Tag Archives: Amazon

Daily Links: David Bowie wasn’t just an incredible artist, but a tech visionary too

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Daily Links for day, January 11, 2016:

daily_links_1David Bowie wasn’t just an incredible artist, but a tech visionary too (Quartz) – R.I.P. to an amazing artist.

Amazon To Stream Obama’s Final State Of The Union; Lyrics Site Genius To Power Annonations (Techcrunch) – Clearly a paradigm shift on so many levels.

iOS 9.3 will turn down the blue light on your iPad to help you sleep (The Verge) – Interesting that of all the new features, it’s blue light that grabs the headline….

The dying technologies of 2016 (ComputerWorld)- There is so much new tech. But what about the old stuff?

Deals of the Day:

Amazon’s Kindle Daily Deal includes Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Gerald Posner for $2.99.  There also still have over 1000 titles for up to 85% off and 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each.

The Barnes and Noble Nook Daily Find is Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast for $2.99. The Romance Daily Find is The Marriage Contract by Katee Robert for $1.99. B & N is also having a Dark & Twisty Romance Sale featuring titles priced at up to 75% off.

Kobo’s Daily Deal is The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower for $1.99 It is also the last day for the New Reads for the New Year! Buy One, Get One FREE and the 30% Off Sale on Select eBook Box Sets with Promo Code: BOX30 promotions.

Still no update of iTunes’s Weekly Bestsellers Under $4 deals. 😦

Google Books has a selection of mysteries on sale called Cozy crimes under $5.

(A note on Daily Deals: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.

Many large promotions have discount pricing that is set by the publisher. This usually means that titles can be found at a discount price across most platforms (with iTunes sometimes being the exception). If you have a favorite retailer you like to patronize, check the title on that website. There is a good chance that they will be matching the sale price.)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news. I also post other, different links of interest on Twitter and on the Google Plus eBook Evangelist Page.

Cyber Monday Book Deals

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cybermondayA few noteworthy Cyber Monday Deals for e-book lovers today:

Amazon has massive savings on over 800 books in what they are calling the Biggest Kindle Daily Deal of the Year. You can save up to 85% of regular prices with titles starting at $1.99. And, yes, there are still Kindles on sale today. The $50 Fire is sold out until December 24, but the Fire 6 HD is still available.

Amazon also is offering up to 40% off on its Kindle Unlimited subscription reading service. The longer you subscribe for, the more you save.

There are hundreds of Open Road Media titles for up to 80% off as part of a holiday promotion. You can find the titles at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple and Google Books.

Barnes and Noble is offering 500 Nook books for under $5.

At Google Play Books, you can get up to 80% off select titles in their Cyber Weekend Deals.

Kobo is also offering a long list of titles at 80% off. And, you can get the Kobo Glo HD e-reader for only $109.99 as part of their Cyber Monday Deals.

Note that iBooks also has many books on sale for Cyber Monday, but they show in the iTunes app, not via the web browser. Sorry, but I can’t link directly to them. 😦

I am seeing a lot of the same titles on the various sites. This is a great “pick the store you like to shop at” sale!

Amazon Black Friday Sale updates for $35 Fire, more

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blackfridayHere are some availability updates on some of Amazon’s Black Friday deals:

-The $35 7″ Fire is now showing as out of stock until December 15.  If you want one of these, order soon so you can still get it delivered in time for the holidays! On sale until November 29.

– My favorite, the Fire HD 6 is still available for $69.99 through December 1. (You can read my review here.)

– The Fire HD 8 and the Fire HD 10  are both still in stock.

– The Fire Kids Edition is also showing as out of stock until December 16. On sale until December 1.

– The Amazon Fire TV Stick (standard remote) is sold out and will be back in stock December 10. It is on sale until November 29.The Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote is also sold out and will be back in stock on November 29. It is on sale until November 29.

– The Amazon Fire TV  and Amazon Fire TV Gaming Edition are both still available. They are on sale until December 1.

– The Amazon Echo is still available, but may require extra processing time. It is on sale until December 1.

– All of the e-ink Kindles (including the Paperwhite and the basic Kindle for $49.99) are still available and on sale until December 1.

Note: Shipping updates were accurate as of 3 pm CST on November 2, 2015 and are certain to change as more orders accrue. 

Verizon Connection Day

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verizonToday, Verizon Wireless is giving away free digital gifts for their  Connection Day promotion. Many of these free gifts are geared towards holiday travelers.

Among the offerings:

  • Free digital content from Amazon and books from Audible.
  • A full day of iTunes radio with limited interruptions.
  • Free airport wi-fi from Boingo.
  • The latest editions of select Conde Nast magazines, including titles such as Wired, Vanity Fair, Vogue and many more.
  • 30 free minutes of Gogo in-flight wi-fi.
  • Free Fl-Fi for select Jet Blue flights.
  • Stream ad-free Pandora One radio.

You don’t have to be a Verizon customer to take advantage of the free offers, but there is a bonus offer of exclusive access to movies and TV if you are an existing Verizon FiOS customer. There are terms and conditions which apply, so read the fine print. The offer is only valid until midnight!

You can get more info at the Verizon Connection Day page.

 

A deal on e-book Westerns

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max_brandIf you or someone you know is an avid reader of e-book Westerns, Amazon has a great deal going on you may be interested in. Until October 23, 2014, you can choose from 201 Westerns on sale for only $1.99 each. Authors include some of the greats in the genre: Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, Max Brand, Ernest Haycox, Will Henry,  Cotton Smith and many more.

 

 

A Return to Agency Pricing…

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money fightSimon and Schuster has reached an agreement with Amazon to return to agency pricing, according to a report from Digital Book World. The deal is to go into effect January 1, 2015  and is said to  apply to both print and e-books. According to the rumored term s, “Amazon’s prerogative to discount the publisher’s ebooks is sharply limited.”  There is no word if this will have any effect on the negotiations between Amazon and Hachette.

*Sigh*

Personally, I think this is very disappointing news. As someone who buys a lot of e-books, I still think that most of the Big Publishing House e-books are priced too high, especially many backlist books. I boycott any e-books priced over $9.99 and have had to leave several series unfinished because of pricing issues.  I also reject e-books that are priced as high as their paper versions. IMHO, this is not a move that is good for consumers.

I do predict that this will be good for the subscription services, however, especially if publishers try to return to the $12.99 to $14.99 price points. That monthly fee for Scribd or Oyster or Kindle Unlimited probably just got more attractive.

It is also probably good news for indie authors, at least in the short term. I am not convinced that books are necessarily interchangeable. I think I am somewhat of an anomaly because I am willing to abandon a series based on price or principle.

How do you feel about the news?

 

 

 

Problems with installing the Amazon Instant Video App?

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instant videoLast week, Amazon finally released its long-promised Instant Video app for Android. (There was a previous app a few years ago available for the Sony Dash, but that one was removed a while back.)

The new app is designed for phones, although it is working on some tablets. It is a somewhat complicated install procedure because you first must install the Amazon Shopping app, then download the one for Instant Video.

I was able to install the app on my Samsung Note 2 with no problem. I could not, however, get it to work on my Samsung Note 8.

Both Teleread and The Digital Read have posted workarounds for the flash video problem in the past. Today, the MobileRead forum led me to another install method detailed on the Droid Life site. This install involves directly downloading the Instant Video .apk file from Amazon.

I tried the Droid Life method and it installed correctly on my Samsung Note 8 with no problem. 🙂

Hopefully, one of the methods will enable you to get the app working correctly on your device.

Daily Deals: Iris Johansen mysteries and William Gibson’s Neuromancer

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iris_Johansen_coverAmazon has a couple of great Daily Deals today.

First, there are twenty of New York Times best-selling author Iris Johansen mysteries and thrillers on sale at Amazon for $2.99 each. This is a super deal if you are trying to fill in some backlist titles. 🙂

Also, for sale today, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, the now-classic book that started the cyberpunk genre for only $1.99.

Daily Links: Darwin’s Complete Galapagos Library Online

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From ArsTechnica, Charles Darwin’s Complete Galapagos library is posted online.

Amazon is testing a new subscription service called Kindle Unlimited via The Digital Reader. (There will be lots more to come on this story!)

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news.