Amazon Silk is different in a radical new way. When you use Silk, without thinking about it or doing anything explicit, you’re calling on the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud (AWS). We've refactored and rebuilt the browser software stack to push pieces of the computation into the AWS cloud. This lets Silk do more work, more quickly, and all at once. We call this “split browser” architecture. Courtesy of Amazon

New York, USA - September 28, 2011

Today in New York, Amazon introduced Silk, an all-new web browser powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and available exclusively on the just announced Kindle Fire.

You might be asking, “A browser? Do we really need another one?”

As you’ll see in the video below, Silk isn’t just another browser.

http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/  


We sought from the start to tap into the power and capabilities of the AWS infrastructure to overcome the limitations of typical mobile browsers.

Silk browser software resides both on Kindle Fire and on the massive server fleet that comprises the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). With each page request, Silk dynamically determines a division of labor between the mobile hardware and Amazon EC2 (i.e. which browser sub-components run where) that takes into consideration factors like network conditions, page complexity and the location of any cached content. Courtesy of Amazon

Instead of a device-siloed software application, Amazon Silk deploys a split-architecture.

All of the browser subsystems are present on your Kindle Fire as well as on the AWS cloud computing platform.

Courtesy of Amazon

Each time you load a web page, Silk makes a dynamic decision about which of these subsystems will run locally and which will execute remotely.

Courtesy of Amazon

In short, Amazon Silk extends the boundaries of the browser, coupling the capabilities and interactivity of your local device with the massive computing power, memory, and network connectivity of our cloud.

Courtesy of Amazon

We’ll have a lot more to say about Amazon Silk in the coming weeks and months, so please check back with us often.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @AmazonSilk.

Finally, if you’re interested in learning more about career opportunities on the Amazon Silk team, please visit our jobs page.



Kindle Fire

The Amazon Tablet with Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi

Technical Details

Display

Courtesy of Amazon

7" multi-touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors.

Size (in inches)

7.5" x 4.7" x 0.45" (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm).

Weight

14.6 ounces (413 grams).

System Requirements

None, because it's wireless and doesn't require a computer.

On-device Storage

8GB internal. That's enough for 80 apps, plus 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books.

Cloud Storage

Free cloud storage for all Amazon content

Battery Life

Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as web browsing and downloading content.

Charge Time

Fully charges in approximately 4 hours via included U.S. power adapter. Also supports charging from your computer via USB.

Wi-Fi Connectivity

Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standard with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks.

USB Port

USB 2.0 (micro-B connector)

Audio

3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers.

Content Formats Supported

Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8.

Documentation

Quick Start Guide(included in box); Kindle User's Guide (pre-installed on device)

Warranty and Service

1-year limited warranty and service included. Optional 2-year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers sold separately.

Included in the Box

Kindle Fire device, U.S. power adapter (supports 100-240V), and Quick Start Guide.


$199.00 Free Super Saver Shipping

Pre-order now to reserve your place in line

Our all-new Kindle Fire will be released on November 15, 2011.
Orders are prioritized on a first come, first served basis.

Ships from and sold by Amazon Digital Services. U.S. only.

Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon's revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser

• 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books

• Amazon Appstore - thousands of popular apps and games

• Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk

• Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content

• Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle

• Fast, powerful dual-core processor

• Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows



Amazon Silk


Revolutionary Cloud-Accelerated “Split Browser”

Modern websites are complex.
A typical web page requires 80 files served from 13 different domains.
This takes a regular browser hundreds of round trips, and adds seconds to page load times.

Stunning Color Touchscreen Movies, magazines and children's books come alive on a 7" vibrant color touchscreen that delivers 16 million colors in high resolution. Kindle Fire uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology - similar technology to that used on the iPad - for an extra-wide viewing angle, perfect for sharing your screen with others. Courtesy of Amazon

Amazon Silk is different in a radical new way.
When you use Silk, without thinking about it or doing anything explicit, you’re calling on the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud (AWS).

Magazines in Rich Color Enjoy your favorite magazines with glossy, full-color layouts, photographs and illustrations. Choose from hundreds of titles, such as Bon Appetit, Elle, and Oprah. Special editions of titles like Vanity Fair, Wired, and GQ come with built-in video, audio and other interactive features. Courtesy of Amazon

We've refactored and rebuilt the browser software stack to push pieces of the computation into the AWS cloud.

This lets Silk do more work, more quickly, and all at once.

We call this “split browser” architecture.

Beautifully Simple and Easy to Use Designed from the ground up, Kindle Fire's simple, intuitive interface puts the content you love at your fingertips - spin effortlessly through your recent titles and websites straight from the home screen. Whether you are in the mood to watch, read, listen, play or browse, you can get to all your favorite content with a single touch. It's that simple. Courtesy of Amazon

Silk browser software resides both on Kindle Fire and on the massive server fleet that comprises the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2).

100,000 Movies and TV Shows Over 100,000 movies and TV shows, including thousands of new releases and your favorite TV shows, are available to stream or download, purchase or rent - all just one tap away. Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, commercial-free streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows. Courtesy of Amazon

With each page request, Silk dynamically determines a division of labor between the mobile hardware and Amazon EC2 (i.e. which browser sub-components run where) that takes into consideration factors like network conditions, page complexity and the location of any cached content.

Shorter Transit Times

Amazon EC2 is always connected to the backbone of the Internet where round-trip latency is 5 milliseconds or less to most web sites rather than the 100 milliseconds that’s typical over wireless connections.

Fast, Dual-Core Processor Kindle Fire features a state-of-the-art dual-core processor for fast, powerful performance. Stream music while browsing the web or read books while downloading videos. Courtesy of Amazon

AWS also has peering relationships with major internet service providers, and many top sites are hosted on EC2.

Your Favorite Apps and Games Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, The Weather Channel and more, plus a great paid app for free every day. All apps are Amazon-tested on Kindle Fire for the best experience possible. Courtesy of Amazon

This means that many web requests will never leave the extended infrastructure of AWS, reducing transit times to only a few milliseconds.

Computing Power in the Cloud

EC2 servers have massive computational power.

On EC2, available CPU, storage, and available memory can be orders of magnitudes larger than on mobile devices.

Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk Amazon Silk is a revolutionary, cloud-accelerated browser that uses a "split browser" architecture to leverage the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud. Supports Adobe® Flash® Player. Courtesy of Amazon

Silk uses the power and speed of the EC2 server fleet to retrieve all of the components of a website simultaneously, and delivers them to Kindle Fire in a single, fast stream.

Millions of Books Read bestsellers, children's books, comic books, and cookbooks in vibrant color. The Kindle Store offers over 1 million books, including 800,000 titles at $9.99 or less. In addition, over 2 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available such as Pride and Prejudice. Courtesy of Amazon

Transferring computing-intensive tasks to EC2 helps to conserve your Kindle Fire battery life.

Persistent Connections

A typical web request begins with resolving the domain names associated with the server and establishing a TCP connection to issue the http request.

Free Cloud Storage Forget about memory - Kindle Fire gives you free storage for all your Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud. Your books, movies, music and apps are available instantly to stream or download for free, at a touch of your finger. Courtesy of Amazon

Establishing TCP connections for each request consumes time and resources that slow down traditional browsers.

Your Favorite Children's Books Kindle Fire is great for parents and kids. Stir your child's imagination with over 1000 beautifully-illustrated children's books, including favorites like Brown Bear, Curious George, and Circus Ship. Courtesy of Amazon

Silk keeps a persistent connection open to the backend server on the AWS cloud so that there is always a connection at the ready to start loading the next page.

Easy to hold in one hand Designed to travel with you wherever you go. Small enough to fit in your purse and light enough to hold in just one hand, Kindle Fire is perfect for browsing, playing, reading and shopping on-the-go. Courtesy of Amazon

In addition, the Silk backend server keeps persistent connections open to the top sites on the web.

This approach further reduces latency that would otherwise result from constantly establishing connections.

17 Million Songs Stream your music library from Amazon Cloud Drive or download to your device and listen offline. Looking for new music? Discover over 17 million songs in the Amazon MP3 Store. Courtesy of Amazon

Further, the connection between Silk and the backend infrastructure uses a pipelined, multiplexing protocol that can send all the content over a single connection.

Page Indexes

Traditional browsers must wait to receive the HTML file in order to begin downloading the other page assets.

Extra Durable Display Our state-of-the art Kindle Fire display is chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, making it extra durable and resistant to accidental bumps and scrapes. Courtesy of Amazon

Silk is different because it learns these page characteristics automatically by aggregating the results of millions of page loads and maintaining this knowledge on EC2.

Email Stay in touch using our built-in email app that gets your webmail (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL etc.) into a single inbox. Import your messages and contact lists from other email accounts. Additional email apps are available in our Amazon Appstore for Android. Courtesy of Amazon

While another browser might still be setting up a connection with the host server, Silk has already pushed content that it knows is associated with the page to Kindle Fire before the site has even instructed the browser where to find it.

Machine Learning

Finally, Silk leverages the collaborative filtering techniques and machine learning algorithms Amazon has built over the last 15 years to power features such as “customers who bought this also bought…”

Amazon Whispersync Like Kindle e-readers, Kindle Fire uses Amazon's Whispersync technology to automatically sync your library, last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across your devices. On Kindle Fire, Whispersync extends to video. Start streaming a movie on Kindle Fire, then pick up right where you left off on your TV - avoid the frustration of having to find your spot. Courtesy of Amazon

As Silk serves up millions of page views every day, it learns more about the individual sites it renders and where users go next.

By observing the aggregate traffic patterns on various web sites, it refines its heuristics, allowing for accurate predictions of the next page request.

Free Month of Amazon Prime Experience the benefits that millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy, including unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows and Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items. Courtesy of Amazon

For example, Silk might observe that 85 percent of visitors to a leading news site next click on that site’s top headline.

With that knowledge, EC2 and Silk together make intelligent decisions about pre-pushing content to the Kindle Fire.

Read Your Documents Kindle makes it easy to take your documents with you. You can e-mail documents - including Word, PDF and more - directly to your Kindle so you that you can read them anytime, anywhere. Courtesy of Amazon

As a result, the next page a Kindle Fire customer is likely to visit will already be available locally in the device cache, enabling instant rendering to the screen.


Source: Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/  

http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/  


Video
Kindle Fire TV Commercial - Amazon's New Kindle Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUtmOApIslE&feature=relmfu  


Video
Amazon Silk - Amazon's Revolutionary Cloud-Accelerated Web Browser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u7F_56WhHk&feature  



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