Hasta La Gadget!

Early adopters are usually SOL a few months into owning their new doodads. After helping make products successful, their version 1.0 devices are often cast aside to make room for the newer, better, faster kit waiting in the pipeline. If you happened to jump on the Kindle bandwagon early on or even just a short while ago, you may be feeling these very flames of tech fury whenever you consider the company’s newly refreshed line. Well, buck up bookworms, a partial solution to your economic woes is now available. Amazon’s accepting your used and abused e-readers in exchange for a gift card applicable to any purchases you make on the site. It’s the same old trade-in program the Bezos-backed company’s been running for years, only now you’ll have a more sensible way to upgrade your E Ink or tablet game.

Amazon adds e-readers to Trade-In program, ebook lovers pass the old Kindles to the Bezos side originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in the early ’90s, a certain Mr. Vandross and Ms. Jackson serenaded us with a little ditty on the benefits of free goods. Well, it might be time they updated the track because the best things in this eReading life are no longer free over a carrier’s 3G. If you happened to grow accustomed to sucking down data on your AT&T- or Sprint-enabled Kindle keyboard, we’d advise you to hold off on that newly introduced upgrade. An Amazon rep lurking the web retailer’s forums this past weekend delivered the disheartening news that experimental browsing over 3G on the Kindle Touch would no longer be supported. Sure, you can still connect to WiFi and surf via the clumsy E Ink browser, but where’s the on-the-go, loophole-exploiting fun in that? Bookworms with a predilection for an interwebbed free lunch should cling tightly to their outdated eReaders.

Amazon puts the kibosh on Kindle Touch 3G’s experimental browsing free ride originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s little question that the Fire stole the show at last week’s Amazon event. After all, the new tablet marks a change for the company’s Kindle line, which until now has been defined by relatively simple E-Ink-based devices. The Kindle Touch, meanwhile, stepped up to bat to take on the likes of new Nook and Kobo touchscreen readers. But while most expected that device to become the heir to the Kindle throne, the company made a something of a surprise move, offering up a new device that will bear the reader’s name. Now in its fourth generation, the Kindle has shed its keyboard and been reborn as a pocket-sized, lighter-weight reader. And a cheap one, at that — $109 for the standard version and $79 for the ad-supported. So, is the new Kindle worthy of the name that has become synonymous with e-readers? Or did the company make too many sacrifices in the name of slashing prices? Find out in our review after the break.

Continue reading Amazon Kindle review (2011)

Amazon Kindle review (2011) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Amazon Kindle Touch impressions (video)

Amazon Kindle Touch impressions (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As if a $199 Kindle Fire wasn’t enough, Amazon’s also launching a Kindle e-reader that’ll dip below triple-digits for the first time. You heard right — a $79 Kindle (or £89 if you’re unfortunate enough to be on that side of the pricing insanity). According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the company’s Kindle line will “start” at the aforesaid price as of today, a marked decrease from the $114 being charged for its lowest end unit earlier in the week. If anything, that’s a huge blow for Barnes & Noble, and we’re surmising that a reactionary drop will be coming soon in the Nook family if it hopes to keep pace. We’ve also learned that this guy has ads built right in — not a shocker given the price, but notable for those who aren’t keen on buying a device that continually serves up commercials to justify the lower up-front tally. If you’re looking to avoid the hassle, the non-ads variant is priced at $109.

Keep up with the unveiling at our liveblog of the Amazon event.

Update: We’ve added the first commercial video after the break.

Update 2: Orders are live!

Continue reading Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today!

Amazon reveals $79 Kindle, ships today! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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