For the first time ever, bringing together all the types of content
kids and parents love—books, games, educational apps, movies and TV
shows—into one simple, easy-to-use service for kids ages 3-8
Unlimited access to thousands of titles including exclusive-to-Amazon
Android apps and games—all curated for age-appropriateness—a special
price for Prime members of just $2.99 per month per child, or $6.99 per
month per family
Featuring the best in children’s entertainment from Andrews McMeel
Publishing, Chronicle Books, DC Comics, Disney, HIT Entertainment,
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Marvel, Nickelodeon, PBS, Reading Rainbow,
Sesame Workshop and more
Owners of the all-new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD get one month of
FreeTime Unlimited for free
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 5, 2012--
(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today introduced Kindle FreeTime Unlimited,
bringing together for the first time all of the types of content kids
and parents love—books, games, educational apps, movies and TV
shows—into one simple, unlimited, easy-to-use service for kids
ages 3-8. For a special monthly price of just $2.99 per child or $6.99
for the whole family, Prime members get unlimited access to thousands of
popular kids titles. Customers who are not yet Prime members can sign up
for FreeTime Unlimited for a monthly price of $4.99 per child or $9.99
per family. FreeTime Unlimited will be available on the all-new Kindle
Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” as part of a free,
over-the-air software update that will be automatically delivered in the
coming weeks.
Kids will love FreeTime Unlimited because:
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They can explore all the content on their own and pick for themselves
what to read, watch or play next
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All of their favorite characters are included—Elmo, Dora, Thomas &
Friends, Cinderella, Buzz Lightyear, Lightning McQueen, Curious George
and more
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With individual profiles, everything in their library is theirs—no
sharing a home screen with siblings or parents and no losing their
place in a movie or TV show when someone else picks up the Kindle Fire
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They can easily explore their favorite topics—pick a favorite subject
like “Princesses” and navigate seamlessly between princess books,
princess games and princess TV shows
Parents will love FreeTime Unlimited because:
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All apps have in-app payments, advertisements and social media removed
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They don’t have to worry that kids will run up a bill
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All-you-can-eat pricing means they don’t have to enter into
negotiations with kids about what to buy or rent—“You already rented
that yesterday” is a relic of the past
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All of the content is already pre-screened for age-appropriateness
“As a parent it’s hard to predict what my daughter is going to enjoy, or
which movie she’s going to watch 50 times in a row—so I buy a range of
content and hope for the best—but I get it wrong frequently,” said Peter
Larsen, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “FreeTime Unlimited gives kids
the freedom to explore age-appropriate content on their own and pick for
themselves what they want to watch, play or read next. For as little as
$2.99 a month, your child will have unlimited access to thousands of
popular books, games, educational apps, movies and TV shows from Disney,
Nickelodeon, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, PBS, Sesame Workshop and more.”
Kindle FreeTime Unlimited is an optional extension to Kindle FreeTime, a
free feature on the new Kindle Fire family, which re-invents parental
controls and offers parents new tools like Time Limits, which helps
parents manage their kids’ screen time. FreeTime Unlimited is designed
to make FreeTime even better for parents and kids: when a parent signs
up for FreeTime Unlimited, thousands of content titles automatically
appear in FreeTime, sorted by their kids’ age and gender, alongside the
titles parents have already approved from their own collection of
content. Kids can follow their own imaginations across books, games,
educational apps, movies and TV shows without being dependent on help
from mom and dad. Parents can feel comfortable handing off their Kindle
Fire to their kids, knowing that all of the content is age-appropriate.
Kids will recognize many of their favorite characters like Elmo, Dora,
Thomas & Friends, Cinderella, Buzz Lightyear, Lightning McQueen and
Curious George—all available with Kindle FreeTime Unlimited.
“With games like Where's My Water? and Where's My Perry? Disney is
bringing hours of entertainment to Kindle users in any age group,” said
Tim O'Brien, VP of Business Development, Disney Games. “Amazon's Kindle
FreeTime Unlimited is a great way to introduce some of Disney's most
popular apps to an even larger audience.”
“Nickelodeon has been serving kids for more than 33 years – providing
them with fun and enjoyable experiences on multiple platforms,” said
Steve Youngwood, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital
Nickelodeon. “We are thrilled to offer our content as part of Amazon's
innovative new service for kids.”
“We are thrilled that HIT Entertainment’s trusted content portfolio is
part of the launch of Kindle FreeTime Unlimited,” said Natasha Fishman,
Senior Director, Digital Media & Marketing, HIT Entertainment. “Our
beloved brands, including Thomas & Friends©, Bob the
Builder©, Fireman Sam©, Barney©,
Angelina Ballerina©, and Pingu© encourage
discovery and inspire imagination in kids and are a perfect complement
to FreeTime Unlimited’s carefully curated mix. Whether it’s playing with
apps, reading e-books, or watching movies, fans will have plenty of
their favorite HIT characters from which to choose.”
“PBS KIDS is dedicated to providing educational and engaging content
that opens up worlds of possibilities for kids,” said Lesli Rotenberg,
Senior Vice President, Children’s Media, PBS. “We are excited to work
with Amazon on Kindle FreeTime Unlimited to offer a new opportunity for
today’s on-the-go kids to play and explore with their favorite PBS KIDS
characters in an age-appropriate way.”
“I am excited that Reading Rainbow has been chosen by Amazon to be a key
representative of quality children's programming in their new FreeTime
Unlimited offering,” said LeVar Burton, Host and Producer of the iconic
television show. “In making these 25 episodes of Reading Rainbow
available for children, I hope that they and their parents can enjoy
watching the series together, and remind themselves that through the
pages of a good book, they can go anywhere.”
“We are thrilled to work with Amazon’s newest service to deliver some of
the most engaging educational content we’ve created for children and
their families,” said Scott Chambers, Senior Vice President, Worldwide
Media Distribution, Sesame Workshop. “From Sesame Street episodes,
eBooks, and apps to episodes of our other award-winning series The
Electric Company and Pinky Dinky Doo, our offering encourages children
to learn while having fun with some of their favorite characters.”
The Best Games and Learning Apps for Kids
FreeTime Unlimited offers many of the most popular children’s games,
with all in-app ads and in-app purchasing removed. Games include
Disney’s bestselling Where’s My Water? and Where’s My Perry?, as well as
Fruit Ninja Puss N’ Boots, Cut The Rope, Peekaboo Barn, Counting with
the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Magic Piano and popular early development
games like Kids Learn to Read, My First Puzzles Dinosaurs and SUPER WHY!
Favorite Children’s Books
Kindle FreeTime Unlimited features beautiful children’s picture books,
including new and classic favorites like Big Nate, Ivy and Bean, Phineas
& Ferb, Shrek, and Kung Fu Panda as well as books by Caldecott-honored
authors such as Chris Van Allsburg’s “Jumanji” and Barbara Lehman’s “The
Red Book.”
FreeTime Unlimited also includes hundreds of eBook apps with Read-to-Me
functionality and in-book games from characters such as Thomas &
Friends, Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Arthur, Duck and Goose, Caillou and
Superman, and from award-winning children’s author Sandra Boynton (“Moo,
Baa, La La La!”).
Popular Kids Movies and TV Shows
FreeTime Unlimited includes movies from Barney, Thomas & Friends, Bob
the Builder, Fireman Sam and Angelina Ballerina, as well as TV shows
like Sesame Street, Spongebob Squarepants, Dora the Explorer, Blue’s
Clues, Diego, Yo Gabba Gabba, The Backyardigans, Rugrats, Arthur,
Reading Rainbow, Caillou, and Garfield.
Amazon is also working with Common Sense Media, the non-profit
organization that provides independent ratings of books, movies,
television, apps, games, websites, and music, and many of their
top-rated media choices for children are included in Kindle FreeTime
Unlimited.
“Millions of parents trust Common Sense Media's ratings and reviews to
find quality media for their kids, and we're excited to work with Amazon
to inform a great deal of the selections available in Kindle FreeTime
Unlimited, making this a great choice for parents,” said Amy Guggenheim
Shenkan, President and COO of Common Sense Media. “We also endorse
FreeTime Unlimited’s ad-free environment and blocking of in-app
purchases for kids as we know from experience that these features will
make parents more comfortable.”
FreeTime Unlimited will be available on the all-new Kindle Fire family
as part of a free, over-the-air software update that will be
automatically delivered in the coming weeks. After receiving the
software update, customers can sign up for FreeTime Unlimited from
within the Kindle FreeTime app on their $159 Kindle Fire, $199 Kindle
Fire HD, and $299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9”. Customers can learn more at www.amazon.com/freetimeunlimited.
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,
dual-antennas and MIMO for faster streaming and downloads, 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
