Friday News: Kindle Unlimited & Amazon lists, Amazon profits down, Apple gets its watch patent, and toaster selfies

JanetPublishing NewsAmazon / Apple / bestseller lists / iTime / Kindle / Kindle Select / patent / self-published / selfies / smart watch / technology5 Comments

Daily Update: Influence of Kindle Unlimited on Amazon “Bestsellers” Grows – Since Kindle Unlimited began, everyone is watching the lists to see if they can discern the impact of the program on Big 5 and self-published books. Digital book World has an article based on this data from Publishers Lunch, which is summarized below and broken down into more detail in the article itself. I think it’s too early to know exactly what’s happening with the Amazon lists, but at least the speculation is interesting.

Amazon’s hourly list of the top 100 “paid” Kindle bestsellers appears to be under the steadily growing influence of Kindle Unlimited “checkouts,” which are counted as part of paid sales. In this morning’s check, 45 of the top 100 titles are also available through Kindle Unlimited — and 24 of the top 50 titles. Amazon Publishing’s own titles still appear to be benefitting the most, and self-published authors who are not exclusive to Amazon (and therefore not part of KU) seem to have lost the most bestseller slots. (We still have no idea whether this is affecting actual paid sales, or just bestseller list slots.) –Publishers Lunch

Amazon’s Ambitious Bets Pile Up, and Its Losses Swell – And in the meantime, Amazon is warning that its second quarter losses are going to be nothing compared to next quarter. Which, in turn, caused stock prices to drop sharply, by 10% (which translates into a loss of $15B in value), to which Amazon appears unconcerned, despite increasing skepticism about both the short and long term fortunes of the company. The company has always insisted that its vision is long-term, but some are worried about the fact that despite $20M in revenue, profits were down so far.

Sales are rising at Amazon at a pace that retailers of its heft could never dream of achieving. The company said its revenue in the second quarter was $19.34 billion, up 23 percent from $15.7 billion in the period a year earlier. That matched analysts’ expectations.

But losses mushroomed. Amazon had a net loss of $126 million, or 27 cents a share. A year ago, it lost $7 million, or 2 cents a share. Analysts had forecast a loss of 15 cents a share. –New York Times

Apple files patent for smartwatch – For those of you waiting for an “iWatch,” you may be happy to hear that Apple has finally received approval for its patent application, which was made in 2011. The new device, called “iTime,” is rendered in fair amount of detail, leading analysts to hope that the company is on track for a fall release of the new device.

he patent (which never uses the term “iWatch”) mentions features like gyroscopes, accelerometers, and vibrating elements, along with a variety of models, including one whose base can very clearly be removed from the wristwatch band, iPod Nano-style. This patent’s unveiling comes nearly two years after Google’s own “smartwatch including flip-up display” patent, but Apple beat Google to the filing punch by three months—and included a far wider range of designs and functionality (e.g. gyroscopes) to boot. –Ars Technica

This Is How You Make Selfie Toast – And now for the most important story of the day: directions to make yourself a hefty slice of selfie toast. Why have regular old toast when you can burn your image onto the bread? The Vermont Novelty Toaster Company will ensure you never have plain toast again!

Even with all this technology, there are limitations to what Vermont Toaster can put on a piece of toast. Dively, for instance, wasn’t so sure about the idea of four head shots on one piece, though he also admitted that he has yet to come across a design that he can’t do.

If you want selfie toast, it’ll cost you $75 for the first toaster. Dively said he offers discounts if you plan on ordering more than one. Toast with your face on it for everyone! –Mashable

Janet

isn't sure if she's an average Romance reader, or even an average reader, but a reader she is, enjoying everything from literary fiction to philosophy to history to poetry. Historical Romance was her first love within the genre, but she's fickle and easily seduced by the promise of a good read. She approaches every book with the same hope: that she will be filled from the inside out with something awesome that she didnʼt know, didnʼt think about, or didnʼt feel until that moment. And she's always looking for the next mind-blowing read, so feel free to share any suggestions!

→ Janet