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Amazon FreeTime is now called Amazon Kids
FreeTime Unlimited has been renamed Amazon Kids+ too.
Amazon announces its first-ever Kindle for kids
If you want to get your kids to read more instead of watching TV, Amazon hasn't forgotten about you or your kid. Alongside the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition tablet the company announced today, Amazon took the wraps off the Kindle Kids Edition, its first-ever e-reader aimed at children. For an additional $20 over the cost of a normal Kindle, the Kids Edition comes with one of four colorful cases, a two-year worry-free guarantee and one-year of complimentary access to the company's FreeTime Unlimited service.
Amazon's latest Fire HD 10 tablet finally has a USB-C port
Amazon has just updated its most popular tablet with new internals. The company's latest Fire HD 10 tablet features a new octa-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz that's supported by 2GB of RAM. Amazon claims the updated processor makes the new Fire HD 10 30 percent faster than its predecessor. When it becomes available later this month, you'll be able to buy the Fire HD 10 in two configurations, outfitting the device with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. The two models will be priced at $149.99 and $189.99 respectively. If that's not enough space, you can add up to 512GB of additional storage with a microSD card. Other notable hardware features include built-in Dolby Atmos support and WiFi 802.11ac connectivity.
Amazon will let parents control who kids chat with on their Echo
Amazon is under pressure to make its Alexa products safer for kids. With that in mind, the company is introducing Alexa Communications for Kids, which allows parents to whitelist contacts that their kids are allowed to talk to viia Echo devices. Theoretically, the parental controls will allow kids to talk to people through their Echo with reduced risk. That could appeal to parents and grandparents alike.
Amazon brings its kid-friendly FreeTime Unlimited app to iOS
Amazon's kid-friendly FreeTime Unlimited first launched onto Fire devices in 2012. The curated video and book service made the jump to Android last year and has just landed on iOS. It brings with it the same features as on other platforms, including parental controls, popular characters and a monthly fee.
Amazon made a kid-friendly Alexa with an Echo Dot to match
Amazon has unveiled the Echo Dot Kids Edition with a custom version of Alexa that will read to kids, play music, answer questions and do other chores. It uses a new flavor of its FreeTime app called FreeTime for Alexa that includes parent controls and family-friendly features that run on the Echo, Echo Dot or Echo Plus. It will give kids a different experience than adults; for instance, when they say "please," it will reply "thanks for asking so nicely" to reinforce their politeness.
Amazon offers remote access to FreeTime parental controls
Last year, Amazon launched a Parent Dashboard to go along with its FreeTime subscription service for kids. The dashboard allows parents to see how much time their kids spend on the service and what they've read, watched or played. It also gives parents summaries of whatever their child has engaged with as well as prompts to foster conversation about it. Now, Amazon is giving parents remote access to controls.
Amazon FreeTime cheat sheets educate parents on kids TV
Nobody will judge you for not watching Dora or the 43rd Frozen short on Amazon FreeTime with your kids. Problem is, you won't be able to talk about their shows, books or games with them if you have no idea what they're about. Thankfully, Amazon has launched a new Parent Dashboard that shows how much time your kids spend on their media, along with a list of the books they've read, shows they've watched, apps they've used and games they've played. Now, that last bit is key to having a fruitful discussion: that list gives you access to Discussion Cards, which contain a summary of what each show, book, game or app is about.
Amazon FreeTime Unlimited adds content for tweens
Amazon FreeTime Unlimited launched back in 2012 as a monthly subscription service for kid-friendly content. Today, they're adding 3,000 items to FreeTime's library, bringing the total to 13,000 books, apps and games.
Freesat's latest set-top box can store up to 2TB of TV
While there are plenty of TVs available with built-in Freesat, the satellite-based alternative to Freeview, set-top boxes aren't going anywhere soon. Freesat and hardware partner Humax haven't released a new model in several years, though, so it's time for a fresh box to attract new, subscription-phobic customers to the service. The Humax HDR-1100S isn't a huge improvement over previous models, but it's almost a third smaller than the popular HDR-1000S and comes with WiFi as standard (most other boxes require a dongle to make them WiFi-compatible).
Amazon adds Disney and Dora to FreeTime Unlimited kids service
There's a new way to amuse, educate or just distract your offspring while Mommy has a little sippy-poo for the holidays -- Amazon has just dumped a bunch of new content into FreeTime Unlimited. The kid-centric service runs $2.99 a month for Prime subscribers, and includes around 4,000 educational books, 400 "age-appropriate" apps and several thousand TV shows and movies. Amazon's added "thousands of new titles," including games Frozen Free Fall from Disney and Dora's Great Big World, along with e-books from Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street. If you're on FreeTime Unlimited and have an Amazon Kindle reader, Fire TV or Fire tablet (like the Kids Edition shown above) you can access the content now, or sign up for a free trial.
Kindle Fire HD 7.2.2 update adds Camera app, Swype along with FreeTime Unlimited
Liked the sound of Kindle FreeTime Unlimited? Well it turns out that's not the only new goodie on the way. Software update 7.2.2 for the seven-inch Kindle Fire HD also brings a few other bonuses. First up, is a Camera app, to let you take mug-shots with that front-facing shooter, while the keyboard gets a boost with added Swype functionality. The update should come over the air automatically, but if that's not the case -- or, like us, you're not the patient type -- then you can manually initiate a software sync. More details on that can be found in the source.
Amazon Kindle Fire HD update brings Kindle FreeTime to tablet-craving tykes
One of Amazon's subtler but potentially valuable promises for the Kindle Fire HD was its Kindle FreeTime mode -- a fenced-off world that would give kids a simple place to play and their parents the confidence to step away for a few precious minutes. It wasn't part of the initial launch, but a new update to the 7-inch model is rolling FreeTime into Amazon's latest tablet. The upgrade gives as much flexibility as Amazon promised, letting adults introduce filters as well as cap the time their children spend with different kinds of content. Most of the remaining updates pertain to general fixes; that said, we imagine that most parents won't mind the narrow focus once they know Junior can't watch Kill Bill.
Amazon unveils Kindle FreeTime, gives kids their own space to play
Amazon just solved one of the bigger dilemmas for parents buying that new Kindle Fire HD -- how to keep the kids in a safe zone for content. It's introducing Kindle FreeTime, a special mode that makes it easier for younguns to navigate while letting the adults create separate profiles dictating what children can access and for how long. The filters are separated by media type, and Amazon even turns the background from black to blue to reassure parents by the glow of the screen on Junior's face. We'd call the parental control a long overdue feature, although we're sure Amazon also sees it as a chance to scoop up an extra Kindle Fire sale or two among families.%Gallery-164595% Follow the Amazon liveblog here!
Freesat launches 'Free Time' TV Guide to help you waste yours
Freesat is launching a revamped TV guide to pull together content from your satellite dish and the Internet. Free Time has a unified now and next view that lets you search backwards for shows you've missed that are available on-demand. It currently supports BBC iPlayer and ITV player, with 4OD and Demand 5 due to be added before Christmas -- and while it's still a rumor at this point, we're expecting Netflix to arrive on the platform at some point in the future. The guide will form the centerpiece of the next generation of Freesat hardware, which will be available for £280 when it arrives later this month.
Microsoft wants employees to code Windows Phone 7 apps 'in their spare time'
You had to know those freebie WP7 devices for Microsoft employees would come with a few strings attached. We imagined the Redmond brain trust was aiming for some word-of-mouth popularization along with a boost in team morale and proactivity, but as it turns out, things are a little more codified than that. TechFlash has what it claims to be the internal memo announcing the free Windows Phone 7 handsets -- from mobile chief Andy Lees, who hasn't been having the best of times lately -- which sets out Redmond's expectation that employees should "evangelize" the product at every opportunity, while also setting aside some spare time before launch to develop apps (but, you know, only if they really want to). The idea, clearly, is to harness Microsoft's massive talent pool to try and get a headstart on populating the Marketplace with compelling content; we're just not too sure the "spare time" bit is going to go over quite as well as the "free smartphone" part. Either way, you'll find the full email from Andy at the source. [Thanks, Mint]
