Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 ereader-tablets are set to spread, with preorders lighting up in over 170 countries from today. The 7- and 8.9-inch tablets – which run Amazon’s heavily customized Android platform – have been available in the US, select countries in Europe, and Japan for some time now, but will make their worldwide play from June 13 when they both begin shipping more broadly. Update: Amazon also has news about Appstore availability; more details after the cut.

The Kindle Fire HD has a 7-inch display running at 1280 x 800 resolution, and packs Bluetooth, dualband WiFi, and an HDMI output. A front-facing camera, 16GB or 32GB of onboard storage, and a battery rated for over ten hours round out the package. In our review, we rated its tight integration with Amazon’s ebooks, multimedia, and other cloud services, assuming you’re a frequent shopper from the retailer.

As for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, that steps up the display to an 8.9-inch panel running at 1920 x 1200 – more than Full HD. It also has a faster processor, TI’s OMAP4470, though the same connectivity options as the smaller version.

The Kindle Fire HD 7 is up for preorder from the equivalent of $214, while the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes in at the equivalent of $284. They’ll ship to those in Ireland and Gibraltar from the UK site; to Austria and Luxembourg from the German site; and to Monaco from the French site.

Back when we reviewed the Fire HD 8.9, we praised its pricing and the consistency of the experience, though as with the Fire HD it’s less well-rounded if you’re not entirely dedicated to Android. Both Kindles are positioned basically as mobile storefronts for the retailer, and since there’s no official Google Play access you’re limited to what third-party apps Amazon allows into its own Appstore.

The jump from seven countries to more than 170 is another sign of Amazon’s growing hardware ambitions. Earlier this month, leaks suggested the company was working on at least two potential smartphones, one of which would use a glasses-free 3D display with eye-tracking for improved performance over previous implementations of the technology.

A Sonos-style music streamer was also tipped, though there’s no guarantee that – even if the products are in development – Amazon won’t axe the projects before they see the light of day.

Update: Amazon has also announced today that its Appstore for Android is now live in “nearly 200 countries”, paving the way for the Kindle Fire HD expansion. The service will also come to Brazil “in the coming months” the retailer says.

Amazon Kindle Fire HD and HD 8.9 spreads: over 170 countries [Update: Appstore in nearly 200] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon has launched Kindle Worlds, its latest publishing push, and aiming to commercialize fan-fiction – just as long as the original creators approve. The new division of Amazon Publishing has inked a deal with Warner Bros. to give fanfic authors using characters from Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, or Vampire Diaries permission to sell their titles to Kindle readers, with everyone getting a cut of the purchase price.

Anything over 10,000 words will see the author of the fan fiction getting 35-percent of the net revenue, as per Amazon’s existing publishing deal. However, there’s also a new tier for shorter stories – anything between 5,000 and 10,000 words – which will pay the author 20-percent.

The three existing Worlds come from Warner Bros.’s Alloy Entertainment division, but Amazon says that’s only the start of it. The company is in negotiations with rights holders across multiple types of media – TV, movies, books, games, and even music – to try to encourage them to allow authors to borrow their characters.

For those content rights holders, Amazon argues that it’s a no-lose situation, with a fresh way to monetize their characters in addition to reaching out to new audiences. There’ll also be “content guidelines” – drawn up with Amazon – “that balance flexibility and openness for writers with what’s reasonable for the franchise.”

That probably means that some of the more outlandish fan fiction styles out there – particularly those which create unexpected romantic trysts – may not be approved for Kindle Worlds. Amazon has already said that explicit content is not allowed, nor anything excessively graphic, violent, or that includes hate speech of any sort. Interestingly, there’s also a ban on crossover between worlds, so you couldn’t have characters from Gossip Girl interacting with those from Pretty Little Liars.

Fan fiction has proved divisive among authors, with some appreciating the devotion and imagination the generally amateur writers bring, while others have proved less keen. Orson Scott Card, for instance, author of Ender’s Game, has been aggressively anti-fanfic for some time, telling readers back in 2004 that “the time to write fan fiction is ‘never.’”

Nonetheless, the opportunity to squeeze some extra cash from a franchise may prove appealing to rights owners, and for the authors themselves it’s a chance to potentially make some money from a hobby.

Kindle Worlds tries to make fan-fiction pay is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon confirmed as early as last September that the Kindle Keyboard would be sticking around, but much like your favorite dessert, nothing is forever. The Kindle Keyboard 3G is now showing as unavailable or out of stock at Amazon’s site, as well as at Best Buy and Target. Of course, the last of those has had this here device on sale for what feels like forever, but it’s still somewhat sad to see it come to the end of its road. It’s entirely possible that the company’s Lab126 is cooking up a replacement alongside those mythical smartphones, but it’s unclear if such a conceptual piece is on the immediate horizon. We’ve reached out to Amazon regarding the disappearance, and we’ll be sure to update this post as we learn more.

[Thanks, John]

Filed under: Amazon

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Source: Amazon, Best Buy, Target

It was just last week when we brought you word that Amazon has updated their native Kindle for Android app, and so I guess it is only fair that folks who are using iOS-powered devices too, would be on the receiving end of such an update. In fact, it is said that the latest update to the Kindle iOS app from Amazon (which plays nice on the iPhone and iPad, of course) would bring along with it a slew of new features that will cater for both blind and visually impaired users.

Chances are most folks would pick the ability of the new Kindle iOS app version to read aloud from over 1.8 million Kindle Store titles the biggest difference in this app update. This is made possible thanks to assistance from Apple’s VoiceOver technology, and this particular update would also bring along with it better library and book navigation and search, in addition to other features such as notes, highlights, bookmarks, font size, background color and brightness.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: American Airlines Says Pilot Injuries Reduced As iPads Replace Flight Bags, Samsung’s New DDR3 RAM To Provide PC Like Performance For Mobile Devices,

Amazon has outed an updated for its Kindle app on Android, most notably bringing with it a new design and UI overhaul that mirrors the user interface of the company’s Kindle Fire tablet. The updated app includes a redesigned home screen, an improved Kindle Store layout for Android tablets, and navigation changes.

The update also incudes a section in the sidebar meant for users who are new to the Kindle platform. This section is called Popular Samples, in which users can browse a number of free samples of books to read, to get them acquainted with the Kindle app, as well as find interesting books that they might like.

The new tablet interface has definitely changed according to our experience, and the home screen features the same Cover Flow-esque navigation that’s on the Kindle Fire, allowing you to swipe through different books, newspapers, and magazines. The sidebar also gives you quick access to other sections of the app, including the Kindle Store and the aforementioned Samples.

The app also comes with a slew of the usual bugfixes and general performance enhancements that we see in every app update, so if you’re not a big fan of the new design, you’ll at least have a more rounded-out app that’s a bit quicker and snappier than before. The update is available now in the Google Play store.

Kindle for Android update brings Kindle Fire-like design is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.