AllThingsD is reporting that the next Kindle Fire will be thinner and lighter than the current Kindle Fire with a better display, boosting the pixels to a 1280 x 800 resolution. Supposedly, Amazon is targeting the second half of the year for the release—late in the third quarter, to be a little more specific. More »
The Amazon phone rumor mill is in full force right now, and regardless of whether they’re true or not, the idea of Amazon making phones is an intriguing prospect. But without an operating system of its own, Amazon would need to imbue such a device with features that make it stand out. If you were responsible for an Amazon phone, what features would you stick in it? More »
The smartphone wars are about to crank up a notch, with retailer Amazon tipped to be readying a handset of its own that, while likely based on Android, would undoubtedly diverge from Google’s ambitions for the platform. Amazon is working with Foxconn – the company that also produces Apple’s iPhone – according to insider whispers to Bloomberg, with the retailer apparently quietly building up its mobile patent portfolio in a pre-emptive defense against smartphone lawsuits.
That IP shopping spree has seen Amazon negotiate with InterDigital, among others, though the company went on to sell its patents to Intel. Amazon also recently employed IP expert Matt Gordon, who will lead the retailer’s patent acquisitions and investments moving forward.
Exactly what Amazon’s device will look like is unknown, though it’s not hard to speculate on the combination of software and hardware. The Kindle Fire tablet, for instance, runs a heavily-reskinned version of Android on relatively mainstream components, targeting a low price rather than the sort of flagship specifications that would put it in direct competition with Apple’s iPad.
That leaves content purchases – such as ebooks, music and movies – to offset the initial price, a strategy Amazon is all but guaranteed to follow if it does indeed release a phone. There have been repeated rumors of a larger, roughly 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet in the pipeline as well, with Amazon’s cloud storage providing a central place for streaming multimedia.
Amazon Kindle smartphone near tip insiders is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Anyone that’s ever stayed in a hotel knows that if you open the nightstand drawer next to the bed, you’re going to find a copy of the Bible place there by the Gideons. The Gideons have been placing Bibles in hotel rooms for years and it is estimated that nearly 80,000,000 were distributed last year alone. One UK hotel is replacing those traditional paper Bibles with digital versions on a Kindle placed in each room.
All 148 rooms at Newcastle’s Hotel Indigo now have Kindle readers in nightstand drawers that are preloaded with a copy of the Bible. The hotel claims to be the first in Britain to offer the service. Guests who stay in the hotel that need other religious texts are allowed to download it for free up to a value of £5 (~$8 USD).
Guests can also download other books on the Kindle to read during their stay and those other books will be charged to their account at checkout. I wonder if the books other people download will be left on the Kindle for the next visitor to read. The use of Kindles instead of paper Bibles is a trial that will run until July 16. After that, a decision will be made to keep the Kindle readers and roll the program out to other hotels or not.
[via Telegraph]
We might as well call 2012 the year of the 3D map. We’ve seen both Apple and Google show their cards, but GigaOM now hears that Amazon has jumped in by acquiring newcomer UpNext. The details are scant, but the approximately $2.5 million deal would give Amazon the startup’s 3D, Android-native maps of 50 US cities, complete with navigation and extra information about notable buildings. The online reseller hasn’t confirmed whether or not the acquisition is happening, which leaves it very much in rumor territory for now. That said, it’s not hard to imagine Amazon taking that leap. The Kindle Fire is cut out of the official Android ecosystem and won’t get built-in 3D maps without effort on its creator’s part — a buyout would certainly put that mapping on the fast track.
Amazon reportedly acquires UpNext, 3D map wars begin in earnest originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Maybe papercuts aren’t a part of the creator’s master plan, after all — not at the Hotel Indigo’s Newcastle location, at least, which is ditching the standard hardcover bible in favor of a Kindle edition. The hotel’s GM says the move, which brings Amazon’s e-reader to its 148 rooms, is keeping with the city’s rich publishing history. The device will come pre-loaded with the bible, with other religious texts available for the download. Customers can also download non-religious texts, which will be added to their bill. The move is currently being assessed under a trial basis, which will be revisited on July 16th. No word on whether the promotion will be expanded to other hotels in the chain.
UK hotel ditching paper bibles for Kindles, Rocky Raccoon to get acquainted with the benefits of e-ink originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 18:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Hotel Indigo in Newcastle, UK, is much like any other hotel: expensive mini bar, pointless shower caps, and bed sheets that take 10 minutes to get under. Until you peer into the beside table that is, becasue, in the place of a bible, there’s a Kindle waiting to be read. More »
This is the 7" Kindle Fire
As you may have seen, the launch of the Google Nexus 7 has basically turned the 7″ Kindle Fire into a “toy” which purchase is really hard to justify because its hardware is so weak, the software is so locked, and the added simplicity is so little. The arrival of the $200 Tegra-3/Android 4.1 powered Nexus 7 will change the landscape in what used to be called “low-end” Android tablets, and this is great.
For too long, tablet makers thought that providing “good enough” would be… good enough. For one, things like the Kindle Fire turned out to be *not* good enough, and secondly, users want more, better, and they can now find it elsewhere. The time for tepid hardware is over – at least for the next year or so. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Amazon rumored to launch a physical retail store, Amazon Kindle Fire: estimated 6 million sold,
The most remarkable thing about Google’s Nexus 7 tablet can’t be found on its spec sheet. It won’t show up in any benchmark, and it has nothing to do with that zippy new operating system. If you want to know the true significance of the Nexus 7, all you need to look at is the price tag. More »
Previously, DC Comics has had an exclusive deal with Amazon, which meant that any Nook users were left out in the cold. From today, that’s no longer the case. More »
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