Amazon

Report: Amazon Wants to Give Away Its Rumored Smartphone for Free

We’ve been hearing rumors about Amazon developing its own smartphone for years. Now, a new report from Wall Street Journal vets Jessica Lessin and Amir Efrati not only says the launch is imminent but also claims it’ll have a very very consumer-friendly price tag: $0. https://gizmodo.com/amazon-might-make-a-kindle-phone-but-it-really-shouldnt-5860602 A free smartphone! Sounds pretty awesome, right? But let’s…

New Kindle Paperwhite Now Available For Pre-Order

Amazon has officially announced their latest and greatest e-reader, and you can pre-order yours right now starting at $120. As an owner of the first generation Paperwhite, I can tell you that all the praise the product line has received is completely warranted. [Amazon] Keep up with Shane Roberts on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Tumblr,…

The New Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: Better Screen, Same Kindle (Hands On)

Amazon just officially announced its new Kindle Paperwhite on its site, after a false start a few hours ago. It’s a refresh of last year’s model—the first time Amazon has put out an iterative update—with a better screen and some new software. It will be out September 30th. Here’s quick rundown of the upgrades: a…

Amazon Accidentally Leaks New Kindle Paperwhite and Sept. 30 Ship Date

Amazon has reportedly leaked details about the second generation Kindle Paperwhite, which is apparently set to ship at the end of this month, on September 30th. According a post on Forum.HR, Amazon posted a landing page (since taken down) of the new Kindle Paperwhite. Oopsies. Introduced last year, Kindle Paperwhite was a revolution in ereaders,…

Amazon’s Giving You Discounted Digital Copies of Physical Books You Own

Finally fulfilling one of customers’ most requested features, Amazon has just announced Kindle MatchBook—a feature that lets customers buy digital editions of Amazon-purchased print books for as little as, well, nothing. The program follows in the footsteps of the incredibly similar Auto Rip program, which launched earlier this year and gave Amazon customers who purchased…

Jeff Bezos Speaks Out About Running the Washington Post

Last month, Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post for $250 million. Now, in the first interview he’s given since the purchase, he’s spoken out about what we can expect to see from him. The interview is, unsurprisingly, in the Post itself. And—surprise!—it’s very buoyant and optimistic. But interesting, too! Here are some of the highlights.…

You Could Get $3 Back For Each Price-Fixed E-Book You Bought

Following the e-book price fixing scandal that saw Apple found guilty, all five of the publishing houses involved in the spat have finally agreed to a federal court settlement—which could see you receiving a payout. The settlement—published in full below—outlines how consumers may retrospectively benefit from the deal. According to the document, if you bought…

Kindle Paperwhite Is Out of Stock, So Get Ready for a New Model

Amazon’s got something cooking. First, we saw a huge fire sale on Kindle Fires, now the wonderful Wi-Fi Kindle Paperwhite has gone out of stock on Amazon’s website. Looks like someone’s trying to clean house. http://gizmodo.com/preview/is-amazon-making-room-for-its-next-e-ink-kindle-1214296487 The 3G Kindle Paperwhite—$179 to the Wi-Fi Paperwhite’s $119—is still in stock, but it’s probably a safe bet to…

Report: Amazon Is Testing Its Own Wireless Network

According to a Bloomberg report, Amazon has tested its own wireless network. As in a network that people would use to connect to the Internet. As in axing the middle man and essentially becoming a carrier or ISP on its own. As in potentially using a ‘Amazon Wireless’-type service to get on the Internet from…

Amazon’s Having a Kindle Fire (Fire) Sale All Day Today

If you’ve been thinking about picking up a Kindle Fire HD, now’s a good time. Amazon’s running one hell of a sale today. For starters, the big ol’ Kindle Fire 8.9 is 25 percent off, all day. And pretty much every other model is getting a lightning deal of its own too. https://gizmodo.com/kindle-fire-hd-review-everything-a-tablet-should-be-an-5942283 We’ve heard…

Amazon’s Bundling Conde Nast Print and Digital Subscriptions for Cheap

Internet juggernaut Amazon and print media juggernaut Conde Nast are debuting one-click print and web subscriptions to some of Conde Nast’s most popular magazines today. Buy a print subscription through Amazon All Access, and you’ll get immediate access to the web version, with six-month print plus digital trial subscriptions starting at three bucks. For now,…

Amazon Just Went Down (Update: It’s Back!)

Looks like Amazon’s having a bit of trouble. The site went down several minutes ago, but has since been cycling through a fun little mix of the various “we’re down” banners. The above image is what you’ll currently get, and this was the first: https://gizmodo.com/amazon-com-is-down-update-it-wasnt-hacked-5980618 Amazon’s web services still claim to be mostly in working…

Is Amazon Art a Ripoff?

It’s been more than a week since Amazon launched Amazon Art, a marketplace for fine art where online shoppers can one-click-buy directly from galleries. And while it’s great to imagine disrupting one of the wackiest, most unregulated markets in the world, the question remains: Just how good of a deal are you getting on that…

Amazon has given its Silk browser for Kindle Fire a massive UI overhaul: it’s now neater and easier to navigate.

Report: The Cheap Kindle Fire to Be Replaced by Cheaper Fire HD

The Kindle Fire HD is the Amazon tablet for most people. Last year, it was just $40 more than the improved-but-uh-why-would-you-buy-this-again second gen Kindle Fire 2. BGR has an unconfirmed report, though, that last year’s Fire HD is this year’s Fire is very confusing for everyone, probably. There are already reports of the new Fire…

The Kindle Fire HD Is Cheaper Than It’s Ever Been

In case you haven’t noticed yet, Amazon’s been hitting its Kindle Fire HD 7-inch with sale after sale, and right now, you can pick one up for the lowest price ever in its relatively short history—a cool $160 compared to the usual $200. The sale’s being offered for a limited time only, so if you’ve…

Amazon has added Kurt Vonnegut to its “official” fan fiction program

What do Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, and Slaughterhouse-Five all have in common? Well, now people can write and sell completely legal fan fiction based on each of them, thanks to Amazon’s Kindle Worlds program. This cannot end well. Amazon announced that the entire Vonnegut library would be joining the Worlds service, which allows people…

Now You Can Buy Fine Art on Amazon

Amazon has just announced that it’s partnered up with over 150 galleries and art dealers across the US to sell you fine art through its new initiative Amazon Art. The site offers over 40,000 original works of fine art, showcasing 4,500 artists. That, perhaps unsurprisingly, makes it the largest online collection of art directly available…

New Newspaper Owner Jeff Bezos on the Bleak Future of Newspapers Last Year

Well this is just fun. Jeff Bezos talked with German newspaper Berliner-Zeitung in 2012 about the dark future of newspapers and how they can be relevant to Amazon. And well, since Bezos is now a newspaper baron, it’s probably a good idea to revisit his rather bleak thoughts on print. Here’s the meat of it,…

Jeff Bezos Is Buying the Washington Post for $250 Million

Today the Washington Post Company agreed to sell the Washington Post newspaper to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for $250 million in cash. This ends the Graham family’s ownership of the paper after four generations. The deal, which was made independently of Bezos’ other ventures, is expected to close within 60 days. Bezos says he has…