Jordan Crook, Tech Crunch:
There’s plenty to talk about here at Amazon’s Los Angeles press conference. The Kindle Fire 2 is obviously a hot topic of discussion, but lest you forget the product that started it all: The Kindle. As expected, new models of the E-Ink ereader have been officially announced, and one (the Kindle Paperwhite) follows in the steps of Barnes & Noble’s Nook with Glow.
Chris Ziegler, The Verge:
From the images we have, it looks like Amazon will be touting the unit with "higher contrast, high resolution, integrated lighting, and eight weeks of battery life," even when using the light. The retail name for this unit is unclear — Amazon could simply call it the Kindle Touch again, but "Paperwhite" might factor in as well.
Nathan Olivarez-Giles, Wired:
Previously, Amazon allowed people to call in and change the email address associated with an Amazon account or add a credit card number to an Amazon account as long as the caller could identify him or herself by name, email address and mailing address — three bits of personal information that are easily found online.
On Tuesday, Amazon handed down to its customer service department a policy change that no longer allows people to call in and change account settings, such as credit cards or email addresses associated with its user accounts.
Excellent news. I've always been in favor of a relatively difficult verification process, and I'm willing to take multiple steps to prove who I am to increase everybodys' security.
Amazon:
GameCircle will make achievements, leaderboards and sync APIs accessible, simple and quick for you to integrate, and will give gamers a more seamless and entertaining in-game experience.
Amazon is reportedly meeting with advertisers to pitch the idea of welcome screen ads on its popular Kindle Fire tablet. The retail giant is asking $600,000 for prime placement on the slate, according to a report from AdAge.
Storage prices are being reduced by up to 13.5%.
Amazon.com Announces Fourth Quarter Sales up 35% to $17.43 Billion; Kindle Device Sales Nearly Triple During the Holidays
Peter Kafka for _AllThings_D:
The Barclays analyst has bumped up his sales estimates for the low-end tablet: He now thinks Jeff Bezos sold 5.5 million units last quarter, up from his earlier guess of 4.5 million.
DiClemente figures Amazon will now sell 18.4 million Kindle Fires this year, which would give it nearly half of the non-iPad tablet market.
Tricia Duryee:
Since its introduction 13 weeks ago, the Kindle Fire has become the best-selling, most-gifted and most-wished-for product on Amazon.
But that could be a problem.
The device sells for about the same amount ($199) as it costs to make (about $202).