$100 Amazon Kindle Fire tablet rumored

via digitaltrends.com

The current, entry-level Kindle Fire is looking a bit over-priced lately, and it appears Amazon has noticed, as according to a new rumor the company is working on a Kindle Fire tablet which will cost just $100. This is according to an anonymous source speaking to TechCrunch, who has told the site the cheap tablet will be more like the Kindle Fire HD than the non-HD original model.

Apparently, the screen will be another 7-inch panel, but the resolution will be upped to 1280 x 800, which is identical to the Kindle Fire HD. A Texas Instruments processor will keep the tablet up and running, but it’s not clear whether it’ll be the OMAP 4430 found in the standard Fire, or the OMAP 4460 with its improved 3D graphics performance used in the Fire HD.

A Kindle Fire HD costs $200 at the moment, making a comparable Kindle tablet priced at $100 look like a real bargain. Recently, Amazon cut the price of its Kindle Fire HD 8.9 tablet to $270 for the Wi-Fi model, and launched the device internationally; could this signify we’re about to get a new Kindle range entirely, and Amazon are attempting to get rid of the outgoing hardware?

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Amazon confirms it has no plans to launch a $99 Kindle Fire HD (update)

via theverge.com

Amazon may be expanding its Kindle Fire line of tablets with a new, low-cost version of the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, according to a report from TechCrunch. Allegedly, this new Kindle Fire HD will have a TI processor just like its more expensive stablemates, and it will have a 1280 x 800 pixel display like the current 7-inch HD model, which sells for $199. Amazon still offers the older version of the Kindle Fire, which has a lower resolution display, for $159.

It's not clear what will be different with this new lower cost model compared to Amazon's current tablets, or when it will be available for purchase. Amazon did recently announce a price drop on its larger Kindle Fire HD 8.9, slashing the price by up to $100 depending on configuration.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Amazon buys text-to-speech software company Ivona

via engadget.com

If you go buying a text-to-speech software maker, you're not exactly going to stay quiet about it, right? Amazon this morning announced its acquisition of Ivona, the company behind the Kindle Fire's Text-to-Speech, Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features. Ivona, currently carrying the tagline "an Amazon company" on its site, offers its technology in 44 voices in 17 languages. It also works closely with organizations for the blind and visually impaired. More information on the acquisition can be found after the break.

Posted via email from Create | Inspire - DM2 Studios

Amazon Kindle Fire HD review

via engadget.com

It was 10 months ago that we had a doppelgänger in our midst. Amazon unleashed the Kindle Fire to the world and we spent much of the beginning of our review comparing and contrasting it to the (even then a bit long-in-the-tooth) BlackBerry PlayBook. Now, finally, we can stop making that comparison -- at least for this, Amazon's current top-shelf tablet.

Posted via email from Inspiration

375 Free eBooks: Download to Kindle, iPad/iPhone & Nook

via openculture.com

This collection features free e-books, mostly classics, that you can read on your iPad/iPhone (purchase), Kindle (purchase), Nook (purchase) or other devices. It includes great works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. To learn how to load books to your Kindle using the links below, please watch this video. This other video explains how to upload epub files to a Nook.

Posted via email from Inspiration

A Close-Up Look At Amazon’s New Kindles

via readwriteweb.com

In a Santa Monica Airport hangar on Thursday, Amazon announced its latest round of Kindles and related services. Overall, they look pretty impressive.

After a big corporate self-hug as CEO Jeff Bezos took the stage, Amazon focused on three key items: new Kindle Readers, new Kindle Fires, and enhancements to the Amazon ecosystem tying them all together. (For more analysis on the new products and services, see What The New Kindle Means To Amazon.)

Posted via email from Inspiration

Here's What the New Kindle Fire Will Look Like

via theverge.com

Along with one or more new Kindle Fires, we're expecting refreshed E Ink models in Amazon's e-reader line at the company's Los Angeles event next week as well. One of those appears to be a refreshed Kindle Touch — the button below the display is gone, and the bezel has changed from light to very dark gray. The overall shape of the product and the location of the USB port and power switch appear to be essentially unchanged. From the images we have, it looks like Amazon will be touting the unit with "higher contrast, high resolution, integrated lighting, and eight weeks of battery life," even when using the light. The retail name for this unit is unclear — Amazon could simply call it the Kindle Touch again, but "Paperwhite" might factor in as well.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Amazon reportedly aims to compete against iPad with larger screen Kindle Fire

via technologytell.com

There is definitely going to be a successor to the Kindle Fire, but whether Amazon launches another seven inch device, ten inch device, or both devices remains to be seen.

A recent report from the New York Times citing a source close to Amazon claims the retail giant is planning to launch a tablet that can compete directly with the iPad. Given the iPad’s large, 9.7 inch display, it would make sense for Amazon’s upcoming Kindle Fire to contain a screen around that size. Of course, with a larger screen comes a larger price point, so it would also make sense for Amazon to continue with another 7 inch device, with upgraded specs, to compete with the Nexus 7 and other 7 inch tablets.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Amazon Enables Mobile Gaming With Apple-Like Features on Kindle Fire

via allthingsd.com

Amazon’s new GameCircle allows gamers on the Kindle Fire to record and track their achievements and to save their game play to the cloud — like features found in Apple’s Game Center.

In a blog post this morning, Amazon said that GameCircle is now available for Kindle Fire through a series of APIs for developers. End users likely won’t see the features until developers have time to integrate the APIs into their apps.

For now, it appears that GameCircle is only available for apps distributed on the Kindle Fire — not for apps distributed more broadly through Amazon’s Appstore, which operates on almost any Android-based tablet or phone.

Posted via email from Inspiration

The Rumored iPad Mini's Size Compared to the iPad, Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire

via gizmodo.com

The whispers and smoke and noise about the rumored iPad mini—an iPad that would be 7.85-inches in screen size—are definitely getting louder. It's by no means real yet, but the iPad mini could very well be an actual thing. But what would it look like? Tweeter TrojanKitten points out that unlike the twinsies nature of the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire, the iPad mini would house a different form factor from its 7-inch contemporaries, with a different sized screen.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Report: Amazon's Next Kindle Fire Will Have a Better Display

via gizmodo.com

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.

AllThingsD also expects a camera to be added in the next Kindle Fire, which should help make more people look like hilarious fools for taking pictures with their tablets. The thing about a new 1280x800 screen though is that it changes the aspect ratio of the Kindle Fire from 1.71 to an aspect ratio of 1.60. The 1280x800 display is actually used in the Nexus 7 tablet so we could be looking at similar screens here.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Amazon To Cut $50 Off The Fire, Release A 10.1-inch Model And New $199 7-inch, Says Report

via techcrunch.com

Amazon is prepping a 7-inch $199 tablet for a third quarter release, reports Max Wang for Digitimes. Reportedly, this tablet will have better specs than the Fire with a higher quality screen and more than likely a more competent computing platform. The original Fire will then get cut to $150. Then, later in the year or maybe in early 2013, Amazon will release a 10.1-inch model. This comes by way of an “upstream supply chain” source. Digitimes is as sketchy as trade publications get, but logic dictates that there is some truth here.

Posted via email from Inspiration

25 Things To Do With Your Books When You Get A Kindle

via buzzfeed.com

Even if you “go digital” there are still more than two dozen different ways to reduce, reuse and recycle those babies. Make a bath, teach your pets to read, hide your booze….

Posted via email from Inspiration

Amazon's Next Kindle Will Be Front-Lit and Its Next Kindle Fire Will Be Bigger

via gizmodo.com

Reuters is reporting that the next Kindle will be front-lit and will be coming out in July. It's a smart move because it'll let users read their Kindles in the dark and an obvious one for Amazon to make as Barnes and Noble already has a front-lit Nook.

The Kindle will still be using an E-ink screen so your eyes won't strain and pop from staring at backlit LCD displays all day but it's worth nothing that the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with Glow Light uses Barnes and Noble's own technology to work with the front lighting. Unlike previous ereaders where all the E-ink screens are the same, we're going to be seeing some differences in these next generation front-lit ereaders.

Posted via email from Inspiration

This Is The Best Price We've Ever Seen For A Kindle Fire

via businessinsider.com

Amazon is offering refurbished Kindle Fires for $140 today.

Gizmodo discovered the deal.

The Kindle Fire is one of the leading Android tablets currently available, and after knocking $30 off its regular retail price, Amazon has made it one of the best you can get for the money.

If you have any interest in the Kindle Fire, this is the most affordable way to pick one up.

Posted via email from Inspiration

How To Check Out Library Books for Your Kindle

via howtogeek.com

Thousands of libraries across the United States offer digital lending for Kindle devices. Read on to see how you can enjoy the benefits of free library books on your Kindle.

Just like you can check out physical books from your local library, at over 11,000 public libraries you can also check out ebooks for use on your Kindle. It’s simple, free, and best of all there’s no risk of late fees because the digital books simply expire the day they are due.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Most Expensive Kindle eBooks (Could set you back over 6 grand!)

via businessinsider.com

Nate Hoffelder over at Mediabistro assembled a list of the five most expensive e-books in the Kindle store.

They're all published by Springer, a company that specializes in professional and scholarly books.

And if you think the prices (listed below) are expensive, consider that the hardcover versions of some of these books are listed at about $1,200 to $1,500 more than the Kindle editions...

Posted via email from Inspiration

RUMOR: Google Is Getting Ready To Release A $150 Answer To The Kindle Fire

via businessinsider.com

Google is preparing to release a new 7-inch tablet called the "Nexus tablet" in partnership with Asus, according to Android and Me reporter Taylor Wimberly.

The killer feature of the tablet is going to be its price tag. Wimberly, citing a "a senior employee at a supply chain company based in the United States," says the Nexus tablet will cost $149-$199.

Posted via email from Inspiration

Top 10 Free Apps Amazon Appstore For Android

via businessinsider.com

The Amazon Appstore celebrates its first birthday today.

Within the 12-month span, the Kindle Fire launched and helped the store grow from 4,000 apps to more than 31,000.

To celebrate, Amazon released a list of its most popular apps.

Most fall under the gaming, entertainment, and productivity categories.

Posted via email from Inspiration

30 Famous Tech Gadgets Disassembled

via hongkiat.com

Ever really wonder what makes up an iPhone, Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab or any other Apple, Microsoft or Sony gadget but can’t really wrap your head around the amount of destruction required to take these pricey tools apart? Then, you are going to love iFixit.

Posted via email from Inspiration