Kindle News: Amazon decides to add a Special-Offers Opt-Out choice ($15) on the Kindle Fire models

UPDATE - 9/9/12 related to the Kindle Forums FAQ on the new Kindles

Blog reader John Sauter sent an alert on the story by CNet's John Falcon that Amazon has decided to offer an "opt-out" for Kindle Fire owners who don't want the "Special Offer" ads that will appear on the locked screens (until they're unlocked to start a session) and a much smaller ad that will appear on the bottom left of the Home screen.

  The Kindle Fire will now include (as the e-Ink models do) an option to "Unsubscribe" from Special Offers if the owner would prefer to pay a bit more and receive no ads or special offers of of any kind, even if the Special Offers system has been seen as a positive by many who had initially expressed an aversion to the idea.

  I'd been one, writing that it was something I didn't want in a device that should be a 'refuge' from the onslaught of ads.

   After watching the forum reactions to the Special Offers program on the e-Readers last year and seeing the increasing number of customers upset that others were offered discounts at Amazon that they couldn't access, I was intrigued that a movement began to encourage Amazon to let people choose to opt into it, especially those with older Kindles that didn't have the 'option.'

  I finally decided to get the Kindle Touch with the SO, to see it for myself, blog-wise, and the sleep-screen ads (in b&w of course) turned out not to be a problem for me because (from my perspective as one interested in photography) they do a good job on the artwork and some of the deals have been ones I've wanted.

  The key, though, is 'opting' in or out.  When Amazon replied in the earlier forum FAQ that the Kindle Fires would have no opt-out feature when this non-optional partial ad-support had not been mentioned during the press conference despite many of us having written that the WSJ reported that an ad-supported Kindle Fire was a real possibility, there was a very negative reaction to the inability to opt out of that.

  They've changed the forum FAQ to reflect that, and I've revised my quoting of it to show the change.  This is their revised answer to the question about an option:

' A: For Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15.  Customers can do this from "Manage Your Kindle" on http://amazon.com after they have registered their Kindle Fire.  We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out.  We're happy to offer customers the choice. '

My guess is that there was probably quite a bit of discussion on the cost of the opt-out choice.

  A thanks to John Sauter who sent the alert last night.

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Kindle Tips: Amazon FAQ on Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD - Update (re Special Offers opt-out)

Did anyone notice the Sorting by "Length"?  I hadn't, and did find it an amusing category.

  As mentioned, Collections are not a sorting category on the new Kindle Fires either.

  I do like the new "Time to Read" feature, for the Kindle Paperwhite model, which tracks your reading speed and tells you, at bottom left, how much time it might take you to finish the chapter based on that speed tracking.

Before writing about a couple of  more aspects I'd discovered the last 15 hours and a couple of answers I received, here's -- for easy reading, especially for Kindle Edition blog subscribers (UK version) -- a quoting of the new Amazon FAQ about the latest Kindles.  This FAQ was posted on the Kindle forum, since these are official answers to questions many have been asking and they hope for widest reading.  I'll add bolding of certain points.

                         ' Initial post: Sep 7, 2012 4:08:15 PM PDT
                            Last edited by the author  4 hours ago

Kevin G. - Community Manager says:

We have seen lots of questions around the new Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire, and Kindle Fire HD devices. Here are some of the more commonly asked questions with answers!

Q: Does the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD support TTS (Text-to-Speech)?
A: The new Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9" support TTS in books where this feature is enabled.  They also support Audible books for a rich narrated version of the book, and Immersion Reading which is like Text to Speech but with the rich narration of an Audible book.

Q: Do I have to purchase a Kindle PowerFast charging accessory to charge the Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD?
A: No.  Kindle Fire HD comes with a USB 2.0 (micro-B connector), which you can connect to your computer to charge your device. If you own a USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) from a Kindle Fire 1st gen tablet, it may be used to charge your new Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD as well. We recommend against using other USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) charging cables as they may or may not work and run the risk of damaging your device. The Kindle PowerFast charging accessory will charge the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD faster than charging from USB.

Q: Can I transfer my existing Kindle content (including apps, E books, and movies) from my old Kindle device to Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Fire HD?
A: Yes, all of your past Amazon digital purchases are automatically backed up in the Amazon Cloud so you can re-download them to your new Kindle or Kindle Fire anytime. When you receive your new device, you can download them from the cloud straight to the new device.

Q: Who is the carrier for the 4G service on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G?
A: AT&T.

Q: What data plans are available for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G? What happens if I exceed the 250 MB monthly limit on my Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G?
A: We will be sharing more information about the data plans for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G in the coming weeks, stay tuned for more information!

Q: Can I trade or exchange in my old Kindle for a new one?
A: To learn how to submit a trade-in order for your Kindle please visit this Help page

Q: When will these new devices be available outside of the US?
A: The new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD will be available on Amazon's international sites in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy and France later this year. For more information about international availability, please visit the Amazon site for your country.

Q: Will it be possible to buy a version of the new devices without Special Offers? Can I remove Special Offers at a later date?
A: We are only offering these devices with Special Offers enabled. By delivering these offers to your Kindle Fire, Amazon is able to sell it for a lower price. Special Offers cannot be removed from the Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HD 8.9".
  {Blog update: At ~8PM, Amazon decided to offer an opt-out choice
    and updated their FAQ.}
A: For Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15. Customers can do this from "Manage Your Kindle" on http://amazon.com after they have registered their Kindle Fire.  We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out.  We're happy to offer customers the choice.

Q: Does the Kindle Fire HD have a built in microphone?
A: Yes! You can see all the audio information for each device on their product pages.

Q: I purchased a Kindle Fire in the last 30 days? Can I return it for a new Kindle Fire HD?
A: You can return a new Kindle Fire you purchased or received as a gift within 30 days of the day you received the shipment. It must be in new condition and returned with all the original packaging but it is okay if the box has been opened. You can return it by visiting our Online Returns Center

Q: Will Adobe® Flash® Player function on the new Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD?
A: No, this is not supported.

[Note by Andrys: Adobe is dropping support for Flash on mobile browsers, but I was told that Youtube uses a different implementation and that it works well on Kindle Fire HD.
  I have a further question re the impact on network tv videos/re-runs but there are other options for those.]

Q: What languages do the new devices support?
A: The new Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 will support English UK, French, German, Spanish, and Italian when released in those countries. This support will also be available on devices sold in the US at that time. '

Will be back with another post on more unusual details late afternoon or late evening.

---

See NOTES, tips, and cautions with basic details on new Kindle models

  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 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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Amazon Kindle Event Sept 6 - First photo report of some key points made. A couple of tidbits.

A relaxed Jeff Bezos at this year's event	8.9" Kindle Fire HD image projected onto large screen.
Making money from USE of the device	Comparing Kindle and iPad limited data-plan costs.

They say a picture is worth 10,000 words.  I hope so, since my WiFi access there was lost easily and I gave up, as did a couple of people behind me who resorted to pen and paper :-)

I relied on my cameras.  These are 4 from the 19 that I've put up at the photo site (no editing done, but I adjusted brightness/contrast), which were taken during moments that stood out for me.  Explanations are in the captions there.

I took continuous video, rather than fragments, of most of the Kindle Fire presentation (there was a LOT of information to take in there but I was able to take still pictures with the same camera while doing so -- and while the video will help me remember details I forgot, there is an official pro video of the event anyway.  Mine is from the audience perspective, and if it has anything of real interest, I'll upload it this weekend as an alternate view.

The 19 photos I uploaded at PBase are of various points that impressed me.  Except for an SD card slot, my expectations were exceeded, once I saw how they are able to get, on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, the speed advantages they claim over even the iPad 3 as well as the Nexus when it comes to downloading and streaming.

  The synchronizing of so much now, the visual and audio qualities, and the many extra features will need to be given more attention, and I'll do that after I give summaries (next blog entry later in the day) for each model. You're getting plenty of summaries everywhere else anyway and I'll focus on what it all means for Kindle owners used to some of the older features not found on other e-readers and likely to appreciate the new ones coming and try to explain the differences between the many offerings.

Those differences between the models and the value each person might find from any of them over other ones with different options, will vary quite a bit.

  Will try to do a simpler summary before leaving SoCal at noon.

A recommendation:  I was seated next to Jordan Crook from TechCruch, who didn't miss a second of it (I think she was one of those using MiFi to connect), and she and cohorts wrote some terrific summaries of the key points.  I got a kick out of her opener, which was funny because it was true, and I do have many photos of the whole scene there, which I'll upload later on.

' From outside a massive hangar in Los Angeles, California, grown men and women — members of the press — just literally ran into the venue for Amazon’s special 2012 press event. '

Her well-written, humorous account of her hands-on account of the new 7" Kindle Fire HD models is excellent.
  And my reaction to the info on these was pretty much the same.   We had free rein to give those models and the Paperwhite e-Ink devices a workout ourselves.   Only the Amazon VPs could touch the 8.9" ones and they demo'd them pretty fully except that I don't know if they were really connected to WiFi or were pure demonstrations with all code run from the models, as they won't be ready for shipping until November. &bsp;The Text-View is beautiful on those (I did not like the one for my Kindle Fire for Nat'l Geo and kept my NookColor all this time for JUST that one feature, as it had been clearer and a bit smoother).

  Her fellow co-TechCruncher Darrell Etherington has a concise, effective report on the 8.9" Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE etc.

Something unusual
  I managed to get an interesting nugget on the Paperwhite but will save that for the next blog article.


Kindle Fire Carousel
Unfortunately, for the many who dislike it, the Kindle Fire Carousel will still hold everything with the same one-time deletion capability but the item will reappear the next time you use it. That information about wanting no 'options' on the Carousel was from VP Dave Limp.  In a way, it's the only way to 'see' items in an archive on that device, but some have HUGE collections of Kindle books.

Collections
I heard no word about Collections.  If I missed something on that, let me know.

---

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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Live Notes on Amazon's Press Conference 9/6/12

FROM THE EVENT
1.  My detailed Photo Log of points made during the announcements

2.  My videos of a very good Paperwhite demo I was given plus a demo of the magazine features on a Kindle Fire 8.9" magazine.

Kindle Paperwhite intro	Glimpses of font darkness	Paperwhite book covers projected onto hall screen
Paperwhite, WiFi (no 3G)	Five Generations of Kindle	Showing "9 mins left in chapter" estimate

"This year, we want to have the best tablet at any price."

Introducing "Kindle Fire HD...."	"AND...we decided to go big."
Next, Bezos describes "the best..."	The actual daring comparison

Youtube videos default to an average image quality: 480p.

  To change the video "quality" to 1080p (which both of these are) or to 720p if that's easier on the Internet system, you'd tap the gear/wheel seen at the right bottom of a video and "Change quality" before choosing one of the bigger rectangle/screen options in the same area.

  Example at the right,
    from the Kindle Fire magazine
    demo video below.


The Kindle Paperwhite, first ...

(Link: http://bit.ly/kpaperw-demo ) (Youtube)

We were able to try this front-lit e-Ink Kindle e-reader for ourselves, and it was very responsive.  It has 25 levels of brightness, starting with zero, a setting which comes out on video as more white than the lit display, which at first takes on a bluish tinge until the camera gets used to the light reflected by it.

The staffer went through quite a few options in a short time, with some explanations too.  The demos and Q&A were in the large lobby of the Barker Hangar.


The Kindle Fire HD 8.9" used for a demo of magazine features.

(Link: http://bit.ly/kfhdmag ) (Youtube)

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch model isn't due out until November 20, but the magazine
features are exactly the same for the 7" Kindle Fire HD, which we were able to try that day, but I took this video when VP Dave Limp demo'd the features on the larger Kindle Fire.

I was especially interested in how effective the text-view is now.  These are very readable (on the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD also), and remind me of hidden booklets within a magazine, callable when you want eye-relief.  Functioning is quite a bit smoother.

---

BRIEF NOTES made on Sept. 6 [ With a completely lost WiFi connection I concentrated on photos and video.   Below is most of what I typed with a cell-phone connection after seeing the many demos and Q&A sessions. ]

At the Event
Starting the morn' with just a transfer of last night's section on the Amazon event today, for what will be notes taken as I go, some of them as tweets, but I'll mostly be listening and watching and taking some photos.  Will concentrate more on writing it up later as well as incorporating a few photos.

The Sept 6 Press Conference in Santa Monica
As an individual, I'm not "live-blogging," as the big-boys have teams and some excellent technology for that.

For live blogging, I normally watch a combo of CNet, Engadget, and Gizmodo and of course we add The Verge now.


  I also hope to have a few interesting photos as well.

Now to prepare for the shuttle ...

9:55 in iine in front with Len Edgerly, Nate Hoffelder, and Garrett Riley

Lost access
Did video and photo rpts. This was typed after the announcements, while on cell phone.

Interim Update
Well, re Notes during event - EPIC FAIL Could not maintain access with the WiFi network for various reasons, and people right behind me lost theirs also. Many wisely relied on private mifi's

I spent the time taking a quite a few shots of how various points were presented, during the announcements, with two cameras plus quite a lot of video that includes reactions from the audience as Kindle Fire points were made.  [Reactions were quite a bit louder than in the official video which probably has directional mics that ignored sounds from the audience.]
  Many Amazon VPs were made available for demos in the lobby later and for many questions and even answered some.

Am still there and now the crowd, which had avoided the unusually good tasting food they lay out for us because how often can you ask questions directly and get answers at length about one of Amazon's new products. Will return to the hotel, review what I have and write more

I believe I got one very interesting answer to a question others weren't asking re a certain property of the beautiful PaperLight e-Ink device that has such even light that is flexibly managed
  [This was a direct response to a question about possible drop-tests onto the screen that Lab126 had done.]  Here's the response.


The youthfully energetic Len Edgerly and assistant were all over the place getting excellent interviews and demos.

More once I get back and start putting it together. Apologies for the lack of access, but I felt better knowing that all Kindle-interested had plenty to go on in the meantime...

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The Verge points to Amazon's new Kindles ad that was shown during the NFL broadcast

The Verge points to the full ad shown in an unlisted area at Youtube.  It appears to show a 7" Kindle Fire and a somewhat longer e-Ink model than the current one that has a very white-looking "Paperwhite" background.

  While they mention the latter, e-Ink model would be 'backlit' it would be front-lit (as it's been said that e-Ink can't be backlit) - using a technology Amazon bought when they acquired a company specializing in this about 1.5 years ago -- see the April 2012 article on that.  There was word about a delay in July.

The Verge's Bryan Bishop points us to the full ad showing multiple devices, posted in a non-public area at Youtube by Daniel Marchena.

Got back from a late dinner near Santa Monica, so this news has been out for a few hours.

  In the 2nd half of the ad, The Verge mentions what looks like a verrry large tablet at first (it would be larger than 10") but it has a hinge at the bottom and the people are using it with a keyboard and at times a mouse, so it's probably a laptop. (I'd love it if Amazon suddenly came out with a laptop).

  Or even a verry large tablet :-)

  At marker 0:33 or so, the hand-held tablet, at an aspect ratio of 4:3 or so, looks large as a result, relative to the current Kindle Fire, which is longer but narrower (good for HD-widescreen videos) --  it almost looked as if it could be a 8.9" one but otherwise seems just a wider 7" Kindle Fire this time, as has been expected from early sources.

Amazon smartphone?
The Verge's Nilay Patel, moreover, says that the Amazon phone is 'confirmed' and could be announced Thursday morning.  Patel says "multiple sources" confirmed Amazon "is working on a smartphone that runs a variant of the Kindle Fire's Android-based system," and they hear now that the device will be "shown to the press" in the morning, although it's "currently unfinished."  As with the Kindle Fire, Amazon would be using Nokia's mapping technology rather than Google's.

The Sept 6 Press Conference in Santa Monica
As an individual, I won't be live-blogging, as the big-boys have teams and some excellent technology for that.
  For monitoring live blogging, I normally watch a combo of CNet, Engadget, and Gizmodo and of course we'd add The Verge now.

I'll tweet, though, some of the points that really strike me while at the event and tweets will be readable at http://twitter.com/kindleworld (no refreshing is needed, or it tells you to 'click' when there's something new).

  An alternative for seeing any of my tweeted info will be to read them through the more detailed http://tweetree.com/kindleworld.

  I plan to jot a few notes here on the blog as it goes, which won't be seen until you refresh or reload the screen but will do a full write-up later in the day of what I saw and heard and give it a bit more context when combined with what we know about the details of current Kindles and what the changes are relative to expectations, hopes, dreams :-)

  I also hope to have a few interesting photos as well.

---

  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 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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Using MAPQUEST Maps text page for From-To Driving Directions with Kindle - UPDATED 9/26/12

UPDATE 9/26/12 - The Google-Maps text-based driving-directions feature via WEB rather than via a mobile app was eliminated by Google, unfortunately.

I'm substituting mapquest.com for it, as we can't put an app on an e-Ink Kindle.

This guide is for Kindle 3's (Kindle Keyboard) and also for Kindle 2's as well as for Kindle DX's.

  Kindle 3 users, once presented with step-by-step directions, can also press Menu button and select "Article mode" to see only the directions and in larger fonts.  When finished, press Menu again and select "Web Mode" to see full pags.  Kindle 2 text is larger and more readable for some text pages.

UPDATE June 13, 2010 - I was a passenger in a car Monday night and we actually could not find the street where the concert building was and went round and round the one-way streets of San Francisco until I realized I had blogged how to get driving directions the night before.
  The illustration at the top is how Google text directions looked on the Kindle 2 (somewhat smaller on Kindle 3).

(The Mapquest directions page is similar but has more info on it,
and also uses a very simple map image, which will work better on an e-Ink device than the dense Google map.)

  You can click on any image on this page to get the larger one.
  (The image enlargement works with the Kindle-edition blog now too, in Advanced Mode Menu Setting only, though you can plug the charger in to avoid draining the battery at all.  After viewing, press BACK button to return to the Kindle Edition blog.)
  Now, back to the blog article originally dated June 11.

The Kindle Basic Web browser:  Some Kindle owners take advantage of the free, included, 24/7 cellular wireless when in the car, without a GPS unit or suitable map, and wanting to find out how to get somewhere.  The information below also includes options for walking, using local transit, and bicyling.

  Since these are text navigation directions rather than maps, they load quickly and you can enlarge the font for those.

  A shortcut to get to the Directions website is at the bottom.

  When you've been busy using the Kindle for a number of things, sometimes the first attempt at web-browsing will cause the Kindle to reboot to clear memory for a clean start.  After that, it should be fine.

  Here is the traditional way to get to the web browser (non-shortcut)

1. Press the Menu button and select "Experimental" option at the bottom.

2. Click on "Basic Web."

3. At the Web browser page (although it may take you to bookmarks page instead),

the screen may show "Advanced" or "Desktop" at top center as your browsing mode.  However, "Basic mode" will work with these text-only directions and is generally faster than "Advanced" or "Desktop" mode" when you don't need to use the non-Basic mode. (The 'Desktop' word is used by DX's)  You can press Menu/Settings to choose "Basic" if you want, but it's ok either way.

  TIP 1.  If you've been busy on the Kindle, it might be good to press MENU botton, select Settings option here and click on "Clear Cache" to have more memory available for the web-browsing session.  Not necessary though.

Press MENU button to choose "Go to Top" or "Enter URL"

These get you to the top line to type a link or URL

4. TYPE: [Mapquest replaces Google Maps text directions here, 9/26/12)
m.mapquest.com/directions

5. Five-way to the right until you get "GoTo" and then press down on that.

That should fetch the Mapquest text directions page for you.

(A SHORTCUT for Steps 1-5 is at the bottom of the page.)
6. Press the Menu button to BOOKMARK this page the first time so that you don't have to type this URL again.

7. Then you can use your 5-way button/cursor to get, slowly, to the input boxes to enter, into the Start: and End: boxes, street addresses and, if needed, city, 2-character state (or zip) for step-by-step directions to your destination. (Commas are often not needed, as Mapquest is quite smart that way.)

8. 5-way DOWN click (down) on "Route Options GO"

  (Unless you do Step 8, to choose Route Options, your input will be wiped out.)

The Kindle browser will get you the step-by-step directions pretty quickly.

  Sometimes, the directions take you the long way but it's better than being lost.

  It's also possible to use the Aa text-key at the bottom of the keyboard to increase or decrease the size of the fonts for this.  But I've found that the default '3' works best for normal spacing planned for the webpage..

  When the font-size change is requested, the web-page has to re-draw the page from the Net, so it takes longer than when you do this on a book.

TIP 2.  Normally, when you're shown results that are one-page long, you can't "go back" to where you were without pressing the "BACK" button, which always takes you back to the last place from which you "jumped" (almost always by clicking on a link: a jump to another area).

  Amazon has added two small, black left and right arrows at the top left.

These are like normal computer web browser back/fwd buttons, and they work here in the way you'd expect.

If you want to go back and forth without losing the information on the search results page, you can go up to the left arrow and click on it to bring you to the page that shows you what your search input was.
  After checking that, you can then click on the right-arrow above this time and check again your search results.

The 'BACK' button would have taken you back with no way to get back to the search results.



Let me know if you have any problems with this.

---

ADDENDUM for KINDLE 2 and KINDLE DX USERS: (first added 7/25/09 in the previous guide)
There is a shortcut for getting to a URL from the Home Screen.

  The traditional way was shown above.

INSTEAD of 1 through 5 above:

AT HOME SCREEN
1. Start typing a URL.

  This will bring up the tubular text-input 'box' at the bottom.

2. TYPE in: [ Mapquest is being used to replace no-longer-existing Google text page]
  m.mapquest.com/directions

3. Five-way to the right until you get "GoTo" and then press down on that.

  You'll be placed right on the text-directions page.

Then go to Step 6 (or to Step 7 if you've already bookmarked it previously).

---

---

ONE MORE ALTERNATIVE SHORTCUT

You can type in the URL while reading a book or article, with one added step.
    IF your cursor is NOT on the screen.
      Then start typing a character, such as 'a' -- that brings up the search box, while just pressing 'Enter' key doesn't in this case.
  Delete that one character from the resulting Searchbar and type
    @url m.mapquest.com/directions or whatever website url (use NO "http://") and then
      5-way to the right just once, to "my items" and click on that.

  After finishing with the website, press 'Back' key to return to the book page you were on.

Am hoping that the above wasn't one alternative too many!

---

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

US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $99/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G/WiFi - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB

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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Sept's 100 Kindle Books for $3.99 or less - Editors' Choices + Sept's free non-classics by publication date + good discounted-book alerts

"SEPTEMBER 2012's 100 Kindle Books deal, for $3.99 or less"

I highlight the monthly deal at or near the beginning of the month for those who don't know about it or might not remember.

  These Kindle books are $1.99 to $3.99 and are "hand-selected" by Amazon's Editors each month.  What you'll see on that special monthly-deals page are the new ones for September 2012.
(Link: amzn.to/100kbooks-2to4)


FREE KINDLE BOOKS (Non-classics) for September (and August)
In the meantime, I've updated the "Temporarily-free books -- Non-classics" search results for free contemporary Kindle books for SEPTEMBER, sorted by publication-date, as of today.   These include pre-orders for September, of course, since the month has just started.

  Here are the current Search results for free Kindle non-classics, by publication date for August.


Today's Kindle Daily Deal, for September 5, Wednesday is All God's Creatures, by Carolyn McSparren.  Amazon's description:
  "Often compared to James Herriot's novels, All God's Creatures follows the life of a woman veterinarian in modern Tennessee.  From her unlikely start as a white-glove debutante in the 1960's to a sexism-defying launch in vet school, the heroine spins rich tales of the animals and people in her life."
  It has 57 customer reviews and the average rating is 4.6 stars.
  $6.59 Tuesday, it's $1.99 for today (Wednesday) only. 70% off


Discounted / Price Dropped Kindle eBooks II - the ongoing Kindle Forum message thread
  I haven't mentioned these for a month, but there is an ongoing message thread in which Kindle owners share information on recent drops in pricing on specific Kindle books, often with some added info by the person posting it.

  Here's a link to the thread starting from Sept 3.  There are quite a few good books and discounts in the last couple of days.

  The link I gave is to a specific day to start, in this case, 9/3, as mentioned, but you can look at previous days or keep up with ongoing alerts after that, as Amazon keeps track of the last message# that you read, so that you can start from there next time.
  Prices are discounted often for only a very short time and are promos, and that's another reason to watch the list.

  I'm getting ready to go to Santa Monica today for The Big Reveal to the media, to see, for the blog and myself finally, what Amazon has in store for us.  So, no time to go into more detail on the discounted books.

  A bit more later tonight.   Will tweet the link to today's blog article and then re-tweet it for morning folks further west.

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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.

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