Amazon Prime members get a $1 video credit for choosing slower shipping
One of the most attractive benefits of subscribing to Amazon Prime is the free two-day shipping or an overnight option available for a small fee, depending on the item and destination. But in many cases, you might not need your stuff until the following week, making the e-tailer’s new “no-rush shipping” option appealing. If you opt for Amazon’s slowest delivery speed, you’ll also be rewarded with a $1 Amazon Instant Video credit. Credits do expire, and certain content is excluded, such as HBO titles. It’s a “limited time offer,” according to the site’s terms and conditions, but considering the cost savings for Amazon, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the incentive to remain.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Household, Amazon
Via: CNET
Source: Amazon
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Amazon runs the numbers to convince you that e-books should be cheaper
After unsuccessfully trying to charm authors, Amazon is now appealing to its customers during the ongoing war with Hachette. The retailer has revealed the reasons behind the spat, i.e. cheaper e-book prices, and the noble intentions behind it. Using its vast archive of data, the company believes that titles that, surprise, surprise, are priced at $15 won’t sell as well as those that are priced at $10. As obvious as it sounds, the company’s data says that for every 100,000 copies of the book that are bought for the higher price, 74,000 more copies would be bought at the lower figure, making a total profit of $1,738,000. Given that e-books incur no printing, warehousing or transportation costs, Amazon feels that it’s a fair trade off.
The company is also opening up about its proposed revenue split with publishers, saying that both Hachette and the author would receive 35 percent of the profits, or around $60,000 in the example above, with Amazon taking the remaining 30 percent ($52,000 as commission. The Kindle team, however, doesn’t believe that the publishers are playing fair with their talent, keeping a bigger portion of that pot for themselves. Another way that Amazon would like to drive a wedge between publishers and authors is by pointing out that the cheaper books have a much better chance of appearing on the bestseller lists — so authors should be insisting their books are sold for $10. Of course, Amazon didn’t say how many titles in its e-book library regularly make 100,000 in sales, so perhaps this is all a bit of very wishful thinking.
Filed under: Amazon
Via: Werner Vogels
Source: Amazon
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Follow-up Amazon Kindle Fire HDX may carry a Snapdragon 805
Last year’s Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 was a pretty impressive piece of kit, if you could forgive the forked Android operating system that was on it. It looks like Amazon may be readying a follow-up Amazon Kindle Fire HDX tablet after an incriminating benchmark was spotted on the AnTuTu database. With an identical screen-size of 8.9-inches, the new HDX tablet looks like it will be powered by the fastest Qualcomm processor on the market right now, the Snapdragon 805, 2GB RAM and have a screen resolution of 2560×1600.
The benchmark also suggests that the HDX will have Android 4.4.4, but that is certain to be Amazon’s own forked operating system. If this benchmark is true, it definitely looks like an impressive piece of kit, particularly if you’re invested in the Amazon ecosystem. As always though, we’ll be taking this benchmark with a grain of salt since we haven’t heard any official word, but we definitely wouldn’t complain if this device were to be released later this year.
What do you think about a possible follow-up Amazon Kindle Fire HDX? Did you like last year’s version? Let us know your opinion.
Source: AnTuTu via Phone Arena
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Amazon now lets you customize and buy 3D-printed products
3D printing has made low-volume manufacturing of highly personalized products both affordable and accessible, but first you need a printer. A number of businesses have sprung up to bridge that gap — investing in printers so you don’t have to — and now Amazon has opened up a dedicated storefront on its US site to connect customers with these sellers. The themed portal is stocked with over 200 products at launch, from jewelry to homeware to toys, that companies will print to order. Many can be also be customized, whether that simply be choosing a different color or tweaking numerous features of a design. You can also preview a 3D mockup of your creation before you buy, and now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got bobbleheads to order.
Source: Amazon (1), (2)
Amazon is reportedly making a Square-like payment card reader
Amazon may revolve around online shopping, but it apparently has some interest in brick-and-mortar retail — there are now hints that it’s launching a Square-style payment card reader. The crew at 9to5Mac has obtained Staples documents showing that a $10 “Amazon Card Reader” is launching sometime in the near future. While there’s no exact release date on hand, the supply store is expected to start advertising Amazon’s gadget on August 12th; logic suggests the peripheral would go on sale around then.
The company hasn’t confirmed any plans, so take the apparent leak with a few grains of salt. We’ve reached out to Amazon to see if it can shed more light on the subject. Such a move would make sense for the e-commerce giant, though. It launched a wallet app mere days ago, so it clearly has an existing interest in the mobile payment sphere. Provided the leak is accurate, the real question is whether or not Jeff Bezos and company can lure stores away from the likes of Square or PayPal. This is already a fiercely competitive space, and many retailers are already wary of Amazon given that it thrives on luring customers away from conventional shops.
Filed under: Peripherals, Internet, Amazon
Source: 9to5Mac
Filmmaker Ridley Scott is tackling a Phillip K. Dick project for Amazon
The works of author Phillip K. Dick have proven fertile ground for classic sci-fi movies like Total Recall and A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle is up next. Except, well, it’s making its debut on the small screen, by way of Amazon Studios and executive producer Ridley Scott (pictured above), according to Deadline. For the unfamiliar, Castle takes place in a 1962 where the Allied Powers were defeated in World War II, and, as a result, Germany and Japan began an occupation of the United States — Scott’s sci-fi phase apparently isn’t stopping anytime soon. With the legendary filmmaker working on Halo: Nightfall, the Prometheus and Blade Runner sequels and now this, we’re even tempted to call it a trend.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Amazon
Source: Deadline
Amazon’s new video portal makes it easy to buy while you watch
Want to watch the latest Weird Al music video or catch a movie trailer straight out of Comic-Con? Amazon now has a place for that. Variety reveals that Amazon quietly launched a new “video shorts” section of its instant video service, filling it out with music videos, movie trailers, video reviews, interviews, featurettes and more. It seems like a simple addition of short-form video content, but it’s more than that: this is one of Amazon’s new advertising platforms.
While the the video short section is filled out with a lot of great content, almost all of it is put into the context of shopping. On the right side of each video there’s a list of three or four “related items” available for sale, with the option to expand the list to a full page of similar products. In other words, it’s advertising supported entertainment — has free video ever worked any other way?
Filed under: Internet, HD, Amazon
Via: Variety
Source: Amazon
Repairing the Fire Phone’s cameras is more difficult than you think
The intrepid disassemblers over at iFixit have torn Amazon’s Fire phone asunder in order to determine how repairable it is, but what did they find? At first blush, things seemed promising, with standard Torx screws holding the chassis together, but after that things started to get sticky. The battery, for instance, is attached with an adhesive tab, but the five front-facing cameras are all held in place with liberal dollops of glue. So much so, in fact, that do-it-yourself repairs are nearly impossible unless you’re patient enough to melt each component out of its adhesive prison. Getting spare parts isn’t ideal either, since the components share so many resources that you can’t just replace one piece — you’ve got to buy the lot. That’s why the phone scored a measly 3 out of 10 for repairability, which is yet another reason not to buy one.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Amazon
Source: iFixit
Comixology now offers DRM-free comic backups, but only from select publishers
When Amazon purchased Comixology, it was a herald of change: iOS users lost the ability to purchase comics in-app, Android users were gifted with a new purchasing system and, now,the digital book seller is going DRM-free. Sort of. Comixology CEO David Steinberger announced today that DRM-free backups of select comics are now available to download in PDF and CBZ format, giving readers the ability to enjoy their content outside of the Comixology ecosystem for the first time. That said, it’s somewhat limited: backup downloads are only available to book published by Image Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Zenoscope Entertainment, Thrillbent, Top Shelf Productions and MonkeyBrain Comics — in other words, publishers that have already dabbled with DRM-free comic distribution.
There’s no word if publishing juggernauts like DC or Marvel will make their books available for download (don’t count on it), but the option seems to be available for both big and small publishers. Even so, there’s quite a few title available (this editor’s list of downloadable backups tallied over 300 comics), all of which can be accessed under the “My Backups” tab of the user’s library. Sounds like a winner to us — though, Comixology does caution that fans of its “guided view” reading mode won’t be able to access it in their downloaded backups.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Amazon
Source: Comixology
[DEALS & STEALS] Get Anker’s Astro E3 10,000mAh external battery for $25.99 (68% off) on Amazon
Many people would say that battery life is the main problem when it comes to today’s smartphones. I personally tend to agree with that. It’s always a good idea to have some extra juice on you if possible and external battery can be a great solution.
Well, if you’re in market for one we have a great offer for you. You can get Anker’s Astro E3 10,000mAh external battery on Amazon for just $25.99 which is 68% off. This is one of the best-selling battery items on Amazon right now. If you purchase it you’ll also get an 18-month warranty and along with that Anker also promises over 500 charge cycles.
This is one of the best deals you can get right now when it comes to external battery packs, if not the best. If you’re interested follow the source link below.
Source: Amazon
Via: Android Police
The post [DEALS & STEALS] Get Anker’s Astro E3 10,000mAh external battery for $25.99 (68% off) on Amazon appeared first on AndroidGuys.
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