Amazon renames its DIY Kindle publishing platform to attract more content
Amazon on Friday announced that its Kindle Digital Text Platform, or DTP, will be renamed Kindle Direct Publishing. All other aspects of the self-publishing platform appear to remain unchanged.
One year ago, Amazon launched Kindle DTP in more than one hundred countries worldwide, pushing Amazon's proprietary Kindle e-book format into the hands of independent publishers and content creators who might otherwise have considered publishing their materials on a more open format, like ePub, which Barnes & Noble's Pubit! self publishing platform uses for creating Nook-compatible e-books.
How many LivingSocial users can Amazon buy for $10?
Deal site LivingSocial has got a helluva bargain today: A $20 Amazon gift card for 10 bucks. Who could resist that? I could. Should you?
LivingSocial specializes in half-price deals, typically specific to larger cities -- assuming you live there. I went to the site for the first time early this afternoon. By Internet magic, most likely IP address, LivingSocial correctly detected my city as San Diego. I clicked through to see the big deal, the aforementioned half-price Amazon gift card.
IDC: Apple leads tablet market, Amazon e-readers
Today, IDC initiated coverage of the media tablet and e-reader markets, ranking Apple and Amazon leaders in their categories, respectively. Reporting on two separate product markets in one release is unusual for IDC. But it makes sense. So-called media tablets and e-readers will likely become one category in the not-so-distant future.
What's more interesting is IDC's tablet definition. In October, I observed that if iPad counted as a personal computer, Apple would likely meet or beat top-ranked HP in Q3 US PC market share. IDC has decided iPad isn't a PC, but Tablet PC would be one.
Amazon to open Android App Store later this year, developer portal launches in beta
Web retailer Amazon.com is launching its own Android app store both for Android devices and for the Web. Wednesday, the company opened the beta of its developer portal, inviting Android appmakers to enroll in the program and submit their apps for approval.
There may be one "official" Android Market that is run by Google, but that doesn't mean Google necessarily owns the Android application trade. Thanks to the mobile OS's open source underpinnings, there are many third-party app stores designed by carriers, manufacturers, and software companies. Some companies that have released devices running on Android have also created app stores exclusive to their devices.
Amazon Kindle users can now lend e-books to friends
One of the major advantages Barnes and Noble's Nook e-reader offered over Amazon's Kindle was the ability to lend other users e-books that you had purchased. Today, Amazon closed that gap when it announced Kindle Book Lending.
Just like Barnes and Noble's Nook, Kindle users can now share certain books they have purchased with friends for a period of 14 days. From the "Manage Your Kindle" menu in your Amazon account, you can select "loan this book," and then enter the recipient's e-mail address and name. They do not have to own the Kindle hardware, and can read the book in any of the free Kindle applications. If one receives an e-mail alerting you that someone has loaned you a book, you have seven days to initiate the loan and start the 14 day loan period.
Amazon's third-gen Kindle becomes its best selling product ever
Internet retail giant Amazon may sell a lot of stuff, but nothing has sold like the Kindle. The company said Tuesday that the third generation of the book reader has become its best selling product of all time, surpassing 2007 bestseller Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
As has been the case with the Kindle since its initial release, Amazon still has refused to give an exact number of devices sold. An educated guess on sales can be made, however: Harry Potter sold about 2.5 million copies during the first quarter following its release.
Amazon defends, then pulls listing of book for pedophiles
Amazon became the target of Internet criticism after initially ignoring pleas to remove a book it listed in its Kindle store on the subject of pedophilia, only to quietly change position and remove the book on Thursday without much notice.
The book, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct" by Phillip Graves, was sold by Amazon for $4.79. It was intended to give those interested in such activity advice on the subject. However, child protection advocates saw the book as potentially dangerous, and threatened to boycott the online retailer.
Amazon opens beta of publishing platform for periodicals, ups royalties
Amazon on Tuesday announced it will begin paying 70% royalties to magazine and newspaper publishers who release their periodicals on the Amazon Kindle starting in December. The move follows a similar royalty increase Amazon made in June, when the company began offering a 70% option for books published through its Digital Text Platform (DTP.)
Coincidentally, the company today launched the Beta of the Kindle Publishing for Periodicals tool, which is similar to DTP, but lets publishers add content and preview Kindle formatting prior to making their titles available on the E-reader.
Amazon says 3rd gen Kindle is fastest seller yet, still doesn't say how many sold
Though Amazon doesn't disclose how many Kindle e-readers it sells, the online retailer today announced that the latest generation Kindle devices are the fastest selling Kindles so far. 24 days into the fourth quarter 2010, the 3rd generation Kindle has already passed total Kindle sales for the entire fourth quarter last year.
This sales explosion is no doubt the result of the Kindle's increased availability after it launched in retail stores early in September. Consumers who may have never seen a Kindle before finally gained the ability to feel how lightweight it is, and see its new higher contrast screen.
Amazon's new 'Kindle Single' format: lowering the bar for literature?
Amazon on Tuesday announced it will be trying a new format for the Kindle e-reader which it is calling the "Kindle Single."
Longer than a magazine article, and shorter than a full novel, Amazon says the Kindle Single could be the "perfect, natural length to lay out a single killer idea...well researched, well argued and well illustrated."
New plugin turns Adobe InDesign into Amazon Kindle publishing tool
Amazon on Friday launched the beta of a new plugin for desktop publishing software InDesign which converts InDesign project files (.indd and .indb) into Amazon Kindle books.
The plugin lets InDesign book and document files keep their font styles, and text and paragraph alignment after being converted to Kindle Format, and allows links, images, tables, and lists (bulleted or numbered) to be embedded as well.
Android App Store from Amazon: potential game changer
Amazon is rumored to be working on its own app store for Android that would compete with Google's Android Market. Though Amazon has not announced it or made any statements confirming the rumor, SlashGear today got its hands on the store's terms and conditions for developers, and they seem to sync with the rumors from earlier this week.
Included in these terms are the royalties for developers, which would be 70% of an app's purchase price or 20% of its list price; and conditions for listing applications in other app stores, (apps must be released in the Amazon store at the exact same time as in other app stores, or earlier.)
Amazon Kindle threatens booksellers by finally launching in retail stores
Amazon's Kindle has managed to make a tremendous impact on the e-reader market without even being available in physical stores. Soon, however, Amazon's best-selling product will be available through retailers in stores across the U.S.
Today, Best Buy announced it will be selling the Wi-Fi only 6" Kindle for $139.99 and its 3G-equipped counterpart for $189 in all of its stores this fall. The company says the 9.7" Kindle DX will be available "later in the season."
Amazon Kindle gets first downloadable apps that aren't e-books
The first two "active content" apps for the Amazon Kindle e-reader have been released for download, consisting of the word games "Every Word," and "Shuffled Row."
In the first weeks of 2010, Web retailer Amazon released the Kindle Development Kit to partners to begin work on interactive applications for the popular e-reader. Formerly, the Kindle platform supported only a very limited amount of interactivity, which included note-taking, highlighting, and later, the ability to send clips and quotations to social networks Twitter and Facebook. Early attempts at games for the platform had to be corralled into the device's experimental browser, which made for a poor overall experience.
Amazon debuts 3rd generation Kindle e-reader: smaller, lighter, cheaper, better
Amazon, online retailer and e-book pioneer announced Thursday the latest generation of its popular 6" Kindle e-book reader.
The Kindle received an overhaul similar to the one its big brother Kindle DX got on the first of July, with a new graphite chassis, improved screen resolution, and lower price.
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