If you’re a forgetful person or have too many accounts to keep track of, the ability to reset an account password by typing the answers to a few questions about yourself can be a lifesaver. But there’s a dark side, too: it leaves you vulnerable to social engineering. Or having your Amazon password reset by your 94-year-old dad. [More]
Security Questions Aren’t Very Secure When Your Whole Family Knows The Answers
By May 17, 2013
Report: Amazon Working On 3-D Smartphone
By May 9, 2013
Amazon has done pretty well with its Kindle line of e-readers and tablets, but it looks like the company is determined to expand beyond the market of “things to read and watch stuff on.” A new report says the e-tailer is working on a pair of devices different from any hardware it has released before. [More]
Amazon To Buy Goodreads, And Owns Part Or All Of Its Competitors, Too
By March 29, 2013
Social book review site Goodreads is growing quickly, with 16 million members, partly because of its reputation as a source for independent user reviews of books. It’s main competition, Shelfari and LibraryThing are both partly or completely owned by Amazon. Yesterday, Goodreads announced that they were joining their competitors at the seller of cat litter and fine literature alike. [More]
Hurry Up And Get These Best Buy Year-End Deals If You Want To Buy Stuff At The Full Retail Price!
By January 4, 2013
If you’re tired of looking for bargains and want to spend the full retail price on electronics, we have found a great sale for you! [More]
Someone Charged $560 Worth Of Kindle Books To My Amazon Account; No One Seems To Care
By November 5, 2012
Say what you will about print vs. digital and retail vs. online, but if you were to go into your local bookstore and show them proof that someone had somehow illegally purchased $560 worth of books there, you’d probably get a better response than the one Consumerist reader Joe received from Amazon. [More]
Amazon Erases Customer’s Kindle, Wishes Her Luck In Finding Somewhere Else To Shop
By October 22, 2012
Compared to ebooks, physical books might have the disadvantage of being heavier and subject to wear and tear. But you know what’s nice about a printed book? Amazon can’t come to your house, take it off your shelf and tell you to go buy it somewhere else. [More]
Amazon To Kindle Customers: If & When E-Book Settlement Is Approved, You Might Get A Refund
By October 15, 2012
It sometimes feels like the price-fixing settlement between e-book publishers and the government has been stretching on for forever. But it now seems Amazon is prepping Kindle customers for a potential, partial refund if they bought e-books between April 2010 and May 2012. That is if the court approves the settlements in various states. [More]
Does Amazon Actually Sell Its Kindles At Cost?
By October 12, 2012
Since people first began dissecting Amazon’s Kindle e-readers, it’s been believed that the online giant isn’t making much of a profit of the devices. Now the company’s CEO has publicly stated that there is no profit margin on the Kindle. [More]
Barnes & Noble Ushers Its Thinner Nooks Into The Ring To Duke It Out With Other Tablets
By September 26, 2012
If you don’t compete, you die. That’s what’s pushing retailers to give it their all to nudge Amazon and Apple from their spots atop the e-commerce and e-reader world, and basically anything else you can put an “e-” in front of. Today Barnes & Noble unveiled its newest Nook Tablets, both with HD to produce better video viewing. [More]
Amazon To Allow Ad Opt-Out On New Kindle Fires… For $15 Fee
By September 10, 2012
Just like the least-expensive versions of the current Kindle e-readers, Amazon’s recently announced updates to the Kindle Fire tablet line will have “special offer” ads as screen savers, as a way to subsidize the devices’ lower retail prices. But while the earlier e-readers were sold specifically as “Kindle with Special Offers” at the discounted price, allowing customers to purchase the slightly more expensive version if they chose, the only way to get around the new Kindle Fire special offers is to buy the device and then pay a fee. [More]
How Can Amazon Not Understand The Actual Purpose Of A Gift Receipt?
By August 6, 2012
Justin really likes Amazon. He does. He’s a big fan and frequent customer. When his employer gave out Kindle Fires (Kindles Fire?) as a gift to employees, though, his boss told Justin that it would be okay to return his for store credit, since he already owned one. Cool. Armed with a gift receipt, Justin set out to do that. He was met with impenetrable corporate logic: he couldn’t use the gift receipt to return just one kindle. Since his boss had bought them all in one purchase, he had to return all of them. [More]
Amazon's 1-Day Kindle Shipping Takes At Least A Week
By August 3, 2012
Reese had this strange idea in her head. She thought that because she paid Amazon $20 for one-day shipping on her Kindle, it would take one day for the Kindle to be delivered to her. Maybe two, if she placed the order really late that day. Not so fast! Amazon’s site helpfully told her that it would take anywhere from six to eleven days for her order to show up, because the Kindle was evidently on backorder. Wait, that’s not what she paid extra for! [More]
I Want To Reunite Lost Kindle And Its Owner, But Amazon Won’t Help
By July 6, 2012
Matt is trying to do a nice thing. The previous occupant of his seat on a plane left a Kindle behind in the seatback pocket. He took it with him, planning to reunite the device with its owner. But that person has a very common name, and Amazon has no interest in being a go-between to help reunite lost Kindles with their owners. [More]
Barnes & Noble, Amazon Know Which Sections Of Fifty Shades Of Grey You’re Reading Over And Over
By June 29, 2012
While anyone with a Kindle or Nook knows they can download e-books from the Internet, not everyone is mindful of the fact that they are also sending information back to Amazon or Barnes & Noble (or Google, or Apple). It’s not just so that you can switch between your e-reader, laptop, phone and tablet without losing your bookmarks and notes; it’s also so that these e-book sellers can share this information with the publishers of the books you’re reading. [More]
Amazon Listens To Reason, Replaces My Second Defective Kindle For Free
By June 6, 2012
No one likes when their brand-new electronics purchase goes on the fritz almost immediately after they buy it. Luckily, there are usually manufacturers’ warranties to cover when this happens. But what about when that replacement device also craps out? [More]
Find-And-Replace Is Not A Good Idea When Porting Kindle Texts To Nook
By June 1, 2012
As any thrifty e-book reader knows, there are a ton of cheap and free public domain titles available for download. But one War and Peace reader in North Carolina was confused about the new word he saw among the 1,100 or so pages of the classic Tolstoy novel. [More]
Amazon Reportedly Set To Introduce Front-Lit Kindle In July
By May 14, 2012
Since the introduction of the iPad, e-book fans have generally fallen into two camps — those who prefer the E Ink technology in Kindles and Nooks because it causes less eye strain and uses relatively low battery power; and those who prefer the backlit screens of tablet computers, which allow them to read without the need for a secondary light source. The Nook has come up with one possible solution, and now Amazon is reportedly set to launch a Kindle that would use a front-lit system to allow people to read in the dark. [More]
Now You Can Force Your Friends To Finally Read 'Harry Potter' With Kindle Lending
By May 10, 2012
If you’re sick of trying to foist various large tomes from the Harry Potter series on your friends so they can finally see for themselves how exciting Quidditch is, there’s relief in sight. Amazon announced today that Kindle owners can now borrow Harry Potter e-books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. [More]
