Kindle Earth Archives – We're Fusible

When Amazon began slashing prices on its refurbished Kindle 3 models, tech sites began speculating that Amazon would release a new Kindle. That’s when I started paying more attention to Kindle related domain names, as I quickly found out readers eat this type of news up.

My first big story days after speculation started in August, was Amazon acquiring KindleAir.com via MarkMonitor after the domain name had expired. Engadget, PC Magazine and other tech sites ran with the story as well.

But it wasn’t this story that made the Top 10 in 2011…

The number six story in the Top 10 Stories of 2011 here on Fusible was predicting that Amazon’s next Kindle would be named after one of the elements. And my prediction was right, as Amazon finally settled on the element of fire with its Kindle Fire.

Unlike other stories, this one took a little more sleuthing.

As I wrote back then, KindleAir.com was the first hint, but I discovered that Amazon had also secretly acquired the domain names KindleEarth.com KindleWater.com on July 6, 2011. Both were registered at Go Daddy and hidden behind its privacy service Domains by Proxy, but it was simple to reveal Amazon as the owner by using Go Daddy’s public Account Retrieval System, which in June finally addressed other privacy issues with the tool.

While I had correctly guessed the next Kindle would be named after an element, I hadn’t included “Fire” in the list. Though I considered including it, Amazon hadn’t owned Kindle Fire just yet.

Many of my top stories over the past six months dealt with what Amazon’s next Kindle might be, but most never panned out. Names like the Kindle Ice and the Kindle Scribe, which even caught the attention of Time and other publications, have yet to materialize.

Other stories that grabbed attention included Amazon possibly spinning off its Kindle line into a separate company called Seesaw (which went on to get a Techmeme headline) and even Amazon’s massive buying spree of 500 Kindle and Silk related domains, which hinted that a 3G Kindle Fire would be launched.

(Image of Kindle Fire and Kindle DX Graphite via Amazon.com)

Evidence on next Kindles being named after elements like Earth, Water, Air

In early August I wrote about Amazon acquiring the domain name KindleAir.com for possible use with its next generation of Kindle devices.

After a little domain sleuthing, the pieces of the puzzle appear to be falling into place and it looks like Amazon will be using elements like Earth, Water, Air and more, to name its next line of Kindles.

KindleAir.com was the first hint, but I’ve now discovered that Amazon has secretly acquired the domain names KindleEarth.com, KindleWater.com and — both domain names were acquired on July 6, 2011.

Although both domains are registered at Go Daddy and hidden behind its privacy service Domains by Proxy, it’s simple to reveal Amazon as the owner by using Go Daddy’s public Account Retrieval System, which in June finally addressed other privacy issues with the tool.

All one has to do is simply try and retrieve a customer number online from Go Daddy’s main website (as shown in the picture below). You select a product from a list (for example “Domain Name”), enter your email address, then enter a security access code by retyping the graphic number shown on the screen.

If everything is a successful match, a “Process Complete” message is displayed indicating the information requested will be sent to the email address entered. I used hostmaster@ amazon.com, the e-mail address Amazon regularly uses when registering domain names through its various registrars including MarkMonitor and Go Daddy.

If something is entered wrong, a message displays stating for example, “Email address not found”.

For both KindleEarth.com and KindleWater.com, the retrieval process was successful and a “Process Complete” message was displayed.

So, just to add a little more fuel to the Kindle rumor fire, it appears Amazon will be using these names for a possible Kindle product line. Similar types of names might also be used like Kindle Wave.com, which DNW wrote about yesterday.

Using Go Daddy and its privacy service, is the same secret method Amazon used before launching its Cloud Reader service in order to keep the product under wraps. The company registered kindlecloudreader.com in late June but didn’t reveal itself as the owner until it unveiled the service in August.

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