from Yahoo News:

Amazon unveils $199 Kindle Fire tablet, Kindle Touch for $99

By Andrew Couts | Digital Trends

Amazon announced today its new Kindle Fire, a 7-inch Android-based tablet that will cost $199. In addition, the e-commerce giant also unveiled the the Kindle Touch, which will run $99 and a standard Kindle for the reduced price of $79.

The Fire has an IPS display with 169 pixels-per-inch resolution. Super-tough Gorilla Glass protects the screen, which can support the display of 16 million colors. Inside, the Fire comes loaded with a dual-core processor, and the device weighs just 14.6 ounces. As expected, the Fire closely resembles the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Software-wise, the Kindle Fire runs Android, but a heavily modified version. Kindle Fire customers will receive a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which gives subscribers access to the company’s movie and TV streaming library and free two-day shipping on products purchased through Amazon.com. Amazon has also loaded the device with a custom “Amazon Silk” browser, which CEO Jeff Bezos calls a “split” browser, meaning it gets half its computing power from the device, and the other half from Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing servers.

Widely touted as an ‘iPad killer,’ the Kindle Fire can connect to the Internet via a Wi-Fi connection, but it does not have 3G connectivity, nor does it have a camera – two features available on most tablets, including a variety of iPad models. Despite the lack of these features, the Kindle Fire costs less than half the price of the least expensive iPad 2, which runs $499 and does not have 3G connectivity either.

The Kindle Touch is a touchscreen e-reader, and has Amazon’s traditional E-Ink display. A Wi-Fi-only version will sell for $99. A second model, called the Kindle Touch 3G, which of course includes 3G connectivity, will cost $149.

Pre-order for the Kindle Fire starts today, with deliveries of the device to begin on November 15.
To recap: Kindle Fire (no 3G) for $199; Kindle Touch (no 3G) for $99; Kindle Touch 3G for $149; Kindle for $79.
Our own Jeffrey Van Camp is at the Amazon event in New York City, which is still ongoing, and will be updating us with the latest information, so check back here for more details about the Kindle Fire soon. We will also have a hands-on with the Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch later today.

Update 1: The Fire comes with 8GB internal storage, and no SD card slot for additional storage. Stereo speakers are embedded on top of the device.

The Midnight Breed Series by Lara Adrian Review by Derenda

Review by Derenda:

Recently I read the first eight books of the paranormal "Breed series", by Lara Adrian. The underlying story throughout the series is based on a continuing battle. Centuries ago, a vampire race known as Ancients arrived on Earth. Being intellectually superior, their arrogance knew no bounds. Their downfall was needing Earthlings' blood since they were a Vampire race. The Ancients raped, maimed, and brutalized the people of Earth. Those women fortunate enough to survive these terrible acts produced children referred to as Breeds. Those children grew up and revolted against the Ancients. In an unbelievable battle, seven Breeds defeated the Ancients.... or so they thought. The Breeds were deceived and one Ancient was hidden in a tomb. Soon it's discovered that other offspring of the Ancients survived, as well. If these Vampire offspring are not cautious, they become addicted to the Bloodthirst. Bloodthirst is when the Vampire drinks too much blood, similar to alcoholism in humans. Vampires who succumb to the Bloodthirst become known as Rogue. That's when the Breeds take over. They rule the night, protecting the Earth, on a mission to discover the inner betrayal of one of their own. The story continues throughout each book leading the Reader to await for the final conflict brewing on the horizon.

The Breeds can mate with women who have a distinct birthmark on their body. These women often grow up feeling isolated, different, and each possesses a paranormal gift through their genetic makeup. These women soon discover their genetic heritage and mate with the Breed men. Their stories of love, fear, acceptance, pregnancy, and fighting draws the reader into a realm of passion and enjoyment. I love the way Ms. Adrian brings the women's influence into the Breed's compound! Soon this military compound evolves to a family community that some of the Breed men find disturbing. (Reminded me of fighting for closet and bathroom space when my husband and I got married!) The women make an important discovery and become viable partners in the men's fight, much to their surprise.
Each book is the story of a Breed vampire warrior and the woman he finds love with, and also has action packed, detailed fight scenes. Ms. Adrian will throw the reader a curve with humor. In the second book, Kiss of Crimson, Dante falls for a local veterinarian named Tess. Trying to get closer to her, he goes to the pound and adopts an old terrier mix trying to pass it off as his dog. In Midnight Rising, Dylan sees dead ,making reference to the Bruce Willis movie. In Veil of Midnight, Nickola is noticing his lady's hair and comments, "I need to seriously look into night classes with Vidal Sassoon", as he was a goner in love! In Ashes of Midnight, Andreas has the gift of fire, referring to "Going out in a blaze of glory".
This humor makes the characters more human, even though they share blood with their mates. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and look forward to reading the rest of the Midnight Breed series!

I've read the following:
Kiss of Midnight - Lucan and Gadrielle's
Kiss of Crimson - Dante and Tess
Midnight Awaking - Tegan and Elise
Midnight Rising - Rio and Dylan
Veil of Midnight - Nikola and Renata
Ashes of Midnight - Andreas and Claire
Shades of Midnight - Kade and Alexandra

Taken by Midnight - Brock and Jenna

The Breed series also consists of the following:
Deeper Than Midnight #9
Darker After Midnight #10 (Feb 2012)
Untitled Novella Ebook - release scheduled for November 2011

For more information about the Midnight Breed Series and author Lara Adrian, check out her website at http://www.laraadrian.com/home.php#quiet.