Tag Archives | Amazon.com

Kindle Magazines and Newspapers Finally Move Beyond the Kindle

Posted by Harry McCracken on December 17, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Whenever I write about the reading materials that are available for Amazon.com’s Kindle, I have to remember to be precise. A very good selection of magazines and newspapers exist in Kindle form, but you’ve only been only to read them on Kindle hardware, not on the Kindle apps available for the iPhone Android, and other platforms.

Today, that’s changed–not completely, but quite a bit. Amazon has updated its Kindle app for Android to version 2.0, and the new version lets you buy magazines and newspapers, in both single-copy and subscription form.

Amazon says more than a hundred publications are available. That’s an impressive start, but there’s further to go–by my count, folks who own the Kindle e-reader have access to 238 magazines and papers. For now, the Android app’s selection is spotty (you can get Newsweek but not TIME; The New York Times but not The Wall Street Journal).

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Kindle Finally Gets the Gift of Giving

Posted by Harry McCracken on November 19, 2010 at 12:27 pm

When Amazon shipped its first Kindle three years ago, among the most common gripes from reviewers (including me) was that there was no way to give a Kindle e-book to a Kindle e-reader as a gift. Now there is, just in time for the holidays. You don’t need to own a Kindle to give Kindle books, and they can be read on Amazon’s hardware or any of its apps. And if your recipient is an unappreciative jerk (or already owns the book in question) he or she can “return” your thoughtful present to Amazon in exchange for a gift card.

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Stores Form an Anti-Amazon Alliance With ShopRunner

Posted by Jared Newman on October 6, 2010 at 7:19 pm

In what world does Barnes & Noble join forces with Borders, and Dick’s Sporting Goods team up with Sports Authority? The one in which Amazon.com has 8 percent of the U.S. e-commerce market. You know what they say about desperate times.

A new service called Shoprunner is a direct challenge to Amazon Prime. For $79 per year, members get free two-day shipping on orders from 15 online retailers, with another 27 retailers coming soon. Other perks include free returns and members-only offers. There’s also a universal marketplace, which is open to non-members as well.

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Amazon Puts Kindle on the Web

Posted by Harry McCracken on September 28, 2010 at 9:49 am

Another day, another piece of Kindle news: Amazon has introduced Kindle for the Web. When I heard the name, I thought it would let me read all the Kindle digital books I’ve bought in my browser. It doesn’t do that. But it does something else that’s cool: It lets bloggers embed sample chapters of Kindle books, YouTube-style, so visitors can check them out then and there. (Here’s an example.) Pretty handy when a book is the topic of discussion–and it should come as no surprise that it’s easy to buy the entire book from Amazon if you like what you read.

I still want to read Kindle books I already own on any PC with a browser and an Internet connection, though, without having to download them. Now that Amazon’s built Kindle for the Web, it would presumably be pretty simple to introduce such a feature. I wonder if it’s on its way?

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