The New Nexus 7 Vs iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD and Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 - Mashable

What’s This?

By Christina Warren 2013-07-26 01:51:56 UTC

Google introduced an updated version of the popular Nexus 7 tablet on Wednesday, adding a higher resolution screen and better processor, while still keeping the price at an affordable $ 229.

When the original Nexus 7 launched last year, it was remarkable for being a small form-factor tablet with powerful specs and a low price. As Mashable Tech Editor Pete Pachal said last year, “the Nexus 7 is the Android media tablet the [original] Kindle Fire was supposed to be. A year later, dozens of companies have followed Google’s lead with the Nexus 7, including HP, Acer.

See also: 25 Best Free Android Apps

At the same time, the biggest players in the tablet ecosystem – Amazon and Apple – have stepped up their game. Amazon released a better-specced Kindle Fire HD last September and Apple belatedly entered the small tablet space with the iPad mini a month later. And Android-leader Samsung isn’t out of the small tablet space either. Earlier this month, Samsung released the third-generation of the original 7-inch tablet, the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, now priced at just $ 199.

So how does the new Nexus 7 compare against the other small form-factor tablets? Quite well, especially when it comes to specs and screen resolution.

	Nexus 7 2	Kindle Fire HD	iPad mini	Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
Screen Size	7.02-inches	7-inches	7.9-inches	7-inches
Resolution and Pixel Density	1920×1200, 323ppi	1280×800, 215ppi	1024×768, 163ppi	1024×600, 169ppi
Processor Speed ??	Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, 1.5Ghz	Dual-core 1.2Ghz OMAP 4460	Dual-core A5	Dual-core 1.2Ghz
Battery Life	Up to 9 hours active use	11 hours continuous use	Up to 10 hours	Up to 8 hours
Storage Space	16 or 32GB	16 or 32GB	16, 32 or 64GB	8GB, up to 64GB via microSD
Camera	1.2MP front, 5MP rear	Front facing only	1.2MP front, 5MP rear	1.3MP front, 3.0MP rear
Price	$ 229 16GB, $ 269 32GB, $ 349 32GB LTE	$ 199 16GB, $ 229 32GB	WiFi: $ 329 16GB, $ 429 32GB, $ 529 64GB LTE $ 459 16GB, $ 559 32GB, $ 659 64GB	$ 199 8GB
OS	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	Forked Version of Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich	iOS 6 (iOS 7 Coming this Fall)	Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
LTE Option	Yes, via Verizon, T-Mobile and AT & T	No	Yes, via AT & T, Verizon and Sprint	Not yet, 3G may be coming in some markets

Of course, buying a tablet isn’t all about specs. Users should consider the ecosystem available to them on a particular device – especially when it comes to available media content.

The iPad mini is the leader here – not only in terms of number of tablet-specific apps, but the fact that it supports media playback from virtually every service on the market (the one exception is actually Google Play video). Amazon is a close second – only missing iTunes from the mix. For some users, that won’t matter – the selection available via Google Play is more than enough to keep them satisfied – but it’s something to consider.

At the end of the day, the Nexus 7 has re-set the bar for small form-factor tablets.

What is your favorite small form-factor tablet? Let us know in the comments.

Images: Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung; Mashable composite

Topics: Gadgets, iPad Mini, kindle fire hd, Mobile, Nexus 7, tablets, Tech

How new Nexus 7 tablets compare to iPad Mini, Kindle Fire, Nook - San Jose Mercury News

Google (GOOG) has announced new versions of its Nexus 7 tablet computers that have better features and a higher price tag.

The new models are available in the US starting Tuesday through Google’s online Play store and the following retailers: Best Buy, Gamestop, Walmart, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Amazon, Home Shopping Network, Radio Shack, J & R and B & H Photo. A version with cellular capability is coming later with support for T-Mobile and Verizon.

Here’s a look at how the new Nexus 7 compares with last year’s model and other tablets with comparable screens.

Google’s Nexus 7

– Price: $ 229 with 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 269 for 32 GB. Add $ 80 for 32 GB model with cellular capability.

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1920 x 1200 (323 pixels per inch)

– Size: height: 7.87 inches; width 4.49 inches; thickness: 0.34 inch (200 by 114 by 8.65 millimeters)

– Weight: 10.2 ounces (290 grams) for base model, 10.5 ounces (299 grams) for cellular version

– Cameras: 5 megapixel rear camera, 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera

– Battery life: 9 hours

– Operating system: Google’s Android

Pros: Access to a variety of games, utilities and other software for Android devices, though not as extensive as apps available for iPad. Option for cellular wireless broadband.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Google’s Nexus 7 (2012 model)

– Price: $ 199 with 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 249 with 32 GB. Add $ 50 for 32 GB model with cellular capability.

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels (216 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.81 inches; width: 4.72 inches; thickness: 0.41 inch (198.5 by 120 by 10.45 millimeters)

– Weight: 12 ounces (340 grams) for base model, 12.2 ounces (347 grams) for cellular version

– Cameras: Front-facing, 1.2 megapixel camera

– Battery life: 8 hours

– Operating system: Google’s Android

Pros: Access to a variety of games, utilities and other software for Android devices, though not as extensive as apps available for iPad. Option for cellular wireless broadband.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Apple’s iPad Mini

– Price: $ 329 for base model with Wi-Fi only and 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 429 with 32 GB,

The iPad Mini is shown in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. (AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez) (Marcio Jose Sanchez)

$ 529 with 64 GB. Add $ 130 for versions with cellular capability.

– Screen size: 7.9 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1024 by 768 pixels (163 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.87 inches; width: 5.3 inches; thickness: 0.28 inch (200 by 134.7 by 7.2 millimeters)

– Weight: 10.9 ounces (308 grams) for base model, 11 ounces (312 grams) for cellular version

– Cameras: 5-megapixel camera on back and a low-resolution camera on front, for videoconferencing

– Battery life: 10 hours

– Operating system: Apple’s iOS

Pros: Unmatched access to third-party applications, high-quality Apple software and the iTunes store. High-resolution screen. Available with access to fast 4G wireless broadband networks, starting at $ 459.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD

– Price: $ 129 with 8 gigabytes of storage, $ 149 with 16 GB

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1440 by 900 pixels (243 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.65 inches; width: 5 inches; thickness: 0.43 inch (194.4 by 127.1 by 11 millimeters)

– Weight: 11.1 ounces (315 grams)

– Cameras: None

– Battery life: Up to 10.5 hours of reading and up to 9 hours of video

– Operating system: Modified version of Google’s Android

Pros: Expandable with microSD card. High-definition screen. Larger-screen version available.

Cons:

Amazon Kindle Fire (2012)

Selection of third-party applications is small. Lacks cameras and option for cellular broadband.

Amazon.com ‘s Kindle Fire HD.

– Price: $ 199 with 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 229 with 32 GB

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1280 by 800 pixels (216 pixels per inch)

– Size: height: 7.6 inches; width: 5.4 inches; thickness: 0.4 inch (193 by 137 by 10.3 millimeters)

– Weight: 13.9 ounces (395 grams)

– Cameras: Front-facing camera.

– Battery life: 11 hours.

– Operating system: Modified version of Google’s Android

Pros: Cheap and portable. Convenient access to Amazon store. High-definition screen. Dolby audio. Larger-screen version available, including option for cellular broadband.

Cons: Small selection of third-party applications available from Amazon. No rear camera for taking video and photos. Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Amazon.com ‘s regular Kindle Fire:

– Price: $ 159 with 8 gigabytes of storage

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1024 by 600 pixels (170 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.44 inches; width: 4.72 inches; thickness: 0.45 inch (189 by 120 by 11.5 millimeters)

– Weight: 14.1 ounces (400 grams)

– Cameras: none

– Battery life: 8.5 hours.

– Operating system: Modified version of Google’s Android

Pros: Cheap and portable. Convenient access to Amazon store.

Cons: No-frills tablet lacks camera and microphone. Small selection of third-party applications available from Amazon. Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards. No option for cellular wireless broadband.

How new Nexus 7 tablets compare to iPad Mini, Kindle Fire, Nook - San Jose Mercury News

Google (GOOG) has announced new versions of its Nexus 7 tablet computers that have better features and a higher price tag.

The new models are available in the US starting Tuesday through Google’s online Play store and the following retailers: Best Buy, Gamestop, Walmart, Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Amazon, Home Shopping Network, Radio Shack, J & R and B & H Photo. A version with cellular capability is coming later with support for T-Mobile and Verizon.

Here’s a look at how the new Nexus 7 compares with last year’s model and other tablets with comparable screens.

Google’s Nexus 7

– Price: $ 229 with 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 269 for 32 GB. Add $ 80 for 32 GB model with cellular capability.

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1920 x 1200 (323 pixels per inch)

– Size: height: 7.87 inches; width 4.49 inches; thickness: 0.34 inch (200 by 114 by 8.65 millimeters)

– Weight: 10.2 ounces (290 grams) for base model, 10.5 ounces (299 grams) for cellular version

– Cameras: 5 megapixel rear camera, 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera

– Battery life: 9 hours

– Operating system: Google’s Android

Pros: Access to a variety of games, utilities and other software for Android devices, though not as extensive as apps available for iPad. Option for cellular wireless broadband.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Google’s Nexus 7 (2012 model)

– Price: $ 199 with 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 249 with 32 GB. Add $ 50 for 32 GB model with cellular capability.

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels (216 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.81 inches; width: 4.72 inches; thickness: 0.41 inch (198.5 by 120 by 10.45 millimeters)

– Weight: 12 ounces (340 grams) for base model, 12.2 ounces (347 grams) for cellular version

– Cameras: Front-facing, 1.2 megapixel camera

– Battery life: 8 hours

– Operating system: Google’s Android

Pros: Access to a variety of games, utilities and other software for Android devices, though not as extensive as apps available for iPad. Option for cellular wireless broadband.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Apple’s iPad Mini

– Price: $ 329 for base model with Wi-Fi only and 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 429 with 32 GB,

The iPad Mini is shown in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012. (AP Photo / Marcio Jose Sanchez) (Marcio Jose Sanchez)

$ 529 with 64 GB. Add $ 130 for versions with cellular capability.

– Screen size: 7.9 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1024 by 768 pixels (163 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.87 inches; width: 5.3 inches; thickness: 0.28 inch (200 by 134.7 by 7.2 millimeters)

– Weight: 10.9 ounces (308 grams) for base model, 11 ounces (312 grams) for cellular version

– Cameras: 5-megapixel camera on back and a low-resolution camera on front, for videoconferencing

– Battery life: 10 hours

– Operating system: Apple’s iOS

Pros: Unmatched access to third-party applications, high-quality Apple software and the iTunes store. High-resolution screen. Available with access to fast 4G wireless broadband networks, starting at $ 459.

Cons: Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD

– Price: $ 129 with 8 gigabytes of storage, $ 149 with 16 GB

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1440 by 900 pixels (243 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.65 inches; width: 5 inches; thickness: 0.43 inch (194.4 by 127.1 by 11 millimeters)

– Weight: 11.1 ounces (315 grams)

– Cameras: None

– Battery life: Up to 10.5 hours of reading and up to 9 hours of video

– Operating system: Modified version of Google’s Android

Pros: Expandable with microSD card. High-definition screen. Larger-screen version available.

Cons:

Amazon Kindle Fire (2012)

Selection of third-party applications is small. Lacks cameras and option for cellular broadband.

Amazon.com ‘s Kindle Fire HD.

– Price: $ 199 with 16 gigabytes of storage, $ 229 with 32 GB

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1280 by 800 pixels (216 pixels per inch)

– Size: height: 7.6 inches; width: 5.4 inches; thickness: 0.4 inch (193 by 137 by 10.3 millimeters)

– Weight: 13.9 ounces (395 grams)

– Cameras: Front-facing camera.

– Battery life: 11 hours.

– Operating system: Modified version of Google’s Android

Pros: Cheap and portable. Convenient access to Amazon store. High-definition screen. Dolby audio. Larger-screen version available, including option for cellular broadband.

Cons: Small selection of third-party applications available from Amazon. No rear camera for taking video and photos. Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards.

Amazon.com ‘s regular Kindle Fire:

– Price: $ 159 with 8 gigabytes of storage

– Screen size: 7 inches diagonally

– Screen resolution: 1024 by 600 pixels (170 pixels per inch)

– Size: height 7.44 inches; width: 4.72 inches; thickness: 0.45 inch (189 by 120 by 11.5 millimeters)

– Weight: 14.1 ounces (400 grams)

– Cameras: none

– Battery life: 8.5 hours.

– Operating system: Modified version of Google’s Android

Pros: Cheap and portable. Convenient access to Amazon store.

Cons: No-frills tablet lacks camera and microphone. Small selection of third-party applications available from Amazon. Data storage cannot be expanded with memory cards. No option for cellular wireless broadband.

Amazon reports loss on revenues of $ 15.7B; highlights Kindle success - GigaOM

36 mins ago Jul. 25, 2013 – 1:10 PM PDT

In a quarter when Amazon’s stock price hit a record high, the company delivered a loss in its earnings report Thursday afternoon even as revenues rose. Earnings were – $ 0.02 per share, or a loss of $ 7 million, on revenue of $ 15.7 billion, compared to earnings of $ 0.01 per share, or $ 7 million, on revenue of $ 12.83 billion this time last year.

Analysts had expected earnings of $ 0.06 per share on revenues of $ 15.7 billion.

Amazon’s operating income, which analysts watch closely because they worry about Amazon’s razor-thin margins, fell 26 percent to $ 79 million. This time last year, it was $ 107 million.

Amazon’s stock rose to a record $ 308.69 earlier this month. This wasn’t precipitated by one big event, but July was a good month for Amazon in part because a US federal judge found Apple guilty of conspiring with publishers to fix ebook prices at the launch of the iBookstore. That’s considered a boon for Amazon and its Kindle business. And in the earnings release, Amazon highlighted Kindle: “This past quarter, our top 10 selling items worldwide were all digital products – Kindles, Kindle Fire HDs, accessories and digital content,” CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

Last quarter, we heard rumors that Amazon is working on a set-top box that would stream Prime Instant Video and other video offerings to consumers’ TVs. We’ve seen no sign of that device yet, but in today’s release, Amazon mentioned that “Prime Instant Video has surpassed 40,000 titles, including many premium exclusives like Downton Abbey and Under the Dome . “It also noted that, through a deal with Viacom,” Prime members now have unlimited instant streaming access to popular kids’ titles such as Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants “- shows to which Netflix lost the streaming rights.

A few other notes from the report:

• Amazon launched the Kindle Paperwhite e-reader and Kindle Fire HD tablet in China in June, and said, “Customer response to this launch significantly exceeded expectations and product went out of stock in many retail outlets within the first week. “
• Amazon noted that Goodreads, the social reading site it acquired in March, doubled its membership in less than a year, to 20 million members. (Goodreads announced this on its blog earlier this week.)

North American media revenues totaled $ 2.17 billion, up 16 percent over last year, and North American sales of electronics and other merchandise were $ 6.48 billion, up 31 percent over last year. “Other” sales in North America – which includes AWS – were $ 844 million for the quarter, up 64 percent.

Internationally, media revenues fell by 1 percent to $ 2.22 billion – continuing a trend of slow international media sales – while sales of electronics and other merchandise rose 22 percent to $ 3.94 billion.

For the third quarter, Amazon said investors should expect revenues between $ 15.45 billion and $ 17.15 billion, and operating losses between $ 440 million and $ 65 million.

Amazon is holding an investor call at 5 PM ET, and we will be on the call.

This post was updated several times on Thursday afternoon.

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Amazon brings long-form interviews to Kindle Singles - Engadget

Amazon’s harnessing the power of the Kindle Single to bring the art of long-form interviews to its e-reader. The new Kindle Singles Interview series offers up conversations with world leaders and other key figures for $ 0.99 a pop, kicking things off with Shimon Peres. The Israeli President and Nobel Peace Prize winner discusses the country’s upcoming peace talks with New Yorker writer David Samuels. The conversation, titled simply “The Optimist,” also touches on topics like Mark Zuckerberg’s “revolution with a billion people.” You can check that out in the source link below.

Show full PR text

New Kindle Singles Interview series debuts with Israeli President Shimon Peres

Amazon.com announced today “The Kindle Singles Interview,” a new series designed to take full advantage of the Kindle Singles platform by offering major long-form interviews with iconic figures and world leaders. The Kindle Singles Interview is a new exclusive series in the Kindle Singles store (www.amazon.com / kindlesingles). The debut Kindle Singles Interview, “The Optimist,” is an interview with Shimon Peres, the 89-year-old President of Israel.

Peres, who turns 90 on August 2, was elected president of Israel in 2007. He previously served two terms as Israel’s Prime Minister, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 (with Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin) for his role in the peace negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords. In “The Optimist,” President Peres insisted that forthcoming peace talks arranged by US Secretary of State John Kerry are serious, and asserted that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is a partner for peace. He also called for a peaceful resolution to his country’s conflicts with Iran, declaring that “sanctions are functioning” and adding that “I wouldn’t like to start anything by shooting.” In a nearly two-hour conversation last Sunday, President Peres described Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg as the most important revolutionary leader in the world today. “Karl Marx never forecast Zuckerberg,” Peres said. “He made a revolution with a billion people.”

“In September of 1962, novelist Alex Haley’s conversation with Miles Davis launched the Playboy Interview, and pioneered the idea of ??a long-form, extended dialogue with the great personalities of our time,” said David Blum, editor of Kindle Singles. “We hope to carry forward that tradition, and use the unlimited digital space to engage great artists and thinkers in conversation with skilled writers and interviewers.”

The interview was conducted by David Samuels, in association with Tablet Magazine. Samuels is a contributing editor at Harper’s and a longtime contributor to The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and the author of Only Love Can Break Your Heart and The Runner. Tablet Magazine (tabletmag.com) is the daily online magazine of Jewish news, ideas, and culture.

The Kindle Singles Interview is available for $ 0.99 exclusively to Kindle customers in the Kindle Singles store (www.amazon.com / kindlesingles).

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Review - Digit

E-book readers are dime a dozen and yet the Kindle has managed to maintain a good position for itself in the market because of the large content library it offers to users. With the don of the tablet era and the availability of the Kindle app on Android and iOS, does it still make sense for a bookworm to pick up a Kindle e-book reader?

Design and Build

Compact and sturdy is the first thing that will come to your mind when you look at the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. It has a 6-inch display with a 212ppi pixel density. The device is available in two models, Wi-Fi only and 3G + Wi-Fi. The e-book reader offers 2GB built-in storage (1.25GB user available which is approx. 1100 books) with Amazon cloud support. There is no local expansion storage support. The device is really light weighing a mere 213 grams and really slim at 0.91cm.

The front of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite has the display and there are no physical buttons here. The bottom has the on / off switch along with the microUSB port that works for data transfer as well as charging. The rear of the e-book reader has a very nice rubberized finish that adds to the grip.

One thing is for certain; the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is very comfortable to hold. It’s light, and for prolonged use, it comfortable to carry. It is also small enough to fit in your jacket pocket. The design is really good and if you are one who finds a tablet like the iPad a bit uncomfortable for prolonged reading, you will definitely appreciate the Kindle Paperwhite.

Features and Performance

Since this is an e-book reader, it is aimed for those that like to read a lot and want very little to do with anything else. If that is the purpose, then the Kindle Paperwhite executes this quite well. To start with the display is quite crisp to read books on.

I have my books synced between my iPad, iPod touch and my Android smartphone, so, I have my books with me wherever I go. And I must say the reading experience on the Kindle Paperwhite was more comfortable for prolonged reading than the other devices. The display is crisp for both indoor as well as outdoor use. A tablet or smartphone may get difficult to read under direct sunlight but not this. It remains comfortable and convenient and the brightness is good too.

There are a few advantages of using the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite for reading books. To start with you not only have access to the Anazon Kindle e-book library, which is now officially available in India, but you also have the ability to transfer PDFs and documents to the device for reading it on the go. The 3G-version ensures that you have access to your books and cloud storage on the go, but the Wi-Fi only version works well for those that have a more defined book requirement and aren’t interested in accessing more content on the go. Did we mention that there are books available for free on the Amazon store, and that books start as low as Rs. 55?

The device also has a bunch of nifty features. For example, you can long press on a word to see what it means. There is also an X-Ray mode that brings certain important content right in front. For example, if you are reading a series that has way too many characters or want a recap, you can select the name or place and you have access to all the relevant content. The official Kindle Paperwhite description of the X-Ray feature is “Exclusive on Kindle, explore the” bones of the Book “. With a single tap, see all the passages across a book that mention relevant ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics of interest. “

Syncing the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is as simple as entering your Amazon account details or creating one and voila, you are ready to download your favourite books.

The user interface of the Paperwhite is very easy to get used to. Even your grandfather will be comfortable with it. The home screen displays shows all the books that are present on the device and in your cloud storage. You can display content under all items, books, periodicals, docs, and active content.

The Top Navigation bar of the Kindle Paperwhite has home, back, brightness adjust, Kindle store access, search and a drop down menu that gives you access to options such as Shop in Kindle Store, List View, Create New Collection, Sync and Check Items, Settings and the Experimental Browser. All these features work seamlessly as their names suggests.

While reading a book on the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, you can touch the right of the display to go to the next page and the left to go the previous page. You can touch the top of the display to go back to the home or access a bunch of settings such as text size, font, line spacing and margins.

Coming to the downside of the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, it isn’t a lot of fun reading comics or browsing the Internet on the experimental browser. The browser crashed a few times and some heavy websites didn’t load swiftly.

Bottom Line

At Rs. 11,000 for the Wi-Fi only version and Rs. 14,000 for the Wi-Fi +3 G version, the Kindle Paperwhite is expensive. But if you are someone who reads a lot of books and doesn’t care about tablet functionality, or is a part of the Amazon / Kindle ecosystem, you can consider this device. After all, it gives you the ability to carry 1,100 books and more wherever you go. There are cheaper e-book readers available in the market but the package deal on offer with the Kindle Paperwhite may be more attractive to the avid reader.

Amazon expands the Kindle Singles world with new long-form interview series - The Verge

Amazon has been expanding the scope of its Kindle Singles line since it launched in early 2011 – it now offers a pretty wide selection of long-form journalism as well as short fiction, and now the company is adding an entirely new category. A new series called “the Kindle Singles Interview” has just launched with an interview with Israeli president Shimon Peres by David Samuels, a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine . Judging from the interview’s page on Amazon’s store, it’s a far more in-depth interview than you’ll see in most publications – it clocks in at about 42 pages. It’s priced at 99 cents, and Amazon Prime subscribers can check it out for free. While the new Kindle Singles interview series doesn’t significantly change the scope of what the company is already offering with Kindle Singles, it should provide a solid, inexpensive option for those who love long-form interviews. Unfortunat ely, Amazon didn’t say when the next interview would hit the store.

• Via GigaOm
• Source Amazon (Yahoo)
• Related Items kindle journalism longreads longform kindle singles kindle singles interview Kindle (2012) Kindle Fire HD (8.9-inch) Kindle Fire HD (7-inch) Amazon

Amazon brings long-form interviews to Kindle Singles - Engadget

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Kindle Fire HD tablet sale: Staples selling Amazon tablet at lower price - Examiner.com

A new Kindle Fire HD tablet sale is going on, but this time the promotion is not through the top web retailer, Amazon.com. Instead, the real world retail store Staples is offering the tablet at a reduced price.

A report from the Engadget site on July 22 indicates that the 7-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD is currently on sale for just $ 159 at Staples. While they note that the price is $ 0.99 cents lower than a recent sale at Best Buy, it’s also noted that the device has a “sorry app economy.” For example, as of this report, gamers still can’t download Candy Crush Saga at the Amazon app store, although that could be more an issue with the developers.

The Staples product page shows off the $ 159 sales price, and indicates that this deal is only good in stores, with an instant $ 40 savings taken off at the register. The deal, which is good on the 7-inch, 16-gigabyte WiFi-only model, will expire on July 27, 2013. Customers may also have the option to locate a nearby Staples store through their website, and then click a “Reserve & Pickup” button so they can make sure to get their hands on the tablet.

The Kindle Fire HD has been out since late 2012, and there’s currently rumors of new devices coming out to the competitive tablet market this fall. The first of the new tablets may actually be the Google Nexus 7, which reportedly has an updated version arriving by the end of this month. Google will host an event on July 24 which many believe will be the unveiling of this new tablet.

For more details on the latest Kindle Fire HD tablet sale, see the Staples website.

Rains kindle district adminstration's hopes to make Dasara attractive - Deccan Herald

Mysore, July 24, 2013, DHNS:

Focus on weekend crowds from B’lore; shift focus from Palace to other venues, says DC

Copious rains has not only brought smiles on the faces of farmers, but also the district administration, which is confident in attracting more number of people for ‘Nada Habba’ Dasara this year. Navaratri (Dasara) is scheduled to start on October 6 and will culminate on October 14 with Jamboo Savari.

Presiding over the Dasara preliminary meeting at her office on Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner C Shikha said that with the district witnessing a bounty of rainfall, people will be looking at Mysore, and the programmes should be made further attractive.

She instructed deputy special officers (district officers of different departments) to prepare a draft of popular programmes, equally emphasising on improving the existing programmes and introducing newer events to make it a success.
The focus should be on attracting the weekend crowd from Bangalore that has Mysore on their itinerary. Besides, apart from Ambavilas Palace the hub of attraction during Dasara, officers should also think on making other venues too equally attractive by hosting popular programmes. The deputy commissioner was of the opinion that crowds should not be centralised at one place, as “Dasara should truly be a melange of attractions”.
She also said that instead of offering varieties of food of different States on dedicated days, it should be extended to all the days. This will enable people get the taste of different delicacies throughout the festival.
Also, Dasara website, the only link between the event and people outsi de, should be launched at least a month in advance with schedules and programmes for the benefit of the people. All the sub-committees must look at sponsors and refer the same to the dedicated sub-committee.

The deputy commissioner also directed the officers not to compromise on health and hygiene, besides the quality of food served in hotels, with huge conglomeration of people expected during the festival.
Excise Deputy Commissioner Y Manjunath explained that Yuva Dasara was the crowd puller during the event. He reasoned that, as Yuva Dasara was dropped owing to drought previous year, there was also a dip in revenue in the form of sponsorship by Rs 15 lakh in 2012. In the year 2012, a total of Rs 46 lakh was collected in the form of sponsorship against Rs 61 lakh in 2011.

It was also discussed on fixing a ‘muhurat’ for ‘Gajapayana’, the march of first batch of elephants participating in Jamboo Savari, preference to local artistes among other topics.

Google's Nexus 7 Could Sell 8 Million Units and Top the Amazon Kindle Fire 3 ... - Benzinga

Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) upcoming tablet revision could prove to be hugely profitable when it is released later this year.

According to DigiTimes, the second-generation Nexus 7 could sell as many as eight million units worldwide in 2013. This would be a significant bump over the original Nexus 7, which has sold an estimated six million units since it was released last summer.

DigiTimes’ supply chain sources are concerned that this sales estimate could be difficult to achieve now that several other (lower-priced) tablets are on the market.

• Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) is currently selling its seven-inch Android tablet for $ 139.99 – $ 30 lower than the MSRP.
• Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) also lowered the price of its seven-inch Nook HD, which now retails for $ 129.
• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is expected to drop the price of the Surface RT from $ 499 to $ 349 this Sunday.
• Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) sells its cheapest tablet, the iPad Mini, for $ 329. The company is expected to release a new version later this year.

Related: Hewlett-Packard’s $ 169 Tablet is Just the Beginning

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has not announced when the next-generation Kindle Fire will be released, but many expect it to arrive within the September / October timeframe.

All of these tablets will produce stiff competition for the new Nexus 7, which is rumored to contain a 1980×1200 display, a Snapdragon 600 processor from Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) and two cameras (5MP in the rear, 1.2MP in the front).

If the device can sell eight million units, it should be able to eclipse the sales of the Kindle Fire 3. Amazon is currently the number-two player in America, but its sales are nowhere near that of the market leader – Apple.

During the March quarter, Apple sold 19.5 million iPads. Amazon would not say how many Kindle Fires it sold during the same period, but the company is believed to have sold 1.7 million tablets.

At a rate of nearly two million tablets per quarter, Amazon would not be able to sell more than eight million total units (Kindle Fire 2 and 3 sales combined) in 2013. This could pave the way for Google to take the lead.

Part of Google’s success is due to its global presence. While the Kindle Fire was initially exclusive to North America, Google has sold the Nexus 7 in as many nations as possible.

Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis (at) benzingapro (dot) com. Follow him @ LouisBedigianBZ

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

The Survivors Amazon Kindle eBook Giveaway - PR Web (press release)

Austin, Texas (PRWEB) July 24, 2013

Join seven ordinary strangers as they become seven extraordinary survivors in The Survivors (Amazon Digital Book, AISN: B00DGKSKOE) by Daniel Harvell. The eBook will be available for download at no charge during a special two-day promotional event on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at the Amazon Kindle store. The Survivors is a contemporary fantasy novel mixed with mystery, thriller and suspense elements.

When seven people inexplicably walk away from a horrendous airplane crash, they find themselves changed in astonishing ways. The survivors are endowed with powers that defy explanation, though these “gifts” aren’t necessarily blessings.

After the survivors’ horrific experience, they return to their normal lives and adapt their newfound abilities to their likings-some to serve mankind; others to serve themselves. The results aren’t always pretty, especially when one of them engages in a killing spree. With little more to go on than the psychic link that connects them, the survivors seek out one another to uncover the murderer and bring him or her to justice.

The fireman, the grandmother, the psychiatric patient, the basketball player, the mute girl, the rich blonde, and the man in the wheelchair-they all have secrets worth hiding. They can’t trust each other. They can’t even trust themselves.

“This tale is a delightful combination of serious drama, tongue-in-cheek humor and mind-bending plot twists,” said five-star reviewer Richard S. “The depth and detail of the characters provide excellent relationship dynamics that had me chuckling at their shared jokes and choked up with their grief. If you enjoy stories with likeable characters, supernatural powers and a story with more twists and turns than a faulty GPS, then this is definitely the book for you. “

“When writing the book,” Harvell said, “I wanted to explore the idea of ??’real’ people developing superhuman attributes. This isn’t a comic book-there aren’t any physically intimidating heroes in skintight outfits. These are normal people who don’t fight crime or strive to help humanity on a global scale. Their abilities, in fact, may be more of a curse than anything. The Survivors is filled with ethical dilemmas that aren’t simple and clear-cut. Much like folks in the real world, these characters are just trying to get by-that’s what makes the book so relatable, endearing and exciting. “

Take advantage of this two-day promotional Kindle eBook giveaway event and share your thoughts on the book’s comment page on Amazon.com at http://amzn.com/B00DGKSKOE.

Daniel Harvell is author of the contemporary fantasy novel The Survivors. For more information about the book, upcoming novels, tips on writing fantasy and more, visit his website at http://DanielHarvell.com.

Porn on the Kindle: A Catch-22 - The Atlantic

People like to read erotic literature on an e-readers because they’re discreet. But retailers can make the smut very difficult to find.

Max Braun / flickr

“Many of us realized immediately that, like the Internet, the Kindle was made for porn.” So wrote the pseudonymous kinukitty at my website, The Hooded Utilitarian, a while back – and the use of the pseudonym underlines the insight. Consuming porn is something people often prefer to do at least semi-anonymously – especially people who happen to be women. By dispensing with book covers, and indeed with books, the Kindle has made it possible for readers to peruse 50 Shades of Grey wheresoer they go, without fear of scorn – and, for that matter, without fear of harassment. According to the (also pseudonymous) porn writer Venus Santiago, back in the 90s, when she purchased Black Lace titles at a brick and mortar store, “the clerk felt free to hit on me.” After that happened several times, Santiago said, she stopped buying in public.

With the Kindle, though, you don’t need to buy in public. As Santiago wrote me by email:

The beautiful thing about buying porn on Kindle is that nobody sneers at you. It’s just you, Amazon, and your personal mobile device. You can read it on the train or subway, at home, wherever, and no one has any idea what you’re ogling. Which removes most of the outside negative social pressure that prevents a lot of women who are interested in porn from buying it in the mainstream places (sex shops, online XXX websites).

As a result, pornographic e-books have taken off. 50 Shades is the successful mainstream phenomenon that everyone knows about, but there are tons more where that came from, and tons kinkier as well. E.L. James’ nervous flirtations with BDSM are perhaps titillating by the standards of the rest of the best-seller list. But her too-timid-to-even-sign-the-contract relationship shenanigans barely even register as kink compared to the other offerings available via e-book, where step-sibling incest, minotaur porn, and futanari abound. Santiago for her part has written gay assassin romance as well as a series of cheerfully perverse stories featuring human cow lactation porn, in which submission, degradation, and impossible busts exist alongside a remarkably detailed grasp of dairy industry mechanics.

The Kindle, then, provides both privacy and the promise that somewhere, someone has written exactly the gay werewolf paranormal romance you’ve always wanted to read. Combine the privacy and range of titles, and there’s little doubt that for readers digital is the perfect porn delivery system.

---

Related Story

Porn for Ladies: The Subtle Sexism of Assessing Female-Friendly Smut

---

Which seems to have made Amazon somewhat uncomfortable. Back in 2010, Amazon deleted many erotica e-books with incest themes – not only dropping them from its store, but actually electronically erasing old titles from consumers’ digital devices. (It later claimed the erasures were a mistake, though its policy on incest titles remains unclear.) More recently, the company has been filtering some erotic titles, so that they don’t appear in the All Departments search. To find them, you need to search directly in Books or in the Kindle store. For example, Santiago’s title Accidental Milkmaid 3: Gangbanged by Bulls shows up in the Kindle Store, but not in the All Departments search. On the other hand, high-profile erotica like 50 Shades , or, for that matter, Lady Chatterley’s Lover , appears in both kinds of searches.

Fiddling with the search function may seem like a relatively benign step. In practice, though, it has an impact on sales, and can render a title essentially invisible. Selena Kitt, the pen name of a successful erotica author who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a month by writing porn e-books, has referred to Amazon’s filtering as the Pornocalypse. Previous Amazon rejiggerings of their search function have at various points cut her monthly income by a third, she says.

In an essay on her website, Kitt argues that that Amazon’s seeming efforts to hide the porn are both hypocritical and a bad case of biting-the-hand.

Erotica, as a genre, has been Amazon’s dirty little secret from the beginning, driving sales of the Kindle to astronomical numbers. Does Amazon really believe that it was all the free copies of “Huckleberry Finn” and “Moby Dick” … that drove readers to buy Kindle devices? Nope, sorry. It was erotica. It was “porn.”

Kitt is angry, and you can understand why. She works hard, is successful, and instead of giving her accolades, her business partners keep her product hidden from would-be readers.

I was not able to get a comment for Amazon for this piece, so I don’t know for sure why they are manipulating search functions. Nor do I know why they refuse to explain their standards to authors. One of Kitt’s chief frustrations is that Amazon won’t tell her what she needs to do to keep her book from being filtered, and that they seem to keep changing the rules on her.

Amazon’s policies may be unnecessarily opaque, but reading Kitt’s essay, you can at least see a possible motivation for the company’s apparent Puritanism. Kitt herself, like Santiago and kinukitty, believes that the appeal of porn on the Kindle is precisely that it allows for reading of content surreptitiously. Porn may have helped make the Kindle successful, but a big part of the reason that the Kindle is so perfectly made for porn is that it doesn’t look like it’s made for porn. Women (and men, too) who want to read porn on the Kindle don’t want to be buying their porn from some place that screams porn ! Amazon’s advantage as a seller of porn is precisely that it sells lots of things that aren’t porn, and that it is known primarily for selling things that aren’t porn.

Porn e-book writers and readers, then, are in a catch-22. Folks like Amazon porn because Amazon isn’t branded as a porn outlet. But as long as Amazon isn’t branded as a porn outlet, the company is going to see X-rated content as something of an embarrassment. The same incentives that drive writers to use pseudonyms and readers to use the Kindle also drive retailers to keep porn from showing up in searches and make them want to keep it off best-seller lists. For many good reasons, and perhaps some bad ones, nobody – not readers, not writers, not retailers – wants to publically embrace the porn.

Porn on the Kindle: A Catch-22 - The Atlantic

People like to read erotic literature on an e-readers because they’re discreet. But retailers can make the smut very difficult to find.

Max Braun / flickr

“Many of us realized immediately that, like the Internet, the Kindle was made for porn.” So wrote the pseudonymous kinukitty at my website, The Hooded Utilitarian, a while back – and the use of the pseudonym underlines the insight. Consuming porn is something people often prefer to do at least semi-anonymously – especially people who happen to be women. By dispensing with book covers, and indeed with books, the Kindle has made it possible for readers to peruse 50 Shades of Grey wheresoer they go, without fear of scorn – and, for that matter, without fear of harassment. According to the (also pseudonymous) porn writer Venus Santiago, back in the 90s, when she purchased Black Lace titles at a brick and mortar store, “the clerk felt free to hit on me.” After that happened several times, Santiago said, she stopped buying in public.

With the Kindle, though, you don’t need to buy in public. As Santiago wrote me by email:

The beautiful thing about buying porn on Kindle is that nobody sneers at you. It’s just you, Amazon, and your personal mobile device. You can read it on the train or subway, at home, wherever, and no one has any idea what you’re ogling. Which removes most of the outside negative social pressure that prevents a lot of women who are interested in porn from buying it in the mainstream places (sex shops, online XXX websites).

As a result, pornographic e-books have taken off. 50 Shades is the successful mainstream phenomenon that everyone knows about, but there are tons more where that came from, and tons kinkier as well. E.L. James’ nervous flirtations with BDSM are perhaps titillating by the standards of the rest of the best-seller list. But her too-timid-to-even-sign-the-contract relationship shenanigans barely even register as kink compared to the other offerings available via e-book, where step-sibling incest, minotaur porn, and futanari abound. Santiago for her part has written gay assassin romance as well as a series of cheerfully perverse stories featuring human cow lactation porn, in which submission, degradation, and impossible busts exist alongside a remarkably detailed grasp of dairy industry mechanics.

The Kindle, then, provides both privacy and the promise that somewhere, someone has written exactly the gay werewolf paranormal romance you’ve always wanted to read. Combine the privacy and range of titles, and there’s little doubt that for readers digital is the perfect porn delivery system.

---

Related Story

Porn for Ladies: The Subtle Sexism of Assessing Female-Friendly Smut

---

Which seems to have made Amazon somewhat uncomfortable. Back in 2010, Amazon deleted many erotica e-books with incest themes – not only dropping them from its store, but actually electronically erasing old titles from consumers’ digital devices. (It later claimed the erasures were a mistake, though its policy on incest titles remains unclear.) More recently, the company has been filtering some erotic titles, so that they don’t appear in the All Departments search. To find them, you need to search directly in Books or in the Kindle store. For example, Santiago’s title Accidental Milkmaid 3: Gangbanged by Bulls shows up in the Kindle Store, but not in the All Departments search. On the other hand, high-profile erotica like 50 Shades , or, for that matter, Lady Chatterley’s Lover , appears in both kinds of searches.

Fiddling with the search function may seem like a relatively benign step. In practice, though, it has an impact on sales, and can render a title essentially invisible. Selena Kitt, the pen name of a successful erotica author who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a month by writing porn e-books, has referred to Amazon’s filtering as the Pornocalypse. Previous Amazon rejiggerings of their search function have at various points cut her monthly income by a third, she says.

In an essay on her website, Kitt argues that that Amazon’s seeming efforts to hide the porn are both hypocritical and a bad case of biting-the-hand.

Erotica, as a genre, has been Amazon’s dirty little secret from the beginning, driving sales of the Kindle to astronomical numbers. Does Amazon really believe that it was all the free copies of “Huckleberry Finn” and “Moby Dick” … that drove readers to buy Kindle devices? Nope, sorry. It was erotica. It was “porn.”

Kitt is angry, and you can understand why. She works hard, is successful, and instead of giving her accolades, her business partners keep her product hidden from would-be readers.

I was not able to get a comment for Amazon for this piece, so I don’t know for sure why they are manipulating search functions. Nor do I know why they refuse to explain their standards to authors. One of Kitt’s chief frustrations is that Amazon won’t tell her what she needs to do to keep her book from being filtered, and that they seem to keep changing the rules on her.

Amazon’s policies may be unnecessarily opaque, but reading Kitt’s essay, you can at least see a possible motivation for the company’s apparent Puritanism. Kitt herself, like Santiago and kinukitty, believes that the appeal of porn on the Kindle is precisely that it allows for reading of content surreptitiously. Porn may have helped make the Kindle successful, but a big part of the reason that the Kindle is so perfectly made for porn is that it doesn’t look like it’s made for porn. Women (and men, too) who want to read porn on the Kindle don’t want to be buying their porn from some place that screams porn ! Amazon’s advantage as a seller of porn is precisely that it sells lots of things that aren’t porn, and that it is known primarily for selling things that aren’t porn.

Porn e-book writers and readers, then, are in a catch-22. Folks like Amazon porn because Amazon isn’t branded as a porn outlet. But as long as Amazon isn’t branded as a porn outlet, the company is going to see X-rated content as something of an embarrassment. The same incentives that drive writers to use pseudonyms and readers to use the Kindle also drive retailers to keep porn from showing up in searches and make them want to keep it off best-seller lists. For many good reasons, and perhaps some bad ones, nobody – not readers, not writers, not retailers – wants to publically embrace the porn.