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"The year 2011 was especially prosperous and successful for Amazon, partly due to the company's popular Kindle ebooks, but also because Amazon introduced its first Android-based tablet, the Kindle Fire. \nJust five days after Amazon announced the new tablet in September, customers pre-ordered 250,000 Kindle Fires. The $199 7-inch tablet especially thrived on Black Friday as the best-selling product across Amazon.com that day.\nKindle ebooks did just as well. They became available in 11,000 libraries around the country, and Kindle apps appeared on Windows and Android-based tablets, the Windows Phone 7 and the HP Touchpad.\nAmazon also launched a number of services, including AmazonLocal, a daily deals coupon site; GovCloud, cloud services designed for U.S. government agencies; and Silk, a new web browser available on the Kindle Fire and the cloud. \nDespite Amazon's accomplishments this year, times weren't always as promising. In April, the company's server experienced technical difficulties, bringing down major sites such as HootSuite, Reddit and Foursquare, which rely on Amazon AWS.  Then in October, a Google engineer who had previously worked for Amazon publicly posted a 5,000-word blog rant criticizing Amazon's inconsistent hiring practices and describing the company's CEO as an obsessive micromanager.\nCheck out the gallery below to see Amazon's major events of 2011.\n\n\nAmazon: A Year in Review\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Amazon Launches Amazon Deals\n\n\nJanuary: Amazon launched Amazon Deals, a free iPhone application that provides users with an overview of new daily deals from Amazon's Gold Box service.\nThe app lets you monitor and purchase Amazon's daily deals directly from your iPhone. You can also share the deals with friends and family via email, Facebook, Twitter or SMS.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Amazon Acquires European Movie Rental Service \"LOVEFiLM\"\n\n\nJanuary: Amazon bought the remaining shares of LOVEFiLM, a European home entertainment subscription service that operates out of the UK, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. \nLOVEFiLM is a site that lets users rent DVDs and games, as well as stream movies and TV shows online.\nAmazon acquired LOVEFiLM for approximately \u00A3200 million ($312 million).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Amazon Enters Music Streaming Business With Cloud Player\n\n\nMarch: Amazon joined the online music streaming business with Cloud Player, a music player that allows anyone to upload her music to Amazon's servers and stream them on the web, an Android device, iPad or a Kindle Fire.\nThe \"Save to Amazon Cloud Drive\" option allows users to store music purchased from the Amazon MP3 Store onto their Cloud Drive for free without counting against the storage quota.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Amazon Launches Android App Store\n\n\nMarch: Amazon launched the Android equivalent of Apple's App Store to improve the Google's Android Market shopping experience, the go-to store to purchase Android apps.\nWhat sets the Android App Store apart from Apple's App Store is the \"Test Drive\" feature, which lets users test apps on a simulated Android phone on their desktops before committing to a purchase.\nSimilar to Amazon's ebook and music store, shoppers can view customer reviews, browse personalized recommendations and set up one-click payment options on the Android App Store.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Amazon Launches Membership-Only Fashion Site\n\n\nMay: Amazon hit the runway with MyHabit.com, a membership-only shopping site that offers sales up to 60% off clothes and accessories for men, women and children. The site also offers discounts on toys, beauty and home products.\nMost of MyHabit's events begin at 12 p.m. EST and last 72 hours. During this time, members can shop for discounts on a selection of designer brands.\nBecoming a MyHabit.com member is easy:  Either sign in with your Amazon login information or sign up for free on the site.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Amazon Unveils Kindle 3G With Ads\n\n\nMay: Amazon added a new member to the Kindle family: a 6-inch Kindle 3G with Special Offers.\nAlthough almost identical to the Wi-Fi Kindle, the 3G costs $164 because it displays occasional advertisements. Users who purchase the 3G receive special offers and a $25 discount on the Kindle 3G, originally priced at $189. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. Kindle Books Outsell Real Books on Amazon\n\n\nMay: Only four years old, Amazon's Kindle ebooks outsold physical books purchased on Amazon. For every 100 print books sold, 105 Kindle ebooks were sold.\nAmazon has sold more than three times as many Kindle ebooks in 2011 as it did in 2010.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, shawn_hempel\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Amazon Launches Mac Downloads Store\n\n\nMay: Amazon launched the Mac Downloads Store, a direct competitor to Apple's Mac App Store.\nThe Mac Downloads Store is a marketplace where Amazon users can purchase and download Mac applications and games. However, users are more likely to purchase these Mac items from Apple's App Store because they receive updates on new products from Apple's desktop application.\nSince Amazon's store is not available as a desktop application, users may forget to visit the store on a regular basis and instead go directly to Apple's App Store.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, tbradford\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. Amazon Acquires UK's Top Online Bookstore\n\n\nJune: In another European deal, Amazon acquired The Book Depository, a UK-based online bookseller that offers more than 6 million book titles and free delivery worldwide.\nThe Book Depository claims to be Europe's fastest-growing bookseller and the UK's largest online bookseller, with more than a million customers in the UK.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. Amazon Adds Movies and TV Shows From NBCUniversal\n\n\nJuly: After signing a deal with CBS to begin streaming online videos from the network, Amazon also signed an agreement to add 1,000 movies and TV shows from NBCUniversal.\nUnder the agreement, Amazon Prime customers can watch a variety of titles from NBCUniversal, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gosford Park and Babe, among others.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n11. Amazon Revenues \u201CFastest Growth in a Decade\u201D\n\n\nJuly: Amazon experienced a 51% increase in revenue during the second quarter of 2011, compared to the same time period in 2010. According to CEO Jeff Bezos, the jump was the fastest growth Amazon has seen in a decade.\nRevenues for the second quarter, which ended in June, reached $9.9 billion, leading to a 12% jump in Amazon's stock prices.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n12. Amazon Reveals Kindle Fire Tablet\n\n\nSeptember: Details about Amazon's Android-based tablet emerged ahead of Amazon's press event in September.\nThe Kindle Fire has a 7-inch display, weighs 14.6 ounces, offers Wi-Fi connectivity, contains a dual-core processor and includes a new web browser called Amazon Silk.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n13. Amazon Kindle Has Its Best Day Ever on Black Friday\n\n\nNovember: Amazon's Kindle ereaders and tablets sold exceptionally well on Black Friday, especially the Kindle Fire, which was the bestselling product on Amazon.com that day.\nIn an announcement, Amazon noted the following:\n\nCustomers purchased four times as many Kindles as they did last Black Friday.\nKindle Fire is the bestselling product across all of Amazon since the device was released in September.\nMany customers bought multiple Kindles.\n\nKindles also sold well at Best Buy and Target.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage courtesy of Ken James."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/12/19/amazon-milestones-2011/>