Tag Archives: amazon

Kindle with “Special Offers” aka ads, to launch on May 3

An example of a screensaver ad on the new Kindle

Amazon have announced a new version of the Kindle reading device is set to launch (in the U.S. only) on May 3. The ad-supported Kindle will be $25 cheaper than the regular price but will include ads in the device’s screensaver and in a banner on the bottom of the menu page. Users won’t have to put up with any ads while they’re actually reading a book on the device.

The company are also setting up a yet-to-be-unveiled service called AdMash, which allows Kindle users to pick the most attractive sponsored screensavers for the marketplace. Users will also be able to set a preference for the type of sponsored screensavers that appear on their devices:

For example, you can indicate that you’d like to see more or fewer screensavers that include elements such as landscapes and scenery, architecture, travel images, photography, and illustrations. Together, AdMash voting and Kindle Screensaver Preferences help us select the most attractive and engaging sponsored screensavers to display on your Kindle.

As tasteful as Amazon makes these ads, they will still be ads – would you choose to save $25 on the purchase price to put up with ads for the lifetime of your Kindle?

More info from around the web:
Kindle includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers
Amazon Prices Your Attention at $25
AdMash: a possible nod to Mark Zuckerberg’s infamous Facemash
The Secret History of Ads in Books

Games prices go south on Amazon.com

Amazon continue the games price-drops

Thanksgiving is in full swing and Amazon haven’t let up with the price-drops. Right now you can snag:

Halo Reach ($39.95),

Rock Band 3 ($39.95),

Fable III ($39.99)

and many more including Medal of Honor ($39.99) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed ($13.99)

Head on over to their games page for more deals.

More PS3 deals, prelude to Black Friday

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

Amazon continue their prelude to Black Friday with another daily deal. Today’s offer is a free PS3 title when you buy any 2 “greatest hit” games.

Titles on offer include; Resistance 2, Gran Turismo 5, God of War: Collection, LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition and many others.

The offer starts in approx six and a hours from now.

Seagate Expansion HDD, Amazon slashes price today only

Seagate Expansion 500Gb

Amazon’s deal of the day on this the 4th of October is Seagate’s external USB HDD. This is a 500Gb capacity external USB 2.0 HDD for backing up movies, photos, Steam games etc. Today only it’s down from $89 to $59.

Check it out here.

Ubisoft game downloads coming to Amazon

Avatar: The Game Just a few days ago I was questioning the absence of any big-name game publishers offering their wares on the downloads section of Amazon.com. As you can see the section is currently populated with mystery and puzzle games, and the odd title like Street Fighter 4 but not a vast selection of top games.

A search for Ubisoft in the section reveals a selection of 36 titles is coming soon though. Games like Farcry 2, Heroes of Might and Magic V, RUSE, Avatar The Game are listed, among others.

None of the games are currently for sale, Amazon have a notice that you can be notified by email when they come available, but there is no option for notifications when you click through to the game pages.

Incidentally, Amazon are also offering some of these downloads for free if you buy an Intel SSD and that offer ends on the 15th of September, so perhaps the full rollout of Ubisoft downloads is coming soon.

What are Amazon’s plans regarding the video games industry?

Amazon.com logo Xbox Live guru Andre Vrignaud has left Microsoft, saying he is ‘very intrigued about what Amazon is looking to do’.

There are no details on exactly what is up Amazon and Jeff Bezos’ sleeves regarding online games, but it must be something major to lure Mr Vrignaud away from Microsoft after 8 years. He was previously their director of games platform strategy, joining in 2002 to help turn Microsoft into the top games brand it is today.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a major revamp of digital download games was on the cards over at Amazon. One thing that sticks out like a sore thumb on Amazon.com at the moment is their video game downloads section, which is admittedly in beta.

Everyone knows you can buy digital downloads of top games like Mafia II, StarCraft II, World of Warcraft and Dragon Age to name but a few big names – but not on Amazon.

If you take a cursory browse of Amazon’s downloads section, it’s inexplicably filled with Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Agatha Christy mystery games, with not a big-name game in sight. It’s mere speculation on my part, but surely if Amazon are serious about making an impact into the video games business, this is an obvious way in for them.

Meanwhile, The Register speculates that perhaps the Kindle could be planned as an online games device, but from what I’ve learned about the slow-to-refresh Kindle screen, it seems unlikely as a games device.

We’ll just have to wait and see what Amazon has planned.

Amazon Now Shipping 160 GB PS3 Slim

AmazonGames has announced via Twitter they are now ready to ship the 160 GB PlayStation 3 Slim. So if you held off on buying the 120 GB iteration due to a lack of space, you now have few reasons to hold back on this new model. The extra GBs will come in handy given the fact that Sony will not be charging extra for a Netflix subscription.

You can snag your brand spanking PS3 Slim for a tidy $299.99