By Stephen Schenck

Last night, we talked about the revelation that all the new Kindle Fire tablets, including the two new Fire HD models, would include Amazon’s “Special Offers” advertising on the tablets’ lock screens. At the time, it seemed as if this was just the way things were going to be, and that there wouldn’t be any options for paying a little more and getting a Fire HD that wasn’t partially subsidized by ad sales. We still don’t have the full picture yet, but the most recent word from Amazon suggests that there will, in fact, be some way to disable the ads. What’s not yet clear is just what that privilege will run you.

This isn’t an official response, but inquiries about the Special Offers made to Amazon customer service have been met with responses indicating that Amazon will soon announce options for unsubscribing. While it’s not stated outright, there seems to be a strong implication that users will have to pay a little extra for the ability to disable Special Offers. Mention of these “options” in the plural suggests that Amazon might have different levels by which you can scale-back the presence of ads, presumably with varying fees to match.

Sure, we’d rather not have to worry about this at all when spending several hundred dollars on a tablet, but it’s good to know that Amazon should at least be offering the option.

Update: Well, now Amazon is saying “no”, that there WON’T be a way to opt out of the ads. Lame.

Source: Engadget
Via: Android and Me