Amazon said Thursday that it will bring its local deals service to the ad-supported versions of its Amazon Kindle e-book reader.
Those with the Wi-fi and 3G versions of Kindle with Special Offers will see local deals on their Kindle screensavers when they're not reading. The service, known as AmazonLocal, will launch first in New York City and expand to other cities later this year.
"Customers tell us they love the new lower price for Kindle and the money-saving special offers that display when they aren't reading," Jay Marine, director of Amazon Kindle, said in a statement. "We think customers are going to be thrilled with this new, convenient way to take advantage of AmazonLocal deals—you can view, purchase, and redeem the deals using only your Kindle—no computer, no printer, no hassle."
The Kindle with Special Offers is a cheaper version of the e-book reader that has advertisements and deals as its screen saver and on the bottom of its home screen. Amazon unveiled a Wi-Fi version of Kindle with Special Offers in April, dropping the price from $139 to $114. Amazon introduced the Kindle 3G with Special Offers in May at $164; a July AT&T sponsorship dropped the price to $139.
The deals functionality will be added via a software update in the coming weeks. Upcoming New York deals include: $7 for a one-hour bike rental in Central Park ($15 value); $5 for $10 at Dangerfield's Comedy club; $59 for one month unlimited yoga classes at Bikram Yoga Grand Central ($180 value); $5 for $10 worth of ice cream and ice cream cakes at Coldstone Creamery; and $45 for lunch at City Winery ($98 value).
Customers can purchase the deals directly from their Kindle without re-entering credit card information. A voucher will appear on the Kindle screen, and buyers can redeem the deal by showing the voucher or bringing in a printed copy.
AmazonLocal made its debut in June in Boise, Idaho. It aggregated deals from third-party sites like LivingSocial, in which Amazon invested $175 million last December, as well as those from Amazon alone.
Companies have had varied results with the deals space lately. Late last month, Yelp said it trimmed its deals team and would focus on quality versus quantity going forward. Yelp's announcement came several days after Facebook killed its deals service.
Not everyone is abandoning ship. In July, through partnerships with LivingSocial, Gilt City, zozi, BuyWithMe, and AT&T Interactive, Foursquare started offering discounts, available via the Explore tab. Also, LivingSocial snapped up three deal sites in Asia and the Middle East and started a new service in the Netherlands as a part of its effort to expand internationally.
For more, see Infographic: Here's the Deal on Daily Deals