October 22, 2009 11:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

Introducing “Kindle for PC” — The Free Application for Reading Kindle Books on the PC

Latest Kindle Application Brings over 360,000 Kindle Books, Including New York Times Bestsellers and New Releases, to the PC

 

SEATTLE—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced “Kindle for PC,” the free application that lets readers around the world enjoy Kindle books on their personal computers (PC). The U.S. Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) currently offers over 360,000 books, including New Releases and 101 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, which are typically $9.99 or less. The Kindle Store is the only place to find some of the most popular books of today in digital format. Kindle books can now be read on the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, and PC.

Kindle for PC features Amazon’s Whispersync technology that automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and last page read across devices. Whether you read Kindle books on a Kindle, Kindle DX, or one of the free Kindle applications, you can always have your reading with you and never lose your place. With Kindle for PC, you can read some on your PC, read some on your Kindle, and always pick up right where you left off. Whispersync helped make the Kindle for iPhone application the most popular books app in the Apple App Store.

“Kindle for PC is the perfect companion application for folks who own a Kindle or Kindle DX,” said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Kindle for PC is also a great way for people around the world to read the most popular books of today even if they don’t yet have a Kindle.”

With Kindle for PC, readers can take advantage of the following features:

• Purchase, download, and read hundreds of thousands of books available in the Kindle Store
• Access their entire library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free
• Choose from over 10 different font sizes and adjust words per line
• Add and automatically synchronize bookmarks and last page read
• View notes and highlights marked on Kindle and Kindle DX
• Zoom in and out of text with a pinch of the fingers (Windows 7 users only)
• Turn pages with a finger swipe (available in a future release for Windows 7 users)

Microsoft demonstrated Kindle for PC for the first time ever at the Windows 7 launch event today in New York City. “Customers have told us that they want access to a wider variety of content and an increasingly diverse set of form factors,” said Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows Platform Strategy at Microsoft. “With the announcement of Kindle for PC, Amazon is making its massive selection of Kindle books available on the world’s most widely used platform. The new Kindle for PC’s use of Windows 7 features such as Jump Lists and Windows Touch demonstrates how Windows 7 makes new things possible.”

Kindle for PC takes advantage of capabilities in the new Windows 7, including Windows Touch technology. In addition to Windows 7, Kindle for PC will also be compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista. Kindle for PC will be available to customers around the world as a free download next month. Sign up to receive an email when Kindle for PC is available for download at http://www.amazon.com/KindleforPC.

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. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.

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, and www.amazon.cn. 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, indebtedness, 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.

The announcement from 2008 is below. 

Zilpy and Trulia Partner, Integrate Platform into Rent Heatmaps

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RISMEDIA, April 10, 2008-Today Zilpy, a leader in online rental market information, and Trulia, a leader in residential real estate search, announced a partnership to integrate Trulia’s Publisher Platform into Zilpy’s rent heatmaps.

“This partnership gives our audience the ability to see houses available for sale and for rent in one place. Zilpy is now able to provide an integrated shopping experience to better address the needs of the Investor community and also consumers who are exploring rent vs. buy options” says Yelena Drabkin.

“We’re very excited by the Zilpy implementation of the Trulia Publisher Platform,” said Rob Cross, director of Distribution for Trulia. “The Trulia platform gives publishers a great new way to deliver real estate search directly from their websites and Zilpy provides a valuable resource for people looking to compare rentals and purchases.”

According to the two companies, under the partnership, Zilpy rent heat map pages now include a “For sale” feature that quickly exposes the market inventory on Trulia for any location in the United States. Users can narrow their search from the city location down to neighborhoods and even specific zip codes.

For example, if you are looking at rental heat maps for three bedroom single family homes on Zilpy, the company says you are one click away from seeing real estate for sale in same area.

“We look forward into adding more value to the Zilpy.com service via our partnership with Trulia,” says Drabkin.

For more information, visit www.Zilpy.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Read more: http://rismedia.com/2008-04-09/zilpy-and-trulia-partner-integrate-platform-into-rent-heatmaps/#ixzz0Rb3wn7Hl

Washington, September 01, 2009

Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,¹ a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0 percent higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1.  The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it was 100.7.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market momentum has clearly turned for the better.  “The recovery is broad-based across many parts of the country.  Housing affordability has been at record highs this year with the added stimulus of a first-time buyer tax credit,” he said.

Source: Pending Home Sales on a Record Roll (http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/09/record_roll) by National Association of Realtors

Source: Real Estate Pros (http://www.eneighborhoods.com/press_082409.html) by Eneighborhoods

Check out the PR Web Common Craft video:

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NEWS from CPSC

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Pool And Spa Safety Law Aimed At Preventing Drain Entrapments of Children Goes Into Effect This Week
Failure to comply with Congressionally-enacted law can result in closure

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is again reminding public pool and spa owners and operators nationwide that the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act becomes effective on December 19, 2008. This law requires installation of anti-entrapment drain covers and other systems as outlined in the Act.

The Pool and Spa Safety Act was enacted by Congress and signed by President Bush on December 19, 2007, and is designed to prevent the tragic and hidden hazard of drain entrapments and eviscerations in pools and spas. Under the law, all public pools and spas must have ASME/ANSI A112.19.8-2007 compliant drain covers installed and a second anti-entrapment system installed, when there is only a single main drain. Congress gave all affected pool and spa operators one year to comply with this law.

Public pools and spas that operate year-round are expected to be in compliance by December 19, 2008. CPSC staff has taken the position that seasonal public pools and spas that are currently closed must be in compliance with the law on the day that they reopen in 2009.

“Our mission at the CPSC is to keep American families safe,” said Nancy Nord, CPSC Acting Chairman. “CPSC will enforce the requirements of this pool and spa safety law with a focus on where the greatest risk of drain entrapment to children exists, such as wading pools, pools designed specifically for toddlers and young children, and in-ground spas, particularly where these types of pools and spas have flat drain grates and single main drain systems.”

Nord added, “State health and enforcement agencies share the responsibility to ensure this law is properly enforced. I recommend these agencies take the same approach as CPSC concerning enforcement priorities.”

Pool and spa operators are encouraged to continue working as diligently as possible to come into compliance, as the agency and state Attorneys General are empowered to close down any pool or spa that fails to meet the Act’s requirements.

For more information about the Pool and Spa Safety Act, how to comply, and which companies have been certified to manufacturer drain covers and safety vacuum release systems, please log on to: www.cpsc.gov/whatsnew.html#pool

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Send the link for this page to a friend! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC’s web site at www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. To join a CPSC email subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

http://www.nmhc.org/Content/ServeContent.cfm?ContentItemID=4918&IssueID=164

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Aug 21, 2008 – Miami, FL : Mark Franco Sr., president of Alpha Risk Services is pleased to announce that the firm’s recently published Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing is being used as the primary component in the online safety and risk management training program for Grace Hill’s Apartment Management Learning Center. Grace Hill, a leader in online delivery of property management training programs was founded in 1998 by former employees of Merry Land & Investment Company, one of the original apartment REITs from the 1980’s. With nearly three decades of risk management experience in the multi-family housing industry, Franco leveraged his know-how to create a comprehensive associate training program that serves as a timely and much-needed resource for yhe multi-family housing industry.

Franco remarked, “Choosing Grace Hill as a technology partner to deliver the material contained in our Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing was an easy decision. Grace Hill has pioneered online learning for the multi-family industry. The technology platform that houses the Apartment Management Learning Center makes the delivery of the safety and risk management material easy for associates and other members of the property management team to grasp and put to immediate use.”

The two associate safety programs offered have been very popular and discussions have hinted to increase the training to include a third program. Franco suggests that additional training modules could be part of Grace Hill’s Apartment Management Learning Center as early as December, 2008.


About Grace Hill, Inc.:

Grace Hill, Inc. through its website, Gracehill.com provides education and networking opportunities for members of the multi-family industry. Gracehill.com’s membership roll has grown to include 183,927 members worldwide which include multi-family associates representing every job description and every state. More than 300,000 courses are taken each year from Gracehill.com, making it the leader in providing affordable and easy access to the best in online training for multi-family employees worldwide.

About Alpha Risk Services, Inc.:
Alpha Risk Services, Inc. is a risk management consulting firm based in Miami, Florida that specializes in risk mitigation, reduction and management practices exclusively for the multi-family housing industry. As the president of Alpha Risk Services, Inc., Mark Franco’s comprehensive approach involves senior management executives, risk managers and industry influencers to ensure highly customized risk management solutions. Franco believes that customized solutions are the best way to realize immediate and significant cost savings for property owners and ensure the long term protection of company assets. More information is available at www.AlphaRisk.net or contact Mr. Franco directly at (305) 757-3225.

Multi Family Housing Expert Publishes Best Practices In Risk Management Aimed At Property Managers

Alpha Risk Services, Inc. a Florida based risk management company specializing in multi-family housing, released CD version of Safety & Risk Manual for Multi Family Housing®

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 10, 2008 – Miami, FL :

Mark Franco Sr., president of Alpha Risk Services is pleased to announce that the firm has released an electronic version of its popular Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing® on compact disc. The CD based version contains the full manual and includes editable forms to help make the documentation process streamlined and effortless for all members of the property management team, as well as ensure compliance with regulatory bodies.

Divided into topic specific sections, the Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing® is an invaluable, fingertip ready resource priced at just one dollar per unit. Discounts are available for companies with multiple locations. Franco notes that the Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing® is available to the enterprise risk management market for purchase as a fully editable text that can be customized to fit individual safety and risk needs throughout a company. “I’ve poured nearly three decades of industry experience into the Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing®” remarked Franco. “I’ve got a long standing reputation for helping multi–family companies reduce, safeguard and mitigate costly areas of risk and safety that can financially cripple a company when not proactively and properly managed.” Franco continued. About the Alpha Risk Services, Inc. Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing®:

The Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing® is a reference tool for on-site property management staff with an easy-to-follow format. The Safety & Risk Management Manual for Multi Family Housing® covers Associate Safety, Community Safety, Crime Awareness, Preparedness & Response, Property Damage Prevention, Regulatory Compliance, Emergency Preparedness & Response, and Incident Reporting & Documentation and is available for purchase at www.AlphaRiskManual.com.

# # #

Alpha Risk Services, Inc. is a risk management consulting firm based in Miami, Florida that specializes in insurance management, risk program development and implementation, and training and education exclusively for the multi-family housing industry. As the president of Alpha Risk Services, Inc., Mark Franco’s comprehensive approach involves senior management executives, risk managers and industry influencers to ensure highly customized risk management solutions. Franco believes that customized solutions are the best way to realize immediate and significant cost savings for property owners and managers, and to ensure the long term protection of company assets.

More information is available at www.AlphaRisk.net or contact Mr. Franco directly at (305) 757-3225