Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Kindle Fire SOFTWARE UPDATE, VERSION 6.2 ready -- Two ways to get it.



KINDLEFIRE SOFTWARE UPDATE VERSION 6.2 IS READY

Kindle Fire Software Update, V6.2 is available online, and downloadable at the link if the update isn't already on your Kindle Fire.


The 'announcement' was made by customers on a Kindle Forum thread after they saw the update appear on their Kindle Fires.  Mine is still at v6.1 and the 'Update your Kindle" button for "System Version" setting is grayed out.

  Along with the improvements listed on the update page, one forum member mentioned "way faster web browsing!"  (I've no idea if that is so or if it was just a faster experience at the time.)

Amazon's directions:
' If you are not sure what software version you're running, tap the Quick Settings icon, tap "More," then tap "Device."  If your System Version begins with "Current version: 6.2," you are running the latest software.  If your System Version begins with "Current version: 6.0 or 6.1," follow the instructions [at that page] to take advantage of all of the features available for Kindle Fire.
. . .
To update your Kindle, ensure
  . you are connected to a Wi-Fi network and that
  . your battery is fully charged.

  Tap the Quick Settings icon in the upper right corner of your device,
  then tap "Sync."

The software update will automatically download in the background and will be applied once download is complete and the device is asleep. '

The above describes a semi-automated update.

However, if you don't have a WiFi connection at the time and want to do this, you can do a MANUAL update at the software update page for Kindle Fire, where Amazon has step-by-step directions.


What was changed?
As too often happens, Amazon gives no notes on what is being updated, outside of saying that the update "provides improvements to the operation of your Kindle Fire."


Some possible answers by customers in the forum (Amazon should be doing this, with any software update.)

  Customer James G. Henderson posted in the Amazon Kindle Forum thread the following improvements noted:
' Better parental controls in the ap store, more responsive touchscreen, back button works better, less spazzy carousel navigation, and typing is improved. '
I don't know if he just noticed these things or if some Mobileread Forum members have again looked at some of the changes in the code and determined the above, which they try to do for each update where Amazon chooses not to communicate what was improved.

  No one has reported the hoped-for carousel-content changes customers have requested in large numbers on the Amazon forum -- that we be able to NOT display (via an option setting) every book in our archive.  Maybe it's there but not noticed yet.

  If you notice changes and have time, please let us know what you find.   Thanks.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Monday, November 28, 2011

Cyber Monday Deals week: Up to 75% Off More than 900 Kindle books + Last Day of Top Cellphones for $0.01 + 8 Free Kindle books for Monday


UP TO 75% OFF ON MORE THAN 900 KINDLE BOOKS

That's actually the Cyber Monday Deals Week's "Kindle Daily Deal" for today.

  Instead of a book, today's "Kindle Daily Deal" takes you to the page where we can start browsing over 900 Kindle books that have been discounted by up to 75% off.

Reminder: These two sales for Monday are Over, although the post remains as part of the (we)blog' logging.

  They add that there may be "additional territory restrictions and not all deals are available in all territories."


Today's Free Books listing (8 books) is on the 2nd page.


TONIGHT, MIDNIGHT, ENDS "PENNY PINCHER" SALE ON *ALL* CELL PHONES

And why does that matter to Kindlers?

  I finally broke down after all these years and got a 3G Data Plan for my cell phone except that my cell phone is 6 years old and its keypad is like a calculator - a number pad, with 3 alpha characters on most numbers and not fun at all to try to type an email with.  In other words, I've had a dumbphone, but that's been fine since I didn't want to pay data charges.

  Now, I've decided I want a phone that can provide hotspot/WiFi support for my Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch and of course my 10.2" netbook which I always have when traveling.  This way I could be anywhere and have WiFi available to all these devices, as long as my 3G/4G smartphone has a signal (in most places it will).

  If you've followed this blog's reminders of Black Friday week and the usual holiday offers that are on Amazon's pages (the name is "Cyber Monday" today), you'll have seen the AmazonWireless deal active for a couple of days, which offers most of the top current smart phones today for $0.01 even if they cost $600 Unlocked and normally $200 with a 2-year plan.

  After browsing the AmazonWireless penny-for-a-new-cellphone offer, I decided on the Samsung Galaxy S II in the image above.  It topped most recent gadget-site 'best' lists and was #1 at Consumer Reports during the summer.  It arrived in the U.S. a couple of months ago under this name if bought from AT&T (who chose the slightly smaller original and internationally popular 4.3" screen), is also at Sprint, where it's called the Epic Touch 4G, and is now also at TMobile, with its basic name Samsung Galaxy S II -- the latter two vendors decided on a 4.5" screen instead but with the same number of pixels.

  Most of that was just to show you that the cell phone penny deals are on very good phones as well as on average ones.

  To be eligible for this deal, it has to be a new plan and not an extension of an existing one.  Many of us are past our 2-year agreements and are able to move to another carrier, where we are "new subscribers" and eligible to the deal.  Some families have new memberships.  At any rate, the offer ends tonight.  If ordering one, you have to supply the account number for your current cell phone if a transfer of phone number is needed.

  Some of the Sprint CDMA-based cellphones have been suffering from Loss of Signal events during the day since late September, and Samsung stated they'd get a maintenance update out but they've been silent on that since then, two months ago, so there are articles on that.  Here are two. (1) and (2).

At any rate, this is a heads-up that it's the last day of this unusual offer, and if you're eligible, it's really a good sale.

  I was surprised that AT&T has a remarkably reasonable price for the basic calling plan for those who don't make or receive that many calls a month and they offer hotspot support via the phone to your other devices, for $20/mo. more if part of that package.

FREE KINDLE BOOKS AND DISCOUNTED BOOK FORUM ALERTS FOR MONDAY 11/28
Monday's Kindle Daily Deal (changes at midnight) is To Defy a King (William Marshal), by Elizabeth Chadwick, 30 customer reviews, 4.5 stars   (Link: http://amzn.to/to-defy-a-king )

  Friday's price: $8.54, Saturday's discount: $7.05
Saturday's Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.49
(83% off)


  MORE... ( The temporarily newly-free books and discounted-book forum-alerts are on the 2nd page, which will help to load the main page more quickly.  Those wanting to go see the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below - 8 newly-free Kindle books today)
*****
Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

A set of Kindleworld's articles on the new Kindle models

ARTICLES ON NEW KINDLE, SO FAR

I've reorganized the Kindleworld website's "Articles on New Kindles" set found near the top of the Reference section in the right column of the article pages.

This blog entry is especially for those on Kindle Edition blog subscriptions, who wouldn't see this set in the Kindle-edition, which brings only the daily articles.  But it should also be helpful to those who don't have time to browse the Reference column at the website.

  On the Kindle editions of the blog, the new Kindles (and sometimes even the Kindle 3's) can click through most article links to access the linked articles without waiting an impossible time for page loads.

 With Kindle 2's or earlier, the load-times are pretty difficult.  All can of course also access articles, reference sets, and external links at the website ( kindleworld.blogspot.com ).

  Each time I draw attention to the free website, the blog loses Kindle-edition-blog subscribers who didn't know it exists :-) -- and it'd be helpful to blog subscribers if Amazon would add a link to the external website on all the Kindle editions.

  Thanks to all who support the site this way, and I'm hoping most subscribers will still see value in having the most-recent 25 blog articles at hand and searchable offline via the Kindle edition of the blog each day.

  Those with Kindle Touch's will find them several times faster for accessing the web than the keyboard models (faster processor and direct-access to links), which would be a big reason for Amazon's not offering free 3G web browsing on the new Kindles.   The speedup should be especially useful for those following links on the Kindle editions of blogs in general.

The list of Kindleworld articles on the new Kindle models
This listing is up to date as of today, and it'll be updated as it goes.  Am working on more tips on the still newish Kindles, as I've seen a lot of confusion in connection with what is offered on each, etc.

General
. Set of Kindleworld articles
    on new Kindles

. Prime's Lending Library:
    Rules; Borrowing;
    How to Browse List
. Prime gets current PBS
. Personal docs: Imprvmts
. Convert ePub to Kindle
. Edgerly on Kindle Event
. Intro Day, 9/28

Kindle Fire
. Tips: KFire and KTouch
. KFire cases/cvrs
. KFire rooted (Not needed)
. Non-Amzn apps: Sideload'g
. Software update v6.2
. Software update v6.1
   Kindle Fire
. Kindle Fire 1st reviews
. Nook Tablet vs Kindle Fire
. Amazon Q&A: Kindlefire
. Video demo: Kindle Fire
. Kindle Fire/Cloud facts
. Kindle Fire "on fire"
. More info on Kindle Fire

Kindle Touch
. Tips: KTouch and KFire
. Notes re Kindle Touch
. What is X-ray?
. Kindle Team re Kindle Touch
   3G web browsing
. KTouch 3G-Web'g or not?
. Notes: KTouch's 3G Web'g

Kindle Basic (NoTouch/NoKeybd)
. Video demo: $79 Kindle
. Software update v4.0.1
   Kindle Basic (NoTouch)
. User's Guide: $79 Kindle Basic


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Free Kindle books (11/25-26) - 28 free. Discounted-book forum alerts + Amazon promos

FREE/DISCOUNTED KINDLE BOOKS DISCOVERED BY FORUM MEMBERS

Nov. 24-25: - Thursday thru' late-night Friday: 28 newly-free books, plus discounted ones as of Friday night or starting hours of Saturday, so far.  Heavy in international cookbooks from Hippocrene, with some getting very positive customer reviews  (See page 2 of this blog entry for details.)


Write Good or Die, by Scott Nicholson, 14 customer reviews, 4.4 stars, $0.00 (Link: amzn.to/write-good-or-die )

(Someone actually wrote a review headlining 3 stars because the title made that person wonder how well written the book is!)
  These are artcles on how to survive as a writer in today's world - collected by author Scott Nicholson, focusing on both the craft and the business.  Advice from bestselling authors.
  All proceeds benefit the non-profit organization Literacy Inc., which promotes reading among teens (although at $0.00, there won't be any for the promo deal.)


Barefoot Sisters: Southbound, by Lucy Letcher and Susan Letcher, 21 customer reviews, 4.8 stars, $0.00 (Link: amzn.to/barefoot-sisters-southbound)

Two sisters "through-hike the entire 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail...barefoot...As they hike, they write about their adventures through the 100-mile Wilderness, the rocky terrain of Pennsylvania, and snowfall in the Great Smoky Mountains"





Saturday's Kindle Daily Deal (changes at midnight) is To Defy a King (William Marshal), by Elizabeth Chadwick, 30 customer reviews, 4.5 stars   (Link: http://amzn.to/to-defy-a-king )

  Friday's price: $8.54, Saturday's discount: $7.05
Saturday's Kindle Daily Deal Price: $1.49
(83% off)



  MORE... ( The temporarily newly-free books and discounted-book forum-alerts are on the 2nd page, which will help to load the main page more quickly.  Those wanting to go see the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below - 28 newly-free Kindle books today)
*****

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Kindle News: Penguin removed Kindle books from libraries, then restored them

PENGUIN RESTORES KINDLE BOOKS FOR NOW

Many will not have known that Penguin had them removed, to some outraged reactions from Kindle subscribers.

  The story for awhile was that Penguin was pulling ALL digital books from Overdrive's public library offerings, as something was not working for them.

  Then the story was that they were pulling only NEW releases, and that was why PDFs and ePubs were allowed to stay.  None of it smelled good.

  Overdrive's statement earlier today:
' Penguin eBook titles for lending to Kindle restored
November 23rd, 2011 Brianne Carlon

‘Get for Kindle’ for all Penguin eBooks in your catalog has been restored as of this morning. Penguin titles are available for check out by Kindle users and the Kindle format will be available for patrons who are currently on a waiting list for a Penguin title. Upcoming releases remain unavailable.

We apologize for the inconvenience this caused for your library and patrons.

At this time, no further information is available. We hope to share more details in the near future.

Brianne Carlon is a public relations specialist at OverDrive. '

PC Magazine's Chloe Albanesius writes that Penguin Group is negotiating with Amazon and Overdrive on security issues and that customers "will continue to have access to Penguin titles via the Amazon Kindle Library lending program at least until the end of the year, though new titles will not be added."

Penguin said Amazon hadn't been consulted by Overdrive about the terms of Penguin's agreement with OverDrive.  Albanesius says that this deal "required library e-book suppliers to make sure the files were protected by their firewalls."

It would seem by reading this that Amazon was deemed looser in their handling of library-loaned books.  Maybe Penguin Group doesn't like that Kindle customers' Amazon server libraries list the books for them as though they have it, but that is 'potentially' -- if they reborrow or buy.

Penguin has had a habit of removing their e-books from Amazon in what comes off as petulant style.  They're not gaining points with Kindle users, who do buy a lot of books.


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.


  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Black Friday Week Deal - Kindle DX Graphite 9.7" $259

THE 9.7" KINDLE DX DEAL FOR NOV.24-28

This is normally $379, so it's a $120 savings.  It's a favorite of some of us who use it for PDFs and books with complex illustrations with small print.  It uses the same Pearl screen as the Kindle 3 and Kindle Touch but my entire Kindle 3 fits into the screen area of the DX, so it's easier on the eyes, though obviously it'll weigh more.

  It has NO WiFi capability and uses only 3G (Cellular network access), with which you can download books just about anywhere without looking for a WiFi spot -- and the experimental web browser through that 3G capability is still usable, free, for U.S. citizens and customers in about 61 countries, which Amazon UK lists and I reference at this page, which has more information and the link to the Amazon UK table.

  With a discount this big, I don't know what the future of this particular model is, but many of us have depended on it for comfortable e-Ink reading of PDFs (which can be fully rotated and zoomed using rectangular areas).

  Here are working images of my own DX (I had the DX US only and now have the DX Graphite US/Int'l).

Reaction to DX Graphite by tougher MobileRead forum's Sony stalwarts at time of release last August.


Kindle DailyDeal
While I'm at it, here's today's Kindle Daily Deal book
  Raising Jake, by Charlie Carillo, 139 customer reviews, 4.5 stars
  Wednesday's price: $8.69,  Thursday's discount: $7.70
  Thursday's Kindle Daily Deal Price: $0.99 (89% off)
"...In this coming-of-age tale, there's often a question of who is parenting whom.  Carillo, a former reporter for the New York Post, has an easy way with breezy prose and likable characters." -- Publishers Weekly


If books won't do it, a more general special Amazon has is their Holiday Toy List through Dec. 24. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Free Kindle books (11/21-23) - 98 free + discounted-book forum alerts + Amazon promos

FREE/DISCOUNTED KINDLE BOOKS DISCOVERED BY FORUM MEMBERS

Nov. 21-23: - Monday thru' Wed. morning: 98 newly-free books + discounted ones as of Wednesday, early evening. (No books released on Sunday)

I'm also adding details of an announcement from Amazon today re examples of what they call 'amazing deals' for Black Friday Week U.S. that will be available at various times through Black Friday weekend.  These will be on the *2nd* page of this blog article, along with the free book listings, discounted-book forum alert links, Amazon's ongoing promos, and pointers to forum discussions.  No preview of what Amazon UK's BF Week deals might be though.


Pictures of the Mind: What the New Neuroscience Tells us About Who We Are, by Miriam Boleyn-Fitzgerald, 11 customer reviews, 4.2 stars, $0.00 (Link: amzn.to/pictures-of-the-mind )

For those interested in the latest research on the brain.
  “Boleyn-Fitzgerald writes in a clear voice, making scientific data engaging and accessible for anyone with an interest in the study of neurology, mindfulness, or behavior.” -- Publishers Weekly




Bit Literacy:
Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
, by Mark Hurs, 131 customer reviews, 4.5 stars, $0.00 (Link: amzn.to/bit-literacy)

About controlling your email inbox and general overload.  Quite a few rave reviews.




Today's Kindle Daily Deal (changes at midnight) is "Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories," by Max Allan Collins, 13 customer reviews, 4.7 stars   (Link: http://amzn.to/chicago-lightning )

  Friday's price: $7.99, Saturday's discount: $7.00
Saturday's Daily Deal Price: $0.99

Nathan Heller, "the perfect private eye" ... "All of the stories are based on real cases of the 1930s and '40s, meticulously researched by award-winning writer and Road to Perdition creator Max Allan Collins." -- Amazon editors



  MORE... ( The temporarily newly-free books and discounted-book forum-alerts are on the 2nd page now, to load the main page more quickly and so that those wanting to go through the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below - 61 newly-free Kindle books today)
*****

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Power outage here

We've had a power outage here, and when the lights came back on, Comcast wasn't willing and the phones are out too. The only communication with the outside world is with this Kindle 3 or Kindle Keyboard with its free 3G web browser plus a cellphone with no 3G data plan.

Did a lot of research yesterday and exploring on the new Kindle models and will be reporting on that when I can get back on via a computer. They think it'll be sometime today. Thanks for your patience !

. Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Free Kindle books (11/18-19) - 61 free + discounted-book forum alerts + Amazon promos

FREE/DISCOUNTED KINDLE BOOKS DISCOVERED BY FORUM MEMBERS

Nov. 18-19: - Friday and Saturday: 61 newly-free books + discounted ones as of Saturday morning.

Take Me Home from the Oscars, by Christine Schwab, 28 customer reviews, 5.0 stars, $0.99 (Link: amzn.to/take-me-home-from-oscars )

Notice all 28 customer reviews were 5-star rated, so am highlighting this discounted one.

  “This beautiful book of hope will inspire all of those who live with adversity… the Oscar story will just break your heart but show you how far you can go if you have determination and a positive attitude.” -- – Bonnie Tiegel, Entertainment Tonight/The Insider
  “A delicious behind-the-scenes look at fashion and TV… and the vicious disease, the unrelenting pain, and the triumph that comes with finally deciding to wear it all like a badge of courage. Christine Schwab took lemons and turned them into haute couture. I like her style more than ever!” -- Adam Glassman, O, The Oprah Magazine




Today's Kindle Daily Deal (changes at midnight) is "Live and Let Die," by Ian Fleming, 63 customer reviews, 4.3 stars   (Link: amzn.to/live-let-die )

  Friday's price: $9.99, Saturday's discount: $8.00
Saturday's Daily Deal Price: $1.99

Ian Fleming's second Bond novel



  MORE... ( The temporarily newly-free books and discounted-book forum-alerts are on the 2nd page now, to load the main page more quickly and so that those wanting to go through the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below - 61 newly-free Kindle books today)
*****
Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Friday, November 18, 2011

A couple of reasonably-priced Kindle Fire cases at $13 each




This Kindle Fire case by Poetic caught my eye because it looks utilitarian, comes in several color choices, and costs $12.95 at the time I write this.  It's not eligible for Prime, but it comes with free shipping when purchased from Exact-Deal, via Amazon.

  Note that state tax is collected on this ($1.20 in my case - so to speak, in Calif.)

  Since I've never seen it, this isn't a recommendation, and I'm just drawing it to your attention.  Others have asked about cases for Kindle Fire when so many are expensive, so I thought I'd look to see what is available.   I just ordered one and it'll at least tide me over until I ever see one that I "must" have :-)  The 6 customer reviews are positive, with a 4.7 stars average.

 I first saw the Bear Motion Premium case, 100% genuine leather (ad says) and it looked sleeker, lighter, and might lie flatter.  I don't want bulk, as the Fire is bulky enough.  Some pictures show a normal dark stitching, one picture looks reddish though the case is black, and another photo shows whitish stitching on the black leather, which I really dislike.  But take a look and see what you think. It's advertised as "72 Hours Extreme Value Buy" at $12.99,  at 74% off, and there's a flat-rate shipping cost of $4.99.  It has 23 customer reviews with 4.5 stars.


Will be back late tonight with more information on the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet.


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Kindle Touch (3G) - Unexpected aspects and a few changes noted (Updated)


While I had wanted to quick-blog first impressions after 12 hours with the Kindle Fire Wednesday (which I more than enjoyed despite minor reservations), I've been doing the forums and trading information.  There's always so much there that people find and relay.

  BUT -- my Kindle Touch 3G/WiFi arrived today, so I looked into that.

  And now I want to report on that first, due to a couple of unexpected items that impressed me.

   And there are several changes I want to highlight.

The known loss of the Free 3G Web-lookup feature
  Some, including me, have been disappointed that, unlike the 3G/WiFi Kindle 3 ("Kindle Keyboard") model and its much-appreciated free 3G webbing that's so useful when traveling -- locally even, but especially in countries where roaming charges for smartphones are sky-high --  the Touch models don't offer free 3G web lookups internationally as the older 3G Kindles did.  But I can see  now why Amazon decided not to offer it on the new Kindles.  I wouldn't either if I were paying for it.

Web browsing speed  (Web lookups are on WiFi-only, on the new models, except for accessing the  KindleStore and Wikipedia, the latter a really worthwhile feature when reading a book)

  The WiFi web-browsing, via my Comcast host and Netgear router, is actually usually quite fast with the 3G/WiFi SO (Special Offers) model.
  I don't mean just fastER than the often-slow but free Kindle 3 web lookups, which could be slow with WiFi also.   The new Touch model really can be very quick for an e-Ink device.  I was startled by it.

  When accessing web sites with the KTouch, you're often wisely taken to mobile versions of the web pages, but my over-long, over-imaged, site came up in normal desktop format 10x faster than it would before. 

  This is especially good for Kindle-Edition subscribers who are needing to follow a Kindle subscription blog link to information on another site. 

When I went to the simple, text-focused drudgereport.com, it of course came up fairly quickly, but I was surprised to see, when I clicked on a Telegraph (UK) story, that the whole thing came up suddenly -- it must have been pre-fetched by the webkit browser.

  New York Times web page as an example
   Accessing Amazon's bookmark'd NY Times site, in its print-newspaper layout, it comes up pretty fast!, but with the full page seen in portrait mode on a little screen, so it's not readable.  The zoom-box that used to be there to bring up sections so that we can read them is gone.

   Instead, we can pinch-zoom on an area and it brings up a much more readable version of that, and we can then click a link to a story that is readable while showing the whole width of a column or columns as appropriate plus side stories.   If that's not good enough, you can pinch-zoom THAT and it can look really good!  But if that's still not good enough, then choose Menu to select "Article Mode" which puts it in a highly readable layout that's very pleasant to read but which, as said elsewhere here, doesn't offer the links from the article.
   The Article Mode reformats a story into single-report form, usually with a small photo at the top. 

The processor used in the Touch models is a faster one, and the Touch method's advantage for webbing is that it gives direct access to clickable links, so there's no added time involved in moving the older 5-way controller up, down, and sideways to active hyperlinks (and each cursor movement meant a slowing-down refresh of part of the screen).   Much as I appreciate the free 3G web-lookups of the previous model when I'm outside the home, these changes are very nice.  (But it's still my Kindle 3 I'll be carrying with me outside since I can almost never find unprotected WiFi anymore, outside.)


Pressing or tapping on a screen area
  TIP:   The lightest possible keypress to bring up a menu or dialog box will work best -- even when lightly tapping for a page turn or on a link.  That doesn't seem intuitive but I found this works more reliably than using more pressure.  That's true even when doing a long-press that is used to to bring up an option box.  And it's true for the Kindle Fire also.

  On the other hand, the e-Ink keyboard input is more resistant than it is on LCD, which means less errors from a light touch.  My Kindle Fire keyboard, though, is so non-resistant that I can just hover over a key and it registers (dangerous, so I turned off 1-click buying).   That's been true of my 7" NookColor tablet too.

The 3G web browser's "New Window" link problems on previous Kindles
  The one thing that frustrated many of us 3G web users in the past was that Amazon had decided NOT to have the keyboard Kindles open links that used "New Window" processes.

  This has meant that Facebook and Twitter links recommended by people could not be used, although we could see messages to us and reply to them.  The recommended links, however, were lifeless.

  I always felt Amazon did not want to encourage our exploring all those links and staying on Facebook and Twitter through the day, as that could really cost them, with free 3G program (for us) paid by them.

  They had decided at some point to let Kindle Edition Blog-subscribers click through links requiring 'New Window' from a Kindle'd blog -- customers pay for subscriptions and I think they felt it was a service they should give, since blogs tend to have many links in them and can be worthless if people can't use them.

  But that was the only circumstance, that I know of, under which they allowed "New-Window"-links to be clicked through and the user taken to the new site.  Facebook and Twitter remained still-lifes for links.

With the new Kindle Touch, the Facebook and Twitter webpages are now useable for the links people are busily recommending at those popular sites.

Complex website-pages
   However, the Kindle Touch web browser can't handle a ridiculously heavy page like Huffington Post.
  It never loads.   I tried Overdrive (for public libraries), and it now lets me through the 'New Window' problems I used to have but that is a super-slow site for some reason. They should have a mobile version available for it.  It's too slow even for the new Touch Kindle.

NO Landscape mode on this
This mode has been crucial for web pages and for PDFs with the previous Kindles, giving the ability to expand the width and size of content.
  The default for the new Kindle Touch  is to show you the full web page and fit it to the width of the small 6" screen.  So, the words are unreadable that way, but putting the device into Landscape mode on the older models has helped with those.

  The earlier models with keyboards have Zoom boxes that let you zoom into areas to read the type (awkward but doable) and then you can choose 'Article Mode' from the Menu to read the article as very-readable text although that deactivates links in that mode, so  the zoom-in and pinch-zoom versions can be better to use if you want to follow article links.

  For more details on how to handle this, see the paragraph above on accessing a New York Times article and how that's changed from the Kindle 3.  It'll work for this.


Image zoom-ins - on web pages
Kindles 2 and 3 allow zooms to full-page by clicking in the center.  Kindle 1 allows it by moving the sliding silver column cursor to the line and choosing to enlarge the image to full screen.

  On the new Touch Kindles, this is now done, when WEB-browsing,  by pinch-zooms -- 2 fingers are used to expand the material seen or shrink it back.  I hadn't expected this on e-Ink e-readers but it works.

   It's choppy and difficult to control but when it's done for a full webpage  it does expand the material so that you can read sections of it enlarged. 

Image zoom-ins - in normal e-books
For normal e-books, a pinch-zoom actually enlarges the font size!  And any photos.
  This is normally done with the Aa -choice (for 'Aa keys on earlier Kindles) that is now found at the bottom of a book's footer if you press the area at the top line, which brings up options such as the old GoTo, which is now missing from the regular book Menu and I'd wondered where it was.

  So, at the bottom, you can get  Aa (fonts),  Go To,  and  Sync by pressing an area near the top.
  Also at the bottom are the Location #, the Page #,  and the percentage of the book that's still unread.

  At the top line, there's  1) a Back-arrow that corresponds to the old "Back" button,  2) a shopping cart,  3) a search box for searching the book, and  4) the Menu of options.
  There's also a line up there for  1) the activity-indicator (spins),  2) the title of the book that's open,  3) a wireless-activity indicator (including what type of wireless is being used) and  4) the current time.

    I really like that you can enlarge the font size by just doing a pinch-zoom.

PDFs

  I haven't found much in the User's Guide about PDFs, but trying it out I see that these are treated the way books are.  You don't scroll down the page if there's more, you page left and right.

  Pinch Zooms are used to enlarge a page, including both the fonts and images on the page.
I saw this on a PDF I made from taking images and text from the web and saving it in Word Doc to read later, on the Kindle.   But I saved it as a PDF.  So, this is a text-based PDF.

  I wondered where Adjustment of Contrast is now chosen, as the Aa font menu is no longer findable.  The Contrast Adjustment is selectable from pressing the top line area and pressing Menu at the top right.  It's called, simply, 'Contrast.'

  'Turn on Speech'
  That's also found under the top-right Menu.

   Go to...   for PDFs, this is also found under the Menu.

  This is all easier than selecting zoom-box areas or "150%  200%  300%" sizes as was done before.  It's a gradual zoom controlled by the fingers now.

Overall Speed + choosing Kindle books from my other Kindles
I quickly chose, from my Archived Items folder, about 100 titles to use for exploring the new system, and they included a couple of very large encyclopedias to test how the device would handle having to download them from Amazon and index them for keywords.  I then used Menu to "Import Collections"

  With this unit, I was able to tap one item after another, lickety split, without needing to use 'back' button and it kept up with me.   There's no slowness felt and I was able to do things on the unit while it downloaded the many items I chose for the new Kindle

Kindle Model Designations.
Kindle 1's have 1.x.x software versions; Kindle 2's have 2.x.x versions, and Kindle 3's use version 3.x.x.
They were also called first, second, and third generations.

  It seems the Kindle BASIC (NoTouch/NoKeyboard - $79) uses software version 4.x.x and
  Kindle Touch uses software version 5.x.x

  So, we are sort of looking at the 5th generation Kindle with these Touch models.

  Identifying software versions is now done under Menu/Settings/Device Info (which is scarily right next to the Reset to Factory Default option -- so touch-press carefull when in that Menu, even if they have a safety "Are you sure?" which I did not try  :-).

Kindle Touch Special Offers - Or Without Special Offers
It's hard to know how we will react to any kind of ad.  I've resisted them because I don't want to see them near my personal time with books.  I want to be away from the madding ad crowd.

  Nevertheless, I also don't throw my money away and have read that many actually like the Special Offers and the screensleeper  ads were not bothering them.  I have to say that they are designed very well, all have a classy look so far, and have not bothered me, not even in the lowest slot of the Home page. 

  BUT if they ever do, I've found that at the ManageYourKindle pages, there is an option to "Unsubscribe" from Special Offers by paying the $40 difference between the cost of the two models (the choices of With and Without Special Offers).

Anyway, this was a very nice surprise.  I ordered it only because I should report on it :-) and be able to answer questions, etc.  It's light but we knew that.  However, its small size seemed to make my left hand less comfortable with it, almost cramped, and I felt I'd have to get a case for it pronto, as it would be easier to hold that way.

  I got used to it though.  As for the ads/special offers, whoever directs that does a good job.

Going from one chapter to another, if the publisher used that feature
In the past, if the progress bar (which no longer exists that I can find) showed markers indicating new chapter, we could navigate to each one with a press-right on the 5-way button.
Now we can't see markers like this, that I can find (let me know if you find these), but you can swipe up or swipe down to get to next or previous chapters, respectively.  I saw this work in 'Cleopatra' by Stacy Schiff.

Collections
They've finally alphabetized Collections -- we no longer have to do workarounds, although, as of now, unless a future update fixes it, the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3 Collections remain unalphabetized, a decision I'll never understand, so if we're still using earlier models, the workaround has to stay.

Text contrast against screen background
The Kindle 3 is wonderful in this regard, and I had been puzzled to see how greyish the Nook Simple Touch fonts seemed when I visited BN and tried every font face, type and size.

  It was a disappointment for some on the BN forums too but they have just done an update to the Nook Simple Touch that is said to change this so that fonts, text, foreground images are darker when appropriate and the contrast is good now.

  I'd been worried about the screen contrast, after reading a NY Times article that said the Kindle screen programmers had been having some difficulty getting the screen contrast the way they wanted, a few months ago.  But what I see in my Kindle Touch is what I've seen on the Kindle 3, so those getting either company's e-reader will be very happy with that aspect.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button


\ Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Free Kindle books (11/16-17) - 17 free + discounted-book forum alerts + Amazon promos

FREE/DISCOUNTED KINDLE BOOKS DISCOVERED BY FORUM MEMBERS

Nov. 16-17: - Wednesday and Thursday: 17 newly-free books + a the free Android App of the day, works for Kindle Fire owners + a "Got my Fire!" thread from the forums.

A quick 2-day catch up, as I spent the day with my Kindle Fire yesterday when here and will do a "First Impressions" on it today.


Unusual Free Android App for the Day - works with Kindlefire


Enhanced Email, by Quantum Solutions, 131 customer reviews, 3.3 stars, $0.00 (Link: amzn.to/androidappstore )

Normally, this costs $9.99 to download, but it's free today.  Some like it a lot and some don't, so read some of the reviews.




Today's Kindle Daily Deal (changes at midnight) is "The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, by Karen Karbo, 56 customer reviews, 3.8 stars

  Wednesday's price $8.63, Thursday's discount $6.64
Amazon's math is off today - It would be $1.99 but the price shown is:
Thursday's Daily Deal Price: $0.99



  MORE... ( The temporarily newly-free books and discounted-book forum-alerts are on the 2nd page now, to load the main page more quickly and so that those wanting to go through the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below)
*****
Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Kindle Fire gets rooted but can sideload non-Amazon apps anyway - Nook Tablet confirmed to allow only 1 gig of internal memory for non-B&N content



First, what was reported here in the Kindle Fire/Nook Tablet face-off blog article on November 9, a week ago (and denied by a B&N customer rep to a comment-area questioner here who then ordered a Nook Tablet based on that) was based on a B&N website comparison page.  It wasn't rumor-based.   B&N restricts NON-B&N content to a 1-gig area of its 16-gig internal storage area.  It's similar to the new structure of the Nook Color effective May 2011.  See foonotes 5 and 6 at B&N.

  And now a mainstream news site has picked up that fact.
  Engadget's Brian Heater posted an article this morning with the headline, "Nook Tablet limits internal storage for non-B&N purchased content to 1GB" and opens the article with, "Well, this is definitely a bummer.

  He notes that B&N has been "talking up all of the Nook Tablet's internal advantages over the Kindle Fire" and writes that this "particular spec may not be quite as good as it looks on paper."  He keeps in mind that the Nook has a microSD card slot for an additional 16 gigs of memory.  From what I've seen, though, some non-B&N/non-Amazon apps expect to be installed in internal memory.

Sideloading of non-device-manager-approved apps
Amazon's Kindle Fire allows side-loading, though, by the checking of a box in Settings that allows the installation of non-Amazon-approved apps from unknown sources -- and that's allowed for internal memory.  B&N has been said NOT to allow sideloading of non-BN-approved apps.

Sideloading other-sourced apps, when allowed, vs rooting
The ability to sideload other-sourced, non-Amazon app files, as PC World's Ian Paul points out, is that you can install non-offered (by Amazon) apps such as B&N's Nook app on Kindle Fire or even Android tools such as the Swype keyboard.

I won't go into details of rooting the Kindle Fire, since it requires only a one-click rooting tool (SuperOneClick 2.2, linked by PCWorld) and the PC World article gives full details, but it requires a few other things be done and a larger need to do there is just not there with the Kindle Fire if all you want from rooting is the ability to install non-Amazon-approved apps.  That's already allowed.

  Others will want their own custom-interface, but with the ease of use that Amazon has programmed, few mainstream users (Amazon's target audience) will be wanting that.  My recommendation is just to go with the approved sideloading (a decision unexpected of Amazon), using caution about where you get your APK files).

  Amazon's decision displays a more "open" system and state of mind than B&N's although the latter actually proclaimed in their tablet launch that they were more open than Amazon in that they allowed apps like Netflix and Hulu Plus.  I found it really odd that they didn't merely monitor what the 'opposition' was publicly doing (Amazon announced partnering with Netflix, Pandora, et al, during the launch of Kindle Fire on September 28) before announcing Amazon would not allow access to 3rd party streaming apps.

  A key factor is that B&N relies on partners to stream media and Amazon does have its own media-streaming of it.  Amazon is just not restricting customers to its own material.

Netflix's Android app upgrade
Netflix upgraded its app for Android this week and will do one for the iPad next, and what has startled watchers yesterday was that they put the Android tablet audience before the iPad audience for such a big app upgrade.  My NookColor, I confirmed, is not eligible for the Netflix upgrade, but the NookTablet and KindleFire are.

Amazon releases source code for Kindle Fire (as required by use of Android OS)
PC World's Ian Paul reports also that Amazon recently released the source code for Kindle Fire and you can download that at Amazon.  I don't know how much is included in that, but the source code listed for its older Linux-based e-readers included mainly libraries and other unmodified code.  With devices built on Android, there's probably more, but I don't know.
  According to a news.ycombinator.com discussion on this, Maakuth replies, "I think, because most of Android source code is licensed under Apache license, so they don't need to publish their modifications."


Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Kindle Fire Software Update, Version 6.1 ready -- Two ways to get it.



KINDLEFIRE SOFTWARE UPDATE VERSION 6.1 IS READY

Kindle Fire Software Update, V6.1 is available online, and here's where you can download it, if it's not already on your Kindle Fire.

I understand that some have seen their new Kindle Fires reboot and install an update after they've opened it.  Some have noted slowness, which improved on a reboot (maybe the update was on it, ready to be activated).


Amazon's directions:
' To check whether you have Kindle Fire Software V6.1 already, or not -- tap the Quick Settings icon, tap "More," then tap "Device."

If your System Version begins with "Current version: 6.1," you are running the latest software.  If your System Version begins with "Current version: 6.0," follow the instructions [at that page] to take advantage of all of the features available for Kindle Fire.
. . .
To update your Kindle, ensure
  . you are connected to a Wi-Fi network and that
  . your battery is fully charged.

  Tap the Quick Settings icon in the upper right corner of your device,
  then tap "Sync."

The software update will automatically download in the background and will be applied once download is complete and the device is asleep. '

The above describes a PARTIALLY automated update.

However, if you don't have a WiFi connection at the time and want to do this, you can do a MANUAL update at the software update page for Kindle Fire, where Amazon has step-by-step directions.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Laptop Magazine's Guide to Sideloading Apps on the Kindle Fire. A note on ePub support on the Kindle Fire. First KindleFire reactions

At Twitter, @merralin tweeted today a really useful article at Laptop Magazine, by Avram Piltch, on "How to Sideload apps on the Kindle Fire" - an illustrated, step-by-step guide.

  I imagine this Laptop Magazine article will be a very popular one with Kindle Fire owners :-)

  (Also see the later article with a bit more on rooting (not needed) and sideloading of app files,.

Piltch explains:
 " The built-in App store on the Kindle Fire offers a decent selection, but it doesn’t have everything.
   For example, you can’t download Tweetdeck or TripIt, or alternate browsers like Opera Mini or Firefox.    While Google’s Android Market is off limits to Kindle Fire owners, you can install apps that aren’t available on Amazon’s store by transferring them via USB (also known as sideloading)."

  And then he shows the steps (although he assumes you already have the APK program file --  the latter is briefly addressed in an excerpt that I've included below from yesterday's blog article on Kindle Fire reviews.

Laptop Magazine' guide on Kindle Fire sideloading expands, in a big way, on what I had read in reviews yesterday, and I'll add some of that here, as the subject is buried in the 9 reviews blogged yesterday, and there's a mention of  adding an APK program file.
  I recommend caution, especially if you're new to the Android scene.

  From PC Magazine's Sascha Segan who describes generally how apps can be accessed with the Kindle Fire, even if not found at the Amazon Appstore for Android (but if found there, that version would generally work better with the Kindle Fire):
' A few apps I looked for, like Opera Mobile, weren't there, but there's another way to get apps onto the device.

This is still Android, and this tablet isn't locked down.  Plug the Kindle Fire into a PC or Mac and it pops up as a disk drive; you can drag and drop files into the 6.5GB of available memory at will.  For the tech-savvy, it's a simple task to extract any APK program file from an Android phone and drop it onto the Fire.  Amazon's app store includes the free Easy Installer[*], which lets you then install those apps on the Fire.

I installed a dozen free and paid apps from my HTC Sensation 4G ($199, 4 stars) phone...[several apps were named at the full article... all worked fine.   the Gmail app and the official Facebook app (which I sideloaded) both crashed and wouldn't run during my test period.  Amazon hasn't yet expressed any problem with users rooting this device, so hack away. '
I added a quote from Segan from one of his earlier articles:
' [In fact, Amazon Silk Browser project director, Jon Jenkins, has said they're not actively stopping people from rooting it, just not helping them with it.  "It's going to get rooted, and what you do after you root it is up to you..."   Sascha Segan (who got that quote earlier) continues...]
Curiously, the Barnes & Noble Nook Android app runs beautifully if you prefer that store's book selection, although it can't download or read books that are restricted to the actual Nook tablets like most childrens books.
'

Also, Chicago Sun-Times's Andy Ihnatko had mentioned in his review:
'...boatloads of onboard storage [being] far less important to a Kindle Fire user than it is to a Nook user, thanks to the Fire’s intimate connection to Amazon’s cloud services.  8 gigs is enough for several books, a few movies, a couple of TV shows, several hundred songs, and a pile of photos.

  That might not necessarily be enough to last you a couple of weeks, but it’ll certainly last until you find yourself near a hotspot and can swap out the stuff you’re sick of for some alternatives.  [Only 6.5 Gigs are available for consumer files though.]

You can tick a checkbox in its Settings to allow the Fire to run apps downloaded from any arbitrary source (such as, downloading from a website or an independent repository) '

  [*] When installing the APK program on the Kindle Fire, Laptop Magazine's Sascha Piltch used the Android file manager ES File Explorer on the Kindle Fire, as you can see in his illustrated guide.  It's the one I use too on my Android tablet.   Ihnatko mentions using "Easy Installer" from Amazon's appstore.

As for getting an APK program file from your current Android device (phone, another Android tablet), if you really want to use an app install file (which might not be altogether compatible with your specific device), google lists places that offer them if you don't have one on another Android device already.

MORE FREQUENTED ALTERNATE APPSTORES
3 popular ones are getjar.com, slideme.org, and freewarelovers.com -- all of these offer their store app for you to find download their copies of good Android apps). While these are heavily frequented and mostly trusted, I wait for an app to be available in them for at least a week to see if anyone reports problems with them (in case of viruses). I haven't had compatability problems.

CAUTION Again, remember that you should find a way to make sure that the file has been checked by a group the community trusts, as there is malware in many files offered or uploaded.  So there's a risk involved.  Don't go downloading any APKs from just anywhere.  Amazon checks out their files of course. 
I'd check out the MobileRead Kindle forum on this type of thing.


Experiencing any lag time on the Kindle Fire?
A Kindle forum thread started by someone who was experiencing this, (Richard S., indicates it's not a common problem with people getting theirs today, but the person who had the problem rebooted his Kindle Fire and he posted
"NEVERMIND GUYS, I rebooted my kindle and now it's running like a boss :)"


EPUB on Kindle Fire
And slightly off the topic, Ihnatko mentioned another aspect of apps for the Kindle File - an answer for many who ask whether the Kindle Fire will be able to access ePub books (and some good 3rd-party apps make this doable for Android devices in general)  Ihnatko writes:
' I now have what I’ve always wanted: a Kindle that can open and read ePUB books.  Mantano even supports Adobe DRM . . . so at least in theory, the Kindle Fire can even import the books you might have bought from a competing digital shop, such as the Google eBookstore.
...
Finally, there’s an Android-based tablet computer that people can justly get excited about. '

  So, note that ePub books even with Adobe DRM (digital rights management) applied are also supportable in this way.


FIRST REPORTS on Kindle Fire coming in (and shipments talk too)
See earliest reactions at the Kindle Forum.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Free Kindle books (11/14-15) - 65 free + discounted-book forum alerts + Amazon promos

FREE/DISCOUNTED KINDLE BOOKS DISCOVERED BY FORUM MEMBERS

Nov. 14-15: - Monday and Tuesday: 65 newly-free books

Myth of the Garage, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, 5 customer reviews, 5.0 stars, $0.00 (Link: amzn.to/myth-garage), published by Random House Digital

"...a collection of the authors’ best columns for Fast Company magazine -- 16 pieces in all, plus a previously unpublished piece entitled “The Future Fails Again.” In Myth, the Heath brothers tackle some of the most (and least) important issues in the modern business world --David Pitt for Booklist




Kindle Daily Deal (Often U.S. only, unfortunately)
(The Daily Deal link above changes at MIDNIGHT each day.
      Click it to see what the daily deal book is, at any time.)
The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo,Author, and Yoko Tanaka (Illustrator), 94 customer reviews, 4.2 stars  (Link: amzn.magicians-elephant )
    Daily Deal until the end of Tuesday, 11/15:
      Monday's Price: 5.24
      Tuesday's Discount: $4.25
      Tuesday's Daily Deal Price: $0.99 (75% off)

Category: Children's Books. Starred Review. Grade 4–6, per School Library Journal.
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2009: Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo
"...This darkly atmospheric yet hopeful tale demonstrates that when the answers to life's big questions are opaque or unforthcoming, all is not lost. DiCamillo's rhythmic writing, combined with Yoko Tanaka's mysterious black-and-white illustrations, enchants


  MORE... ( The temporarily newly-free books and discounted-book forum-alerts are on the 2nd page now, to load the main page more quickly and so that those wanting to go through the details can do so by: clicking on "MORE" just below)
*****
Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

Monday, November 14, 2011

A Round-up of Interesting Views from Kindle Fire Reviews (long) - UPDATE

ROUND-UP OF POINTS MADE IN KINDLE FIRE REVIEWS

All the Kindle Fire reviews started coming in last night, and almost every single review is detailed and quite long.  Somewhat off the topic, someone posted a review of the Kindle Touch 3G, and for the most part she missed the physical keyboard.  I would too because I like to see the full screen when I'm typing a note, and I find the clunky keyboard more reliable than touchscreen, for me.  But the new Touch Kindles are faster, from all reports.

  Prospective buyers and even those who have already bought a Kindle Fire should read all the pros and cons in the articles linked to here -- there are also helpful tips on using some of the features, besides.
  And even tips on bugs or glitches :-), both of which would be of interest to both groups.

So, although I'm choosing what I felt were stand-out points from the various reviews and will bold-face more unusual notes (especially one with an answer to a question often asked), I encourage going to the articles linked here.

  You'll see that some reviewers had disappointing sessions with the browser while others thought it was wonderful. I don't know whether that has to do with the amount of info-gathering the Silk browser requires before it knows which elements to serve up quickly, or whether some WiFi-setups are slower than others, but all the reviewers know what a normal, fast browsing situation is on the WiFi networks they use.  One reviewer I'm quoting seems to mainly just not like 7" tablets, but I've enjoyed my NookColor for over a year despite his complaints about the downsides of that size unit.  I find the size more 'handy' than the larger 10" and actually would not mind having both sizes for different circumstances, if the price is right.



MSNBC Technolog's Wilson Rothman
Headline: Kindle Fire review: Yes, it's that good

He points out that
' Because of the size, reading is easier than on an iPad, though kids' entertainment and other engrossing interactive content isn't as fun...
  [Another review pointed out you can't pinch-zoom in the Children's books.]
. . .
  And because the Fire is widescreen, unlike the more 4x3 iPad, videos look almost as big as they do on Apple's much larger device.  As far as screen quality goes, it's on par with the iPad.  In other words, as an opening move, hardware-wise, Amazon's getting it right.
. . .
  Speaking of fluid, the Fire's Silk browser is nice and quick, and only gets faster as it wises up to your browsing patterns...And though it tends to trigger the mobile versions of websites, it has few problems with the full versions, including embedded video and other features.
  [I also read that you can choose 'mobile' or 'desktop' mode]
. . .
  But for Apple, this still spells trouble. The Kindle Fire can handle about 80 percent of what I want to do on an iPad, for 40 percent of the price. And much of what's missing won't be missing for long... '


Engadget's Tim Stevens
Headline: Amazon Kindle Fire review (That's straightforward!)

  The first thing that struck me is:
    "What isn't so impressive is the 169 ppi pixel density.  With more and more smartphones starting to offer 1280 x 800 resolutions in [smaller] displays, we might have hoped for a bit more here."

  The larger iPad has lower pixel density at 132 ppi though, and the Kindle Fire pixel density is identical to what's on the 7" Nook Tablet, both of which have this somewhat heavier density on a smaller device than the iPad, which is a good thing :-)  I've considered the NookColor the best looking screen of the 7" Android-based devices I'd seen in the last year.

  I think that many have been quite happy with the $500 basic iPad's lesser pixel density even for that larger space.  And the review, remember, is of a $200 device vs the usual $400-$600 ones.

  And then, "...a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP chip, but here paired with only 512MB of RAM.  Perhaps it's the step down from the standard 1GB ..."

    But the iPad has only 512MB of RAM also ...

Stevens was trying to understand why "the Fire never delivers smooth, seamless performance." It's hard to say because reviewers run the gamut of reactions here.

  Commenters to his review wrote that the iPad doesn't acknowledge Flash and so doesn't even attempt to load Flash.  They add that he could have disabled the Flash option on the Kindle Fire to give a more equivalent look at what each device was loading, or not.   I didn't, though, notice any empty rectangles on the iPad indicating flash was used in the test pages.  I've seen the video only once so didn't look for that.

What is very useful (pro OR con about the Fire) is Engadget's VIDEO demos -- there are two of them:

  DEMO 1 of just the Kindle Fire: It's not quite 6 minutes and is a very good overview, but the demo is badly lit.  The demonstrator is clear and quick, but the camera person overexposed the lighting so that the demo person's hands are ghostly white.

    As a result of that poor lighting, the device doesn't show what would be the expected contrast or definition.

  DEMO 2 of A comparison of the iPad2, the Kindle Fire, and Samsung Galaxy 7" loading various webpages.  Also shown is the smooth, easy scrolling of the iPad via multiple touch while the other two are less smooth.



Mashable Tech's Lance Ulanoff
Headline: Amazon Kindle Fire, iPad's First True Competitor

Excerpts:
' It’s not an iPad slayer, but it could be the first tablet to ably stand atop Mount Tabulous (or at least on a rock ledge just a few dozen feet lower) with Apple’s industry-dominating slab computer.

This is a product I wanted to love... now I’m discovering it’s a somewhat flawed gadget...
...
Kindle Fire is a tablet that simply works...From the moment you turn it on ...to the minute you start watching a movie on the device and then continue watching on your HDTV — without connecting the device to the TV — you’re hooked...smart tablet with a fully thought-out ecosystem...
. . .
The speakers...can blast out near-room-filling-sound...
. . .
This interface is not always optimized for 1024×600 resolution on a 7-inch screen. While the bookshelf and items on it are large, some of the controls are tiny...
. . .
  ...you can pinch and zoom, but then you’re only seeing part of the page.
  [This is true of the NookColor too.  But at least there are in-between sizes, and usually the segment of the page that I want to read fits in the zoomed-in area.]
 ...The device also does its own minicrashes. It does not shut down, but simply drops you out of what you were doing...To be fair, my iPad 1 crashes a fair amount -- though the crashes are all related to third-party apps, and not the native Apple iOS...
. . .
Most of these gripes are minor, and to fully appreciate the Amazon Kindle Fire, you have to step back and look at all you’re getting for $199 (the base 16GB iPad is $499, the Nook Tablet $249). This is a highly polished device and collection of services...
. . .
It is the closest tablet I’ve seen yet to an Apple iPad: a consistent, well-thought out marriage of hardware and services that offer an almost frictionless environment for app purchase and content consumption.  This is why the iPad has been so successful and why I think the Kindle Fire, despite its imperfections, is a winner, too.'


Gizmodo's Sam Biddle
Headline: The iPad Finally Has Serious Competition

As much as I do quote here, there is more at Biddle's article, so do go to the link for that.

It opens with:
' The Kindle Fire is stuck between e-ink minimalism and gleaming iPad decadence...  But the Fire will not be overlooked. Apple: Be afraid.

And what a piece it is, right?  ...a gorgeous 7-inch, 16-million color display beaming a custom Amazonian Android build, made specifically for Kindle's essence.

From the minute you turn it on, the device is puzzlingly simple.

You don't have to think about how to use the Fire...

Reading, watching, browsing, and listening on the Fire are all tremendous, easy fun.  Books, even very long ones, spring open quickly; page turning is, most of the time, very responsive.
...
...for a conventional LCD, it looks about as great as you can expect -- after hours of reading on a dark train, my eyes felt fine.  Graphics-rich magazines look lush, even when their pages don't quite fill the screen.  If you don't care so much about glossy layout, the Fire bakes in a stripped-down text mode, a la Instapaper.

...Silk?  It works just as well as Amazon said -- pages rendered fine and rapidly, thanks to the cloud-crunching,
[ Note how different the experience is for the various reviewers! ]
and can be bookmarked, emailed (via Amazon's capable little native client), Facebook shared—and yes, tabbed.
  [Re Silk]  Pinch it!  Zoom it!  It's great.  The best part is it'll only become faster as more beings start caching their online journeys for the rest of us.
. . .
...I said the Fire is very responsive, most of the time. Most of the time, yes.  But when it's not, it's awful.  There's absolutely no excuse for a machine with these guts to be unable to turn pages with zero lag...
. . .
Simply, the Fire is a wonderful IRL compliment to Amazon's digital abundance.  It's a terrific, compact little friend, and -- is this even saying anything? -- the best Android tablet to date. '


Wired's Jon Phillips
Headline: Is This Really the Tablet Everyone's Talking About?

This is fairly snarky, expecting the Kindle Fire to do, at $200, what the iPad can do for $500.  The reviewer doesn't like any 7" screen.  Everything he says about the drawbacks of magazine-viewing is true for my 7" NookColor.

  He writes that it doesn't match "the standards of the world's best tablets," (which, he doesn't mention, cost $500-$600).  And he says this right after informing us that it's being sold at "an insanely low price."  I don't know about others, but I don't expect a small car for a single person will match the standards of the world's best (larger) cars (or vice versa).

  He found web browsing "preternaturally slow," which is a valid concern, but he immediately follows that by pointing out what we already knew, the lack of a camera, 3G data connectivity, and a slot for removable storage, all of which would be nice but would raise the price (as we've seen with other devices).

  As mentioned, Silk developers say that browser processes depend on knowing the users' (collective) previous go-to's in order to load the pages faster, so it's not going to be as fast at first as when it has the information it needs.   In the Kindle announcements demo in September, they probably had all the browsed-to pages already 'known' of course.

I remember that the Nook Tablet was considered sluggish in a review too.  It's been a feature of Androids, relative to the iPad.

  That 7" problem
  The point that magazines and web-page-reading require zoom-in's to read text when you're in portrait mode particularly, is very true on a 7."  I'm used to that after a year with the NookColor.  It's a trade-off for not having to carry around the larger 10"-er. His statement that "The Fire's 7-inch, 1024x600 screen is too small for many key tablet activities" is an assessment of a category of devices.  But it's a reaction others will have too, so it should be heeded.

  He adds though that It's also a winning video playback device that uses Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Amazon’s own digital storefront to deliver hundreds of thousands of movies and TV shows, many of them free.

  Another reminder by Phillips: "The Kindle’s 7-inch screen is still too small for any semblance of an immersive reading experience — even if that reading experience mostly involves looking at pictures."  Well, I have to say that I've enjoyed my photography and history-focused books with illustrations on the 7" NookColor. [Note to those who would buy the NookColor (Version 1) because of its now $199 price -- it cannot do Netflix, B&N says. I'd pay the extra $50 and go with the new one if wanting a Nook, if Netflix (or speed) is important.

  Video
  He does like the video feature. "...the Fire atones with a good deed in video playback.  The Fire’s wide-aspect-ratio video content plays in a 7-inch window.  While this window isn’t 720p (and therefore not true HD), it still holds up well to the 720p windows of the 9.7-inch iPad (9 inches at 720p) and all those 10.1-inch Android 3.0 tablets (9.75 inches at 720p)."

  Despite his web-browsing problems, "video playback was blissfully uneventful as far as framerate hiccups."  As most of us know, this is where one generally sees problems, much more so than in normal web browsing.

 He also found the quality "serviceable to good and considers the offerings a "fantastic wealth of video options..."
. . .
  "...a telling indicator of why so many people avoided 7-inch tablets the first time they were floated to the public last year: They suck for web browsing. And that’s a problem because web browsing is a key tablet responsibility."

  Yet I have happily web browsed on a 7" for a year! And, from what I read on BN forums, so have others.  Eventually, there'll be some who haven't tried a 7" who will eventually agree with him though, so I guess there is good reason to pound it home.

  A bit of rigidity creeps or stomps in when he says about music-playing on the tablet, "But is a 7-inch tablet a convenient portable music player? No, our smartphones and iPods own this function.  Case closed."

    What happened to the idea of one device doing a number of things we like, and saving us carrying weight?

  Personal Documents feature
  A number of Kindle owners have celebrated Amazon providing 5 free gigs of space for *personal* (non-Amazon) personal docs.  That includes our Word docs, straight text, and PDFs.  When I see interesting Web info I often copy a set of info I want to read at leisure into a Doc file and send it to my Kindle. I consider this a real feature.  People add recipes, etc (see Creative uses of the Kindle - a forum discussion).

  This means that if we want, Amazon backs these up on servers when we send them to the Kindle and we can re-download them if needed - it's a backup and of course material we can share with others.
  But, we can also sync the reading of these now, between the various Kindle-compatible devices, something long-requested by Kindle owners.  This includes NON-Amazon books that are not rights-protected.
  B&N will not back up non-B&N material nor sync the reading of them.

 What does Phillips have to say about this?
    "Huzzah.  More than anything, it seems like the user interface designers at Amazon wanted to fill a hole in the Fire’s main menu, so they added Docs as a placeholder."

His advice is to wait for Kindle Fire 2 or consider an iPad (for more than twice the cost).


CNet's Donald Bell
Headline: Amazon Kindle Fire : CNET Editors' review

This seems to be an expansion of an early "review" presented mid_October,
along with customer reviews dated back then, saying CNet should wait for a working
unit.  But the 'final marks' are dated Nov. 11/13-11/15.  Excerpts:
'The bottom line: Though it lacks the tech specs found on more-expensive Apple and Android tablets, the $199 Kindle Fire is an outstanding entertainment value that prizes simplicity over techno-wizardry.
. . .
... Fortunately, for those of you unwilling to shell out $500 for an Apple iPad 2, and wary of buying a piece of junk, Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet should be at the top of your wish list.
. . .
The other good news is that Amazon's services don't suck. Their music store is absolutely on par with iTunes in terms of selection, and their prices are cheaper in most cases...
. . .
And then there's video.  In my view, this is where Amazon's tablet really shines...when it comes to watching video, the Kindle Fire's combination of 7-inch IPS screen and a one-click library of TV shows and movies (not to mention Flash-based Web content) is an unmatched proposition.
. . .
...Amazon hasn't included any parental controls on the Kindle...
...
I also have to give a nod to the Kindle Fire's audio quality. Amazon doesn't include any headphones with the Kindle Fire, so you might not trip across the Kindle's audio quality right away.  Most budget-priced Android tablets (and a surprising number of high-end models) are plagued with a noisy headphone amp stage.  The Kindle doesn't offer any high-tech sound enhancements or EQ settings, but the fact that they managed to pull off a clean, quiet headphone output is a rare accomplishment at this price.
. . .
I don't live in a fantasy world where people are offering me free iPads. I live in a world where even $199 sounds like a lot of money.  In that world, I applaud Amazon for making the best tablet value on the market.
Bell has tons more at the article.



PC Magazine's Sascha Segan
Headline: Amazon Kindle Fire Review & Rating
Excerpts:
Pros
Incredible value for the price. Sharp, bright, hi-res screen. Extremely easy to use. Free cloud storage for Amazon content  [Actually, for NON-Amazon content too.]
  Cons
Sometimes sluggish. Screen can be very reflective. Limited on-device storage.
  Bottom Line
The first easy-to-use, affordable small-screen tablet, the Amazon Kindle Fire is revolutionary.

The Amazon Kindle Fire puts the Apple iPad on notice. The Fire is the first small tablet that average users can pick up and immediately use, with a simple, clear interface.  Then there's the price:  Android along with amazing specs for just $199.

  It's open enough to attract geeks, too. While the user interface occasionally gets sluggish, we're willing to have a bit of patience to get a first-rate tablet for half of what most competitors charge, thus the Kindle Fire is our first Editors' Choice for small tablets.

...you may have trouble reading in bright light because of the screen's sometimes mirror-like gloss...
. . .
[ Re Children's books] They look like straight flatbed scans, and you can't zoom in or out and there's no text-to-speech support there.  That's a less appealing experience than you get on the Nook, at least for now.
. . .
I also played my own media. The Kindle Fire handles MP3, AAC, and OGG music, including album art.  For video, it plays H.264 and MPEG4 only, at resolutions up to 1080p.  There's no Bluetooth stereo support, HDMI out, or way to connect the Kindle to a TV; Amazon would rather you play its cloud content through an Amazon-enabled set-top box like a TiVo.


[ MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION ANSWERED ]
A few apps I looked for, like Opera Mobile, weren't there, but there's another way to get apps onto the device.

This is still Android, and this tablet isn't locked down.  Plug the Kindle Fire into a PC or Mac and it pops up as a disk drive; you can drag and drop files into the 6.5GB of available memory at will.  For the tech-savvy, it's a simple task to extract any APK program file from an Android phone and drop it onto the Fire.  Amazon's app store includes the free Easy Installer, which lets you then install those apps on the Fire.

I installed a dozen free and paid apps from my HTC Sensation 4G ($199, 4 stars) phone...[several named, see article] all worked fine. The Gmail app and the official Facebook app (which I sideloaded) both crashed and wouldn't run during my test period.  Amazon hasn't yet expressed any problem with users rooting this device, so hack away.
[In fact, Amazon Silk Browser project director, Jon Jenkins, has said they're not actively stopping people from rooting it, just not helping them with it.  "It's going to get rooted, and what you do after you root it is up to you..."   Sascha Segan (who got that quote earlier) continues...]
Curiously, the Barnes & Noble Nook Android app runs beautifully if you prefer that store's book selection, although it can't download or read books that are restricted to the actual Nook tablets like most childrens books.

[ Something important to know ]
  Although the browser doesn't automatically reformat zoomed columns to avoid horizontal scrolling, double-tapping on a column of text zooms that column to the width of the screen.  [My NookColor does this also.]

You get [basic programs] and the Docs reader, which can turn Office documents into Kindle-readable versions.  Fortunately, better alternatives to everything are available in Amazon's app store.
[ See his article to get his recommendations for those. ]

[ Also see his paragraph on the bugs he encountered too.  He ends that with "Overall, though?  Pretty great for a $200 tablet."]
I can't emphasize this "ease of use" thing enough.  More than anything else, that's what's been holding non-iPad tablets back.  Amazon cracked it.  End of story.

I feel safe awarding it our Editors' Choice for small tablets. If the Nook lives up to its promise, it will also be a great tablet, and may get the same rating. But the Kindle Fire will still be a winner, if not the only winner, for this holiday season.


The Verge's Joshua Topolsky (article used by Washington Post too)
Headline: Amazon gets into the tablet game in a big way
Headline 2 - WashingtonPost: Changing the landscape of the tablet game

After pointing out that the Kindle Fire is "just incredibly unoriginal" (it's modeled after RIM's Blackberry PlayBook), Topolsky writes:
' It's got enough heft that it feels substantial, but it's not so heavy that you feel strain when holding it for extended periods.   Unlike the 1.3 pound iPad 2, I never felt fatigue after reading a book or magazine on the Fire.
. . .
After using this device and then going back to the iPad 2, I was struck at how big and bulky Apple's tablet feels.

Amazon says that the new browser will speed up load times because it offloads some of the work to the cloud.  I didn’t see much of a performance boost, and in fact, the iPad 2 and other Android tablets often outperformed the Fire.
. . .
If you're a Gmail user, you'll be happy to know that the device automatically sets up your mail as an Exchange account, thus allowing for push updates.

...you also get multiple message management as well as the ability to view a unified inbox which aggregates multiple accounts.
...
The Fire relies predominately on streaming to get your content, meaning that if your connection is slow or you're out of Wi-Fi range, you're pretty much out of luck. You can sideload content, but I get the impression that mounting a drive on your computer and dumping files into it isn't what Amazon really had in mind when they made the Fire.
...
If you are storing lots of music and movies on the device, you're going to have to get into management of those files pretty quickly, and that can make for an unpleasant experience.

Minor complaints aside, my main takeaway from the Fire on the process of finding and purchasing content is this:

  Amazon has done it better and more elegantly than anyone else in the space right now, and I hope the competition follows suit.
[ He was "underwhelmed" with browser performance though. ]
...You're probably familiar with Whispersync for Kindle books, which lets you leave off in a specific place on one device, and then pick up in that same place on another.

  For the Kindle Fire, Amazon has extended the feature to video, which means that you can now pause something you're watching online or on a Roku, TV, or other box equipped with an Amazon Video application, and pick it up on your Fire, or vice versa.
. . .
Still, there's no question that the Fire is a really terrific tablet for its price...The device is decently designed, and the software — while lacking some polish — is still excellent compared to pretty much anything in this range (and that includes the Nook Color).

At any rate, I was amazed by the range of reactions expressed in these reviews.
Each article has more, so please visit the links to learn more of what they saw, tested, and describe in even more detail.  I think I may have missed a video in one or two of them too.



UPDATE: Jessalyn of MyKindleStuff sent a thorough review
by the Chicago Sun-Times's Andy Ihnatko
Headline: REVIEW: Kindle Fire is no iPad killer -- but it is a killer device

  I could just send you to the the full article at the link, since we have a large set here, but there are statements that pop out, and Kindle Edition subscribers can't read some webpages that easily. So, excerpts:
' Take an iPad, solve its two biggest problems, and you’d hope to wind up with something exactly like Amazon’s Kindle Fire. '
...the Fire packs 169 pixels per inch to the iPad’s 132.  Under magnification, the difference is obvious.  In real-world use, the added density simply helps to make up for the paperback-sized page layout.  Neither device can hold a candle to e-Ink and its true print-quality resolution...
. . .
...Seven inches is a Goldilocks screen size for many uses...
...Amazon Instant Video and the Lending Library aren’t exactly an infinite buffet of content, but there’s loads of great stuff in there...

... The EFF notes some important concerns, but on their site they say that they’re “generally satisfied with the privacy design of Silk.”
  Between the EFF’s reports and my conversations with Amazon, I’m cautiously satisfied with the safety of Silk.

  Ironically, the optimization delivers at least one privacy benefit: because the connection between the Fire and Amazon is always encrypted, the optimized Silk is far safer to use over an open, unencrypted WiFi connection than it is with the cloud optimizations turned off.

  ...its ability to use documents and data from outside the Amazon store ecosystem. Here, the Fire earns high marks...

  boatloads of onboard storage is far less important to a Kindle Fire user than it is to a Nook user, thanks to the Fire’s intimate connection to Amazon’s cloud services.  8 gigs is enough for several books, a few movies, a couple of TV shows, several hundred songs, and a pile of photos.
  That might not necessarily be enough to last you a couple of weeks, but it’ll certainly last until you find yourself near a hotspot and can swap out the stuff you’re sick of for some alternatives.  [Only 6.5 Gigs are available for consumer files though.]

  [ Important - Another answer to a question often asked ]
  You can tick a checkbox in its Settings to allow the Fire to run apps downloaded from any arbitrary source (such as, downloading from a website or an independent repository)

  [ Also: ]
  I now have what I’ve always wanted: a Kindle that can open and read ePUB books.  Mantano even supports Adobe DRM . . . so at least in theory, the Kindle Fire can even import the books you might have bought from a competing digital shop, such as the Google eBookstore.

  [ He shows that work is needed on accessibility features. ]

  Finally, there’s an Android-based tablet computer that people can justly get excited about. '

Believe it or not, I've left out 90% of the article, so visit the article to get much more info.



Kindle Touch 3G   Kindle Touch WiFi   Kindle Basic   (UK: KBasic)   Kindle Fire
Kindle Keybd 3G   (UK: Kindle Keybd 3G)   K3 Special Offers   K3-3G Special Offers   DX

Check often: Temporarily-free recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

Below are ways to Share this post if you'd like others to see it.
-- The Send to Kindle button works well only on Firefox currently.

Send to Kindle


(Older posts have older Kindle model info. For latest models, see CURRENT KINDLES page. )
If interested, you can also follow my add'l blog-related news at Facebook and Twitter
Questions & feedback are welcome in the Comment areas (tho' spam is deleted). Thanks!

[Valid RSS]