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Ad-supported Kindle 4 has built-in $30 "upgrade", gets rid of embedded special offers
Was it too cheap? Well, here's some great news for fourth-generation Kindle users already tiring of its embedded ads looking cheap alongside their Vertu phones. You can now pay Amazon the requisite fee and unsubscribe from built-in advertising and offers. Visit the Manage your Kindle webpage and you can edit your subscriptions for the newest entry-level e-reader. There seems to be no option, however, to do the reverse just yet. Would Amazon hand over $30 to push those special offers into our currently ad-free Kindle?
Amazon Kindle review (2011)
Switched On: Between a Nook and a hard place Engadget's holiday gift guide 2011: e-readers Kyobo, Qualcomm make Mirasol color displays a reality, with the Kyobo eReader There's little question that the Fire stole the show at last week's Amazon event. After all, the new tablet marks a change for the company's Kindle line, which until now has been defined by relatively simple E-Ink-based devices. The Kindle Touch, meanwhile, stepped up to bat to take on the likes of new Nook and Kobo touchscreen readers. But while most expected that device to become the heir to the Kindle throne, the company made a something of a surprise move, offering up a new device that will bear the reader's name. Now in its fourth generation, the Kindle has shed its keyboard and been reborn as a pocket-sized, lighter-weight reader. And a cheap one, at that -- $109 for the standard version and $79 for the ad-supported. So, is the new Kindle worthy of the name that has become synonymous with e-readers? Or did the company make too many sacrifices in the name of slashing prices? Find out in our review after the break.%Gallery-135516%
Amazon Kindle 3G gets AT&T-sponsored ad-supported option priced at $139
Good news: now you can pick up an Amazon Kindle 3G for the same price as the Kindle WiFi. Naturally, there's a catch here: ads, ads, ads -- but you've gotten pretty good at tuning those things out anyway, right? The online retail giant announced today the availability of the Kindle 3G with Special Offers, priced at $139 (down from $189 for the ad-free version) -- best of all, that price includes the 3G subscription, which won't cost you a thing, if you're willing to wade through "money saving offers" and some adtastic screensavers. The new option joins the already announced ad-support WiFi model, which will run you $114 and replaces the $164 non-AT&T-sponsored 3G version. Press after the break. Update: As Ahecht pointed out in comments, this new, cheaper Kindle is actually a replacement for the older ad-supported 3G model.
Kindle 3G gets ad-supported $164 version, basically sells your eyeballs for a $25 discount
It's been one heck of a week for e-readers, with a new $139 touchscreen Nook in town and a $129 finger-friendly Kobo as well. What's Amazon going to do about the newfound competition? Simply lower the price of its best-selling Kindle 3G to $164. Well, perhaps "lower" isn't quite the right word, because you'll simply be paying by different means: the new Kindle 3G with Special Offers will be the company's second e-reader to feature built-in advertising. If you're shy on cash, though, we suppose viewing a few ads is a small price to pay for cheaper Whispernet. PR after the break.
Kindle books officially take over print sales at Amazon, pulp starts making retirement plans
The Kindle has been a huge success, no doubt about that, but we are continually amazed at just how big a success it has become. Amazon too, apparently. The company just issued a press release to announce that digital book sales have now exceeded sales of all print titles, both hardcover and paperback combined. As of April 1st, for every 100 print books that Amazon has sold (of any kind) the company moved 105 Kindle books, and no that doesn't include downloads of free titles. Also of note: the ad-supported reader that's shipping for $114 is now selling more quickly than the normal, $139 version. Proof, then, that people will put up with more ads in more places for 25 bucks.
Kindle joins Nook and Kobo on Walmart store shelves
The tablet market is still a one-horse race, but e-readers continue to ramp, and Walmart wants another piece of that precious pie at big box retail. Starting this week, the online retailer will deliver shipments of Amazon's mighty Kindle 3G and ad-supported Kindle to over 3,200 Walmart stores across the US, where it will join the Nook and Kobo e-readers in competing for shelf space. Could this be the beginning of another e-reader price war? Perhaps not yet, but it could be one more retail channel for Amazon's ethereal tablet.
Ad-supported Kindle ships early, fans of grayscale advertising rejoice
Great news for people who love to read but wish the experience involved more advertising: an Amazon executive has announced the ad-supported Kindle, originally slated for a May 3 release, is going out to customers nearly a week early. Kindle with Special Offers, as it's affectionately known, will ship out April 27, loaded with timely adverts from your favorite brands, including General Motors, Proctor & Gamble and Visa – those are your favorite brands, aren't they? In exchange for sponsored screensavers and ads at the bottom of your home screen, you'll get a latest generation WiFi-only Kindle for a only $114 – sorry, offer available in the US only. Act now, as Amazon promises it will never just give these away.
Crackle for iOS brings free movies and TV shows to iPads, iPhones
After appearing on Android, Bravia TV connected platforms, the PS3 and Roku, Sony's Crackle has finally brought its ad-supported movie and TV show streaming act to iOS. The iPad / iPhone / iPod Touch clients also have an advantage over their Android counterparts, like the PS3 and Google TV apps they have access to extra content from the website (all in SD resolution) which now includes episodes from Seinfeld and movies like Pineapple Express. While senior VP Eric Berger tells USA Today the name is a reference to the need for content to "crackle" or be special, there's plenty of fluff in the catalog along with many well known older shows and movies. Still, at the low, low price of $0 we're sure you'll find something worthwhile.
Crackle starts streaming all of its free movies to Roku, PS3, Sony TVs and Blu-ray players
Sony's Crackle has had a more successful life so far than its previous iteration as Grouper, streaming movies, TV shows and shorts to various devices since launching back in '07 and announced today its full library will be streaming to the PS3, Roku boxes, Sony Blu-ray players and Bravia TVs. Expanding full access from just the Google TV (there's also an Android app that currently streams some of the items) it's taking credit as the only provider offering free full length flicks including Ghostbusters, Bad Boys, A Few Good Men and more for free on these platforms. The drawbacks are video that tops out at 480p standard definition and Hulu-style commercial interruptions but if you absolutely must watch Weekend at Bernies II without spending any money it is an option -- at least, as long as the PS3 browser doesn't crash with an out of memory error like it did for us. It did work better on more capable platforms, so check out the full details in the press release after the break.
Boxee names Viewster as first global VOD provider, still no word on Netflix
It looks like Boxee may be punting its deadline for Netflix integration again, but it did throw global users a small bone via a new partnership with Viewster to add "premium VOD content." If the Viewster brand doesn't ring a bell, don't worry, we didn't know much about it either. A little sleuthing on its parent company site, though, revealed the service provides access to hit movies and TV shows (some in 720p), as well as day-and-date releases and ad-supported content "wherever possible." The site also boasts the library has 5,000 plus titles, licensed from over 100 suppliers like iTunes, Hulu, Sony, and ironically Netflix -- but that includes short content clips too. Naturally, we wanted to check out available titles for ourselves, but quickly learned that the library can only be browsed on Viewster-compatible devices after registering and providing payment details upfront, which set our scheme sensors a ringin'. Specifics on when Viewster access will appear on Boxee or what pricing will be like is also unknown, so for now feel free to join us in being vaguely underwhelmed after reading the full PR below. [Thanks, PJ]
Hulu Plus announced for iPhone and iPad
Hulu has finally announced their long-rumored subscription service, and it's a doozy. It's called Hulu Plus. For US$9.99 per month, you'll get you ad-supported access to the full current seasons of most shows and full back seasons of select shows. Plus, brand new Hulu Plus apps for the iPhone and the iPad will bring the television to you. The apps work over either WiFi or 3G, though the iPhone version requires iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. The service sounds pretty good -- I would have to untangle my internet service from my cable bill, but otherwise, a system like this might just replace my cable box. The apps are supposed to be available today, but they're not on the App Store quite yet, apparently. Meanwhile, Hulu is sending out invites to the service as we speak -- sign up, tell them what devices you've got and a few demographic bits, and wait for the email to show up. The Netflix app on the iPad has already been a hit since launch, and this Hulu Plus service seems like it'll be just as popular. Update: The apps are now in the App Store, although of course you need a preview account to use them.
Boxcar, Byline now free and ad-supported
Here's news of two big apps that have gone free (with ads) in the past week. Boxcar is up first -- the app pushes notifications from any number of social and information services out to your iPhone or iPad, so you can know when you've got a Twitter DM or a Growl notice waiting for you elsewhere. Boxcar (on the App Store) has added support for iPad, and the core functionality is all free. The app comes with ads automatically, or you can pay an in-app purchase of $4.99 to turn them off forever. If you need a lot of quick notices on your iPhone or iPad (and don't want to bother with individual solutions for every app), give it a look. Byline has made a similar move -- the Google Reader, erm, reader still has its paid version in place, or you can download Byline Free, which offers the same RSS functionality with ads included. I don't see an in-app way to upgrade, but if you try the free version and decide you'd rather support the developer directly, you can buy the full version for $4.99. This is likely only the beginning of premium paid apps going ad-supported -- with the arrival of iAds in iOS 4, we'll probably see a lot more developers using Apple's advertising solution to supplement their development costs.
TUAW's Daily App: Solidarity Solitaire
Solidarity Solitaire is a pretty good version of Solitaire on the App Store, and developer Kyle Davis just recently released a free version supported by in-game ads. Just like the paid version, the free version is a no-frills affair. Solitaire is Solitaire, though, so if all you want to do is play a little solo card game, it'll do ya. The two quibbles I had with the app were that the free version doesn't offer a landscape orientation, so if you want that, you'll have to pay the 99 cents. Also, there's no auto-clearing of the board, even when you have opened up all of the cards. Update: The author of the app points out that there is an option for this. Then again, half of the point of Solitaire is just moving cards around, so maybe that's part of the game. If you play a ton of Solitaire and want a full-fledged experience, you'd probably be better served by shelling out for something like Solitaire City. It's much pricier, but with multiple modes, better graphics, and even leaderboards (wait -- leaderboards on a solo game? Solidarity offers that as well, thanks to OpenFeint integration), it might be worth the investment if you play cards on your iPhone a lot. If you just want a quick hit of pushing cards around, Solidarity (especially the free version) is worth a download.
ZillionTV may go around ISPs, take ad-supported streaming video direct to consumers TVs
Hard to say what this means for the "ISP as distribution partner to ad-supported video service" strategy ZillionTV said it would pioneer when originally announced this spring, but today's press release indicates a significant shift in direction. If you've already forgotten about the FCC-inspected ZBar and ZRemote, this is the company planning to offer video on demand over the internet from its library of film and TV partners Hulu-style, but direct to your television. Now the company will consider selling hardware straight to subscribers of ISPs not down with the plan, aside from sliding directly into televisions and various connected hardware as Netflix, VUDU, Amazon and others already have. At the same time, the planned Q4 nationwide launch has morphed into a vague "second half of 2010" promise, from here we'd guess getting ISPs to sell hardware that competes with their own pay-TV services isn't as easy as ZillionTV anticipated.
Shadowbane closure date extended to July, possible new lease on life
We thought we'd seen the end of Shadowbane in April, but we're happy to report that we were wrong. The game's servers were scheduled to go dark yesterday, May 1st. Ubisoft said this was the case and the developers said their goodbyes. However, overwhelming response from the playerbase is now keeping the game alive a bit longer for a proper farewell, and this stay of execution could possibly allow the devs to seek other options. Shadowbane developer Xanther writes, "Following our recent news, the support and enthusiasm the community has shown for Shadowbane has led to an extension of the closure date to July 1, 2009. This should allow the community enough time to play out its final days appropriately. We are looking into various options to make these final days as fun as possible!" It seems they're also looking into options beyond closure events for the players. Thanks to a tip from Massively reader NT_we see that Aeria Games has mentioned on Twitter that they're interested in picking up the game and are in discussion with Ubisoft. Also, Aeria Games is seeking input from Shadowbane players to help determine how viable running this title would be. You can let them know via Twitter at @aeriagames. While the situation still remains grim, that Shadowbane has roughly two months of time left, we're happy to see there's potential for a new lease on life for the game if publishers are willing to keep it running. If Massively learns that Shadowbane gets picked up by a new publisher, we'll be sure to let you know.[Thanks, NT_]
The Daily Grind: What's the best way to keep players?
Let's say you're responsible for an MMO that's steadily losing players. Without being able to pinpoint why, you head to the forums and listen in: "PvP sucks!" "Classes under/overpowered!" "Not enough kittens!" Making the tough choices is your job, and you realize you can't address all of these concerns in time to keep a huge number of paying players from quitting forever. What do you do?Do you offer to make the game free? If your model depends on monthly fee revenue, switching to an ad-supported model or microtransactions is no trivial matter and won't happen quickly enough. Do you grant 5x experience for a month? People won't want to level up more quickly in a game they don't like enough to keep around. What's a good solution? If your favorite MMO were to make you angry enough to leave, what would keep you?
Massively interviews Jon Van Caneghem about the SCI FI Channel MMO
Trion World Network is quite a company -- without releasing a single game, they've put together millions of dollars in venture capital and compiled a staff list that's got team members from across the history of MMO games, from EverQuest and Ultima Online to World of Warcraft and City of Heroes.This week, they sent waves through the MMO community by announcing that not only were they working on a fantasy MMO to be helmed by Jon Van Caneghem (original creator of the Might and Magic series of RPG strategy games and co-founder of the company along with Lars Buttler), but that they were forming a groundbreaking partnership with the SCI FI Channel to develop and publish and MMO to live alongside a television show. Finally, we had a small glimpse of just what Trion, with all of their money and experience, were up to.To find out more, Massively sat down with Van Caneghem (a busy man since the news dropped on Monday) to chat about both the fantasy MMO and the SCI FI project, and what Trion's been working on since they formed. Van Caneghem told us why Trion wants to make a different kind of MMO, and how they'll balance an online game with a television series from the network that's running Battlestar Galactica. The interview starts right after you click the link below.
Blyk reaches 100,000 subscriber mark in Britain, dons party hats in celebration
Hold on to your seats, chaps -- Blyk has just surpassed that magical 100,000 subscriber mark in Britain that it's been aiming for ever since the company got off the ground last fall. For those curious as to why "just" 100k is a milestone worth celebrating, this particular MVNO -- which rents airtime from Orange and utilizes equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks -- issues its customers a free pool of minutes / text messages in exchange for them accepting advertisements. In other words, a totally ad-funded service is somehow managing to go over at least decently well. According to the outfit, it reached the aforesaid goal a full six months ahead of schedule and is currently seeing ad response rates of 29-percent. Kudos, Blyk -- way to quiet those naysayers.[Via textually]
Microsoft speculates on ad-supported Sync
Apparently, Microsoft has plans for Sync that extend beyond the standard voice-activation scheme they've got going right now. The company wants to deliver a wider range of network connectivity for in-car use, and they're debating the possibility of moving away from subscription-based services to an ad-funded scenario. What exactly does that mean? We'll let Martin Thall, general manager of Microsoft's Automotive Business Unit explain: "We know where you are and we know where you're headed," he says, seemingly unaware of the Orwellian implications. "We could target that advertising directly to your car." You getting that? Targeted ads. In your car. While you're driving. Apparently, execs don't think you'll mind being bombarded inside your vehicle because you're, "used to advertising in the car. We hear ads on the radio and see billboards on the road." Of course, this is speculation on future technologies, so nothing is set in stone -- hopefully someone comes to their senses before our hovercar interiors glitter with holographic spam.
Ad-supported streaming to trump download-to-own content in 2008?
It's a notion that may surprise some folks at first listen, but truthfully, it tends to make sense. Download-to-own video didn't see stellar growth in 2007, and according to a number of industry execs on a panel at CES, content guardians distributors could be opting for ad-supported streaming to pull in revenue. According to Fox's Dan Fawcett, he thinks that "people like to watch on an impulse," and furthermore, he stated that these same folks "want to watch for free because they can get content for free via piracy." Granted, we'd say that's a fairly bold assertion to make, but it's not really that hard to understand why unattractive DRM-laced programming -- you know, the kind that can only be played back on certain players and whatnot -- isn't being accepted with open arms.
