amazon e-readers

Amazon curtails sales of Kindle DX

Amazon seems to have pulled the plug on its Kindle DX.

A peek at the product's Web site shows that Amazon is no longer directly selling the DX. Only used versions are up for grabs from third-party resellers, at prices ranging from $230 to $350.

The DX also is missing from the Kindle family lineup. The e-book reader's heave-ho comes about a week after Amazon cut its price to $299 from $379, according to blog site The eBook Reader.

There's no indication from Amazon as to whether new supplies are on their way. But it's unlikely. … Read more

Amazon to users: Hey, the Kindle Paperwhite isn't perfect

How's this for honesty? Amazon took it upon itself to post a note today on its site listing the limitations of its newest e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite.

The Kindle Paperwhite has a light-up screen that lets you read in the dark, which previous Kindle e-readers lacked. That light, however, isn't perfect. So to get in front of the complaints, Amazon opted to disclose some of its drawbacks -- plus other design changes -- ahead of time.

For instance, Amazon acknowledged that the built-in light will provide uneven illumination under certain lighting conditions. The uneven lighting occurs in the … Read more

Kindle Paperwhite on backorder until November

Although Amazon started shipping pre-ordered Kindle Paperwhite devices this week, customers who order one today will have to wait a month or more for the e-reader to ship.

The backlog for the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader shipments has grown to 4 to 6 weeks, according to the product's listing on Amazon.

Once again, Amazon says the delay is "due to popular demand."

Amazon unveiled the Kindle Paperwhite device earlier this month as one of its trio of new tablets. The device is Amazon's first self-illuminating e-ink reader.

Just last week, the delay was three weeks for new … Read more

Get a Kindle with Special Offers for $49 shipped

Whoa! Amazon is selling the refurbished Kindle with Special Offers for $69. And if you claim a free voucher from Amazon Local (available today only), you can get it for $49!

Start by heading to Amazon Local (the city doesn't matter) and clicking Get Voucher. Make sure to complete the process of "placing your order" (an Amazon account and credit card are required), keeping in mind that you won't be charged anything for the voucher.

When that's done, click Your Vouchers (top-right corner of the page). It may take a few minutes to finish processing … Read more

Nook Tablet hands-on: Can it fight the Fire?

Nook Tablet or Kindle Fire?

That's the question that's already bedeviling consumers and gadget aficionados alike.

In a matter of weeks, it seems, the tablet market has been compressed to just a handful of choices. The iPad 2 still rules the high end ($500 and above), but the "e-reader as tablet" option now looms large in the sub-$250 range, with the $199 Kindle Fire going mano a mano with the $249 Nook Tablet.

The Kindle Fire has just started shipping, and the Nook Tablet will follow as soon as tomorrow (a few days earlier than originally expected).

Last year, Barnes & Noble released the Nook Color at the same $249 price. Back then, a 7-inch color e-reader that could run apps as well as read color books and magazines, and even play movies and music, was a revelation. The Android tablet could even be rooted--to many, it became known as the not-so-secret most-affordable Android tablet around with the best design (other similarly priced and more-generic Android tablets are, by comparison, terrible).

With the Fire on the horizon, Barnes & Noble knew it had to up the ante.… Read more

What's missing from the Kindle and Nook? Support for printed books

Having just come from the unveiling of the latest Nook e-readers, I'm feeling more than ever that the future of reading will come in tablet form. I'm already "that guy": I read all my latest books on my iPad via iBooks or the Kindle app. And yet, there's something big--something obvious--that e-readers are missing. It's something that magazines, newspapers, DVDs, and Blu-rays have already figured out.

A way to marry print books and digital ones.

I see bookstores around me closing every day. I'm part of the problem. Here's the vile thing I do: I browse through a bookstore like a vulture. I finger through books. When I find one I like, I buy it, right there, on my iPhone--on the Kindle. The bookstore loses the purchase. I'm a horrible person. And yet, I'll keep doing it. Because those big, bulky physical books don't come with download codes to get e-versions, and right now, I'd rather choose digital. There has to be another way.… Read more

Are refurbished Kindles a bargain?

With the third-generation Kindle now shipping, Amazon has begun offering refurbished second-gen Kindles at a discount. That includes both the Kindle and Kindle DX, which sell for $159.99 and $289.99 respectively in their refurbished states.

It's unclear exactly what condition these Kindles are in, but we presume they're basically indistinguishable from new product, and may, in fact, be extra stock that was left over when Amazon announced the new Kindle at the end of July. They may also be Kindles that customers returned shortly after learning that a new Kindle was on the way.

Either way, … Read more

Will Amazon produce its own Android tablet?

As we reported, a recent New York Times blog post suggests that Amazon is looking into producing more hardware beyond the Kindle. Ironically, Lab126, the division of Amazon that is behind the Kindle, is located in Cupertino, Calif., not far from Apple. And Nick Bilton at the Bits Blog points out that the job board at Lab126 has "a flurry of listings related to electronics hardware, with titles like supply chain project program manager, hardware engineer and RF systems engineer."

While some of the positions will be devoted to future generations of Kindle devices that may integrate touch screens and color (last year, Amazon acquired Touchco, a multitouch hardware company), Bilton says "there's also a good chance these engineers will be recruited to build other gadgets that Amazon is prototyping in its secret labs."

The question, of course, is what sort of gadgets could Amazon be looking into building? Well, one of the anonymous sources in the article gives a small hint, saying that "more hardware products would be a means to an end and that Amazon wants to make more devices for consumers that would enable simple purchasing of Amazon content including its digital books, music and movie rentals and purchases."

I know from speaking to Ian Freed, Amazon's vice president of digital (yes, that's his title), that one of the things that Amazon loves about the iPad is that it allows users to access and purchase Amazon products, whether it's e-books or anything else Amazon sells. The article states that Amazon looked at entering the mobile phone business (again, according to anonymous sources), but that the project seemed "out of Amazon's reach."

So, in my mind at least, the most logical extension of Amazon's vision--and the product that it makes the most sense for it to build and sell--is a small Android-powered tablet that manages to undercut the pricing of Apple's competing iPad products. (I use the plural because Apple is rumored to be prepping a smaller iPad. Whether that's true or not is anybody's guess). … Read more

Amazon: Kindle app store on the way

Amazon announced Thursday the release of a software development kit for its Kindle e-book reader, which will allow developers to build and eventually sell their own applications for the device.

There are only a few hints as to what we'll actually be seeing: Electronic Arts is building some games, smaller game publisher Sonic Boom is creating word games and puzzles, and restaurant review company Zagat is releasing city guides. None of these developer-created apps will be available until later in the year, and the software developer kit is currently in limited beta.

So why's this announcement coming now? … Read more