Here It Is – The All-new Kindle Family From Amazon

You’ve been hearing about all the speculation for some time now, well the day is here… today Amazon rolled out details of the new Kindle family of devices.  The New Products include:

New latest generation Kindle – world’s bestselling e-reader now lighter, faster, and more affordable than ever – only $79 New “Kindle Touch” with easy-to-use touch [...]

Here It Is – The All-New Kindle Family From Amazon

Backlink: http://blog.gisuser.com/2011/09/28/here-it-is-the-all-new-kindle-family-from-amazon/

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Why The Amazon Tablet Will Be Killer (AMZN, AAPL)

The Amazon tablet is coming in the Fall, and all evidence points to its being a killer device. 

Tech gadget review site Retrevo polled their users and found out that what they want in a tablet is what Amazon can give them: namely, lower prices and a trusted brand. 

Their survey says what prospective tablet customers want most is lower prices:

What's more, customers trust the Amazon brand to make a great tablet more than most customer electronics brand (also: look at how badly RIM is doing):

And while most people prefer an iPad, there's also a lot of people who are open to buying some other tablet:

Amazon is best positioned to make a really good tablet at cheap prices for the following reasons:

• Scale. Amazon is huge and can team up with an OEM to drive down prices for an Amazon tablet.

Distribution. Amazon owns the world's biggest shopping mall. Retailers' cut are a huge part of the price of tablets, and Apple and Amazon are the only ones who have their own huge retail operation. What's more, Amazon already has deals in place with retailers to sell its Kindle e-reader, so it stands to reason it could also sell tablets through them.

Media. Amazon has its app store, its Kindle e-book platform, its MP3 shop and an increasingly good video store.

Product experience/design. The Kindle is a great device, and Jeff Bezos is a product visionary. No one expects an Amazon tablet to be better than an iPad, but there's no reason why they can't make a tablet that's very good at a very good value. 

Don't Miss: Here's Everything We Know About The Amazon Tablet So Far →

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See Also:

• THE APPLE INVESTOR: Apple Now Has Over $75B In Cash, But Don't Expect A Dividend
• Now Apple Is Talking About Buying Hulu
• THE APPLE INVESTOR: Apple Boosting Staff At Retail Stores For Back-To-School, iPhone 5 And Holiday Season

Why The Amazon Tablet Will Be Killer (AMZN, AAPL)

Backlink: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/rLbYxdmz9Ws/amazon-tablet-customer-survey-2011-7

Amazon Will Do Everything It Takes To Kill California's New Sales Tax Law (AMZN)

Amazon is backing a referendum to overturn California's sales tax law, the New York Times reports. 

Here's what's going on: states -- deep in the hole these days -- want e-tailers, and in particular Amazon, to collect sales tax on their affiliates. Amazon and others say, correctly, that they don't have to if they don't have a presence in the state. This debate has been going on for a while but has new urgency given the budgetary troubles of most states.

Affiliate marketing is one of the big ways Amazon generates incremental sales, so it's a big deal for them.

Recently California demanded the sales tax from Amazon. In response, Amazon shut off its affiliates. California then said, in essence, too bad, you still owe us all the sales tax from before you shut them off. And then Amazon gave them the one-finger salute.

So here we are.

Now Amazon is fighting back with the tools it has, a referendum to change the law in California.

A couple things are worth noting here.

• Amazon is in the right here. The law and constitutional jurisprudence say it doesn't have to collect sales tax in states where it doesn't have nexus.

• Amazon supports a federal-level solution which is backed by 40 states called the Streamlined Sales Tax Initiative.

• Efforts to make Amazon pay tax are backed by huge bricks-and-mortar competitors like Wal-Mart, so it's not like the big bad corporations are all on one side.

• And finally, anyone who messes with Jeff Bezos is in for a big fight.

JEFF BEZOS: Here's Why He Won →

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See Also:

• Amazon's Android Appstore Is A "Disaster," Says A Developer
• Wal-Mart Is Backing A Group Trying To Force Amazon To Pay More Taxes
• Here's Why Amazon's New Pet Store Isn't Insane

Amazon Will Do Everything It Takes To Kill California's New Sales Tax Law (AMZN)

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Amazon Has Plans To Offer Free Streaming Movies On Its Secret Tablets (AMZN)

It has been awhile since we've heard anything about Amazon's impending tablets, so here's some good news.

Barron's reports one of the tablets will have access to a streaming movie service, which will be free for the first batch of tablet owners.

This is another great move by Amazon. Android tablets still don't have access to a robust video library like the iPad does. Right now, the Motorola Xoom is the only tablet that has access to the Android Market's streaming service.

Amazon's Instant Video service already has a selection that rivals Apple's, so it makes sense to add it to its new tablets as well.

Now we know why one of the tablets is codenamed "Hollywood."

Don't Miss: 10 Things Amazon's Tablet Must Have In Order To Crush The iPad

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See Also:

• Apple Is Recalling Verizon iPad 2s [REPORT]
• Wow, This App Turns Your iPad Into An iPhone
• ANOTHER LEAK: HP TouchPad Will Launch On June 22

Amazon Has Plans To Offer Free Streaming Movies On Its Secret Tablets (AMZN)

Backlink: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/Kl-bUVOgbx8/amazon-tablet-may-get-movie-streaming-service-2011-6

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by tom

om, i enjoy reading most of your columns. but this is a sad one. i think what you're referring to is what some people call 'the Wal-Mart' effect. everything's cheaper and available in one place - and if we skip ahead a few steps, then all that's available is what Amazon or Wal-Mart sells. and for those of us who sell items to Amazon, it's become a very bleak proposition. because of how you describe the situation. Amazon loves to trot out similar responses and use them to hit people over the head with regard to selling terms. and don't even get me started on sales tax. want your roads fixed, more police officers, maybe a public school in your neighborhood. don't live in a state that has cut a deal with Amazon so they don't have to pay sales tax on items they've sold. but all those retailers where you go to look at stuff and then end up buying it on Amazon - they collect sales tax in the community they're located in. you're a smart guy. think a little more about what you're giving up for 'your convenience.' cheers!

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by tom

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/20/we-are-spending-more-money-with-amazon/#comment-625787

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by Mark

It seems to me, it's possible that Prime is perhaps the single greatest loyalty program ever. It causes us all to buy more from Amazon, to tolerate slightly higher prices from Amazon than we might from another merchant, to seek out Amazon just to find out if they carry the goods we are after. I cannot imagine ever shopping online again in a Prime-free world. I am assuming they make good money from me even if they are no longer making money from me on shipping.

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by Mark

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/20/we-are-spending-more-money-with-amazon/#comment-625782

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by Jeff

Amazon Prime is far worse than what you've written because it teaches you to expect your purchases in 1-2 days for very little. When Amazon doesn't have something, you feel very irritable because it means you're either a) waiting a lot longer than usual or b) end up buying the same item in a store for much more. It's also a logistical marvel that they can ship things to you in one business day for only $4 more. Whoever came up with Amazon Prime is a genius.

Comment on We Are Spending More Money With Amazon by Jeff

Backlink: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/20/we-are-spending-more-money-with-amazon/#comment-625709

Amazon: The Book Industry “In a Box”?

While most thought the biggest news out of Amazon’s e-book business this week was the revelation that e-books now eclipse print books, it was actually the launch of the company’s second genre imprint in the span of two weeks (and fifth imprint overall) that’s the bigger deal.

Amazon: The Book Industry “In a Box”?

Backlink: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OmMalik/~3/FTtO_IWXkIM/

Amazon Starts Building Its Tablet (AMZN, GOOG, AAPL, BKS)

Taiwanese OEMs are getting orders from Amazon for a tablet PC, DigiTimes reports citing local sources.

It's been widely expected that Amazon would make a full-fledged tablet to compete with the iPad and keep Kindle relevant. Barnes & Noble's Nook, Kindle's biggest competitor, has a version which is a full tablet.

What's more, with a fully-fledged hardware team, Chinese factories at the ready, the open source Android operating system, Amazon's app store and media stores, its big advertising unit and its own huge distribution power, this is a move that is well within Amazon's reach.

What Amazon really needs to do to keep Kindle relevant is to keep lowering the price, but it's doing that and an Amazon tablet can also be a huge hit.

Don't Miss: How Amazon Can Quietly And Suddenly Become A Huge Tablet Player →

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Amazon Starts Building Its Tablet (AMZN, GOOG, AAPL, BKS)

Backlink: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/KlDqrL88czY/amazon-starts-building-its-tablet-2011-5