Oct 05
Slashgear reports that Amazon sold 250,000 Kindle Fire tablets in five days. At 50,000 units a day, Amazon is showing that with a few adjustments (camera addition, etc.) the Fire could turn into the Apple iPad killer everyone anticipates.
Good to remember also that 50,000 units a day is a very respectable performance.
Oct 04
FierceContentManagement offers a post on recent developments in digital publishing as it applies to the bricks and mortar world. It seems that some of the old standards like Harper Collins are inking deals to make their backlists available using the Espresso Book Machine’s print-while-you-wait technology.
We’ve mentioned this before, but the idea is a customer at a store can browse through available titles, make a selection and then the Espresso Book Machine prints it in minutes, or while they wait.
While this technology had a place in the beginning of digital publishing because it could create a ‘crossover’ product from traditional paperbacks to eBooks, with the mainstream adoption of eReaders like Kindle, Nook, and Sony Reader, etc., one wonders if traditional publishing and the bricks and mortar stores have missed this boat too.
Oct 03
Gadget.ca hints at the predicted tablet and eReader war that looms on the horizon in a post that details Kobo ‘accidentally’ revealing its Kobo Vox Android Tablet (with details including the MSRP of $250).
This development comes hot on the heels of Amazon’s release of its ‘Fire‘ full color tablet and trio of aggressively priced Kindles. (The cheapest costs $79.)
And now we wait for Barnes and Noble’s volley.
Oct 01
Engadget offers its first impressions and some cool video of the new Amazon Kindle Fire. Take the leap for pics and more.
Sep 30
TimeTechland investigates whether the new $199 Amazon Fire full color tablet is indeed an Apple iPad killer. The industry has been waiting for this to happen since iPad took the top spot in the fledgling market and refused to budge.
By the look of it, with a little tweaking Amazon Fire may force Apple to do a bit of pruning on its end.
Sep 29
With the release of Amazon’s new Fire tablet and reasonably priced sister Kindles, the Mobile Gadgeteer at ZDNet asks the question: Since these devices are being sold at a loss to lock consumers into the Amazon Cloud of content, when will the online giant give the machines away to seal the deal?
Sep 28
Engadget was at the event in New York where Jeff Bezos of Amazon made this announcement. You can find the play-by-play and product descriptions at the link.
Fire (color tablet) for $199, Touch 3G for $149, Touch for $99, and Kindle for $79. Kindles compared here.
Here is an open letter and product description at Amazon.
This is going to shake the eBook Revolution to its core. (Notice the $79 price we’ve been predicting all year? Just saying…)
Sep 27
Techland offers an update on Amazon’s news conference tomorrow that is now rumored to offer not 2 but 3 Kindle eBook readers. Included in the clutch will be the Kindle full-color tablet (Kindle Fire codenamed Hollywood) that is designed and priced to compete head to head with Apple’s iPad. The article calls it “aggressively priced” so that might put the Kindle tablet inside our $250-$299 prediction.
After that comes a pair of black and white, dedicated E Ink Kindles for their dedicated readers: the low priced “Tequila” $99 and “Whitney” (bells and whistles/higher price undisclosed).
If Tequila hits the market at $99, can the $79 E Ink eBook Reader be here in time for Christmas?
Sep 27
Digital Home offers more on the much-anticipated launch of Amazon’s ‘rumored’ tablet version of its Kindle eBook Reader.
This news should be confirmed tomorrow, the 28th from a news conference in New York. Let’s hope they keep the machine between $250 and $299. If the device is designed to be an Apple iPad killer, an affordable price for the mainstream is a must.
Sep 26
PCMag reports that Barnes and Noble is getting ready to launch another Nook Color tablet. The machine will be added to their existing line of E Ink and full color devices.
This holiday season is going to be explosive if B&N’s tablet hits the market at the same time as Amazon and Kobo’s.
Get ready for a price war!
