Kindle Fire HD 7" Tablet Sale: $40 off 'for a limited time' ... Today, $159 for 16GB and $189 for 32GB

Kindle Fire HD on sale again, this time at $40 off both 16GB & 32GB models

Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 7" tablet page is showing, wthout other announcements, a sale for a limited time.  $159 for the 16G model and $189 for the 32GB one (the latter is recommended if you want a lot of media files on it).

Remember that if you paid a higher price at Amazon itself within the last 30 days, you can ask Amazon Kindle Support for a credit (1-866-321-8851 or contact them this way).  A difference-credit has been the case for a few years, at least -- and of course that's somewhat based on the fact there is always a 30-day full refund offer on any new Kindle if you don't want it after all, as Amazon seems to feel very secure about its positives.

I'm going to include here some thoughts and info I wrote for the $30 off sale they had on June 30 for a limited time also, as most new readers won't have seen it and some might be interested.

  As with the Kindle Fire HD, the production-halted Nook tablets do have a great display, with somewhat higher resolution than on the Kindle.   B&N doesn't, as Amazon does, allow straight downloading of any apps from any other sites though, including vendors' own sites.  So, any app you bought from Amazon.com for any other tablet you may have been using has to be re-purchased from Google Play.

  But Google Store access on the Nook is a plus if you don't mind a lack of customer support compared with Amazon and don't care if you can't get apps from other app stores as can be done with the Kindle Fires.  Flash video sites like network broadcasting ones (series episodes, etc.) would require a user find a way to get the older Flash file on an Android tablet using OS v4.x because of the wall put up by B&N against that type of download.

  16 or 32 GB storage?
  Although I tend to recommend lower-priced items as a rule, I recommend, for some, getting the 32-Gig-storage version for the $189 (normally $229) because multimedia files (graphics galore in complex apps and games, plus videos especially) are just very large and with 32GB you wouldn't need to worry often about what to swap out (to the Cloud) next before doing something else you want to do.

  However, for the sale-priced $159 16 GB-storage model, if you've no interest in the 32-GB model for $189, the Cloud storage (free and unlimited for any Amazon digital purchases) is meant for holding apps, music, and books until you need them and then they're easily downloadable.

  The Amazon PRIME program, as regular readers of the Amazon forums and this blog know, is a feature that's popular (and along with all this goes the X-Ray feature on many of their instant videos).

  The free trial on any new Kindle Fire gives the owner an idea of whether or not to pay the $79/yr (equiv to $6.58/mo.) for the Prime program's free 2-day shipping of physical products and then the bonus features of free instant videos (thousands of older movies and tv series, the latter having some very popular just-ended season series which are now exclusive to Amazon).
  Also included is the free borrowing of one Kindle book per calendar month from the Prime Lending Library, with no waiting time or due dates.


Amazon considered #1 "most desirable brand" in the U.S. market, per Clear's report this year
"According to a new “Brand Desire” study by M&C Saatchi’s brand consultancy division Clear, Amazon leads in the U.S. market as the most desirable brand.  Clear surveyed consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia about 678 different brands."

For those interested in the details or to see the reasons given:

' Per news.investors.com:
  In the U.S., it interviewed 4,600 consumers about 245 familiar brands.
...
  The Reese's brand, owned by Hershey (HSY), ranked No. 2, followed by Disney, owned by Walt Disney (DIS).
...
  While Amazon kept up its allure, Apple (AAPL) lost some of its luster.  Its brand desirability dropped to No. 50 from No. 8 in 2012 as the brand wavered and lost focus, according to the report.

  "Starting with an onslaught of too many products in the fall of 2012, the debacle of Maps' reliability, as well as 'function over feeling' branding, has affected its reputation for providing technology that truly matters," the report found."

[My note: That seems unduly harsh and likely not accurate, as survey wording is key.  As we all know, Apple is doing just fine.  What's ultimately important in our modern world is the bottom line, and its customers are devoted and, for any of the above factors, pretty forgiving, from what I've encountered.]

... "Amazon’s desirability stems from the great success of the Kindle Fire HD, a steady stream of perks for Amazon Prime members, an increased focus on its Prime Instant Video, and a continued stream of meaningful innovation such as Amazon Lockers.  Amazon has truly transformed from a marketplace for shopping to a digital hub for consumers to manage their lives,” states Clear in a press release via Investor’s Business Daily.

"However, Apple was still the top-rated brand in the British and Australian markets"

Will end this here, so I can get this one out earlier.


  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle Fire HD 7" Sale: now $169 ($30 discount) "For a Limited Time." Amazon tops Saatchi's Clear survey as #1 desired brand in the U.S. Plus some thoughts on the Nook tablet situation.

Kindle Fire HD on sale again, this time at $169

I just happened to click on Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablet page to see if there was some kind of sale, and voila, there it was.

Remember that if you paid a higher price at Amazon itself within the last 30 days, you can ask Amazon Kindle Support for a credit (1-866-321-8851 or contact them this way).  A difference-credit has been the case for a few years, at least -- and of course that's somewhat based on the fact there is always a 30-day full refund offer on any new Kindle if you don't want it after all, as Amazon seems to feel very secure about its positives.

 I stress this because lately there have been sales for recent holidays and now, possibly because B&N is ending production on its Nook HD tablets and dropping the prices to get their remaining Nook tablets to sell faster (as that has been the problem) as they try to find a partner who will take on the costs of producing these later.

  B&N has therefore given up the attempt to have tablet owners use B&N's far less attractive (almost nil) tablet ecosystem.  They did give their customers access to the Google Play store after agreeing to Google's terms, consisting of many restrictions on use of B&N's own areas (which Amazon would not do, since theirs have been profitable), but the Nook tablets don't have
  . a camera for Skype
  . a built-in HDMI-out direct to TV
  . the strong WiFi rep the Kindle Fire HD's have
  . the Dolby Enhanced stereo speakers, louder and clearer than on laptops, nor
  . the built-in web streaming viewer (for Flash on most popular websites)

  As with the Kindle Fire HD, the Nook tablets do have a great display, with somewhat higher resolution than on the Kindle.   B&N doesn't, as Amazon does, allow straight downloading of any apps from any other sites though, including vendors' own sites.  But Google Play access would be good enough for most.

  What happens when and if they find someone to produce Nook tablets later is anyone's guess.
  A problem for B&N has always been adequate customer support, so they'll have to find a way to improve that with any models produced by whatever company is found to do that.

  16 or 32 GB storage?
  Although I tend to recommend lower-priced items as a rule, I recommend, for some, getting the 32-Gig-storage version for the $199 (normally $229) because multimedia files (graphics galore in complex apps and games, plus videos especially) are just very large and with 32GB you won't need to worry often about what to swap out (to the Cloud) next before doing something else you want to do.

  However, for the sale-priced $169 16 GB-storage model, the Cloud storage (free and unlimited for any Amazon digital purchases) is meant for holding apps, music, and books until you need them and then they're easily downloadable.

  The Amazon PRIME program, as regular readers of the Amazon forums and this blog know, is a feature that's hard to beat (and along with all this goes the X-Ray feature on many of their instant videos).

  The free trial on any new Kindle Fire gives the owner an idea of whether or not to pay the $79/yr (equiv to $6.58/mo.) for the Prime program's free 2-day shipping of physical products and then the bonus features of free instant videos (thousands of older movies and tv series, the latter having some very popular just-ended season series which are now exclusive to Amazon).
  Also included is the free borrowing of one Kindle book per calendar month from the Prime Lending Library, with no waiting time or due dates.


Amazon considered #1 "most desirable brand" in the U.S. market, per Clear's report this year
"According to a new “Brand Desire” study by M&C Saatchi’s brand consultancy division Clear, Amazon leads in the U.S. market as the most desirable brand.  Clear surveyed consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia about 678 different brands."

For those interested in the details or to see the reasons given:

' Per news.investors.com:
  In the U.S., it interviewed 4,600 consumers about 245 familiar brands.
...
  The Reese's brand, owned by Hershey (HSY), ranked No. 2, followed by Disney, owned by Walt Disney (DIS).
...
  While Amazon kept up its allure, Apple (AAPL) lost some of its luster.  Its brand desirability dropped to No. 50 from No. 8 in 2012 as the brand wavered and lost focus, according to the report.

  "Starting with an onslaught of too many products in the fall of 2012, the debacle of Maps' reliability, as well as 'function over feeling' branding, has affected its reputation for providing technology that truly matters," the report found."

[My note: That seems unduly harsh and likely not accurate, as survey wording is key.  As we all know, Apple is doing just fine.  What's ultimately important in our modern world is the bottom line, and its customers are devoted and, for any of the above factors, pretty forgiving, from what I've encountered.]

... "Amazon’s desirability stems from the great success of the Kindle Fire HD, a steady stream of perks for Amazon Prime members, an increased focus on its Prime Instant Video, and a continued stream of meaningful innovation such as Amazon Lockers.  Amazon has truly transformed from a marketplace for shopping to a digital hub for consumers to manage their lives,” states Clear in a press release via Investor’s Business Daily.

"However, Apple was still the top-rated brand in the British and Australian markets"

Will end this here, as I'd like to make sure this gets out earlier.

One great thing happened  I've had to (because the blog is considered popular) deal with about 500 spam comments a day, with 300 caught by the Blogger spam detector, and then each day I had to go through, one by one, about 200 comments that were considered to be needing either approval or to be sent to Blogger's Spam folder.  That was exhausting.

  They've finally fixed that problem very well, so I'll now have more time and energy to get more blog articles out.



  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle Fire HD Sale returns for Father's Day, thru' June 15 - $20 off any Kindle Fire HD tablet. Some other Amazon specials.

Today's Amazon pages show a RETURN of the discount of $20 off any Kindle Fire HD tablet, this time through June 15, 2013 when using the same special promotional code.

See the information page with the title "Father's Day Sale."

The Promo Code DADSFIRE, used at checkout, will get you the $20 off any of these HD models.  Although it mentions that this discount with code is good through June 15, they add (as they did last time) "Offer good while supplies last," which is wording commonly seen in any of these time-limited offers.

That means:
  The 16 GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet would start at $179 for this time period, when using the promo code.
  The 32 GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet would start at $209 (the 32 GB one is my recommendation, due to the large size of multimedia files.

    The models with 'Special Offers' shown on the opening lock screen
    are always priced $15 lower than the ones without the special offers.

  The 16 GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch model would start at $249.
  The 32 GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch model would start at $279.

  The 32 GB KFHD 8.9-inch tablet with 4G LTE cellular network access: $399.
  The 64 GB KFHD 8.9-inch tablet with 4G LTE cellular network access: $479.

    For comparison on pricing with the 4G LTE models,
    The 32 GB Apple iPad 4G LTE tablet starts at $729 (vs the $399 KFire HD 4G LTE).


This is just another quick alert.  The promotional info page has a thumbnail for every model, so click on any for specific information on that model.

(I saw this announced by a gadget news site last night, but the Amazon pages had not changed to show this, so they apparently got advance word.)

NOTE: If you bought a Kindle Fire between June 9 and June 12,, Amazon tends to give credits if the price is reduced within 30 days of your purchase, so call 1-866-321-8851 or contact them at http://amzn.to/kcallme


In the meantime, Amazon is still in larger sale mode and pricing aggressively for
  .  Father's Day in general
  . "Gifts for Dads & Grads in Electronics" through 6/17/13, and
  . "June Audio Month" deals, up to 50% Off Select Items, through 6/30/13

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Kindle Fire HD Sale through June 8 - $20 off any Kindle Fire HD tablet. Some other Amazon specials.

Today's Amazon pages show a discount of $20 off any Kindle Fire HD tablet through June 8, 2013 when using a special promotional code.

See the information page with the title "Father's Day Sale."

The Promo Code DADSFIRE, used at checkout, will get you the $20 off any of these HD models.  Although it mentions that this discount with code is good through June 8, they add "Offer good while supplies last," which is wording commonly seen in any of these time-limited offers.

That means:
  The 16 GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet would start at $179 for this time period, when using the promo code.
  The 32 GB Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet would start at $209 (the 32 GB one is my recommendation, due to the large size of multimedia files.

    The models with 'Special Offers' shown on the opening lock screen
    are always priced $15 lower than the ones without the special offers.

  The 16 GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch model would start at $249.
  The 32 GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch model would start at $279.

  The 32 GB KFHD 8.9-inch tablet with 4G LTE cellular network access: $399.
  The 64 GB KFHD 8.9-inch tablet with 4G LTE cellular network access: $479.

    For comparison on pricing with the 4G LTE models,
    The 32 GB Apple iPad 4G LTE tablet starts at $729 (vs the $399 KFire HD 4G LTE).


This is just another quick alert.  The promotional info page has a thumbnail for every model, so click on any for specific information on that model.

In the meantime, Amazon is in larger sale mode again and pricing aggressively for
  .  Father's Day in general
  . "Gifts for Dads & Grads in Electronics" through 6/17/13, and
  . "June Audio Month" deals, up to 50% Off Select Items, through 6/30/13

Read More

Kindle Tips: MONDAY's Free Kindle Fire App of the Day is Fraction Calculator Plus. Lonely Planet has a sale on its PDF eBooks at $10 ea. + a free USA Kindle book. Sony's coming 13.3-inch eReader-Notepad.

Fraction Calculator Plus

It's only Sunday but this smart father-daughter duo has made good use of press-releases to promote their apps that are now very popular, and the Irish Examiner story on them tells us that for MONDAY, May 20, their Fraction Calculator Plus will be Amazon's Free App of the Day for the Kindle Fire (and other Android devices).  It's not a big savings, as the app is only $0.99, but every little bit...

  And, it draws attention to their free "Calculator Plus" app, which is now the highest-rated app in all Amazon app categories out of a total of 83,981 apps at the App Store.  It's the bestseller in Europe as well, downloaded over 2.5 million times, and is also the most downloaded calculator on the Windows 8 platform.

  The free version of the basic Calculator Plus app has 4,644 customer reviews as of today at an average rating of 4.8 stars.  Because it's free, it's ad-supported but if you want the version without ads, that's here.

The free-for-Monday Fraction Calculator Plus app has a keyboard layout for entering fractions and a large display that "shows fractions the way you write them."

  According to the article, quilt makers tell them the fraction calculator has made their job easier.

  USA Today added the duo's free basic Calculator Plus (with advanced features available when you swipe the memory keys aside) to their 25 essential Kindle Fire apps, and Amazon has pre-installed it in shop demos across the U.S.

  Unusual Features
  According to the story and the Calculator Plus product description, a boon of that app is that it "remembers everything you calculate" and lets you review it anytime (even after you've quit the calculator to do something else), so that you don't need to retype the same calculation.  As with other decent calculator apps, you can just backspace to correct simple mistakes rather then having to start over.

  The memory lets you "keep a running total you can actually see."


Lonely Planet
Outreach Educator and Anthropologist Guven Witteveen points us to Lonely Planet's current special on their 254 PDF eBooks.

  ALL Lonely Planet PDF eBooks, usually $16 to $24+, are on sale, per their newsletter, for $10 until midnight 22nd May.

  Enter DIG10 to get that pricing.

  BEAR IN MIND, though, that several of these are available in Kindle Editions at Amazon for $9.99.  I'd much rather have a Kindle book version for the $10 where that's available.  However, on the ones that do cost more at Amazon and there are a lot of those, this can be a VERY good deal.

  A free Lonely Planet Kindle book:
  5 of USA's Best Trips: Our Favorite Themed Itineraries Across America (Regional Travel Guide)
  This is a 708-page Kindle book, published August 1, 2011, with maps and with Text-to-Speech and X-Ray features enabled (but Lending, strangely, is not).



Sony's coming 13.3-inch digital paper notepad (and a flexible eInk eReader)
Friday, I tweeted Sony's announcement of a coming 13.3" flexible eInk reader, w/ some details and a link to the article on that.

  Yesterday I saw a story with video of the device's notepad qualities.   Since it uses a plastic, rather than glass, display, it's much lighter than the norm.  The display is the new EInk Mobius panel.  They're testing it at three universities in Japan soon and expect thay can do a commercial release before the end of 2013.  Pricing will be key. Plastic Logic and IRex didn't fare well there.  Interesting video though!

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Current Kindle Models, worldwide for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$229 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $269/$299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $399/$499 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi , UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $129 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

=== **********************************
*******LATEST SHORT DAILY FREE EBOOKS FOOTER2 *******

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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