Whispercast will also include support for “bring your own device”
programs for students and employees wanting to add their own devices to
a Whispercast account, and in the coming months the ability to support
distribution of applications from the Amazon Appstore for Android
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2012--
(NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced “Whispercast for
Kindle,” giving schools and business customers a simple, scalable online
tool for deploying Kindle devices and Kindle content. Whispercast
provides a single access point to easily purchase and distribute Kindle
books and documents for educational, marketing and employee incentive
programs across Kindle devices and free Kindle reading applications for
iPad, iPhone, Android phones and tablets, PCs and Macs. In the coming
months, Whispercast will support distribution of Kindle Fire
applications. Whispercast works with Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire
tablets, including the recently announced $69 Kindle, Kindle Paperwhite,
Kindle Paperwhite 3G, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HD 8.9”
and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G LTE. To learn more about Whispercast, visit http://whispercast.amazon.com.
“Hundreds of thousands of students around the world are already reading
on Kindle,” said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Today, we
are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and
business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and
wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to
their users. Organizations can also design bring-your-own-device
programs at school or work using personally-owned Kindles, Kindle Fires,
and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for
receiving content.”
Whispercast for Schools
Whispercast gives teachers and educators access to millions of Kindle
books, including best sellers and free classics, they can easily
purchase and distribute to develop educational programs for every age
group and level. And with Kindle books students no longer need to carry
heavy textbooks. Kindle devices can also help meet the individual needs
of students with features such as adjustable font sizes, line spacing,
built-in dictionaries and the ability to add and share their own notes
and highlights. Whispercast support for Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and
the free Kindle reading apps on iOS, Android, PC and Mac gives students
the ability to explore and learn with full-color Kindle books, including
interactive children’s books and websites. Schools can also register and
seamlessly manage the settings on all their Kindles, including adding
password protection, centrally configuring wireless connectivity to
their organizations’ private networks and restricting individual
purchases.
“We have been using Kindles in our schools for two and half years, and
our students are more enthusiastic than ever about reading and
studying,” said Keith Mastroides, Principal at Clearwater High School.
“We started with 2,000 Kindle e-readers at our school and the program
has been so successful that we have expanded it beyond our school and
now more than 122 schools in the district are using Kindles. Whispercast
gives us the ability to better streamline the process to manage our
Kindles and content, so we can continue to grow the program.”
Whispercast for Business
Whispercast makes it easy for business owners to manage and deploy
fleets of Kindle e-readers and tablets as a way to support employee
productivity or customer marketing initiatives. Additionally,
Whispercast makes it easy to centrally distribute PDFs and other
business documents such as a conference agenda or training materials to
employees or customers. With “bring your own device” support businesses
will be able to distribute documents and Kindle books to
personally-owned Kindles and other devices with access to free Kindle
reading applications. Businesses will also be able to use Whispercast to
purchase and distribute applications from the Amazon Appstore for Kindle
Fires in the coming months.
“With Whispercast, our professional sales representatives can focus on
helping our clients choose the medical information they want on their
Kindle devices,” said Jim Donohue, Managing Director, Global Clinical
Reference, Elsevier. “Rather than dealing with the logistics of
shipping, managing and replacing physical books, hospitals and life
sciences companies can now use Whispercast to immediately procure and
distribute select Elsevier eBooks to their clinicians, researchers and
staff.”
Whispercast for Non-Profit Organizations
Even nonprofit organizations with remote locations around the world have
experienced the benefits of Whispercast. “Over the past year,
Worldreader has trialed Whispercast to wirelessly deliver over 200,000
e-books to children in sub-Saharan Africa,” said David Risher, President
of the literacy charity Worldreader. “With Whispercast, we are helping
kids read more than ever. Kids no longer have to wait for a new book to
be shipped. It is simply delivered electronically and waiting for them
to start reading.”
Whispercast Features
Easily manage fleets of Kindles
With Whispercast, administrators can register and assign users to all of
their organizations’ Kindle devices at once, creating personalized
Kindle experiences for each student or employee.
Support for “bring your own device”
With support for personal devices, organizations can invite employees,
students, customers and partners to receive content from the
organization on their Kindles.
Create user groups
Whispercast gives administrators the ability to assign users into one or
more groups, such as specific class, grade level or corporate
department. User groups make it easier to purchase and distribute
content for each group’s unique needs.
Control device settings, such as Wi-Fi and password protection
Schools and businesses can configure device settings across all their
Kindles, including configuring wireless connectivity to private networks
for a simple and secure user experience as well as restricting web
access and purchases.
Wirelessly distribute Kindle books, documents and applications
Whispercast makes it easy for organizations to centrally distribute
Kindle books as well as documents on an individual basis. In the coming
months, Whispercast administrators will be able to purchase and send
Kindle Fire applications. Additionally, during the purchase process
organizations will be able to select which content should be assigned to
specific user groups they have created.
Support for free Kindle reading apps on iOS, Android, and other
devices
Schools and businesses can purchase and send Kindle books and distribute
documents to devices using any of the free Kindle reading apps,
including iPads, iPhones, Android phones and tablets, PCs and Macs.
Support for centralized procurement
Organizations can efficiently purchase Kindle devices and content
through a single payment method, including purchase orders, as well as
Amazon gift cards or credit cards.
For more information about Whispercast, visit http://whispercast.amazon.com.
For high resolution images and video of Kindle e-readers and tablets,
visit www.amazon.com/pr/kindle.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle,
opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s
Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most
customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything
they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the
lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of
unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books;
Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home
& Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health &
Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web
Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to
in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end
technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any
type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever
constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented
built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long
battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation
Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved
fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom
high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo
speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support and
dual-antennas/MIMO for 40% faster throughput than other tablets, enough
storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics
engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The
large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and
comes with a groundbreaking $49.99 introductory 4G LTE data package. The
all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster
performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com,
www.amazon.co.uk,
www.amazon.de,
www.amazon.co.jp,
www.amazon.fr,
www.amazon.ca,
www.amazon.cn,
www.amazon.it,
and www.amazon.es.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include
Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates
otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center
optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More
information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's
financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr
