:: LNR Journalism ::

Kindle-exclusive books have been downloaded over 100m times

Press Release | Businesswire :: Amazon.com today announced that its catalog of over 180,000 exclusive Kindle books have been purchased, downloaded, or borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library more than 100 million times. Nearly all of these exclusive books are available for Kindle owners with a Prime membership to borrow for free, as frequently as once a month, with no due dates.

Continue to read Amazon.com, press release, www.businesswire.com

"Amazon says its 180,000 Kindle-only books have topped 100 million downloads" - HT: and summary by Matt Brian, The Next Web

Quora makes its content more quotable with embedded threads

GigaOM :: Inspired by embedded tweets and Kindle highlights, Quora will now let you embed your favorite questions and answers across the web.

A review by Eliza Kern, gigaom.com

Amazon: Reshaping cities

Irish Times :: Back in May, Amazon made tentative steps into the world of content creation with a scheme to solicit film and TV scripts. And with the Kindle Fire tablet, Bezos is even staking out a position as the future of mobile computing takes shape. But it is distinctly possible that Bezos’ most significant disruption won’t be recorded in mounting quarterly losses posted by a rival retailer or media company. Instead, his legacy might be felt over the long term in the very shape of our cities.

A report by Davin O'Dwyer, www.irishtimes.com

ABC News app now available on Amazon's Kindle Fire

ABCNews :: ABC News today launched the ABC News app for Amazon's Kindle Fire. Now for the first time millions of Kindle Fire users will have access to exclusive interviews, award-winning investigations and broadcast video from ABC News. The Android app is available for free download in the Amazon Appstore for Android online or directly from their Kindle Fire.

Announcement here Press release, abcnews.go.com

Amazon's mobile ambitions grow

Reuters :: Amazon.com plans to expand its mobile platform and broaden its offering of devices beyond e-readers and the Kindle Fire tablet, analysts, developers and retail partners said ahead of results next week from the world's largest Internet retailer.

A report by Ailstair Barr, uk.reuters.com

Amazon lands first exclusive content deal: Warner Bros.

Chicago Tribune :: Amazon will get Warner Bros. - produced series "The West Wing" and "Fringe" to itself for the summer, marking the first time the retail giant has obtained exclusive rights to either TV or movie content for its SVOD rental service, Amazon Prime, or a la carte storefront Amazon Instant Video. That availability will bolster Amazon's tablet product, Kindle Fire.

A report by Andrew Wallenstein, www.chicagotribune.com

Amazon has already ordered 2m Kindle Fire 2s from Quanta

Unwiredview.com :: When Google announced its Nexus 7 tablet in direct response to Amazon’s Kindle Fire, you didn’t think online retail giant will sit still? Did you? - Of course it won’t. With the first Nexus 7s shipping in mid July, Amazon is readying the next generation 7” Kindle Fire 2s to be delivered on August 7. At least that’s what China Times says will happen.

Continue to read Staska, www.unwiredview.com

Worldreader: An e-book revolution for Africa?

Wall Street Journal :: It is time for a vocabulary lesson in Bernard Opio's sixth-form class at the Humble Primary School in Mukono, Uganda. One new word the students have already learned this year is "Kindle." Mr. Opio instructs them to pull out their Amazon.com Kindle e-reading devices. Within seconds, most of the teenagers have a digital Oxford English Dictionary open on their screens. "It took the kids just a few days to learn how to use them," says Mr. Opio.

Continue to read Geoffrey A. Fowler | Nicholas Bariyo, online.wsj.com

State Department speaks out on Amazon Kindle deal

paidContent :: On Monday, I reported that the U.S. State Department was signing a $16.5 million agreement with Amazon to provide Kindles, content and service for overseas English language programs. Yesterday I was able to get on the phone with State spokesman Philippe Reines, who explained more about how the program will work and clarified some things that aren’t included in the available public documents. Some questions remain unanswered, and I’ve listed those at the end of this post.

Continue to read Laura Hazard Owen, paidcontent.org

Random House promotes digital president Madeline McIntosh to COO

paidContent :: Random House has promoted Madeline McIntosh, president of sales, digital and operations, to the position of chief operating officer, effective immediately. McIntosh, who is 43, was Amazon’s director of Kindle content acquisition for Europe from 2008 to 2009, based in Luxembourg.

Continue to read Laura Hazard Owen, paidcontent.org