Target to stop selling Kindle products
by Tylor Sweeney (Guest contributor/Digital Journalist)
Target today announced that it will be phasing out sales of Kindle products this spring due to a “conflict of interest.”
The Verge reported yesterday that Target was going to “stop carrying the line of products” due to “conflict of interest,” according to a source. According to an internal memo The Verge received, Target will be “removing Amazon hardware from its locations starting this month.” Certain Kindle accessories, according to The Verge, would continue to be sold, though sales of the core Kindle products would cease.
Today, Target confirmed that they will indeed be phasing out sales of Kindle devices, as well as other Amazon and Kindle branded products, in their retail stores:
Target continually evaluates its product assortment to deliver the best quality and prices for our guests. Target is phasing out Kindles and Amazon- and Kindle-branded products in the spring of 2012. We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of ereaders and supporting accessories including the Nook.
A cursory search through Target’s online store reveals that the Kindle devices have already been removed, and Target’s Kindle branded page comes up empty, suggesting that Target has already instituted these changes on their online properties.
The source of the “conflict of interest” that The Verge reported on yesterday remains unclear, as Target made no mention of it today, but it is important to note that Apple and Target entered into a partnership in which Apple would open “mini-stores” inside some Target locations.
It is also important to note that Target’s statement affirms the retail chains commitment to other e-readers, specifically calling out the Nook by name.
This article was originally published on Digital Journal [Link]
Amazon to allow users to pay $30 to remove ads on new Kindles
by Andrew Moran (Guest Contributor/Digital Journalist)
Sick and tired of advertisements? Amazon is allowing its customers to pay $30 to remove advertisements from the latest ad-supported Kindles. The $30 is the difference in price between a non-ad Kindle and a Kindle with ads.
There is now reprieve for Kindle customers who purchased the latest subsidized Kindles that contain Special Officers and advertisements.
For $30, you can upgrade to an ad-free Kindle and remove ads that you find annoying, according to a report from theDigital Reader. Also this news was discovered by a MobileRead forum user.
The steps to rid yourself of ads are to go to the Manage Your Devices page, choose the Kindle that is subscribed to Special Offers and then unsubscribe. The original tipster informed Digital Reader that Amazon would not allow its consumers to go back to an ad-subsidized version.The unsubscribe feature isn’t available for Kindle 3 (Kindle Keyboard) users.
For those interested in purchasing a Kindle, the least expensive e-reader without special offers is $109, the Kindle Touch is $139 without ads and the Kindle 3G is $149 with ads and $189 without the ads.
“It looks like Amazon noticed that a lot of people bought a K3 SO and hated the ads, and that is probably why they added a solution to the K4 before it launched,” wrote Nate Hoffelder ofDigital Reader.Amazon has not made any official announcement regarding the option.
This article originally appeared on Digital Journal [Link]
TED Books an extension of popular TED Talks
TED, the company behind TED Talks and the annual TED event in the U.S., is launching their book imprint to offer readers a chance to read digestible non-fiction lectures available for the Kindle and Kindle Reader.
If you’ve ever seen the free online TED Talks, you might have wondered if you can read the text of these intriguing lectures. Now TED is publishing some talks through a new imprint. As TED wrote in a short blog post, “Shorter than traditional books, TED Books run less than 20,000 words each — long enough to explain a powerful idea, but short enough to be read in a single sitting. Books are available on the Kindle and Kindle Reader apps, and cost $2.99 each.”
These books can be read on any device running the Kindle app, such as iPad, Mac, PC, Android, iPhone, Blackberry and Windows 7 smartphones.
The first three titles available are: The Happiness Manifesto: How Nations and People Can Nurture Well-Being by Nic Marks, Homo Evolutis: Please Meet the Next Human Species by Juan Enriquez and Steve Gullans, and Beware Dangerism! Why We Worry About the Wrong Things, and What It’s Doing to Our Kids by Gever Tully.
These TED Books are taking advantage of the Kindle Singles innovation: short “books” intended to showcase a single idea and available for download via the Kindle app.
This article was originally published on DigitalJournal.com
Amazon to let users lend eBooks
In a short announcement posted to Amazon’s site, the company says Kindle users will soon be able to lend books to one another.
While details are still scarce, Amazon says the lending feature will happen later this year and it will allow Kindle users to loan eBooks to other Kindle users for a loan period of 14 days. While the book is out on loan, the lender cannot read it.
Amazon says not all eBooks will be lendable, as it will be up to the publisher or rights-holder.
Amazon also announced it would make Kindle newspapers and magazines readable on Kindle apps for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch (Android coming later), so users who buy books or newspapers can read content on devices other than just the Kindle. Amazon says this should launch in the coming weeks.
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