$199 Kindle Fire, $99 Kindle Touch unveiled (live blog)

Editor's note: We used Cover It Live to cover Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos unveiling of new Kindle devices today in New York. If you missed the live blog, you can still replay it in the embedded component at the bottom of this post. Replaying the event will give you all the live updates along with commentary from our readers and CNET writers. You can also read our edited transcript below about the company's key announcements.

To sum it up, Bezos unveiled a $99 Wi-Fi only, no-button Kindle Touch e-reader and a $149 Kindle Touch 3G--both designed to … Read more

What to expect from Wednesday's Amazon event

In case you missed it, Amazon.com is having a big press event this Wednesday in New York to roll out something new. OK, maybe it's not Apple kind of big. But it's big enough, especially with the smart money on Jeff Bezos unveiling Amazon's much-anticipated Android tablet (leaks suggest it may be called the Kindle Fire), which a lot of anti-Apple folks hope can slow down the iPad juggernaut.

Will we see two tablets--a 7-incher and a 10-incher--or just one? If it is a tablet, will it really be branded the "Kindle Fire" or something else? Will there be a new e-ink Kindle? After all, it's been over a year since Amazon introduced the Kindle 3--isn't it time for a new model?

Lots of questions remain, so with that in mind, here's a short preview of what we could see on Wednesday and the odds of each option actually coming to fruition. … Read more

New Amazon tablet called the Kindle Fire?

Amazon's Kindle caught fire in a big way and now MG Siegler over at TechCrunch is reporting that Amazon will go with Kindle Fire as the name for its upcoming $249 tablet, which is due to be introduced on Wednesday in New York but won't hit stores till the second week in November.

Siegler said earlier in the month that he'd actually handled the new 7-inch tablet, which supposedly resembles the BlackBerry Playbook but runs on a heavily skinned version of Android and doesn't have a built-in camera. But some of the details--like the speed of … Read more

Amazon set to unveil new Kindle or Android tablet on September 28

The picture says it all on this one. Yes, on September 28, Amazon is set to announce a Kindle or its long-awaited Android tablet--or both.

We didn't get any hint as to what the product or products might be, but the invite did come from a PR person who in the past has sent out invites to Kindle events. That said, Amazon could easily announce a Barnes & Noble Nook Color competitor that falls under its Kindle brand.

Other rumors have Amazon announcing a touch-based e-ink Kindle similar to the Nook Touch or possibly a sub-$100 Kindle (… Read more

Report: Kindle library lending feature nears launch

Amazon has promised that the Kindle will get e-book library lending by year's end and word is the service is getting closer to launching, with beta testing reportedly under way in the Seattle area.

Nathan over at the eBook Reader Blog writes:

Amazon and OverDrive have quietly started rolling out Kindle ebook lending from public libraries, albeit in Beta. Even though there hasn't been any official announcement yet, some public libraries have already started lending ebooks for the Kindle...Plus the Device Resource Center over at OverDrive now lists the Amazon Kindle 3, Kindle DX, Kindle 1, and Kindle 2 as supported devices. The library ebooks will also work with Kindle apps and the Kindle Cloud Reader according to the public library books help page at Amazon.

Other e-readers, such as the Barnes&Noble Nook and Sony Readers, have offered the library lending feature for a while and some users swear by it. Basically, if your local public library offers e-book lending (and you have a library card) you can check out an e-book for a set period of time (usually less than two weeks). Often, there's a wait list for more-popular titles--and only a fraction of e-book titles are available for borrowing--but the best thing about the service is that it's free.

For more info on the Kindle library lending feature, check out this page on Amazon. To find out if your local library is lending Kindle e-books, you'll have to check its Web site. … Read more

ABC previews new TV series as free Kindle e-book

You might not think of the Kindle as a marketing vehicle for a new TV show, but ABC is promoting its new TV series "Revenge" with an e-reader twist: you can download the pilot script for free on your Kindle and a code at the end will allow you to watch the pilot online before the show hits the airwaves.

Amazon reviewers are mixed on the new series, which features the tawny Hamptons as its setting. And some are finding it a little awkward to read a script rather than, well, a book.

Reviewer kacunnin writes:

The most interesting thing about reading the script for the pilot episode of the ABC prime time soap "Revenge" is checking out the differences between what was originally scripted and what was actually put on film. Since the free Kindle version of the script includes a link to the full-length pilot, readers get a rare chance to see how a television show is made and what kinds of changes happen between the writing and the filming.

This little Kindle promotion probably won't determine whether "Revenge" turns into a hit or not, but it's definitely an intriguing PR stunt that other networks may use in the future to market new shows. In 2009, Showtime released the pilot script for "Nurse Jackie" as a free Kindle e-book, but today there are far more Kindles and tablets (that run the Kindle app) in consumers hands.

(Via Beyond Black Friday blog) … Read more

Microsoft's Manhattan Project

This week Microsoft gave evidence that it will continue to be a major force for at least the next decade. The company outlined its products and strategies that more fully embrace the "cloud," such as the Azure set of cloud services; Web-based, lighter-weight versions of Microsoft Office applications; and the latest iteration of the Live Mesh middleware. Google may have won the search war, but Microsoft isn't about to cede the global cloud to the search engine giant.

Ray Ozzie explains Azure to CNET News correspondent Ina Fried.

As in past epochs in its 33-year history, Microsoft … Read more

Amazon's Kindle obsession: Bury the printed book

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos loves to talk about the Kindle e-book reader. He's even got media mogul Oprah Winfrey pitching the device: "I'm telling you, it is absolutely my new favorite thing in the world," she recently said.

The Oprah endorsement is just the latest marketing scheme Bezos has applied to making the Kindle the next iPod. He has been relentless in promoting the Kindle at the expense of maximizing Amazon.com revenue on the virtual storefront.

Every time I go to Amazon I am greeted with a huge Kindle ad that takes up … Read more

EIC Squared: Will the tech sector melt down in the economic crisis?

In this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I talk about how the economic crisis will impact the tech sector. Both the House and Senate have passed the bailout package, but the legislation doesn't mean that tech or any other industry sector will reverse the downward spiral. Tech companies and financial analysts are rapidly cutting estimates to prepare for a potential nuclear winter in the global economy.

We also discuss Microsoft's forthcoming moves into cloud computing and the state of citizen journalism following the fake Steve Jobs heart attack story that showed up on … Read more