Wii for a lot less. Our money’s still on the black bundle — or it would be, at least, if Nintendo would give the US writers on staff, and the country at large, a stab at the new console color.

[Thanks, Ian]

Read – Black Wii bundle with Wii Sports Resort
Read – White Wii bundle with Wii Sports Resort and two free games

Filed under: Gaming

Black Nintendo Wii bundle listed on Amazon UK for £164.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a stealthy yet significant move, Amazon has dropped Sprint as its wireless partner for the latest versions of the Kindle 2 e-book reader. From now on, new Kindle 2s, in the U.S. and worldwide, will be powered exclusively by AT&T’s 3G network.

“Due to strong customer demand for the new Kindle with U.S. and international wireless, we are consolidating our family of 6-inch Kindles,” says Drew Herdener, spokesperson for Amazon.

The move was announced in a quiet update to Amazon’s product page for the Kindle rather than through a press announcement.

The move is a big blow to Sprint, which was the first U.S. telecom carrier to experiment with supporting mobile devices beyond cellphones and netbooks. It also means AT&T has all but cornered the wireless-connectivity market for e-readers. In addition to the Kindle 2, AT&T’s network forms the backbone of the new Sony touchscreen reader and Barnes & Noble’s recently introduced Nook e-reader. All that’s left for Sprint? Providing service for Amazon’s XL-sized Kindle DX, and supporting all the existing Sprint-connected Kindles.

When Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007, the company highlighted wireless downloads of books as the device’s unique feature. The move helped the Kindle gain an edge over Sony, which had introduced its e-reader earlier but without wireless connectivity.

Earlier this year, Amazon offered a second-generation Kindle called Kindle 2 and a big-screen reader called the Kindle DX. Kindle 2 has a basic browser and lets users check text-heavy sites such as Wikipedia. But the devices were restricted to the United States.

Finally, this month, Amazon debuted an international version of the Kindle 2. It was the first Kindle to use AT&T’s network instead of Sprint’s. Kindle DX is still not available outside the states.

“Now that they are selling a Kindle overseas, it makes sense for them to have just one product that they can sell in all markets,” says Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. “And, since, in most of the world GSM is what is used, having a single product helps drive down costs for Amazon.” Sprint’s network is based on the CDMA standard.

That doesn’t mean Kindle buyers who bought their device before October will be switching to AT&T.

“Existing Kindle users, owners of the first- and second-generation Kindles and Kindle DX, will not notice any change to their experience. They will continue to utilize the Sprint network in the U.S.,” says Herdener.

And at least until Amazon introduces an international version of Kindle DX, Sprint will continue to be in business with Amazon.

“Sprint still powers the Kindle DX,” a Sprint spokesperson told Wired.com. “So it is not accurate to say that our relationship with Amazon is over.”

Meanwhile, for Kindle users, the switch from Sprint to AT&T raises questions about reliability of service. Weighed down by heavy data use from the iPhone, AT&T’s U.S. network has become congested, leading to slow connectivity and dropped calls.

And with about 3 million e-readers expected to be sold next year, could AT&T’s network face additional strain? Not really, says Golvin. “The type of connection that the Kindle needs is different from that of a phone, since there is no voice component, only a data component,” he says. “The actual capacity consumed by all Kindles now and those coming on to the network is very, very small compared to the rest of the network.”

Kindle users are also less likely to notice small delays or disturbances in the network, says Forrester’s Golvin. Unlike a web page, downloading a book does not require near–real-time display of different components.

“On an e-book reader, the congestion is invisible,” says Golvin. “The downloaded book arrives when it arrives, and a few seconds’ wait does not change much.”

See Also:

• Hands-on with International Kindle
• Barnes & Noble Unveils Kindle-Killing, Dual-Screen ‘Nook’ E-Reader
• Amazon Kills U.S. Kindle, Cuts International Price
• International Kindle Now Shipping: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
  
• Kindle Goes International — With a Little Help From AT&T
• Review: Amazon.com Kindle 2
  
• Review: Amazon.com Kindle DX

Top photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Homepage photo: Gubatron/Flickr

Amazon has slimmed down both the number of Kindle e-readers the e-tailer is offering, as well as the price.

At its Kindle store, Amazon now offers just two versions of the Kindle: the widescreen DX, for $489, and a 6-inch version of the Kindle optimized for both domestic and international wireless downloads. (Previously, the two versions were separate devices.) As of now, the price of the latter Kindle is $259, down from $279, the launch price of the international Kindle. Amazon’s domestic and international Kindles both use the GSM international wireless standard.

The most reasonable explanation for the price cut is a competitive one; the rival Barnes & Noble Nook costs $259 as well.

Wired also discovered
that the international version does offer some Web browsing, as long as
the only site users want to visit is Wikipedia. Pictures that appear on
the site, however, are not rendered, Wired reported.