Why the Kindle Stinks

1M!

(NEWSER) - Looks like there are going to be plenty of Kindles under the Christmas tree. Amazon says it has sold more than 1 million Kindle devices each week for the past three weeks. It's the first time the company has given specific sales numbers for the e-reader, notes the Christian Science Monitor . The $199 Kindle Fire has been leading the pack for the last 11 weeks, revealed a company VP, and has sold "millions of units." More»

Publishers set own prices, and set them high

(NEWSER) - If you're hoping Santa drops a Kindle or Nook under your tree, be forewarned: e-book bestsellers don't cost $9.99 anymore. These days, electronic tomes can cost as much or more than their print counterparts, the Wall Street Journal reports, thanks to a move from the six top publishers to set their own e-book prices. A digital copy of Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, for example, will cost you $18.99, while a paperback copy from Amazon is just $16.50. More»

But it's only for those who belong to its Prime program

(NEWSER) - Starting today, Kindle users who are Amazon Prime subscribers—and no one else—will have access to Amazon’s new ebook lending library. The library won’t be available to those using Kindle apps on other devices, and it’s opening with a fairly small selection of books: just over 5,000, the Wall Street Journal reports. That’s because none of the top six US publishers are participating in the plan. More»

Flash lovers, rejoice!

(NEWSER) - Surely you’ve heard by know that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet isn’t an iPad killer . But it does have a few desirable traits that the iPad doesn’t. The Huffington Post lists six of them:

• It supports Flash: Many iPad and iPhone users wish that Apple would take a page from Amazon’s playbook when it comes to this.
• It’s cheaper: A Kindle Fire (which does not offer 3G) will run you $199. For the cheapest iPad 2 model, which also does not offer 3G, you’ll shell out $499.

It'll be a competitor, but Apple has little to fear

(NEWSER) - Amazon’s new Kindle Fire has been getting a lot of hype as an “iPad killer,” but Apple shouldn’t exactly be quaking in its boots, opines John Paul Titlow of ReadWriteWeb . “As far as hardware is concerned, the Kindle Fire looks more like a cross between the Nook and the BlackBerry Playbook than an iPad copycat.” It’s got no camera, no 3G, no microphone, no accelerometer, and it’s smaller to boot. More»