Amazon Kindle Fire HD users must pay $15 to disable ads

A couple of days ago Amazon showed off its new Kindle Fire HD tablets, but to everyone's surprise all of them are part of Amazon's "Special Offers" program, which means these devices show ads on the lock screen and main home page. Due to negative reports about this "feature", Amazon decided to offer an opt-out option, but this will cost users an extra $15.

"I wanted to let you know that with Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option for $15. We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We're happy to offer customers the choice," Amazon says.

The option to skip ads is available on both the Fire HD and $159 entry-level Fire model.

After Amazon’s product launch, tech watchers assumed users would be able to choose whether they wanted ads and a cheaper device, or a more expensive ad-free tablet -- which is the way it works with Amazon’s current line of Kindles. But it quickly became apparent that wasn't Amazon's plan and as a result critics complained.

Source: PC World