Andre Yoskowitz
17 Aug 2012 11:21
The U.S. State Department has withdrawn their order to buy $16.5 million worth of Kindle Touch devices and Amazon services.
Agency reps say they intend to "conduct additional market research" in order to re-examine the requirements of the program.
There is still a chance the agency will purchase again, after the extra research is done.
Original article:
The State Department has signed a large $16.5 million deal to purchase Kindle Fire tablets and extra content from Amazon.
As part of the 5-year contract, the agency will also get access to an English-language teaching program.
2500 Kindle Fires are the initial order, and it is unclear what the final amount shipped will be.
The tablets will be used completely for educational purposes and will be placed in libraries, educational centers, reading rooms and other locations. Additionally, the devices will "also be used as a tool in the Department of State's English Access Microscholarship Program," reads the GeekWire report.
Finally, Amazon will provide content, customer support, international shipping, protective covers "and the appropriate country-specific power adapter" for each device.
Why Amazon got the deal was because the State Department required text-to-speech, a long-lasting battery and free Wi-Fi.