After confirmations to the contrary yesterday, Amazon has now come out and said that users will be able to opt-out of ads on the new Kindle Fire models for a one-time fee of $15. More »
You’d be forgiven for wondering just what Amazon was up to with Special Offers ads on the Kindle Fire HD: we were given the hope that we could opt out from them, only to watch that dream dashed moments later. Amazon must have been listening to frustrations over the mixed messages, as it just let Engadget and others in the media know that yes, you’ll have the option to drop the ads after all. Pay $15 after picking up the new tablet and those lock screen promos will disappear forever. There’s no sign that there will be a Kindle Fire shipping with ads missing from the get-go, but you know what they say about gift horses. You can find Amazon’s full statement to us after the break.
Continue reading Amazon has change of heart, will allow opt-out of Kindle Fire HD ads for $15
Filed under: Tablets
Amazon has change of heart, will allow opt-out of Kindle Fire HD ads for $15 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 21:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
If you’ve been put off by the (arguably obtrusive) Special Offers on the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon has just announced that they will allow users to pay $15 to opt-out of the ads for the life of the device.
An Amazon spokesperson wrote:
The $15 is a one-time payment for owners of the Kindle Fire HD. This will remove ads from the lock screen and from the bottom of the screen in certain instances. Amazon first announced special offers with the e-ink Kindle and owners could opt out for $30 on the original model.
There was a minor consumer and pundit outcry when users learned they couldn’t remove the special offers.
Before you can legally sell a device that does its thing on the airwaves, you have to get the permission of everyone’s favorite government agency, the FCC. And as of now, the FCC hasn’t cleared the new Kindle Fire HD 4G. More »
Pictures are art. Books are art. In their own way, gadgets are a kind of art. But what about a broken gadget showing (broken) pictures of books? Or a book filled with pictures of a broken gadget showing books? More »
Google may be the big name when it comes to Internet search, but Bing is certainly not giving up the fight. Now it’s the default search engine on all the new Kindle Fires, which will give it yet another foothold on its long, hard climb. More »
There’s a certain amount of self-contradiction going on if you’re visiting a brick-and-mortar store to pre-order a device that’s all about e-commerce. If you relish the irony, Best Buy will gladly let you reserve Amazon’s $69 Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite, upgraded Kindle Fire and both sizes of the Kindle Fire HD (including the LTE model) at both regular locations and Best Buy Mobile. The retailer isn’t as specific with its in-stock dates as Amazon: beyond the $69 Kindle’s September 14th date, we’re only promised a generic October release for the Paperwhite and 7-inch Kindle Fires, while the 8.9-inch tablets will be available “before Christmas.” Not the quickest path to getting a new Kindle in your hands, then, but it may be the best way to get a hands-on before clinching the deal.
Filed under: Tablets
Best Buy takes 2012 Amazon Kindle pre-orders for those that hate online shopping, appreciate irony originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Before you get too excited about picking up a new Kindle Fire, there’s something you should know: it’s going to have ads, and you won’t be able to get rid of them. More »
Though he’s not yet confirmed that there will be any sort of smartphone-sized device appearing soon, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has let it be known that more devices are, indeed, coming eventually. Speaking with Ina Fried and Tricia Duryee of All Things D, Bezos spoke about how their next move wont necessarily be to enter the smartphone universe, but that they’re certainly not going to stop with the Kindle Fire HD. Though “not any time soon”, more devices will be released by Amazon “next year” that Bezos said would be “premature” for him to talk about.
This bit of information doesn’t exactly bring us anything new on the device front other than what we learned about yesterday, but it does let us know that Amazon will be continuing on in their journey in the hardware world. With the Kindle Fire HD 7 and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 having been released yesterday, the company is set for another very possibly blockbuster holiday season. Both devices, along with a couple new ereader-specific machines, will be appearing in stores over the next few months.
Bezos also spoke about the fact that each of the Kindle Fire HD devices being offered this season will be showing Special Offers on their lockscreens. From this screen on each of the devices, you’ll have the option to either unlock to your normal user interface or head straight to a bit of media which you can then buy. Unlock your device or purchase The Hunger Games – your choice! Previous devices from Amazon have had the option of a lower price with Special Offers or a higher price for an ad-free model.
When asked why Amazon opted for only Special Offers versions of the devices this time around, he noted that “no one really buys the non-special offers version”. This plays well into the company’s assurance that a fabulous piece of hardware should also include a fabulous connection to media of all types as well. Check out the post “Kindle Fire is a Service” for more information on that situation.
Amazon phone denied but “more devices” on the way is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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So, Amazon doesn’t exactly highlight this, but all of its Kindle Fires are Androids on the inside. Amazon slaps a heavy skin on top, so it’s not at all recognizable, but it’s Android all the same. Great, so you get access to all of the Android apps, right? Not exactly. More »
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