Vine arrives in the Amazon Appstore for Android, available to Kindle Fire tablets - PhoneDog

android cell phone apps news tablets Amazon Kindle Fire 7 inch Black Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 inch Black Amazon

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After originally launching in the iOS App Store in January and then hitting Android’s Google Play Store in early June, video-sharing app Vine has now made its way into a third mobile app storefront. Vine is available for download from the Amazon Appstore for Android, meaning that owners of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets can begin shooting six-second videos and sharing them with their fellow Viners as well as their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Vine app in the Amazon Appstore weighs in at 18.1MB in size and requires Android 4.0 or later.

Capturing photos and video with a tablet may be something that some folks look down on, but it’s good to see Vine being made available to Kindle Fire owners since they’re unable to access the Google Play Store and the regular Vine for Android app. The arrival of Vine in the Amazon Appstore is also notable because there’s no official Instagram client available in the shop, so any Kindle Fire owners that are in the mood to get creative and shoot some short videos will turn to Vine to do so.

In other Vine for Android news, the app recently received its second major update in as many weeks. The bump brought the app up to version 1.2 and included new features like front-facing camera support and an upload manager for unsubmitted posts, as well as improvements to the app’s speed and UI. Both the Amazon Appstore and Google Play Store versions of Vine for Android can be found at the links below.

Via Android Central, Vine on the Amazon Appstore for Android, Vine on the Google Play Store

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Vine gets a Kindle Fire App as Instagram video usage soars - VentureBeat

Twitter has released a Kindle Fire app for its short video service Vine today.

Vine has enjoyed steady growth since Twitter acquired the service last year. Initially, Twitter released an iOS app for Vine followed by an Android version about four months later. I can’t help but wonder of the release of this Kindle Fire version has something to do with the company trying to keep that growth steady after Facebook’s recent announcement that filtered picture sharing service Instagram would be gaining the ability to record 15-second videos.

Since Instagram Videos launched, some reports indicate that Vine usage has dropped off significantly. – As much as 40 percent, as Marketing Land notes. The drop off could be temporary, as people may have just wanted to check out the shiny new Instagram feature. But Twitter does have reason to worry. Instagram was perfectly tailored to Twitter prior to Facebook buying it. That means tons of Twitter users are not only familiar with Instagram, but they also probably still use it.

The release of a Kindle Fire Vine App might be one way of ensuring that its easy for people to continue using Vine. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter was rushing to get a Vine app released on Windows Phone and BlackBerry for the same reason.

The Vine Kindle Fire app is free and available now via Amazon’s Android App store.

AT & T bundles free Xbox, Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 or Sonos Play 3 with U-verse ... - FierceCable

AT & T (NYSE: T) began offering U-verse Internet customers the choice of a free Xbox 360, Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 Tablet or Sonos Play 3 media player if they add its U-verse TV or voice service to their subscriptions.

The move, announced Monday, could drive standalone broadband customers to take AT & T’s pay TV service, which hasn’t grown as quickly as U-verse Internet. AT & T picked up 192,000 U-verse TV and 609,000 U-verse Internet subscribers in the fourth quarter, and now counts 4.5 million subscription video and 7.7 million broadband customers.

AT & T isn’t the first telecom provider to market free consumer electronics equipment to entice subscribers to order new products. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) kicked off a promotion with Best Buy in November in which it offers new triple-play subscribers a free Xbox 360. In 2011, the cable MSO ran a promotion on its New York system in which subscribers who ordered its 50 Mbps service could receive a $ 300 rebate to cover the cost of a new Slingbox receiver.

AT & T is also using interactive TV applications to differentiate its service. The company announced on Monday that it launched a U-verse Jukebox app that lets U-verse TV subscribers play songs from their mobile devices on TVs connected to a U-verse set-top. It also launched an Interactive Workout App that the company said “turns your U-verse TV into your own personal trainer.”

For more:
– see the interactive TV app release
– see the U-verse promotions release

Related articles:
Time Warner Cable offers free Xbox to new triple play subscribers through Best Buy promotion
Time Warner Cable using Slingbox to market wideband service
AT & T to expand U-verse to 33M homes, increase broadband speeds to 75 Mbps

Vine Comes to the Kindle Fire - The Next Web

Twitter has extended the reach of Vine, its six-second video service, after the app was made available for Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets.

Vine shipped to the Amazon store today (here). That’s made more significant because close rival Instagram (which added video support one week ago) does not currently offer a dedicated Kindle Fire app.

Amazon doesn’t provide regular figures to illustrate sales or shipments of Kindles, but reports suggest that they are the most popular Android-based tablets worldwide so support is likely to help Vine / Twitter ‘s battle with Instagram / Facebook.

Back in January of this year, Localytics estimated that the US-based Kindles alone represented one-third of Android tablets worldwide. The data was captured before the Kindle Fire became available worldwide, so it may well that the figure is higher today. Either way, since the Kindle runs a ‘forked’ version of Android, developers and company must alter their apps in order to reach Amazon tablet owners.

Vine landed on Android four weeks ago, so it’s expansion to the Kindle Fire has been fairly quick. With the Amazon tablet covered, the chances of the app coming to Windows Phone – and perhaps even BlackBerry 10 – are raised, particularly since Instagram currently supports neither platform with a native app.

The Kindle Fire launch comes during challenging times for Vine and Twitter. Analytics from Topsy – spotted by Marketing Land – showed that Instagram remains more popular than Vine based on the number of links that were shared to Twitter last week.

Twitter and Vine appear to have plans to increase the competition with their Facebook-owned rival. This week Vine for Android got front-facing camera support – to allow ‘selfies’ – and the app’s founders recently teased details of a major update coming soon.

The team has also resorted to a more traditional method – the email blast – after it reached out to registered users of Twitter that have not downloaded Vine with an email to promote the video app.

Kindle Fire users can grab the dedicated Vine app from the link below – happy videoing.

? Vine for the Kindle Fire

Headline image via Joe Klamar / AFP / Getty Images

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7 and 8.9 on sale in India starting at Rs 15999 - Mobiletor.com

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Amazon Launches Kindle Worlds Store, Its Self Service Platform For Fan Fiction ... - ReadWrite

Amazon’s new fan fiction store may be kind of far afield for most people, but it is something the publishing world has never really seen.

Read Next ?

Amazon announced today that its platform for fan fiction writers is officially open for business. Dubbed Kindle Worlds Store, the platform is works on a self-submission model where authors can pick a “world” (the settings and characters derived from other fictional works) they want to write in, create a new story and sell it through Amazon.

Here’s how it works for authors, according to Amazon:

• Choose Your World: Choose a World to write in and read the content guidelines.
• Sign Up and Submit: Sign in (or sign up) with your Amazon account and submit your work using our self-service submission platform.
• Review and Publish: Amazon Publishing will review your submission for compliance with the stated guidelines and we’ll publish your work once approved. Each sale of the Work will result in a royalty to the author.
• Promote and Track Your Work: Post publication, sign into Author Central to track progress on your work.

Authors that wish to write fan fiction for Amazon will only be allowed to do so in world’s where Amazon has procured a license from the original content creator. To launch, Amazon has partnernships with stories like Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard and Foreworld Saga by Neal Stephenson among several others.

Authors will need to agree to content quality agreements and certain content restrictions. This authorized fan fiction portal is not a carte blanche for would-be authors to completely rip off the characters and story elements of the original authors, but rather to play with new stories built upon those worlds.

Amazon states:

The owner of the intellectual property related to the Original World (the “World Licensor”), has granted us the right to allow you to participate in Kindle Worlds for the Original World. Accordingly, we grant you the limited, nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable right to create your Work using elements from the Original World owned or controlled by the World Licensor, such as characters, scenes and events (collectively the “Original World Elements”), in accordance with the World Content Guidelines.

If you are a fan of the original “worlds” that Amazon has made partnerships with, this type of authorized fan fiction could be of great entertainment. Otherwise, Kindle Worlds may be a little bit too far afield for most people. At the same time, it is an interesting concept in the world of publishing and something that has not really been done en masse before.

Will you write … or read … fan fiction published by Amazon? Let us know int he comments.

Eva Payne of Project Kindle - A Santa Clarita Unsung Hero - KHTS Radio

Summer Camps and Year-Round Programs ‘Lighting a Fire of Change’ on Behalf of Special-Needs Kids

By Stephen K. Peeples

Eva Payne , Project Kindle executive director, Santa Clarita resident and mother of six, is the latest KHTS Santa Clarita Unsung Hero presented by Mercedes-Benz of Valencia .

As founder and executive director of the nonprofit Project Kindle in 1998 when she was still in college, Payne has devoted much of her adult life to helping teens and young adults who have serious illnesses, disabilities, special needs and other life challenges.

What is Project Kindle?

Project Kindle provides camping programs, year-round support and advocacy, recreational experiences and peer-based HIV / AIDS education for special-needs teens and young adults ages 12 to 24.

Camp Kindle campers and their families pay nothing. The donors who support the 501 (c) 3 organization’s fundraising efforts and grants Payne applies for cover the costs.

Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.

Operating on a $ 400,000 total annual budget, Project Kindle now serves more than 5,000 young people each year nationwide, including more than 100 in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Central to Project Kindle are its two summer camps, Camp Kindle Nebraska , near Lincoln, and Camp Kindle Santa Clarita , both attended by campers from all over the country. The camps’ outdoors environment and tailored programs run by well-trained staff provide activities that further enrich and enhance the experience for the kids.

Project Kindle’s additional programs include the Kindle Ranch Day Camp at the Placerita Canyon Nature Center, which wrapped up June 20. More than 25 Santa Clarita Valley kids ages 5-12, most with various forms of autism, attended the week-long day camp and enjoyed learning experiences designed just for them.

Watch the Video and Listen to the Podcast of the Complete Interview with Eva Payne of Project Kindle, a KHTS Santa Clarita Unsung Hero

“Our focus was math, science, music and art,” she said. “In that program, we had lots of different activities. Because a lot of our kids are dealing with autism, all of the activities were very short, 20-minute intervals of various activities through those different subjects. A typical day was, ‘Go! Go! Go! ‘So we moved from one (activity) to the next, and they were fun. You might think, ‘Science? What are you doing there? ‘But we had really fun, interactive kid activities that Erin, our programs coordinator developed.

In the weeks before camp started, Payne said, “Erin actually went out and visited every single family and did an intake to see what works best with these kids. So, we developed our program around the needs of our campers. “

Project Kindle Founder Knew She Wanted to Make a Difference

Payne, who grew up in Westlake Village, founded Project Kindle and the first Project Kindle summer camp 15 years ago while she was a student at the University of Nebraska.

“I always knew I wanted to make a difference,” Payne told AM 1220 afternoon air personality Jason Endicott in an on-air interview June 17. “I thought I was going to go into broadcasting or educational theatre, and I read a play about a boy who was impacted by HIV and it just really sang true to my heart. I thought, ‘I don’t really know anyone (with HIV),’ but (I) was drawn toward that particular cause. “

Payne said she also grew up going to summer camps, and later got a job at a radio station where management allowed her the time off to keep up the tradition. For a while.

“I had been there for four years already, and they gave me a spot on the morning show, and so I couldn’t go back to camp that summer,” she said. “I was so sad. I had this great job, but I was so sad that I wasn’t singing camp songs and hanging out with kids.

“So this idea of ??starting a camp for kids impacted by HIV or AIDS popped into my head,” she said. “It took a year, I planned it, and then the following summer, we executed it in Nebraska. This year (2013) is our 15 ^th summer running that particular program. “

Payne Family Moves to Santa Clarita Valley, Eva Opens Project Kindle West

Payne opened the Project Kindle West summer camp in Santa Clarita in 2005, a year after she and her family moved back to California, relocating to the Tesoro Del Valle area of ??the Santa Clarita Valley.

Today, based in Santa Clarita, Payne masterfully directs both the original Project Kindle Midwest and Project Kindle West while raising her own kids – one girl, 13, and five boys ages 9, 7, 5 and 2-year-old twins.

On top of being a wife, mom and nonprofit ED, Payne is a student. She is studying for her Master’s in Leadership and Management at LaVerne University through the University Center at College of the Canyons in Valencia.

RELATED: Read all of KHTS’s Santa Clarita Unsung Heroes features brought to you by Mercedes-Benz of Valencia.

Payne has a kindred spirit and avid supporter in her soul mate – her husband Chad, a Santa Clarita-based sales rep for WAXIE Sanitary Supply. Eva and Chad have been sweethearts since sixth grade, and exchanged vows in 1999.

He’s very involved in Project Kindle. “He helps in many capacities, including archery instructor, lifeguard, travel coordinator, campfire leader and more,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without him – with our kids, with our organization. He works full-time in sales so has a little bit of a flexible schedule. “

Knowing how to delegate is a leadership skill Payne already has.

“I’m a really good delegator, so I’m the one who comes up with a lot of ideas, and I find really amazing people to help execute these programs,” she said. “So, I’m not the one sitting there actually making all of it happen. I just find really good people to help make it happen, and I just deal with the fundraising side of it more than anything else. “

Payne Runs Project Kindle for the Kids, Not the Kudos

Now, to be accurate, Payne is not completely unsung for her work on behalf of special-needs young people. She’s been a finalist in the Volvo for Life Awards, honored by L’Oreal Paris as a 2007 Woman of Worth nominee, recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and profiled in DirecTV’s “Hometown Heroes” series.

But in true Santa Clarita Unsung Hero spirit, Payne does not seek accolades such as those – or the recognition from KHTS and Mercedes-Benz of Valencia, for that matter. She does what she does for the kids, not the kudos. The best moments for Payne come at the end of a session like last week’s Kindle Day Camp.

“I think the most fulfilling thing is getting to see … what happens on that last day of camp or when we leave that program and move on to the next program,” she said. “When everyone (first arrives), it’s, ‘Where do I go? What do I do? ‘And by the end, they’ve become family. That’s really the best part. “

Payne encouraged KHTS listeners (and website visitors and YouTube channel viewers) to find out more about Project Kindle and ways to help by visiting www.ProjectKindle.org, or calling 877-800-CAMP (2267). You can also check out the Project Kindle YouTube channel.

“Just reach out to us and we’ll find a good fit for you,” she said.

Photos: Courtesy Project Kindle.

Watch the Video and Listen to the Podcast

Watch the complete interview and learn more about this KHTS Santa Clarita Unsung Hero’s good deeds. You can also hear and download the audio podcast.

Mercedes-Benz of Valencia Salutes Santa Clarita’s Unsung Heroes

Mercedes-Benz of Valencia is proud to be part of the Santa Clarita Valley, not only giving you the superior customer service you deserve, but also giving back to our community by supporting our schools, sports teams, Sheriff’s Station and nonprofit organizations. Now, Mercedes-Benz of Valencia and KHTS have teamed up to present “Santa Clarita’s Unsung Heroes,” a series of special features spotlighting local residents who make a difference in our valley. With new contributions also comes a new Mercedes management team. Visit Mercedes-Benz of Valencia today.

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Article: Eva Payne of Project Kindle – A Santa Clarita Unsung Hero
Source: Santa Clarita News
Author: Stephen Peeples

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VOLUME 29 OF 2600 NOW ONLINE - DRM FREE - IN KINDLE, NOOK, PDF ... - 2600 News

VOLUME 29 OF 2600 NOW ONLINE – DRM FREE – IN KINDLE, NOOK, PDF, AND EPUB FORMATS
Posted 28 Jun 2013 13:18:06 UTC

The newest volume of “The Hacker Digest” is now out and available in more digital formats than ever. As always, we have the Kindle version along with the PDF. But now, we’ve also added the EPUB format, which basically allows people to copy the publication into almost any other e-reader format – all DRM-free.

“The Hacker Digest” is a compendium of articles from Volume 29 of 2600 Magazine, rearranged in book form and totaling nearly 300 pages of material.

The Kindle, Nook, and EPUB versions are great for anyone who wants the text of all of the articles put onto their devices for easy and legible reading. The PDF version works on a variety of platforms and resembles the printed version of the magazine, with a number of layout changes and expanded features. All versions contain graphics along with enhanced cover pages (unobscured by print or barcodes), a full payphone photo spread in the middle, and a collection of all of the back cover photos.

2600 continues to expand into new digital territory. We hope that by adding the EPUB format, we’ll be making this digest accessible to more people than ever. If we get a strong response, we’ll continue to support this and other platforms. Our popularity on the Kindle continues to surprise those who believe that strict controls and DRM are the only way to be successful in the publishing world. Our readers have demonstrated that this is not true and their support has moved us ahead of best sellers like Newsweek, PCWorld, and National Geographic. With your support, we will continue to help move the digital publishing world into an open and positive environment.

Volume 29 Kindle and Nook

Volume 29 PDF

Volume 29 EBOOK

VOLUME 29 OF 2600 NOW ONLINE - DRM FREE - IN KINDLE, NOOK, PDF ... - 2600 News

VOLUME 29 OF 2600 NOW ONLINE – DRM FREE – IN KINDLE, NOOK, PDF, AND EPUB FORMATS
Posted 28 Jun 2013 13:18:06 UTC

The newest volume of “The Hacker Digest” is now out and available in more digital formats than ever. As always, we have the Kindle version along with the PDF. But now, we’ve also added the EPUB format, which basically allows people to copy the publication into almost any other e-reader format – all DRM-free.

“The Hacker Digest” is a compendium of articles from Volume 29 of 2600 Magazine, rearranged in book form and totaling nearly 300 pages of material.

The Kindle, Nook, and EPUB versions are great for anyone who wants the text of all of the articles put onto their devices for easy and legible reading. The PDF version works on a variety of platforms and resembles the printed version of the magazine, with a number of layout changes and expanded features. All versions contain graphics along with enhanced cover pages (unobscured by print or barcodes), a full payphone photo spread in the middle, and a collection of all of the back cover photos.

2600 continues to expand into new digital territory. We hope that by adding the EPUB format, we’ll be making this digest accessible to more people than ever. If we get a strong response, we’ll continue to support this and other platforms. Our popularity on the Kindle continues to surprise those who believe that strict controls and DRM are the only way to be successful in the publishing world. Our readers have demonstrated that this is not true and their support has moved us ahead of best sellers like Newsweek, PCWorld, and National Geographic. With your support, we will continue to help move the digital publishing world into an open and positive environment.

Volume 29 Kindle and Nook

Volume 29 PDF

Volume 29 EBOOK

Kindle Worlds opens for business - The Bookseller

28.06.13 | Lisa Campbell

Amazon’s Kindle Worlds platform has opened in the US, with its guidelines advising that it is authors’ responsibility to “ensure that their content doesn’t violate laws or copyright.”

Authors can choose to write fan fiction in in Kindle “Worlds” based on the Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries and Silo Man series, among many more.

According to the author guidelines featured on the site, Amazon has stipulated some strict guidelines for authors to adhere to when writing fan fiction for one of the Kindle Worlds, including a ban on “pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts”, offensive content including “racial slurs, excessively graphic or violent material, or excessive use of foul language” or excessive use of brand names or the inclusion of brand names for paid advertising or promotion.

Certain “worlds” also have specific rules, such as in Valiant Entertainment Worlds, where the characters of Archer & Armstrong should “do not kill unless necessary and strive to do as little harm as possible” because they are pacifists.

In Hugh Howey’s Silo Saga, “the timeline can be subverted, and anyone can be killed or modified as the Kindle Worlds author sees fit”, but, “stories must be based on characters, scenes, events, themes, and plots appearing in novels, novellas, and short stories featuring the Silo Saga World and authored by Hugh Howey. “

Amazon has also stipulated that “No crossovers from other Worlds are permitted, meaning your work may not include elements of any copyright-protected book, movie, or other property outside of the elements of this World.”

The company said it will pay royalties to both the authors and the rights holders of the world, with the author receiving 35% of net revenue for works over 10,000 words. For works between 5,000 words and 10,000 words, usually priced under $ 1, Amazon will pay the royalties for the world ¹ s rights holder and pay authors a digital royalty of 20%.

• amazon
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• Lisa Campbell

Gizmo Guru | The best Kindle yet? - Livemint

The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 3G launched officially in India this week, and it’s great for anyone who loves reading. That being said, the Rs. 13,999 price tag might cause people to think twice. The WiFi only version is cheaper, at Rs. 10,999 but that’s still a pretty hefty bill.

What’s so great about this thing? Well, for one thing, you can hold over 1000 books in a sleek looking device that can fit inside your pocket. Second, it uses a matte e-ink display that you can read outdoors, without any annoying reflections. And now, Amazon is using a lighting technology which means that you can read the Kindle even when it’s dark, by simply changing the brightness settings.

With the brightness at a medium level, the company claims eight weeks of battery life, reading half an hour every day. Half an hour doesn’t sound like much, but averaged over eight weeks, that’s not too bad.

Also, while the display on earlier Kindles was already superb, Amazon claims that it has increased the number of pixels on screen by 62%, and improved contrast for 25%. It certainly looks great, and it’s possible, even on a screen this small, to read a comic book without straining your eyes.

The pages look great and the black and white artwork looks good on the screen. Reading text is a similarly enjoyable experience.

The touchscreen is responsive and much easier to use than the older Kindle models which came with a keyboard-there is still a bit of a “jump” when the screen refreshes though, which can take some getting used to. Turning pages, changing the brightness or launching the X-ray feature (that gives you a kind of summary of the book) is all done by touch, and the experience is smooth and easy to understand at all points.

Other than that, you sync your library across devices-so if you’re reading a book on the Kindle and on the Kindle app on your tablet, for example, then it’ll know which page you were on as well.

Translations, Wikipedia lookups, bookmarks and annotations are all built in to the device as well, and are very useful features to have.

At 213 grams, the Kindle is just a little heavier than many smartphones, and is easy to carry around with you at all times.

It’s hard not to love one of these really-the only issue is the price; it’s great value for money, but you have to decide if that’s worth it for you.

Amazon opens up Kindle Worlds Store, for all your licensed fan fic needs - Engadget

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Amazon Begins Sales of Kindle Fire HD Tablets and Paperwhite E-Readers - IBTimes India

Amazon Inc has kick-started sales of its Kindle range of tablets and e-readers in India on Thursday. The retail giant had already started taking pre-orders for Kindle Fire HD tablets and Kindle Paperwhite e-book readers two weeks ago.

The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet is available for ? 15,999 (16GB) and ? 18,999 (32GB), while the 8.9-inch version 8.9 inch is priced at ? 21,999 (16GB) and ? 25,999 (32GN). The Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi only version and Paperwhite Wi-Fi with 3G are available for ? 10,999 and ? 13,999, respectively.

Amazon offers its basic version of Kindle e-reader priced at ? 5,999 as well.

The devices are available on the Amazon’s India website and at many brick-and-mortar electronic retail outlets in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Amazon has tied up with Redington India this time to distribute its Kindle collection in retail outlets, while its website maintains its online distribution partnership with Tata’s Croma Retail . This is a third big offer for Redington this month; the company had struck a deal with Lenovo and Asus to sell their range of products.

Through its Kindle range of products Amazon promises to give customers access to a collection of more than 1.9 million apps, games and books.

The e-commerce company has devoted a separate page to the Kindle family on its website where customers can easily choose among the products.

The new Kindle range of tablets and e-readers will be pitted against the popular selling iPad and Galaxy Tab in the market, given its vast range of content and modified version of Android OS.

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Amazon Steps Into the Cloistered World of Super-Fandom - TIME

Kindle Worlds is Amazon Publishing’s bold foray into the world of fan-authored content

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

What if you could make money for being a super-fan, just by doing something you already love? This is the enticing concept behind Amazon Publishing’s latest Kindle Project. For those devoted followers Amazon hopes to engage, the idea of ??making a profit from their pursuits of passion will be a tempting proposition-but many fans are already wary of what giving in to that temptation might mean.

As of June 27, Amazon’s “Kindle Worlds” is open for business. It’s a platform designed to, in effect, legalize and monetize fan-created texts based on movies, TV, books and other media. This so-called “fan fiction”-stories that take characters from established properties but put them in new situations, pairings or settings-is nothing new, but it has traditionally lived somewhat in the shadows. Although a few famous authors (Anne Rice, for example) have been vocal in their disapproval of what they see as appropriation of their work, most rights-holders turn a blind eye or even encourage fan fiction, so long as it’s an act of love rather than a commercial venture. The legal questions behind fan fiction , or fanfic , are a gray area with no case law, but most fan writers believe it falls under the doctrine of “fair use,” particularly when there’s no money involved. In the relative ly rare cases where money has entered the picture, the common practice is what’s known to fans as “filing off the serial numbers”: changing all recognizable names and places, so the work has no recognizable link to the original content. The Twilight -to- Fifty Shades of Gray transformation is the most famous example.

Here’s where Kindle Worlds steps in: they don’t just leave the serial numbers on; they add some more. Imagine if the rights-holders-Worlds Licensors, in their lingo, and The Powers That Be to many fans-gave their okay to split profits with fans on fan fiction. That’s Kindle Worlds. Just submit your fan fiction, in an approved fandom, and if it gets the okay from Amazon and the Licensor, it will be available for sale via Amazon. Some of the money goes to you; some of it goes to the creator; it’s all above-board.

“Part of our mission is to act as a laboratory, looking for new business models for writers to be creative, for writers to reach out to an audience, for writers to earn a revenue through royalty generation,” says Philip Patrick, the Kindle Worlds publisher and director of business development. “Kindle Worlds is a prime example of that, for writers to have the ability to do that on the Kindle platform and reach an audience of readers.”

( MORE : Amazon’s Acquisition of Goodreads: Execs and Users Weigh In)

Right now, the number of “Worlds” available in the platform is limited but includes big properties like Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diaries . The roster is expanding regularly-and, for professional writers, getting in on it from the beginning makes economic sense, says author Barry Eisler, whose John Rain novels are part of the program. “Some people just do not like the feeling of other people writing stories with the characters they created,” he says. “Publishing for me is a business, not an ideology. When I sold the Bulgarian rights to my book, I was very excited to sell them-and this is just another subsidiary rights offer. “Plus, Eisler says, Kindle Worlds provides a net good for the writers everywhere by opening up the business to new writers and empowering those on both sides (fans and Licensors) to choose whether or not they want to participate.

Fans, however, aren’t so sure.

At least some of their reservations, expressed in the time between Amazon’s announcement of Kindle Worlds a few weeks ago and the actual launch of the platform, Amazon says are resolved by information now available. For example, the preliminary guidelines mention that each World will have its own set of guidelines as to how far away from the canon a story can deviate and how much, if any, adult content will be permitted; the specifics of those guidelines will be made available to writers before they start submitting. Fans are also concerned about the monetary terms of Amazon’s deal and the implications of writing something that can only be accessed via the dedicated platform.

A perhaps bigger issue, however, is that fans have already been burned by a project seen as similar to Kindle Worlds. Kristen Murphy is the president of the Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit organization for fans that supports the creation of “fannish” works like fan fiction. She points out that this isn’t the first time a non-fan organization has stepped in to try to turn fan devotion into a business. “I think a lot of fans are very suspicious of what looks like attempts by outsiders to come in and commodify the community and make money off of us,” she says. “There’s always going to be, I think, some of that suspicion.”

( MORE : Inside the World of Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

The most obvious point of comparison, Murphy says, is to FanLib, a for-profit fan fiction archive that was launched in 2007, but only lasted for about a year. Like Kindle Worlds, FanLib was a commercial venture. Reaction from fans was largely negative: FanLib would retain the rights to fics that were entered into the official contests it held, the company’s interactions with fans were seen as arrogant and none of the money made by the for-profit archive would go to fan authors . FanLib also brought money into the fan equation without providing the legal framework to support fans if rights-holders got upset. Many fans at the time also thought that FanLib’s creators were missing the point of fan fiction by not understanding that the appreciation of fellow fans and the experience of writing was the enough of a reward-something that someone without the fannish gene might not be capable of grasping.

Kindle Worlds avoids some of the most egregious missteps committed by FanLib-participants will retain the rights to their original content, stay within the law and take home a share of profits (royalty rates of either 20% or 35% depending on length )-but it raises many of the same core questions.

( MORE : It’s Not TV, It’s Amazon; What Do the Site’s New Pilots Offer That the Networks Don’t?)

Henry Jenkins, the University of Southern California academic (or “aca-fan”) who is to fandom as Alfred Kinsey is to sex, believes it comes down to self-determination. In an upcoming roundtable discussion in Cinema Journal magazine, to which Jenkins provided early access for TIME, he discusses the way that Kindle Worlds allows us to look at how the line between a subculture and the mainstream can shift. Jenkins writes that Amazon and FanLib are very different-FanLib was “a reckless violation of the norms of fandom”-and that Kindle Worlds has both potential pros (an opportunity for a more diverse set of fans to think they might one day “go pro “) and cons (outside constraints placed on who can say what).

But either way, in Jenkins’ view, Kindle Worlds has the potential to change fandom by introducing the potential for payment into what had been a world without money or, in a worst-case scenario, attracting negative legal attention to those fans who choose to write outside its framework when they could opt in. And that would mean that fans would not be able to choose for themselves whether they wanted to be mainstreamed.

Amazon’s Patrick says that the goal of Kindle Worlds is not to harm the non-monetized fanfic world. “There is that ethos, of doing it for the love of writing and doing it for the love of being a fan. I think that always exists, period, that goes on forever and I think it’s awesome, “he says. “What we’re trying to do here is simply create yet another option for people to explore that form of creativity. We are creating a legal environment for our licensed properties for writers to write and earn a royalty, but by no means is that the only option that’s going to be available to writers. We’re just one of many now. “

Henry Jenkins says it’s too early to tell whether the number of options will decrease, intentionally or not: “It remains to be seen whether or not the availability of commercialized forms of fan fiction threaten those many fans who would prefer to continue to produce and share their works under a gift economy model, “he writes.

And as for the fan-fiction writers themselves?

It remains to be seen what they do, too. But Kristen Murphy says that, in her expertise, some fans have already made up their minds about Amazon: “Certainly some people are always going to be skeptical no matter what they do.”

Amazon opens fan fiction marketplace Kindle Worlds with 'Vampire Diaries ... - Hypable

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Amazon has announced their fan fiction buying-and-selling website Kindle Worlds is now open for business.

Kindle Worlds is the first place for fan fiction writers to legally write and sell their own fan fiction about a select number of fandoms. Currently Amazon has deals with 50 fandoms including The Vampire Diaries , Pretty Little Liars , and Gossip Girl .

Fan fiction writers can earn up to 35% per story purchase. Amazon and the creator of the fandom receive the other portions of that pie.

Checking out Amazon’s Kindle Worlds store front (which looks similar to most areas of Amazon), the online retailer appears to be putting particular emphasis on The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, The Foreworld Saga, Gossip Girl, Archer & Armstrong, Shadowman, Harbinger , and XO Manowar .

There are numerous concerns about Kindle Worlds from a fandom and writer perspective. For one, the creator of the world is allowed to use the ideas you create in official works in the future without giving any credit to you.

In other words, you could come up with an amazing plot twist for Damon and Elena in The Vampire Diaries and see it show up in the books or television show, but you would never be compensated monetarily or verbally.

Another concern is that Amazon is banning pornography. Fans are upset by this rule because the majority of fan fiction at least includes one or two sex scenes. Without them, the appeal of diving into some fan fiction and enjoying an alternate fandom world where there’s only light romance is not appealing.

Amazon may’ve been afraid of Fifty Shades -level stories appearing in Kindle Worlds, or the authors only agreed to including their fandom if there was no sex involved.

A final major problem is that you have to pay for fan fiction. For as long as the internet has existed, fan fiction has been free to obtain on numerous websites. Amazon is now looking to monetize the fan fiction market so that they can open a new book store which has, literally, endless books available.

Will you give Kindle Worlds a try by either selling or purchasing books to read on your computer, mobile device, or Kindle?

Visit Kindle Worlds to learn more about how it works.

Amazon opens up Kindle Worlds Store, for all your licensed fan fic needs - Engadget

Now Open: Kindle Worlds Store and Self-Service Submission Platform

The Kindle Worlds Store and Self-Service Submission Platform are now open. Customers can enjoy works from dozens of authors including Barbara Freethy (writing in Pretty Little Liars), Charles Sasser (Foreworld Saga) and Anita Clenney (The Vampire Diaries). Kindle World’s Self-Service Submission Platform enables any writer to publish fan fiction based on a range of original stories and characters and earn royalties for doing so. To browse the store and learn more about Kindle Worlds, visit www.amazon.com / kindleworlds.

Kindle Worlds is a new publishing model that allows any writer to publish authorized stories inspired by popular Worlds and make them available for readers to purchase in the Kindle Store, and earn up to a 35% royalty while doing so. Kindle Worlds stories will typically be priced between $ 0.99 and $ 3.99 and will be exclusive to Kindle. To learn more and get started writing, visit kindleworlds.amazon.com.

Here’s what authors and licensors are saying about Kindle Worlds:

“It’s actually a gift to be able to take someone else’s creation and see whether you can take it in a new direction. Watch every show; read every comic book. Honor the canon and honor the fans. There is a reason these stories have become so popular. And don’t feel restricted by the universe that has already been created. It reminds me a bit of writing a haiku or a sonnet. There are rules that must be followed, but within those rules, you can go anywhere. Your imagination is the only limit. ” -Carolyn Nash, writer in Archer & Armstrong
“I believe Kindle Worlds has the potential to increase writership in much the same way the introduction of the Kindle expanded readership. I am thrilled for the Silo Saga to be a part of this program. It’s a natural fit because for the past year, talented authors have been exploring Silos of their own creation, and I look forward to reading more and to crafting some Worlds stories of my own. ” -Hugh Howey, World Licensor for the Silo Saga
“I was intrigued by the opportunity to create something that absolutely had to fall inside a canon that someone else came up with. In one way, it was very freeing to do so . Because the universe itself exists, with all the richness of an already established background and history, I could get right into the meat of the story without having to explain everything to the readers. I did try to make it understandable and enjoyable to a newcomer to the world, however. But there’s a lot I worked to add that will hopefully tickle the fancy of the fans. ” -L.J. McDonald, writer in The Vampire Diaries
“It was great fun to play ‘What if?’ and come up with scenarios that had ties to things that have happened on Vampire Diaries but which took things in a different direction or introduced new characters that could fit into the world of Mystic Falls. There’s probably not a wr iter fangirl alive who hasn’t fantasized about being able to write at least one episode of her favorite show, and I’m no different. While these stories aren’t show episodes, it’s still pretty darn cool to be able to write them with the idea of ??fellow fans reading them. ” -Trish Milburn, writer in The Vampire Diaries

The Kindle Worlds Store is now open with over 50 commissioned stories including:

“Pretty Little Liars: Stained” by Barbra Annino
“The Vampire Diaries: The Arrival” by Lauren Barnholdt & Aaron Gorvine
“Shadowman: Salvation Sally” by Tom King
“The Foreworld Saga: The Qian” by Aric Davis
“XO Manowar: Noughts and Crosses” by Stuart Moore

Today’s announcement is also a call to storytellers to join Kindle Worlds. Here’s how the self-service submission platform works:

Choose Your World: Choose a World to write in and read the content guidelines.
Sign Up and Submit: Sign in (or sign up) with your Amazon account and submit your work using our self- service submission platform.
Review and Publish: Amazon Publishing will review your submission for compliance with the stated guidelines and we’ll publish your work once approved. Each sale of the Work will result in a royalty to the author.
Promote and Track Your Work: Post publication, sign into Author Central to track progress on your work.

“Today, we launch the Kindle Worlds Store and the platform that will enable any writer to benefit from writing in one of the Worlds we’ve licensed,” said Philip Patrick, Director, Business Development and Publisher of Kindle Worlds. “We look forward to hearing feedback from readers and writers, and hope to learn and improve as time goes on.”

Amazon Publishing has already secured licenses from:

Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment division for its New York Times best-selling book series Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar; Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard; and The Vampire Diaries, by LJ Smith
Valiant Entertainment for Bloodshot, XO Manowar, Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger and Shadowman
Best-selling authors Hugh Howey for Silo Saga, Barry Eisler for his John Rain novels, Blake Crouch for his Wayward Pines Series , and the Foreworld Saga by Neal Stephenson, Greg Bear, Mark Teppo and more

Amazon Publishing is engaged with additional rights holders from different areas of entertainment-books, games, TV, movies and music-and looks forward to announcing future deals soon. To get started writing works in licensed properties and to view the submission guidelines and instructions, visit the Self-Service Submission Platform at kindleworlds.amazon.com. For updates on licensed properties and to buy Kindle Worlds works, visit www.amazon.com / kindleworlds. For regular updates on Kindle Worlds, follow @ KindleWorlds on Twitter.

Kindle Paperwhite ebook reader, Kindle Fire HD tablets now available on ... - NDTV

Amazon’s front-lit ebook reader, Kindle Paperwhite and its Kindle Fire HD tablets are now available for purchase on the company’s Indian online store, Amazon.in and through more than one hundred retail outlets including Croma, Reliance Digital, E-Zone and Vijay Sales in cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Orders placed for the ebook reader and tablets placed on Amazon.in will be fulfilled by Amazon and sold by Croma retail. The site mentions a shipping time of 2-4 days for most Delhi Pin Codes.

Amazon had the availability of both the devices on June 13. Just to recap, the Wi-Fi version of the Kindle Paperwhite ebook reader has been priced at Rs. 10,999, while its Wi-Fi plus 3G version costs Rs. 13,999. Amazon has also revised the Kindle ebook reader’s price in India. It is now available for Rs. 5,999, Rs.1, 000 less than the Rs.6, 999 price it was launched at originally, in August 2012.

The 16GB variants of the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 tablets are available for Rs. 15,999 and Rs. 21,999 respectively. The 32GB storage variants of the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 tablets are available for Rs. 18,999 and Rs. 25,999 respectively.

The Kindle Paperwhite, which was initially launched in October 2012, features a 6-inch Paperwhite display packing-in 212 pixels per inch and displaying 16 level grey scale. The Paperwhite display is essentially a front-lit display that guides light underneath an anti-glare layer and down toward the display, away from the reader’s eyes, allowing readers to read with less eye fatigue and strain. Amazon claims that the e-reader offers 25 percent higher contrast for sharp, dark text and packs in 62 percent more pixels for higher resolution. The screen’s brightness can be adjusted for reading in different light conditions. The Kindle Paperwhite sports a 2-point multi-touch display eliminating the need for physical buttons.

It comes with 2GB of internal storage space out of which 1.25GB is available to the user, capable of holding around 1100 books. It also offers free cloud storage for all content (books and magazines) purchased from Amazon.

Kindle Fire HD is a 7-inch tablet with 1280×800 display resolution that is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and Imagination SGX540 GPU. It weighs 395 grams and is powered by a 4400mAh battery rated at 11 hours of usage.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9, on the other hand, features an 8.9-inch display with a pixel density of 254 pixels per inch and a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. It is powered by 1.5GHz dual-core processor and Imagination SGX544 GPU, weighs 567 grams and is powered by a 6000mAh battery rated at 10 hours of usage.

Both tablets come with 1GB of RAM, dual-band Wi-Fi, Dolby Audio with dual stereo speakers, Bluetooth 3.0, and are available in 16GB and 32GB variants.

The tablets run a highly customised version of Android 4.0.3 with apps available through Amazon’s Appstore, instead of Google Play. Kindle Fire HD tablets can also consume content from Amazon’s large library of audio, video and books content, though only books are available in India at this stage.

Amazon opens Kindle Worlds fan fiction bookstore - CNET

The new online bookstore will offer commissioned works based on existing TV series, books, comics, and music.

 June 27, 2013 7:24 AM PDT

Amazon opens Kindle Worlds fan fiction bookstore - CNET

The new online bookstore will offer commissioned works based on existing TV series, books, comics, and music.

 June 27, 2013 7:24 AM PDT

Amazon Kindle Fire HD Specifications - Tech2

The Tech2 Labs receives many products every single week and each of them is tested with the utmost care and highest level of objectivity. There’s a constant effort to reduce and totally eliminate subjectivity. Each product is tested according to set test processes so the same test scenario is used.

Verdict
The ratings awarded to a product are derived from a number of tests and calculations, keeping certain important factors in mind. These factors consist of features, performance, quality and value for money. In case of software and some other categories, build quality might be replaced with ease of use or ease of installation. Products are compared with other products in a similar price range or product category.

Features
The features component of the score is rated based on the kind of features present on a particular product. Features are a big part of what people look for when they’re buying a new product such as a phone or a camera.

Performance
The performance score is derived from the benchmarks and tests run on the product. In case of the subjective scores, an average of the scores given by the group of reviewers is considered.

Build Quality
The build quality of a product is important so that it doesn’t fall apart after some use. The build quality scores from the way the product is designed and the kind of materials used in the product.

Value
Value for money comes from the fact that a cheap product is able to provide most of the performance of a higher priced product. Once again, value for money is judged by comparing pricing and performance of products in a particular price range or category.

There are many other aspects of the product that are looked at such as the bundled software and accessories. All of these scores are aggregated together to form the final score.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite review - BGR India

When Apple launched the first iPad in 2010, I was of the opinion that it mared the end of stand-alone ebook readers, just like smartphones did to portable music players and handheld gaming consoles. Why should I buy the Kindle, a dedicated ebook reader, when I could get the Kindle app on my iPad and my smartphones for free and get the same books on it? Why should I carry two separate devices when I can do with one? Even though I bought Kindles during my trips abroad for my friends and family, I always resisted the urge to pick one for myself. I didn’t need one. Or so I thought till I started using the Kindle Paperwhite.

The Kindle Paperwhite is the ebook reader that Amazon always wanted to build. It has combines the best components that include an e-ink display, which is considered to be the best for a reading device; a capacitive touchscreen that keeps up with the touchscreen UI users are used to on their smartphones and tablets; and a unique LED lighting array that illuminates the display evenly from the top rather than underneath the display, which results in less eye strain and better power management. Amazon has also managed to cram in 62 percent more pixels and increased the contrast over the previous generation Kindle.

The improvements make a huge difference. Thanks to the new illuminated display, one can read on the Kindle Paperwhite irrespective of the ambient lighting conditions, which mean one would no longer have to buy and lug around the external “reading light” contraption for reading in the dark. The frontlit illumination is evenly distributed by a handful of low-power LEDs. I could notice some patchy spots at the bottom edge where the LEDs are housed in the beginning and it bugged me to no end. But after a while I got used to it and did not even notice it. Barring the lower edge, the display is evenly lit and makes for a great reading experience. Users can change the brightness depending on the ambient light conditions. In certain conditions, especially outdoors under sunlight, I could power down the brightness to zero and still read comfortably – a benefit of using e-ink displays. Another advantage of the Kindle Paperwhite’s display is its matte finish that doesn’t reflect any glare even under direct light and feels just like one is reading a paper book, which is a big problem with most tablets.

Another big advantage of the Paperwhite is it weighs just 222 grams and is just 9.1 mm thick, which means it is a lighter and considerably thinner than most paperbacks. Plus it is easy to use with one hand and you won’t even feel the difference in your bag even if you are carrying a notebook and a tablet. While travelling I always think twice whether I should carry both my iPad and my notebook, but the Kindle Paperwhite’s footprint ensures it always stays with me. It could even fit into my denim’s rear pocket, though it isn’t advisable to carry it there, lest the display gets damaged. The back has a nice grippy feel to it while the front is made of high quality moulded plastic that feels good to hold.

Hardware aside, even the software is optimized for reading. Once registered to your Amazon account, the Kindle Paperwhite would automatically display all your purchased books and offer you the option to go directly to Amazon’s Kindle store to buy more books. Buying books with Amazon’s patented ‘One Click’ service is a breeze and they usually get downloaded in under a minute.

But the Kindle Paperwhite is much more than a simple reading device. There are a few software tricks it has hidden under its sleeve that makes it the ultimate ebook reader. While reading a book, one can tap the top part of the display to reveal some additional options. My favorite is the X-Ray feature that shows the people and terms mentioned in the book and the reader can directly navigate to that particular section of the book. Another setting lets readers change the font, font size and even line spacing and margins in text. This comes in super handy especially for those with eyesight problems and have difficulty reading small font sizes. Another setting lets one control the brightness levels.

While reading one can even highlight portions of the text and revisit them at a later time. One can even take down notes, highlight a word or a phrase and look it up in a dictionary or even search Wikipedia or translate it into other languages, including Hindi! These features really take the reading experience to an altogether different level, which no one else can match. The Paperwhite also has what Amazon calls an experimental browser, which can be used for basic web browsing. However, it is barely usable and is meant for emergency situations only.

But there’s more to the Kindle Paperwhite than just ebook reading. With a simple ‘Send to Kindle’ plugin that is available for browsers (Chrome and Firefox), desktops (PC and Mac), email and Android, users can easily send web pages, emails, documents and much more that will be delivered directly to the Kindle for reading when one’s offline. It comes in very handy especially for long articles and features online, which is displayed in a reader friendly Kindle format on the device.

Then there is the thing about battery life. Amazon claims that one can get as much as eight weeks on a single charge with 30 minutes of reading daily and Wi-Fi turned off and the brightness set to 10. Even if you have the brightness turned up a notch higher and use it for more than 30 minutes, you should still be able to get a few weeks of juice out of it. The rule of thumb is to keep the device in offline mode as you won’t be needing Internet connectivity on it unless you plan to buy or download any content.

The Kindle Paperwhite comes in two variants – Wi-Fi only that is priced at Rs 10,999 and Wi-Fi + 3G priced at Rs 13,999 and provides free 3G connectivity in most countries globally that can be used for downloading new books from Amazon’s store or looking up Wikipedia. It has tied up with Vodafone in India to provide 3G services. But unlike earlier, when one could do basic web surfing on 3G, Amazon has curtailed the feature and limited it to just Amazon’s Kindle store and Wikipedia. This limits the worthiness of spending the extra Rs 3,000 considering it is very unlikely that one would find oneself in a situation that requires downloading a book when there is no Wi-Fi connectivity. I’d recommend picking up the Wi-Fi only variant.

In less than a week, the Kindle Paperwhite has converted me from a non-believer into a believer in stand-alone ebook readers. If you are a voracious reader, nothing comes closer to the Kindle Paperwhite in terms of features, value and functionality.

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