Amazon Touts Quick Kindle Fire HDX Mayday Response - PC Magazine

• December 26, 2013 02:32 pm EST

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When the Kindle Fire HDX debuted in September, Amazon launched its new “Mayday” tech support system with the promise of a human employee at your service within 15 seconds.

Well, Amazon celebrated a Christmas miracle on Wednesday as it clocked an average response time of 9 seconds.

“We set a goal for ourselves to have a response time of 15 seconds or less when a customer tapped the Mayday button-we’re proud to say that on Christmas Day we met this goal, with an average response time of just 9 seconds, “Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon Kindle, said in a statement.

The new Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch and 8.9-inch tablets come equipped with the new Mayday feature, which starts a video chat with an Amazon support rep, who can control your device, draw on your screen, and press virtual buttons.

Any questions about how the Fire HDX works, its hidden talents, or just suggestions for a new game to play can be directed to your Mayday consultant, who comes free with all Kindle Fire HDX purchases.

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 “

“We’re excited that millions of customers opened a Kindle Fire tablet this holiday season, and we’re glad so many customers tried out the Mayday button.”

Amazon has not revealed sales numbers for the holiday season, but did report that Cyber ??Monday was the “best ever” for Kindle Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers, as “millions of customers” unwrapped a new branded device this year.

The company

Christmas tech support in just 9 seconds: Amazon boasts its Kindle Fire ... - VentureBeat

Forget spending hours on the phone with tech support.

On Christmas Day, Amazon proved that its new “Mayday” feature, which instantly connects Kindle Fire HDX owners with an Amazon customer service representatives via video chat, more than lives up to its promises. Amazon said that Mayday help requests were answered by reps in just 9 seconds on average, much faster than the 15 second response time they typically aim for.

The Mayday feature, which is free and available 24 hours a day every day of the year, is Amazon’s attempt at quashing frustration with its products instantly. Amazon’s reps can’t see you when you request Mayday help, but they can see what’s on your Kindle Display, highlight portions of the screen, and communicate with you via voice chat.

While Apple revolutionized consumer tech support with its expert service reps at retail stores, Amazon is going a step further by connecting customers with help without them having to even get off their couch. With its 9-second average response time on Christmas, Amazon proved that it can effectively scale the feature to handle an onslaught of new customers (something that many early critics didn’t think was possible).

Amazon also said that it sold around 1 million Prime memberships in the third week of December. Prime and Mayday have one big thing in common: They help Amazon inspire a fierce sense of loyalty among its customers. Why would you shop anywhere else when you’ve got reliable two-day shipping with Amazon Prime? And why would you buy another tablet in the future without the Mayday instant tech support feature?

Amazon is notoriously secretive, so we have no clue how much it’s shelling out to support the Mayday feature. But no matter the cost, it’s a clear way to differentiate the Kindle Fire HDX tablets from all the competition. In today’s hyper-competitive gadget world, that’s priceless.

What to Do With Your New Kindle Paperwhite - Mashable

What’s This?

By Samantha Murphy Kelly 2013-12-26 15:03:55 UTC

For those that received a new Kindle Paperwhite during the holidays, we have good news: your gift giver clearly did their research. It may be the smartest e-reader on the market.

As you cozy up to it in the weeks and months ahead, you’ll immediately notice the reading experience is closest to reading an actual book, from how it feels in your hands to the e-ink experience, and true to the Amazon Kindle line, there’s no glare in the sun. (That is, when you take it to the beach when summer rolls around).

The device is all about books, so you won’t find a camera mode, and the e-ink means only black and white. The Paperwhite offers a basic web browser, but most of the key features revolve around the reading experience.

SEE ALSO: Amazon Paperwhite Is the Best Digital Reading Experience Money Can Buy [REVIEW]

The device comes in one of two variations: a version with “offers” (ads) or a slightly pricier ad-free model. Both look strikingly similar to Amazon’s previous Kindle Paperwhite (which launched in 2012), but the updated 2013 model is 25% faster with better lighting and advanced built-in touch technology. Plus, it’s very simple to use.

Getting Started

The Paperwhite is ready to go out of the box. By pushing the power button on the bottom of the device, it lights up immediately but takes a few minutes to fully boot up. This is the only button on the hardware itself; it sits right next to a small port for charging. The e-reader comes with a charging cable but not an accompanying power adapter for the wall, so you’ll need to connect it to a computer to recharge the battery.

If you’re familiar with other Kindle models, you’ll notice the bright backlighting right away. It uses a series of LED lights at the bottom edge and spreads it evenly across the display. This means You can read the Paperwhite without the need for an additional light source , making it the best e-ink screen on the market we’ve seen so far.

The lights never fully go off until the device is in sleep mode, even when you turn it down. But Amazon promises this won’t effect the eight weeks of battery life the device should maintain following a full charge.

How to Register

Your next step is registering the device and setting up the 1-Click payment method. Tap the following buttons in succession: Home> Menu> Access Settings> Registration. Here, you can specify the Amazon account to download books with. If your kids will be using the Paperwhite (or have easy access to it), you may want to consider setting up parental controls to avoid accidental purchases.

Playing Around

The best way to get used to the Paperwhite is using playing around with its interface. It’s a touchscreen device – a long way from Amazon’s first Kindle model – so you can tap to reveal new pages.

To go to the main menu, touch the top of the screen to reveal the tool bar. This is where a majority of your most-used features live, include the home and back buttons, light control, shopping, search, reading options, font sizes, go-to, the X-ray feature and share options.

If you’re totally new to the Kindle, familiarize yourself with these features and the process for opening a book. Tap the device tab to view the items you have already downloaded and touch the title you want. By hitting the cloud tab, you can access purchased items from Amazon but that haven’t been downloaded to the device yet. A wireless network is required to do so.

To remove a book from your library, press and hold the title and then select “remove from device.” It’s possible to download the book again if you change your mind via the cloud feature. The Paperwhite sorts your content by books, magazines and newspapers; just tap Recent> Title, Author or Collections.

One of the newest and most welcome additions to the new Kindle model is Reading Progress, which tracks where your place in the book with the page number and percentage read. You can configure where you want this feature to display on screen.

A social component too allows users to connect with Twitter and Facebook and update status updates or share links to your books. For a quick word definition, simply highlight it to look it up via Wikipedia; a pop-up will appear toward the bottom of the screen.

The X-ray feature lets you get to the “bones of a book,” revealing more details about characters and the plot from Wikipedia and Amazon’s community-driven book encyclopedia Shelfari.

Adjust the Lighting

The Paperwhite’s powerful backlighting can be adjusted based on preferences. When reading, use the adjustable screen light by tapping the lightbulb icon to find the best setting for you. Then slide your finger along the scale to adjust the brightness.

If you’re in a room with low lighting, select the lower setting; when in bright lightning, choose the higher setting. Press and hold the icon if you want the light to resume to a minimum brightness. To bring it to maximum brightness, press and hold the plus icon.

Overall, the Kindle Paperwhite is extremely intuitive, so it shouldn’t take long to get a full grasp on how it works.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani; Amazon

Topics: amazon, ereaders, Gadgets, holidays 2013, kindle, paperwhite, Tech

What to Do With Your New Kindle Paperwhite - Mashable

What’s This?

By Samantha Murphy Kelly 2013-12-26 15:03:55 UTC

For those that received a new Kindle Paperwhite during the holidays, we have good news: your gift giver clearly did their research. It may be the smartest e-reader on the market.

As you cozy up to it in the weeks and months ahead, you’ll immediately notice the reading experience is closest to reading an actual book, from how it feels in your hands to the e-ink experience, and true to the Amazon Kindle line, there’s no glare in the sun. (That is, when you take it to the beach when summer rolls around).

The device is all about books, so you won’t find a camera mode, and the e-ink means only black and white. The Paperwhite offers a basic web browser, but most of the key features revolve around the reading experience.

SEE ALSO: Amazon Paperwhite Is the Best Digital Reading Experience Money Can Buy [REVIEW]

The device comes in one of two variations: a version with “offers” (ads) or a slightly pricier ad-free model. Both look strikingly similar to Amazon’s previous Kindle Paperwhite (which launched in 2012), but the updated 2013 model is 25% faster with better lighting and advanced built-in touch technology. Plus, it’s very simple to use.

Getting Started

The Paperwhite is ready to go out of the box. By pushing the power button on the bottom of the device, it lights up immediately but takes a few minutes to fully boot up. This is the only button on the hardware itself; it sits right next to a small port for charging. The e-reader comes with a charging cable but not an accompanying power adapter for the wall, so you’ll need to connect it to a computer to recharge the battery.

If you’re familiar with other Kindle models, you’ll notice the bright backlighting right away. It uses a series of LED lights at the bottom edge and spreads it evenly across the display. This means You can read the Paperwhite without the need for an additional light source , making it the best e-ink screen on the market we’ve seen so far.

The lights never fully go off until the device is in sleep mode, even when you turn it down. But Amazon promises this won’t effect the eight weeks of battery life the device should maintain following a full charge.

How to Register

Your next step is registering the device and setting up the 1-Click payment method. Tap the following buttons in succession: Home> Menu> Access Settings> Registration. Here, you can specify the Amazon account to download books with. If your kids will be using the Paperwhite (or have easy access to it), you may want to consider setting up parental controls to avoid accidental purchases.

Playing Around

The best way to get used to the Paperwhite is using playing around with its interface. It’s a touchscreen device – a long way from Amazon’s first Kindle model – so you can tap to reveal new pages.

To go to the main menu, touch the top of the screen to reveal the tool bar. This is where a majority of your most-used features live, include the home and back buttons, light control, shopping, search, reading options, font sizes, go-to, the X-ray feature and share options.

If you’re totally new to the Kindle, familiarize yourself with these features and the process for opening a book. Tap the device tab to view the items you have already downloaded and touch the title you want. By hitting the cloud tab, you can access purchased items from Amazon but that haven’t been downloaded to the device yet. A wireless network is required to do so.

To remove a book from your library, press and hold the title and then select “remove from device.” It’s possible to download the book again if you change your mind via the cloud feature. The Paperwhite sorts your content by books, magazines and newspapers; just tap Recent> Title, Author or Collections.

One of the newest and most welcome additions to the new Kindle model is Reading Progress, which tracks where your place in the book with the page number and percentage read. You can configure where you want this feature to display on screen.

A social component too allows users to connect with Twitter and Facebook and update status updates or share links to your books. For a quick word definition, simply highlight it to look it up via Wikipedia; a pop-up will appear toward the bottom of the screen.

The X-ray feature lets you get to the “bones of a book,” revealing more details about characters and the plot from Wikipedia and Amazon’s community-driven book encyclopedia Shelfari.

Adjust the Lighting

The Paperwhite’s powerful backlighting can be adjusted based on preferences. When reading, use the adjustable screen light by tapping the lightbulb icon to find the best setting for you. Then slide your finger along the scale to adjust the brightness.

If you’re in a room with low lighting, select the lower setting; when in bright lightning, choose the higher setting. Press and hold the icon if you want the light to resume to a minimum brightness. To bring it to maximum brightness, press and hold the plus icon.

Overall, the Kindle Paperwhite is extremely intuitive, so it shouldn’t take long to get a full grasp on how it works.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani; Amazon

Topics: amazon, ereaders, Gadgets, holidays 2013, kindle, paperwhite, Tech

Huntsville police blotter: Kindle Fires stolen from car, home on Christmas Eve - The Huntsville Times - al.com (blog)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Unless otherwise noted, the following incidents were reported to Huntsville police Wednesday items with incomplete addresses, police withheld the information.

West precinct

9th Avenue: Credit cards were stolen out of a car in the 3900 block between 9:45 pm Tuesday and 10:30 am Wednesday.

Caldwell Road: A stove, dryer and three air conditioners were stolen in a home burglary in the 3100 block between 8 am Sunday and 1 pm Wednesday.

Henderson Road: A Kindle Fire, jacket shoes and blankets were stolen out of a car in the 1000 block between 8 and 11 pm Tuesday when it was reported.

Johnson Road: The radio was stolen out of a pickup truck in the 3000 block at 10:30 am

Pacific Circle: A home in the 3400 block was broken into between 2 pm Saturday and 1:30 pm Wednesday.

North precinct

Battlefield Drive: A Kindle Fire, Wii, laptop, flat screen TV and jewelry were stolen in a home burglary in the 3400 block between 5:30 and 11:30 pm Tuesday when it was reported.

Poplar Avenue: A 32-inch flat screen TV was stolen in a home burglary in the 2500 block between 11 am and 9:20 pm

Sparkman Drive: Medications were stolen out of a car at Wal-Mart between 10 am and 10 pm Tuesday.

South precinct

No reports

Kindle Fire HDX review - Hindu Business Line

The Kindle Fire HDX packs in a great screen, among other things, that make it an amazing tablet on the shelves right now.

When online retailing giant Amazon first launched gadgets no one took it seriously. As it turns out, the company doesn’t either! Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that they couldn’t be less bothered about the kind of devices they launch. It’s just that what the devices do for them is what matters more for the company! After a series of ereaders, Amazon had launched its first tablet the Amazon Kindle Fire two years ago. Now, it has upgraded the series with the Kindle Fire HDX. I spent some time with it to see how it fares.

Build

My personal favourite among Amazon devices is the Kindle Paperwhite. The Kindle Fire HDX, however, is built for a slightly different kind of audience. It’s much more than just an e-reader. It’s primarily a tablet that focuses on reading, but still takes care of all your multimedia – songs, videos, movies, apps – as well as digital shopping needs.

The unit I reviewed sports a 7-inch screen with a high-res 1920 x 1200 pixel display. The tablet has pretty good viewing angles as well as colour reproduction. The only niggle is that there’s a bit of blue light bleeding on the sides of the display. I’m not sure if that’s a problem with just the review unit or across the model.

The size is pretty convenient for everyday use, especially if you want a tablet / e-reader on you for your commute every day. There is also an 8.9-inch version for those who might want to reap the benefits of a larger screen display to read or browse on. The 8.9-inch version has a higher pixel density a well as an 8-megapixel rear camera, which the 7-inch Fire HDX does not have.

The ease of tapping and purchasing something on the Amazon store can get pretty addictive and it won’t be long before you have to check yourself before compulsively buying books or crowding your device with free titles from the Amazon store.

I could access the power button and the volume rocker from the back panel of the tablet. This could get a bit confusing especially if you’ve been turning the tablet around from portrait to landscape mode or vice versa. I always had to fumble for a couple of seconds before I could place the buttons.

To plug in your headphones, there’s a 3.5 mm jack on the right side of the tablet and a microUSB on the left to charge it or transfer media. Another downside might be the fact that there’s only a front-facing camera on the Kindle Fire HDX and none whatsoever at the rear; a feature you now find on almost every tablet in the market. The device itself looks pretty mundane. It’s not badly designed but it isn’t exactly eye-catching.

Ecosystem & Interface

With devices like the Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon seems to be executing brilliantly what you’d think only companies such as Apple can do well-locking you in to an ecosystem. When you use the Kindle Fire HDX or any other Kindle device for that matter, you’ll realise how heavily and singularly dependent you are on the Amazon store. That is not necessarily a bad thing considering you can find almost every book imaginable on the store, thus fulfilling the primary objective of this device. Unlike Apple products, the Fire HDX doesn’t even seem annoyingly insistent on going through its proprietary software (we’re looking at you, iTunes) to load media on to the device.

Powering the Kindle HDX Fire is a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, which makes sure the tablet multitasks with ease. It’s coupled with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 330 graphics to power apps and videos.

The stereo speakers on the HDX are pretty decent. Although they’re not the loudest ones we’ve come across, they are still free of distortion at high volumes and loud enough for someone to watch a sitcom on inside a room.

The interface on the Kindle Fire HDX will be familiar to those who’ve used the Kindle Fire. There’s a carousel of apps and books you might have downloaded on the home screen. You can easily swipe through these to get to the ones you want to access. On top, there’s a row of options that includes Books, Music, Audiobooks, Newsstand, Photos, Docs – basically access to any kind of media you already have or might want to download on to the Kindle Fire HDX.

Amazon’s proprietary Silk browser might seem a bit clunky to use for those who are accustomed to Chrome or Dolphin HD. But, the browser doesn’t disappoint when it comes to performance. It even has a dedicated ‘Reading Mode’ which converts any web page to a text-only version of itself so you can read all the content without getting distracted.

Amazon has ironically built in an excellent feature which consumers would otherwise loathe to use. I’m talking about Mayday, Amazon’s proprietary troubleshooting assistance, that debuts on the Kindle Fire HDX. Accessible via the pull-down menu, this delivers live 24/7 video-chat tech support, where the tech support agent can take control of your tablet’s display, and show you how the various features of the HDX works. This feature works perfectly fine in India.

Battery

As is the norm with e-readers, the Kindle Fire HDX has pretty amazing battery life, although it will get nowhere close to that of a black-and-white e-reader. After video streaming, considerable app usage and reading, the tablet was still charged up after two days of usage. Pretty commendable for a 7-inch colour display. If you’re mostly going to read on the tablet, it’ll easily give you company for a week before running out of charge.

$ 229 onwards

Love – Great display, Mayday

Hate – Bleeding along the edges, no rear camera

(This article was published on December 25, 2013)

[Deal Alert] All Kindle Fire HDX 7 "Variants 20% Off (Up To $ 82) Today At Best Buy - Android Police

Listen up, super-late Christmas shoppers: Best Buy has a pretty good deal going on seven-inch Kindle Fire HDXs today. You can score up to $ 82 off of various HDX models, and while they definitely won’t arrive before Christmas (because, you know, that’s today), they all have free shipping. Here’s a full list of the options:

• 16GB – $ 184 ($ 46 off)
• 32GB – $ 216 ($ 54 off)
• 64GB – $ 248 ($ 62 off)
• 16GB Verizon – $ 264 ($ 66 off)
• 32GB Verizon – $ 296 ($ 74 off)
• 64GB Verizon – $ 328 ($ 82 off)
• 16GB AT & T – $ 264 ($ 66 off)
• 32GB AT & T – $ 296 ($ 74 off)
• 64GB AT & T – $ 328 ($ 82 off)

Naturally, all the carrier-connected models require a separate data plan, but if you’re willing to shell out the extra funds for a Kindle that can go anywhere, then you might as well save what you can on the device itself.

Also, shame on you for waiting so long to get your Christmas shopping done.

PS – Don’t forget to grab all those free apps Amazon is giving away today. They’ll go along with that new HDX nicely.