For Immediate Release: Kindle™ Fire User Group Features Christian Fiction “Jesus, Mo and Cheese Puffs” as eBook of the week

San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/02/2014 

San Francisco based Kindle Fire User Group, an independent organization which is open to membership to users of Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Fire tablets has featured Author Lisa Boucher’s eBook Jesus, Mo and Cheese Puffs as the book of the week. 

Jesus, Mo and Cheese Puffs is a Christian fiction hit among those seeking renewal in their faith in humanity and themselves. The eBook by Lisa follows the journey of an elderly couple, Flo and Mo, as they journey across country to see a surgeon to correct an issue with one of Flo’s eyes, which resulted from a car accident. 

“The idea for Jesus, Mo and Cheese Puffs came to me after I had suffered for three years with Graves Disease, and yes, I had bulging eyes,” says author Lisa Boucher. “During that time I was running back and forth to Cleveland from Dayton and I realized how not looking well affected my self esteem. I found myself avoiding people and social situations because I could not stand the way my eyes looked. I wore dark glasses a lot! However, toward the end of the three years, and once my condition began to resolve, I also realized how I had been the one to reject people and social situations. Not one person had rejected me based on my looks. It also dawned on me that trite as it may sound, a beautiful spirit covers a multitude of flaws, and what most people remember is how you treated them, not how you look. I had imposed limitations on myself that ultimately kept me from living my life to the fullest. I realized I was my own worst enemy!”

Jesus, Mo and Cheese Puffs is a story with two central themes. First, it is a book about faith and trust in God. Second, the book is about letting go of issues that are holding one back and remaining open to the possibilities in life that happen when least expected. When Flo purchases a winning lottery ticket, Mo knows what he wants to do with the money – find a surgeon to fix the deformed eye of the woman he loves which has caused her to be overly self-conscious and held her back from enjoying life fully for years. The couple meets a cast of characters during their cross country journey whose faith has been diminished and being the good people they are, Flo and Mo help as many as they can. In the process, Flo learns valuable lessons about her self-worth in spite of her physical deformity.

Jesus, Mo and Cheese Puffs has received rave reviews from readers. One review called Flo and Mo Brown the most unusual, but charming and memorable main characters that will enter and remain in the heart long after their story ends. Another reviewer noted that this story makes the reader stop and think about how often people pass others by that need help, even if only small acts of kindness?

“We are glad to feature Ms. Boucher’s eBook as the eBook of the week,” said Ms. Ann Phipps, a spokesperson for California based independent Kindle Fire User Group. “The independent Kindle Fire User Group was established to serve the needs of users of the Kindle Fire, and bringing such books to them is one way we provide value to our members.”

About Kindle Fire User Group
San Francisco Bay Area based Kindle Fire User Group is an independent organization that allows users of Kindle™ Fire and Fire™ tablets to connect with each other on an unbiased social media platform. Kindle Fire User Group is not affiliated with Amazon and does not officially represent Amazon.com, Lab126 or any other subsidiaries. Amazon, Kindle, Fire and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Contact Information:
Ann Phipps
Ann@ebookexplosion.com
650-587-5883
San Francisco, CA

The Kindle Lending Library

Kindle owners who live in United States or the United Kingdom who are also members of Amazon Prime can choose from a vast selection of hundreds of thousands of books in the Kindle Owners Lending Library (KOLL). The Kindle Owners Lending Library has no due dates or late fees, and there is no additional membership fee.

The wide selection of titles found in the Kindle Owners Lending Library includes hundreds of current and former New York Times bestsellers. It also includes popular titles, such the Harry Potter books.

The eligibility criteria are

1. One of the following:

• Primary Amazon prime members
• Paid Amazon student members
• Members trying out Amazon Prime during the one-month free trial
• Members who get a free 30-day trial with a Kindle Fire

2. The member must be a Kindle Owner, i.e. he/she must own a Kindle device that is registered to the same Amazon.com account as the eligible Prime account

IMPORTANT NOTE: Family members sharing a Prime membership are not eligible for borrowing from the Kindle Owners Lending Library

How to borrow a Kindle ebook

If you meet the above eligibility criteria, then you’re all set to borrow a book (such as “Artificial Imagination” or “Seattle Memoirs,” both by Kalpanik S.) for your Kindle e-book reader, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire, or Kindle Fire HD device.

So suppose you want to borrow “Artificial Imagination” for your Kindle, Kindle Touch, and Kindle Paperwhite, here’s what you need to do:

1. Open the KOLL. Go to your Kindle, Kindle Touch, or Kindle Paperwhite’s Home screen and click the “Menu” button. Then, tap on “Kindle Store.” From there, you can find a link that says “See all categories” or simply “All categories.” Open that link, and then, on the options that come out, choose “Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.”

2. Browse for the book you want to borrow. A list of titles that are available for borrowing will be displayed. Look for the books with a Prime badge. You can find “Artificial Imagination” in this list. Click on the title of the book. This will bring you to the book’s description page, where you will find the button you can click to borrow the book.

3. Click on the "Borrow for Free" button. Near the top of the page, just beside the list of prices, you will find two buttons: one that says “Buy” and another that says “Borrow for Free.” Click on the “Borrow for Free” button.

That’s it! Now you’re ready to read “Artificial Imagination” for free, for as long as you like. As we said, there are no due dates. You only need to return the book if you wish to borrow a new one. And don’t rush with the reading. Take a full month to savor the book, because you can’t borrow more than one book per month anyway.

Now what if you want to borrow a book – such as “Seattle Memoirs” – for your Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, or Kindle Fire 8.9 HD? The process is not all that different. Here’s how you do it:

1. Open the KOLL. From your Kindle Fire’s Home screen, find the “Books” link and tap on it. After you’ve done that, find the “Store” link and tap on that too. Then look for “Kindle Owners’ Lending Library” and tap on that.

2. Browse for the book you want to borrow. You’ll be presented with a list of books with a Prime badge. These are the books you can borrow, and in this list, you can find “Seattle Memoirs.” Go ahead and find the book, then tap on its title to display to the “Seattle Memoirs” page.

3. Click on the "Borrow for Free" button. Not far below the book’s title, you will find two brightly colored buttons. One of them says, “Buy for $___” while the other button says “Borrow for Free.” Click on the “Borrow for Free” button and enjoy reading your free copy of “Seattle Memoirs.”

After you’re done reading “Seattle Memoirs,” check back into the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library to borrow another book and read it for free again!

Amazon’s Video-on-Demand Service, LoveFilm,To Feature Disney Movies for U.K. Customers

LoveFilm, a video-on-demand operator owned by Amazon and viewed as Netflix equivalent in UK, has signed an agreement to stream Disney movies to U.K. customers on a branded video-on-demand service. The platform will feature Disney Pixar hits and Disney classics alike.

Current subscribers to LoveFilm will gain free access to Disney Movies on Demand as it would be part of their subscription, Amazon said.

Disney movies in the collection include Ratatouille, Wall-E, Dumbo, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Sword in the Stone.

LoveFilm Instant can be accessed through a variety of devices, including PC, Mac, Kindle Fire and Fire HD, Apple iPad, Nintendo Wii and Wii U, Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox 360. 

Amazon Coins - Amazon's Virtual Currency Now Available for Purchase for Use in Apps and Games

After making billions of dollars in real currency, Amazon has now entered the virtual currency market for Apps and Games. This highly anticipated move was announced in Amazon's characteristic way in a "Dear Customers" letter posted on Amazon's home page (see image below) by the CEO Jeff Bezos. The letter informed the Kindle Fire Owners that they will find "a little unexpected something" in their account, referring to the 500 Amazon Coins which the company gave away as a freebie to all Kindle Fire owners in United States by depositing it in their accounts. Each coin is worth 1 US cent, making this gift from Amazon worth $5.

Customers can use these coins for purchasing apps and games from Amazon's appstore, as well as in-app items.
Obviously, the goal is to get some of these customers used to using the virtual currency and buy more which is conveniently available for purchase "at a discount."

The message then goes on list some of the Apps and Game, and in Amazon's usual manner, it bragged the growth in terms of Apps available on Kindle Fire in terms in relative statistics ("tripled over the last year") rather than absolute number which is believed to be relatively modest as compared to iPhone/ iPad and Android.

Amazon's developers' website gives more about the program defining Amazon Coins as a new virtual currency that Amazon's customers will be able to use on Kindle Fire to buy apps, games and items inside apps and games. It also reassured developers that they will continue to get the same royalties whether the customer buys their App/ Game using real dollars or Amazon's virtual currency.

All Amazon apps and games that are listed for sale on Kindle Fire in US automatically become available for purchase via Amazon coins. In addition, the apps and games which use Amazon's latest Amazon Mobile App SDK now automatically get access to Amazon Coins as another payment method honored by the SDK.

Further, Amazon coins can be covered to game specific in-game currencies, in a one way virtual currency exchange.

Kindle TV on the Horizon? Amazon Is Reportedly Working on a Video-Streaming Set-Top Box for TVs

BREAKING NEWS

April 24, 2013 – In a report earlier today, Bloomberg stated that it has heard from its sources that Amazon is planning to soon release a TV set-top box for streaming multimedia content over the cloud into televisions in customers’ homes. Bloomberg referred to its sources just as "people with knowledge of the matter" because they asked not to be identified.

Reportedly, the device will be released later this year. With the push, Amazon will be competing with Apple and Google, both of which have set-top boxes dubbed "Apple TV" and "Google TV."

Releasing a set-top will give Amazon control over end-to-end delivery of its streaming video offerings, which are currently supported for televisions via third-party set-top boxes, such as Roku, and gaming consoles, such as Xbox and PS3. In addition, Amazon's streaming video offerings are supported by its Kindle Fire product line, which includes the Kindle Fire tablet in 7- and 8.9-inch versions.
 
The report quoted venture capitalist Jason Krikorian, a general partner at DCM, as saying that Amazon's releasing a tablet certainly makes sense given that Amazon has already acquired – and continues to acquire – media content and has millions of existing customers to whom it can easily cross-sell such a device.

The company had made a foray into the consumer electronic hardware business with its successful launch of Kindle eBook and Kindle Fire Tablet devices, both of which are extremely successful. Rumors also indicate that the company is also working on a smartphone.

The set-top device is reportedly being developed in the same R&D center in California, where Amazon also builds Kindle devices. The California subsidiary, called Lab126, is based in Cupertino, which is also the home of Apple's headquarters.

Like Apple and Google, Amazon is trying to expand its apps market. Earlier this year, Amazon had won dismissal of Apple’s claim that the online retailer’s use of the term "app store" for Android device software is false advertising.

While pricing information for the planned set-top box hasn't been released, Amazon has publicly admitted selling the Kindle line of media consumption hardware "at cost," with a goal of making profits by selling digital content. The TV set-top box, which may very well be branded as "Kindle TV," may follow the same logic.

Amazon stock price closed today at 268.78, falling by 0.08%. Amazon plans to announce its Q1 results tomorrow, April 25, after the close of the stock market at 4 PM EST.

Malachy Moynihan, a former vice president at San Jose-based Cisco Systems is in charge of this project. At Cisco, Moynihan had worked at various video-streaming initiatives. He had also worked at Apple for nine years.

Amazon has been able to draw from Silicon Valley's talent pool and has attracted to Lab126 video-streaming leaders, including senior-level engineers and architects from companies such as TiVo and ReplayTV.

Amazon, a leader in online delivery of media products such as books, CDs and DVDs, has been aggressively going after the digital media market. It has been pushing its MP3 download market against the Apple Store. It also launched Kindle, an eBook reader, in 2007, aggressively selling bestselling books at prices lower than physical books (and incurring a loss in many cases, based on its contracts with the publishers) and then launching its self-publishing platform dubbed the KDP.

Now Amazon is pursuing the streaming video market with the same zeal as it had for dominating the eBook market. It offers access to a select list of TV shows and movies offered for free to its Prime members, who also get membership to the Kindle Owners Lending Library for books and free two-day shipping for products.

Like Hulu, a prominent streaming service, Amazon has also set up its own studios to create TV programs and movies. The company also secured exclusive streaming rights to hit shows.

Amazon currently supports competing streaming media services such as YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix on its Kindle Fire tablets, so it is likely that it may do the same on Kindle TV, though it will obviously be optimized for Amazon's own multimedia offerings from its digital media store.

You can access Bloomberg's report here.

Amazon is Buying Goodreads, "Kindle" Mentioned Almost Same Number of Times as "Books" in the Official Press Release

Goodreads CEO / co-founder Otis Chandler.   

Amazon announced that it plans to buy the San Francisco based Goodreads, the vertical social network for book lovers for an undisclosed price. Goodreads is a social network where members share reviews, ratings and reading list with their friends and participate in book and author related discussions. Goodreads also has a recommendation tool based on what the member has read in the past. 

Seattle based Amazon.com started as an online book seller in 1995. While it has has successfully diversified from selling books   into selling a diverse set of products ranging from DVDs, CDs, electronics, toys/ games  to apparel and accessories,  sporting goods  and even esoteric categories such as industrial and scientific supplies, people still strongly associate the brand with books.  The  brand affiliation of the Amazon brand with books was made stronger by cutting edge innovations such as "Search Inside the book" and the Kindle series of e-Book Reading devices. 

The Chief "Goodreader",  Otis Chandler posted an announcement in the goodreads feedback group starting with "Today is a very big day for all of us at Goodreads. As you may have seen on our blog, we are joining the Amazon family. Our blog post has the official press release and some more background on this, but I wanted to post here for two reasons" 

He then went on to say that Goodreads has always appreciate the feedback from its members  and assured the members that there were no plans to change the Goodreads experience and Goodreads will continue to be the wonderful community "we all cherish". He also referred to Amazon acquisition as "partnership" claiming that it will help Goodreads focus on making it in an even better place for readers. 

However, despite his assurances, the reaction from the members ranged from under-enthusiastic to negative.  The concerns raised by the goodread community members included questions about ownership of reviews - the member claimed that Reviews posted on Goodreads are owned by the members, whereas reviews posted at Amazon become Amazon's property. Also, there were concerns about Amazon reproducing the reviews on its website, the issues about the integrity of the book database, linking of Amazon accounts to goodread accounts, etc. A one sentence post by someone named "Nikki" summarizes  these concerns well "I have so many concerns about this I don't know where to start." 

The official press release from Amazon included a quote from  Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content  at Amazon that mentioned how Amazon and Goodreads have a shared passion for "reinventing reading”, elaborating that while Goodreads has helped in the way book lovers discuss discover and discuss books, Amazon Kindle has expanded reading around the world. He also mentioned how both platforms have helped independent authors reach readers and make a better living.  

Interestingly, the official press release from Amazon mentioned the word "Kindle" 10 times, almost the same number of times it mentioned the word "books" (mentioned 13 times).