Kindle News: Sun-shade for iPad/LCD, Amazon net income, accessories for new Kindles, Kindle Fire: "Millions more" built + good video of demo

COVERS FOR LATEST KINDLES

I saw the "Snugg Amazon Kindle Fire leather case and flip stand w/ elastic hand strap and Premium Nubuck Fibre Interior, high quality" case in a press release today.  It stated a normal price of $39.99, with a"Sale" price of $29.99 currently and will be released on November 15, the same date as the Kindle Fire tablet/reader itself.
  I'm partial to flipstands, but I wish this didn't have that stitching showing.  The product is not eligible for Prime.

Here's Amazon's entire assortment of covers for the Kindlefire.

Update: - See the later article on less-expensive covers also.


These are two more unusual covers I've seen and are for the Kindle Basic (NonTouch) and the Kindle Touch.  The first one is the New "York Times cover" ("View from Riverhouse") and the second one is the "Verso Prologue" cover.  Click on the images to

Here are the covers Amazon has for the new e-Ink Kindles.

Click on the images for more info at the product pages for those.

The most useful bookmark for these is the page for all accessories for each Kindle model.

 Note that although the Kindle Touch is a bit larger than the Kindle Basic (NonTouch), cover makers are making covers that will work for both units.


A good Kindle Fire demo on video
Richard B. Drake at the Amazon Kindle forums recommended a YouTube video'd demo of the Kindle Fire, saying it's the best demo he's seen so far.  It's the best one I've seen also.
  To Kindle-Edition subscribers: The video link for use on your computers is: bit.ly/kindlefirevideo.


A Kindle Confession
I got a kick out of this news story by Pat Snyder for Columbus Local News when I spotted the opening paragraph:

' This is hard to admit in pubic, but I'm finally coming out.

After telling my book club, my children, and the English major in me that real books are better, I've been sneaking around with a Kindle. '

  It goes on to describe the realities of public library lending, so if you have time, read the full article at the link.


"iPad to Kindle: ‘Move Over. You’re in My Sun"
Gadgets Technology features iclipstore.com's iclipse sunshade for iPad ! which is for shading the LCD screen from the sun, "solving the outdoor readability issue."

  I wonder if they or someone will make one for the Fire and other smaller LCD screens.  It's something extra to carry around (flat, they say, and doesn't need to be attached to the tablet) but will mean the difference, sometimes, with whether or not you can view or, especially, read the screen outdoors.


Amazon's lower profits in the 4th Quarter
I mentioned the other day that profits would 'dip' for this quarter and they certainly did, as reported by betanews.com -- a big increase in sales (39% increase over same qtr last year) and a decline in net income, which was down 73% year over year.  Shareholder reactions were as expected.  But Amazon finished the quarter with $2.8 billion in cash -- quite a bit over the same quarter last year, which closed out with $1.5 billion.

"Shareholders reacted poorly to the earnings report, driving down Amazon shares by 15 percent in after-hours trading."

  However, a really excellent article on Jeff Bezos by SUCCESS Magazine's John H. Ostdick, that I meant to post earlier, reminded readers of another period in which long-term growth was Amazon's focus rather than short-term gains.

  The familiar story of Amazon's beginnings with a "book beta test among friends" in a garage/basement in 1994 to a TIME magazine "Person of the Year" cover in 1999, involved an initial business plan that "projected that it would not show a profit for four to five years, and bottom-line anxiety created the first cadre of outside doomsayers Amazon would encounter."

Kindle sales in September after the new Kindles announcement
Expenses for the 4th quarter included development of new technologies - e-Ink Touch Kindles, Kindle Fire, the Amazon Cloud, etc., and now, Amazon needing to build "millions more" Kindle Fire units than originally planned.

 Other related costs are the building of many warehouses and hiring of thousands of new employees all over the country and abroad to handle the growing business, but here's what Bezos said about September:

' September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days," Bezos said in a statement today.  "In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch.  And based on what we're seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned.” '

Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Kindle 3 reviews bursting forth today

The Kindle Chronicle's Len Edgerly has a full video review of the Kindle 3, after being able to try it out for 3 days.  This gives a good feel for how more responsive the unit is than the Kindle 2.

Mike Cane tweeted a flurry of pointers to the many reviews.  He also has reactions to Barnes & Noble's Len Riggio telling the world he sees no need to use a Nook, in these words (by Riggio):
  ' “I like to hold the book instead of the device,” he said. “I would rather own multiple books than a single book that carries everything.” '

(I didn't catch the source though.)

 Here are links to a few of the reviews he linked (I have to rush out so I'm using only a few for now and they are choice summary statements, mainly).

' . The Telegraph (UK)
  ...the e-reader for the mass market
It's smaller, faster and cheaper than its predecessor. The Kindle is ready for the mainstream, writes Matt Warman
  For now, however, where the iPad has its place, so too does the Kindle. Speaking as a consumer, I’ll be buying a Kindle; but I’ll be waiting for tablet computers to evolve before I spend any money on them.

. PC Magazine's Dan Costa
...The latest edition's improvements aren't revolutionary, but the Amazon Kindle remains the best dedicated ebook reader on the market.
...overall, with a lower price, a slimmer, lighter design, higher-contrast screen, and other improvements, the Kindle remains our Editors' Choice for ebook readers.

. WIRED's Steven Levy
...The new third-generation Kindle only makes that future brighter. All its basic virtues—instant downloading from an abundantly stocked store, light weight, ability to read in sunlight—are still there, with significant improvements in text readability, physical design, and battery life.
...Amazon's awareness that it is at the forefront of a movement that may have powerful and unexpected consequences on the centuries-old practice of reading.

. CNet's David Carnoy
...The bottom line: The third-generation Kindle's winning combination of noteworthy upgrades--an improved screen, better battery life, lighter weight, and lower price--vaults it to the top of the e-book reader category.

[He points out that Amazon is marketing it as a ""purpose-built reading device."  And, re the cover with light] ---> The slim light draws power from the Kindle and tucks away into the case (at first glance, you don't even know it's there). The only downside is it's expensive at $59.99, but we have to say, we really liked it.
...As with the Nook, the combination of Wi-Fi and the new browser makes for better surfing, but it still remains a somewhat sluggish, less than fluid affair. The browser's more useable overall, and more Web pages will display properly formatted. But using the navigation button to jump from link to link on a Web page can become a little tedious. And we didn't have much luck logging into our Yahoo or Gmail Webmail accounts.

[ That's odd since customers find gmail not difficult with the Kindle 2. ]

In the end, much as Apple tends to do with its mobile devices, Amazon has simply taken an e-reader that was already good and improved it. Those improvements aren't so great that it will make owners of the second-generation Kindle or Nook feel bad about what they've already bought. But if you're already a Kindle fan, you'll most likely be tempted to pawn off your older model on a friend or family member and purchase this model.
  At these prices, we can actually say the latest Kindle is a solid value for readers looking to make the jump to e-books. '

Mike Cane also leads us to this great
"E-Ink Man" picture at the left in Jack Hidary's story about the $-worth of Jeff Bezos and Amazon, at Huffington Post.



Kindle 3   (UK: Kindle 3),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.