Amazon inks deal with NBCUniversal to stream Grimm, Smash, Curious George

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Amazon signed yet another streaming deal today, this time inking a content licensing agreement with NBCUniversal to stream a bevy of shows exclusively on Amazon Prime Instant Video. Shows like Covert Affairs, Grimm and Suits are available today, while Hannibal and Defiance will be released later this year. Through Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, shows like Curious George and Land Before Time will also be available for kids and… Read More…

Love line: Amazon debuts Kindle Love Stories podcast, will tap into Goodreads network

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For those who love talking, hearing and discussing everything about love, Amazon may have an answer. Looking to reach out to romance novel fans and tap into its recent acquisition of social network Goodreads, Amazon Publishing today debuted a weekly romance podcast called Kindle Love Stories. The focus is all about romance novels and will… Read More…

Amazon opens Appstore in China; Kindle coming next?

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Amazon’s app store is officially open for business in China. The Seattle online retail giant debuted its app store for Chinese customers this past weekend, Reuters reported. Amazon’s newest store offers an alternative to Google Play for those in China. Unlike Google, Amazon’s store features both paid and free options. Reuters noted that Amazon is… Read More…

Bookworms unite! Amazon says these are the nation’s most well-read cities

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Knoxville is full of romantic people, Cambridge has lots of entrepreneurs and Alexandria is a flat-out well-read city. Those are some of the conclusions we can make after seeing Amazon’s third annual list of the Most Well-Read Cities in America. Alexandria, Va. topped the list for the second consecutive year, while Seattle finished at No. 13 and… Read More…

Update: Amazon disputes our report that it’s ending Kindle e-ink app developer program

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Updated throughout to reflect Amazon comment disputing this story.  Two developers of third-party apps for Kindle readers say they were informed by Amazon.com representatives this week that the company would be winding down its “Active Content” app developer program for Kindle e-ink devices and would no longer accept any new app submissions. Following the initial publication… Read More…

An e-book projector? Kindle vet sees big hardware changes, and lower prices

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A new book by Jason Merkoski, a former Amazon manager who was an early leader of the company’s Kindle team, tells the inside story of the company’s efforts to reinvent reading, and looks ahead to envision how the future of digital books could unfold. One of his predictions: the devices that we use to consume books… Read More…

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ LTE coming to AT&T stores for $249 with two-year contract

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Amazon’s biggest Kindle is coming to AT&T stores later this week on April 5 and buyers can get $150 off the 4G 32GB LTE version (normally $399) with an optional two-year data plan contract. A $249 price tag is the lowest we’ve seen for the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD with 4G. This announcement comes a… Read More…

Amazon’s ‘X-Ray’ feature expands to TV shows, with help from IMDb

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Amazon’s ownership of IMDb, the widely used Internet Movie Database, might have been a head-scratcher or a novelty in years past. But all that data is becoming increasingly useful to the company, and an announcement this morning is the latest case in point. Amazon is expanding its “X-Ray” feature to television shows, leveraging the IMDb database…. Read More…

Future of Kindle? Amazon’s Bezos wants wireless power, remote processing for devices

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Want slimmer and lighter gadgets with amazing battery life? Jeff Bezos is right there with you — and he has a potential solution. A newly published patent application, listing the Amazon CEO as one of two inventors, describes the future of “remote displays” — in which the devices in our hands are reduced to mere… Read More…

Amazon expands ‘Send to Kindle’ feature with new website integration

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Tweet, Share and Send to Kindle? Yep — Amazon wants its own piece of website real estate, right next to those Facebook and Twitter buttons. The company’s “Send to Kindle” feature, available previously as a browser plugin, was rolled out this morning as a new feature for website publishers — letting them offer the feature… Read More…