KindleFire $199! KindleTouch $99/$149; Entry Kindle $79

It's official. Amazon has announced both the KindleTouch ($99 WiFi only; $149 KindleTouch3G) and KindleFire ($199) tablet. You can can pre-order NOW and get in line ... behind me, of course. If you don't need touch, there will be entry level $79 Kindle. If you don't want Special Offers, you'll pay a $40 premium on  all three models. They've renamed the Kindle Latest Generation (which we all call the K3) as the Kindle Keyboard and it is still available (at least, for now).

The KindleTouch uses the same infrared technology as the Nook Simple Touch and is smaller than the K3. No buttons, speaker on front; using tap zones, you can read left or right handed. Instead of just a dictionary (or perhaps as a replacement?) you now get "X-Ray", which brings up a wikipedia entry on a highlighted term. The new devices are only 6-8 oz.! The new KindleTouch and KindleTouch3G will ship November 21, so those using next day and Prime shipping will have them BEFORE Thanksgiving and Black Friday, while the entry level $79 Kindle is shipping today! Battery life looks to be awesome - up to 2 months with wireless off (1 month on the entry level non-touch edition). Storage space is the same as the current Kindle devices: 4GB (half that on the new entry level Kindle). All the new Kindles will use the same eInk Pearl screen that current edition Kindles have (so, there is no need to upgrade, unless you want to get the touch screen, 3G if you only have WiFi or want the special offers). All the new Kindles are physically smaller, not just lighter, so you'll need a new case or cover (and the non-touch Kindle uses a different cover from the Touch editions, as it is the smallest of all). There are a few other features missing from the new entry level Kindle - no Text-to-Speech, for example, and no Audible support, as there are no speakers. I suspect the vast majority of Kindle users never used either feature, but that also means no music support (again, not a heavily used feature). The price is low enough, though, to make this an easily replaced item in a child's school kit (it's less than most jackets that the average child will lose during the school year).

Live outside the US or are a non-native English reader? Kindle supports the display of non-Latin characters, so you can read books and documents in the translation that's right for you. Kindle displays Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters, in addition to Latin and Greek scripts. You can customize your Kindle with the language you prefer. You can set your default language on Kindle to English (US and UK), German, French, Spanish, Italian, or Brazilian Portuguese.

The KindleFire tablet is taking direct aim at the upcoming nookColor 2 and is priced $50 lower than anyone projected (and lower than B&N is planning for the new device; at this price the old nookColor will have to drop well below the planned reduction to $200 once the new model comes out). There is no camera or microphone (so, no using this for Skype, which is one huge use of tablets) and it's WiFi only (as expected). Of course, Apple left off the camera at first too (and the KindleFire will be hundreds less than an iPad), but I suspect they may add those back in either in a new generation or with the 10" tablet expected next year. This one ships November 15 (so check back on the 16th for my impressions!).

Contrary to some early (suspect) rumors, the KindleFire will have a dual-core processor (better than the current nookColor). It's light, at 14.6 ounces. Magazines you buy will be backed up on the Cloud (about time, as Kindle magazines generally disappear after a few issues). It uses an Apple style USB connector (much wider than standard USB). You get free cloud storage of your movies and TV shows (I wonder if this means no blackout periods, if you buy these, which can now occur). Whispersync now supports your movies and TV shows, as well (which, I suppose means that you can leave an episode or movie on one device and pick up where you left off on another - just like those DirectTV commercials). It also looks like it will be available in 100 countries, not just the US - what this means for streaming content and Android Apps, though, I don't know (since some has been US only, so far). There is a bookshelf like interface that shows your content (like Shelfari in some ways), with apps, movies and books all together (at least in one view). For those into technical details, there are 169 pixels/inch and Gorilla Glass on the front (so it is more likely to survive being dropped a short distance or having your dog walk on it). There's no SD expansion slot (which I really miss from the original Kindle); instead, you get 8GB internal memory, which is supposed to be able to hold 80 apps, plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books. Like the other tablets on the market, battery life should be about 8 hours in use (with wireless off), so this isn't the best choice for reading only on a long backpacking trip. It should be plenty long, though, for most trips by plane or air (provided you can recharge at night) and daily use.

Of course, it supports Kindle books and your Cloud Music (and you can play music in the background) Gameplay should be smooth, with the dual core processor. Amazon takes advantage of their back-end EC2 servers for web browsing, offloading some of the heavy processing there and using the KindleFire only for display. For the privacy concerned, this will mean that all your surfing will go thru Amazon's servers, just as it does now on any Kindle device; then again, now your surfing goes thru at least your ISP's system and you really have to work at being truly private in your browsing history. The technology is similar to what Citrix and Microsoft have done for years with thin clients, so it is a mature technology (although on a new platform). Amazon has rolled their own browser, Silk, forgoing Google's Chrome (just as they don't use Google's Android for the actual OS). What this does mean is that performance on their browser should be much better than on most other mobile devices, as you don't use your local connection and wifi to do the hundreds of back and forth requests that are common on web pages today -- that happens at the EC2 servers on Amazon's backbone and you just get the resulting page (see this youtube video). It even remembers your viewing habits - if you always go to a news site, it keeps it preloaded (and refreshed) and ready to load when you turn on your KindleFire.

OK, here is some of the marketing material, which is starting to show up at Amazon. First, the KindleFire:

Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon's revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser

• 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books
• Amazon Appstore - thousands of popular apps and games
• Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk
• Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content
• Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle
• Fast, powerful dual-core processor
• Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows

Second, the KindleTouch and KindleTouch3G:

Top-of-the-line e-reader, with touch and free 3G wireless

• Free 3G wireless, no annual contracts or monthly fees.
• Download books anywhere, no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
• 3G wireless works globally
• Most-advanced E Ink display, now with multi-touch
• New sleek design - 8% lighter, 11% smaller, holds 3,000 books
• Text-to-speech, plus audio books and mp3s
• Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
• New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library

Last, the new entry level Kindle:

The all-new Kindle - Lighter, smaller, faster

• 30% lighter, less than 6 ounces
• 18% smaller body, same 6" screen size - Fits in your pocket
• Most advanced E Ink display, reads like paper
• Built in Wi-Fi - Get books in 60 seconds
• Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
• New - Borrow Kindle books from your public library

Bargain Book (Kindle/nook) - The Columbus Trilogy

You can pre-order the ebook edition of The Columbus Trilogy, by Derek Haas, on Kindle or from Barnes & Noble. This volume contains the full text of The Silver Bear ($7.99 Kindle), Columbus ($9.99 Kindle), and Dark Men ($16.33 hardcover pre-order). I already had The Silver Bear, so snapped this up to get the next two in the trilogy. It won't release until January, but that's only a month after the last one is released in hardcover, so I won't mind waiting a month for the price savings (not that I don't have plenty to read, in the meantime).

Book Description
An e-original omnibus of three suspense novels by the Barry Award-nominated novelist and co-screenwriter of Wanted, 3:10 to Yuma and The Double.

He calls himself Columbus. His real name never meant much to him anyway. He never knew his father, an earnest young congressman, a rising star in the Democratic Party named Abe Mann, or his mother, a prostitute whose involvement with Mann would prove dangerous.

All Columbus cares about is his next target. A hit man whose quickly made a name for himself as one of the best despite his years, you can be sure he'll fulfill whatever contract's been given him. Even if those who put out the hit have other plans in mind.

In THE COLUMBUS TRILOGY, the first three novels by Barry Award-nominated author Derek Haas, Columbus squares off against the shadow of his father, Czech crime lords, drug dealers, a prostitution ring, and more, in three acclaimed suspense novels by rising master of the genre.

Today's Deals and Bargain Books

The big news today at Amazon is that they have vastly increased the size of the free instant video library for Amazon Prime members today. There have been rumors flying for days (Amazon was going to buy Netflix, was one of them), but they signed up with FOX, adding their library of movies and TV shows to those from CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Warner Bros, resulting in over 11,000 selections that you can now stream for free, if you hare a Prime Member. Of course, this news is no doubt in support of tomorrow mornings 10AM press conference that Amazon is holding. It is widely believed that the new Kindle Tablet (perhaps called the Kindle Fire) will be announced tomorrow and at least one reporter who was allowed to touch one for an hour a week or so ago has said it includes access to your Cloud Drive for music and supports streaming instant video from Amazon, in addition to having the Kindle reader app built in. In the last few days, those who have been digging into the code on the new Manage My Kindle pages have found code to support Kindle ebooks loaned to Prime Members, in addition to the new code for Library book loans, so I expect that the new tablet announcement will coincide with that new program, as well.

West of the Tularosa ($0.99), by Louis L'Amour, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day.

Book Description
A collection of classic L’Amour stories, restored to their original magazine versions!

For millions of readers, the name Louis L’Amour is synonymous with the excitement of the Old West. His brilliant stories and novels capture all the adventure and action of those glorious days of the American frontier. But for too long, many of these tales have only been available in revised, altered versions, often very different from their original form. Here, collected together in paperback for the first time, are eight of L’Amour’s finest stories, all carefully restored to their initial magazine publication versions.

These are stories of range wars and wagon trains, saloon singers and hired guns. They are tales of courage and danger, hardship and survival. And each thrilling story is presented the way Louis L’Amour originally wrote it, packed with the flavor and feel of the American West.

It took them a while to respond, but Barnes & Noble has finally instituted a NOOK Daily Finds page, where the deal will change daily for those who have one of their readers. Maybe Kobo or Sony will join the fun, for those who have a non-proprietary DRM scheme. Today's selection is Black Hawk Down, by Mark Bowden. It's $7.81 on Kindle, but (today only), it's $2.99 from Barnes & Noble. I've already added a link in the "Daily" section of the menu at the right and will try to remember to update the book daily here, also, along with the Kindle Daily Deal, for those who read via RSS or email.

Book Description
Ninety-nine elite American soldiers are trapped in the middle of a hostile city. As night falls, they are surrounded by thousands of enemy gunmen. Their wounded are bleeding to death. Their ammunition and supplies are dwindling. This is the story of how they got there-and how they fought their way out. This is the story of war. Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces-and puts you in the middle of the most intense firefight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam War. Late in the afternoon of Sunday, October 3, 1993, the soldiers of Task Force Ranger were sent on a mission to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take them about an hour. Instead, they were pinned down through a long and terrible night in a hostile city, locked in a desperate struggle to kill or be killed. When the unit was finally rescued the following morning, eighteen American soldiers were dead and dozens more badly injured. The Somali toll was far worse: more than five hundred killed and over a thousand wounded.

Award-winning literary journalist Mark Bowden's dramatic narrative captures this harrowing ordeal through the eyes of the young men who fought that day. He draws on his extensive interviews of participants from both sides-as well as classified combat video and radio transcripts-to bring their stories to life. A Black Hawk pilot is shot down and besieged by an angry mob, then saved by Somalis who plan to ransom him to the local warlord. A medic desperately tries to keep his grievously wounded friend alive long enough to be evacuated-only to have him bleed to death in his arms. The company clerk, who is the butt of jokes in the barracks, rises to the task and per-forms extraordinary feats of valor.

Authoritative, gripping, and insightful, Black Hawk Down is a riveting look at the terror and exhilaration of combat, destined to become a classic of war reporting.

Some recent price drops by HarperCollins (likely same price at other stores or will be soon), with links to Amazon:

• Intervamption by Kristin Miller ($0.99)
• Diaries of an Urban Panther by Amanda Arista ($0.99)
• Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline ($2.99)
• The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro ($1.99)
• The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry ($2.99)
• The Haunting Hour by R. L. Stine ($1.99)
• Nightmare Hour by R. I. Stine ($1.99)
• The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfinkel ($2.99)
• The Pilgrimage by Paul Coelho ($1.99)
• Veronika Decides to Die by Paul Coelho ($1.99)
• Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho ($2.99)
• The Blessings of the Animals: A Novel (P.S.) by Katrina Brittle ($2.99)
• Very Valentine: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani ($2.99)
• In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke ($2.99)
• The Weight of Heaven: A Novel (P.S.) by Thrity Umrigar ($2.99)
• Husband and Wife: A Novel by Leah Stewart ($2.99)(discounted during a previous sale)
• The Summer We Fell Apart: A Novel by Robin Antalek ($2.99)
• The Life You've Imagined: A Novel (Zielinski) by Kristina Riggle ($2.99)
• Commuters: A Novel (P.S.) by Emily Gray Tedrowe ($2.99)
• Light of Day (P.S.) by Jamie M. Saul ($2.99)
• The Safety of Secrets by Delaune Michel ($2.99)
• Dirt by Stuart Woods ($1.99)
• Dead in the Water by Stuart Woods ($3.99)
• The Story, NIV: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People ($3.99)
• The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard ($2.99)
• Catastrophe by Dick Morris ($1.99)
• Parlor Games: Fallen Angel by Julia Templeton, Jess Michaels and Leda Swann ($2.99)
• Stigma by Philip Hawley Jr. ($2.99) Originally Harper in paper, appears to be be self-published ebook
Just for those outside the US:
• The Law of Nines by Terry Goodkind ($3.74 africa, asia, latin america, india, middle east)
• A Witch In Time (A Bewitching Mystery) by Madelyn Alt ($3.97 africa, asia, latin america, middle east)
• Nauti and Wild by Lora Leigh and Jaci Burton ($2.37 australia, $4.37: africa, asia, latin america, india, middle east)
• Wanderlust by Danielle Steel ($1.07 canada)

Love Wins Companion: A Study Guide for Those Who Want to Go Deeper (pre-order), by Rob Bell, and Secrets Uncovered - Blogs, hints and the inside scoop from Mills & Boon editors and authors (US/UK) are both free on Kindle (although the second is only for those in the UK. Both are promotional books about other books, which is why I didn't give either one their own blog post, even if Rob Bell's offering is over $11 in paperback.

Save $10 on pet supplies at Wag.com (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers:

Save $10 on $20 of pet supplies at Wag.com

Click on offer, then click on the link on the offer page to receive an email with the promotion code. Sign-up for this offer expires on September 29.

You'll get an email (right away), a link to the WAG.COM and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until October 29 to complete your purchase. Like previous offers, this one requires you to use the full checkout process in order to enter your promotional code. Also, like all Amazon sales that use promotional codes, if you have a gift card balance, you must use it for the payment (if there is not a sufficient balance, then you can pick which credit card or other payment to use).

Limit one offer per customer and per device.

I'd never heard of Wag.com and the minimum for free shipping (choices appear to only be 1-2 day, not "supersaver") is a bit steeper than at Amazon.com, but this is a subsidiary of a subsidiary for Amazon (not that you'll see that info on Wag.com's website, from what I can tell). You can add items to your cart from Wag.com, Soap.com, BeautyBar.com, YoYo.com and Diapers.com and do a single checkout, though (and if you checkout from Soap or Diapers, the minimum for free shipping is lower: $39 if you combine any two and $25 for a first order from soap.com). Diapers.com also has a new order coupon of $10 off $49 (BESTDIAPERDEAL), that you can use, although the details on it are a bit complicated (and seems to be only on diapers) and Wag.com has a 15% off code (WAGPET) only good for your first order (I haven't tried it, to see if it will stack with the promo code from this offer).

Save $10 on season one TV shows (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers:

Save $10 on a $25 purchase of select season one TV shows on DVD and Blu-ray

Click on offer, then click on the link on the offer page to receive an email with the promotion code. Sign-up for this offer expires on September 29.

You'll get an email (right away), a link to the Special Offer page and a promotion code to enter at checkout. Once you have the promotional code, you have until October 29 to complete your purchase. Like previous offers, this one requires you to use the full checkout process in order to enter your promotional code. Also, like all Amazon sales that use promotional codes, if you have a gift card balance, you must use it for the payment (if there is not a sufficient balance, then you can pick which credit card or other payment to use).

Limit one offer per customer and per device.

There's a decent selection (98 titles) and some already decent prices. If you re-watch shows (or missed an early season) and don't do it from a streaming account, you can probably get a good deal on one of the boxed sets. If you pick out sets that sell for under $25 (and there are quite a few), you can combine them to break that magic $25 level (and you'll get free shipping, as well), in order to use the coupon code.