UPCOMING KINDLE FIRE SOFTWARE UPDATESThat's the title of an announcement made at the Amazon Kindle Forums last night, and the software updates will be arriving "in the coming weeks" for the updated Kindle Fire, and the Kindle Fire HD.
The addition that might be of most interest to customers (I'm understating this) is a setting that will let the customer control whether or not personalized recommendations appear below the carousel on the Home page of the Kindle Fire.
These recommendations are associated with individual items on the carousel when it's scrolled in either direction. There are some who like it because it's closer to what they might find interesting, while many hate it, so this is a welcome setting.
Here's the full text of the announcement (any links, emphases, or paragraph breaks are added by me).
' Initial post: Sep 25, 2012 10:01:01 PM PDT
The Amazon Kindle team says:
We wanted to let you know that in the coming weeks, free software updates will be coming to Kindle Fire HD and the latest generation Kindle Fire.
These software updates will include Kindle FreeTime, a tablet experience just for kids allowing parents to set daily screen time limits, and give access to appropriate content for each child.
We're also adding a setting to let customers control whether or not personalized recommendations appear below the carousel on the device homepage.
In addition, customers will be able to set their device default language to one of six languages, including English (US), English (UK), German, French, Italian, and Spanish. These updates will be delivered automatically to your Kindle Fire.
Thanks,
The Kindle Team '
That's the good news for today!
UPDATE - 9/27/12 Kindle Team replied to an individual's post today about the unwelcome re-appearance of removed carousel items (Kindle Team individual replies are very unusual on the forums and maybe a good sign). Boldfacing is mine.
' In reply to an earlier post on Sep 27, 2012 9:46:56 AM PDT
The Amazon Kindle team says:Waco Odie,The Kindle Team '
You stated "When items are removed on the home screen, they return to the carousel when the Fire HD turned off and restarted."
This will be fixed in the upcoming software release coming in the next few weeks.
Thank you for your feedback.
Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links
NOTES on newer Kindles.
| US: Updated Kindle Fire Basic 7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G/WiFi - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379, Free, slow web | UK: Kindle NoTouch Basic, UK - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - £109 Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149 Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB | OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189 Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB |
Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
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.
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Alas, I wish my first generation Fire would get an update. I understand that a complete upgrade is not possible but there are still buggy things about it and Freetime would be nice, along with the new facebook integration and new email app. Maybe they will give us an update eventually.
ReplyDeleteHugh, there are indications on the product page for the $159 model, that Freetime MAY be made available "on all Kindle Fires" -- am hoping they mean they plan an update on the 1st gen KFire. They recently did one for Kindle Keyboard, which came out Aug 2010, so it's possible. The new email app is probably too much to ask for but ...
DeleteI hope they do something right away for the Paperwhite too as according to the user manual it will have the "feature" of personalized recommendations on the home screen when in cover view.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
DeleteI'm pretty sure this would apply to all Kindlers. They announced the coming software for an optional setting after getting the user's guide done, and the feature will still be there, from what I read. It'll just have a setting to turn it off if wanted.
Newsabout software Updates for new Kindle Fires. thanks for share this..
ReplyDeleteI have a kindle fire 1sr generation I love to text to speech. Will they be providing this software. Update
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, the original Kindle Fire would get a separate but different update someday, possibly (Amazon tends to do software updates to older devices also, but not very often as they have a very different operating setup, with less storage space and processing power, so any changes would be minimal).
DeleteI don't know what Freetime involves in processing and keeping track of it all but I suspect it would make the device less useful for adding apps -- it's just limited in space... I hope something good happens. I like the Text to Speech too.