Amazon Family Sharing

Amazon is following in the footsteps of Apple and introducing a feature that allows family members to share Kindle books. It makes the Kindle Paperwhite even more attractive - although I see the refurb has gone back up to $99.

ARRL Ham Radio License Manual - Kindle Edition

The ARRL has announced that it is making the The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual ($19.95) in the Kindle format. I used an older edition of this book for passing my tech.



Via Jeff Davis

Refurb Amazon Kindle Paperwhite - $79

I'm tempted... Refurb Amazon Kindle Paperwhite for $79.

Ham Radios for Dummies - Kindle Version $1.99

You can get the Kindle version of Ham Radios for Dummies for $1.99 on Amazon.com.

There are several other inexpensive titles covering the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, etc. that hams might find interesting as well.

(As usual, if you purchase using my link, I will get paid something through the Amazon Affiliate program. So if about 100,000,000 of you would purchase the book through my link, I could retire. Thanks in advance!)

Via Lifehacker

Netflix Drone Delivery

Via @Pogue

Minority Report - Commerce Division

For get Sunday deliver. Forget delivery by drones. Amazon is going to use precogs to ship before you order.

Actual story at the WSJ via Slashdot.

Amazon Trade-In PSA

Post Christmas Public Service Announcement:

If you got an old, busted (as in lame, not broken) UV-5R and want the new hotness that is the GT-3, try the Amazon Trade-In service.

Via WiredInsider

That was quick.

I ordered one of those cheap Baofeng UV-5R radios today. It was delivered in about 30 minutes using Amazon's new Prime Air service.

Baofeng UV-5R: $30.99 Free Shipping

The Amazon Lightning Deal on the Baofeng UV-5R is for $30.99 plus free ship. I was hoping for a crazier half-off type deal.

Baofeng UV-5R: Amazon Lightning Deal - Starts Now

The deal starts now.



Deal seen first on AR-15 forum
About Amazon Lightning Deals

Baofeng UV-5R: Amazon Lightning Deal

I'm not really sure how this works, but there is an Amazon Lightning Deal on the Baofeng UV-5R tomorrow at 11:50 Eastern (16:50 UTC). It is currently showing for $39.99 USD with free shipping. I'm assuming that the price drops to some impossible to resist number when the deal starts.



Deal seen first on AR-15 forum
About Amazon Lightning Deals

Game of Thrones - All 5 Books for $10

I had posted previously about a deal for cheap books in the series, but it just got crazy. All 5 books in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" aka Game of Thrones series for $9.99. (Kindle versions of course!)

Free Zombie Book

Mad Ogre is giving away a free e-version of his Zombie thriller Uprising USA.

I have not read the whole thing, but I am about 10% in and I can tell you it is a radical departure from your common zombie book where the survivors panic and try to make it easy to be bitten.

Here is the condensed versions of what I read so far - minus the actual zombie shooting:

"Ho, hum, the zombie apocalypse is here. Grab the guns and let's head over to the gun shop to pick up more ammo. We should probably round up the rest of our family, too. We can grab a sandwich and a Mountain Dew while we are out."

It makes for a fun read when people aren't just running around advertising themselves as zombie bait. Maybe these characters are a little too calm and collected, but it has been a cool read so far.

Literati

The Kindle Index: e-Literacy in America:

"To identify the most electronically literate places in America, we analyzed the Priceonomics database of eight million electronics for sale by city. We examined how prevalent the Amazon Kindle was by city to rank how popular e-reading was across the nation (we also examined Nook sales, which didn’t change the results). To our surprise, the most populous and culturally-reputed cities in America did not rank among the most digitally literate."

Emphasis is mine. I can explain this. They are counting Kindles as a proxy for literacy. Hipsters have iPads - not Kindles. Hipsters live in big cities.

Send to Kindle for PC

I saw Amazon's Send to Kindle for PC and got very excited. It allows you to send files from your computer directly to your Kindle via a right-click or print option. I have all sorts of PDFs - books, manuals, diagrams, and other documentation that I like to put on my Android Nook. Sometimes I use Dropbox. Other times I plug it in and use it as a USB hard drive. I thought this might take some of the pain out of doing file transfers.

Unfortunately, the fine print bites me:

You can download archived personal documents from your Kindle Library on Kindle Keyboard, Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle for iPad, Kindle for iPhone and Kindle for iPod.

Apparently, there isn't support for the Kindle App on every device.

Amazon White Label

I didn't even realize that Amazon had a "store brand" for a lot of staples. Another step towards global domination?

andrewchen Amazon Has a Ton of White Label Products and Is Hiding Them! (and Why Bezos Is the New Jobs) - LAUNCH - bit.ly/vZRz9tTue, Dec 13 11:01:04 from Timely by Demandforce

Tablet Comparison

The Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, Nook Color, and iPad in a side-by-side comparison.

Free Books

I really like the form factor of my Android Nook. I've been enjoying it even more recently for using Google Reader, Kindle/Nook/Aldiko/Google Books apps, and the YouVersion Bible. If surfing/the browser was better, it would get the full Brick Seal of Approval.

My buddy at work brought in his brand new Kindle Fire. I think I would like it, too.

I have been reading enough on the Android Nook that I think I might want a true e-ink reader like the Kindle Touch. A recent evening spent at the local ER (good times!) made me realize the value of a device that works for weeks on a single charge.

Which all brings me to this link to free books from Baen for your tablet or e-reader of choice. Here is their philosophy for offering free books.

Kindle Fire - Rooted and Source Code

Let the hacking begin!

Kindle Fire Phone

Harry McCraken says:

"I’m not saying that a Kindle Fire phone would be an antidote to Android fragmentation. Actually, if it’s like the Kindle Fire tablet, it would be one of the most fragmented Android phones of all, since Amazon would utterly rework the operating system to serve its purposes. But the Kindle Fire, with its simpler interface and deeply-integrated services, is fragmentation with a point, rather than the random, unsatisfying fragmentation that otherwise pervades Android.

I have no reason to believe that Amazon is planning to make a Kindle phone. Then again, I’d be startled if it hadn’t at least pondered the possibility. I’d consider buying one–would you?"

But why not see this as a way to start chipping away at Apple's strengths. Amazon has often said it is not just a book seller. As General Neyland would say... Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there.