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AmazonLocal on its way to 'Kindle with Special Offers'

The online retail giant says that AmazonLocal deals will be displayed on the discounted Kindle and Kindle GS with "Special Offers" through screensavers when users aren't reading.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read
AmazonLocal is launching on Kindle with special offers.
AmazonLocal is launching on Kindle with special offers. Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

Amazon's daily-deals service, AmazonLocal, will soon be arriving on the discounted Kindle and Kindle 3G with "Special Offers," the online retail giant announced today.

AmazonLocal was first introduced in June. Like Groupon, LivingSocial, and others, the service provides daily offers to subscribers. However, unlike its chief competitors, Amazon hasn't hired a full-fledged sales team to handle the service. Instead, it has inked deals with other companies, including LivingSocial, to deliver its deals to users.

AmazonLocal is available in a host of cities around the U.S., but it has a long way to go to catch up to Groupon. In fact, the service still isn't available in several states, including Connecticut, Georgia, and others.

When AmazonLocal is rolled out to the Kindles, users in New York City will be the first to take advantage of the feature. Amazon says that the Kindle deals will be "expanding to all AmazonLocal cities this year."

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When users actually get the daily deals on the Kindle, they'll find them on the device's screensaver, Amazon says, and they will not be displayed while users are reading content from the device.

The addition of AmazonLocal to the Kindles with Special Offers makes some sense. Those e-readers, which Amazon launched this spring, feature rotating ads on the screensaver and offers at the bottom of the device's home screen. The ads aren't displayed while users read.

In order to sweeten the pot on its Kindles with Special Offers, Amazon sells the devices at a discounted rate. Its Kindle with Special Offers is available for $114--a $25 discount compared to the ad-less $139 Kindle. The Kindle 3G with Special Offers is available for $139, representing a $50 discount compared to the $189 Kindle 3G.

AmazonLocal will make its appearance on the Kindles following a software update. That update will be made available "in the coming weeks," the company says.