Amazon Kindle

The new Amazon Kindle Fire announced

I’ve just watched the new Amazon Kindle Fire advert and – I want one! It’s only available in the US right now – and it’s for the bargain price of $199.

I hope they don’t do what Barnes and Noble did with their Nook Color and leave it for the US only.

It looks very much like a Blackberry Playbook, but uses a new type of browser that splits the load between the local hardware and the Amazon Cloud Compute services, so it’s supposed to be very fast. Dual core too, it has a gorilla glass screen, integration with the Amazon apps store, a heavily customised Android system, full colour screen… but at a fraction of the cost of the ipad.

Watch the video HERE

I’m DEFINITELY going to be buy one when it comes to the UK, but unfortunately I don’t think it’ll be a straight currency transfer to the UK. $199 is about £149 right now… so it’ll more likely do what other US providers do and charge the same amount in sterling. The question is, when will it be available? From everything I’ve read, IF it’s coming to the UK, it’ll likely be available before Christmas – but it’s more likely to cost £199.

Amazon Kindle ebook sales higher than paperbacks

Amazon Kindle 3GInteresting to see two bits of news in the press today about the Amazon Kindle. First there’s the report that Amazon Kindle ebook sales has outstripped traditional paperbacks in the US during the final quarter of 2010. This trend has apparently continued in to January 2011 too, with 115 ebooks being sold for every 100 paperbacks. (Source: HERE)

Read more

Automated free news for Kindle using Calibre

Amazon Kindle 3GThe Amazon Kindle is a fantastic piece of kit, with lots of great features and an immense and growing library of available resources. Check out my other post HERE to read more about the Kindle and find links to some great resources.

However, one of the things that I’m not overwhelmed with is the selection and quality of news sources that are available for subscription through Amazon. Not only are they quite pricey which, for a digitally delivered item, seems to be exploiting the new device and the growing market of people with ebook readers. But there is a solution, if you want to take a little time and effort to set it up properly. That solution is CALIBRE – download available HERE.

I’ve read around various sources and have outlined a relatively simple process for setting up Calibre to automatically fetch and send news to your Kindle. (If you’ve not got a Kindle yet, you can click HERE to buy yours now)

Read more

Amazon Kindle 3G

Amazon Kindle 3G

Ok – I’m more than a little bit excited…

After buying my mum a Kindle for Christmas, I’ve finally ordered myself one!

Unfortunately delivery dates over the festive break mean I won’t get mine till the New Year, but it just means I can get all my ebooks in order between then and now. I have, however, had plenty of opportunity to set my mum’s Kindle up, source her some good books and have a general play around with it. My experience with it led me to order one for myself… it’s just that good!

The Kindle 3G, at £149 £152 following the VAT increase  (including VAT and delivery – click HERE to buy yours now!) is exceptionally good value and the e-ink screen has to be seen to be believed/appreciated. Anyone that’s ever had to contend with looking at a regular laptop screen in the sunlight will know exactly what I’m talking about.

Have a look at the video Amazon has put together themselves on the Kindle 3G page – it’s really quite good and helps explain fairly clearly what the Kindle is and what the features and benefits are. You can access the page by clicking HERE.

Contents of this article:

Read more