Kindle Fire HDX and HD Tips: [WAS] *$30 off ANY HDX: 2 days*. $10 off 16GB Kindle HD 7" Gen2. Avoid v4.3 update for Kindle for Android. X-ray for Music. Recent reviews and points to consider. Display-test results for smaller and larger tablets from Apple, Google, and Amazon. UPDATED 12/26.

*NEW ALERT* came in while I was about to publish this blog entry on Dec. 22. (Remember that Prime member PRE-Christmas delivery was to end at Midnight EST, 9pm PST tonight (Sunday, 12/22). (Apologies for such a garish page then.)
As it was, UPS had a big failure on pre-Christmas deliveries, and Amazon, which did ship on time, has been giving some refunds on shipping costs due to the UPS problems.
I've updated the December 22 blog entry to December 26.

NOTE: Special Christmas sales cited here are ENDED, as of 12/31

Amazon is now on its "Year-End Deals."
THIS new discount itself ended Monday night Dec. 23 at 9pm PST and midnight EST - it WAS good for two days ONLY.

So, the coupon code above SANTAHDX, WAS on ANY HDX (including the 8.9" HDX finally -- as many have asked why the 8.9" HDX had not gone on sale -- and the 7" HDX tablets.

(STILL available as of Dec 26, 2013):
ALSO, Add 8 GB to the new Kindle Fire HD 2nd Gen's basic storage for $20 instead of the usual $30 - "for a limited time"



X-Ray for Music
To my surprise, the feature I've enjoyed most (suddenly seen while working on my laptop) involved lyrics scrolling down the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" sitting next to the laptop when playing music (with Amazon's Cloud Player or with the Music player on the tablet).

  The lyrics feature was/is for music I'd either bought from Amazon through the years or even uploaded and "imported" to our 5-Gig free file-storage area (which all customers, globally, are given, although non-US residents can't stream media from the US servers).

  The non-digital-rights-protected mp3's we upload that we get from other sources will get lyrics attached to them for scrolling (if we want) when the mp3 is from an album that matches a recording that Amazon sells.  And when we re-download them, to Kindle tablets, they'll have those lyrics availble if the publisher allows.  The publisher can decide, though, to stop including them depending on Agreements not renewed, etc.

  Mainly, I hadn't been expecting this feature when I first saw it.  But there it was, and being weird I love to sing along and found I didn't know half the lyrics.  Amazon negotiated agreements with quite a few of the music publishers to provide these lyrics, with the current line being sung, highlighted, in bolder face.

  It's made working more fun to have the tablet going, mp3-wise and not visually distracting me, and is just one newer feature but it did surprise me, as I thought the music I'd bought probably wouldn't be included for lyrics.   They're playable on the computer as well, of course, with the Cloud Player for Web.

 For those of you with a tablet from the new line (Kindle Fire HD 2nd Gen, HDX 7" or HDX 8.9"), any mp3 you play that has "[+Lyrics]" alongside the title will have the scrolling words (if you uploaded it to the Cloud -- and downloading it afterwards attaches the lyrics as well).
  You can read more about how it works on the Amazon XRay help page.

At any rate that's one feature of many with the new line of Kindle Fire tablets on Amazon's "Mojito" OS 3.1 based on Android Jelly Bean -- be aware that media streaming from Amazon U.S. servers is done for U.S. residents only, for the most part, but you can import/upload to the cloudplayer to get the lyrics attached, then download the mp3 to play it on your device that way.


MORE ALERTS
* Avoid updating Kindle app for Android - to v4.3 (released Dec 17), available at Google play for Android devices.  Too many Android device users have been experiencing problems with this upgrade, finding their books missing from the display or being unable to get the app to open books.  Can't know what percentage of users are affected.

  When I checked the Amazon's app store for the Kindle for Android app, Amazon itself is at least now offering only the older v4.2.0.151 version (which I have on my Android device and I've decided to not let it update).  Too many Android devices are set to automatically install updates, but I turn that off because I'd rather decide after others have tried the updates (from any app maker).

  Normally, I'd say at least you can 'remove' the updated app and install the older version from Amazon, but makers like Samsung have built-in versions that can't be removed.  In that case, I imagine Amazon developers are hard at work on a fix for this.

  So, if you have not installed it yet, although notified of the update, it is probably best not to install it.  There are rarer instances of people reporting no problem, depending on the phone or tablet they're using, I guess, and whatever compatibility situation is involved.

  Because it offers Collections and the option to turn publisher-choice of fonts Off, some had lept at the offer.
  This is an alert in case you'd rather not risk having to re-download your books if there is a problem and not be able to read them until the new update is out.


* Dec. 22 WAS the LAST day for delivery of gifts before Christmas Day (free for Prime members).
     The deadline for ordering was midnight EST that night (Sunday night) Dec. 22 and, as mentioned above, 9pm PST.

* Amazon's "THE BIG DEAL" returned - More than 500 Kindle books at "up to 85% Off"
     But that ends tonight also (Dec. 22).

     "The Big Deal" includes 500 Kindle books organized by category.  The books, many of which are quite popular, are priced between $1.99 and $3.99, with most of them $1.99 to $2.99.

     Expiration date once more:
     December 22, 2013.

     Amazon note:
"Individual titles may have additional territory restrictions, and not all deals are available in all territories. Amazon may modify the selection of books offered at any time."


Recent online reviews of and reports on the Yr 2013 HDX/HD2 tablets with descriptions of unique features
  These entries include Comments I made to somewhat misleading info in what are very good reports otherwise.

On the most recent blog entry, I cited the recent report from PCWorld and MacWorld's TechHive naming the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 and the Kindle HDX 7" tablet for top spots in the Top 5 products for year 2013

  While additionally listing the Top 50 for 20213, they link to their full review of the HDX 7", a review which is unusual in actually noting and describing software features that are unique to the Kindle Fire tablets and which give unusual added value that I don't see mentioned in other reviews.  Excerpts:

" ...beautifully designed tablet that climbs to the top of the 7-inch heap" [citing 2nd screen technology and the video tech support within 15 seconds from someone who can show you what buttons to press where].

[While pointing out the Enterprise capabilities for company IT services they say that this] ..."misses the point of the Fire HDX, which is to provide the best tablet for consuming books, music, and video."

[The writer does point out that the edges of the screen show a bit of dimming when the background is all white which is "barely noticeable" but a major complaint of his.]

"I have to say that it no longer makes any sense that the iPad forces you to launch an app before letting you read a book. Why doesn’t it..." [do what the HDX does]

"Amazon has come up with an answer to the question “How can we improve the user’s enjoyment of books, music, and video?” and the answer is far more impressive than adding storage or throwing in a sharper screen. It’s a feature called X-Ray" [which he goes on to explain in detail for various media-uses involved].

"The iPad has a huge content library of its own, but it also suffers from lock-in problems. The digital movies and books you purchase from Amazon are DRM-protected just like the stuff from the iTunes Store, but Amazon doesn’t limit you to playing them only on Amazon-brand hardware."

[He notes the lack of access to Google Play store (which is a decision of Google) but doesn't mention that other appstores like 1mobile carry more than 500,000 Google Play apps which the Kindle can just download and install if you check a Settings box to allow your device to install non-Amazon apps.  Amazon didn't wall this device as some think.

  See How to install non-Amazon apps for how to do this without any 'rooting' of the device or any modifications to the unit -- just a check-mark in a Settings box and getting any other app-store market app that is usable the way we use the Amazon store app.]

"I don’t know what Apple could do to enhance the iPad mini to make me recommend it over the Fire HDX, provided that the person asking my advice had little interest in productivity or gaming.  A 7-inch Fire HDX will give you a superior content experience and leave $100 in your pocket—which you can spend on books, music, and movies."

  Forbes review of 8.9" HDX today
"... An Unmatched Hardware Experience"
  Ewen Spence spent a week with the tablet.  Some excerpts:

" If your only concern is screen technology, the HDX 8.9 is the clear winner.  On every quantifiable measure, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is the device to beat."

  [He makes the usual point that it can't access GooglePlay store to get its Apps, but says that the Kindle tablets are not "Google-certified" and that the apps have to be "recompiled" to work with the Kindle tablets.  Well, not really.
  In 1.5 years I have not had any Google App fail to work and work well on my Kindle HD or HDX's.

  He knows that one can 'sideload' apps (better yet, directly load) to the Kindle devices but then says it's not a standalone tablet like the iPad Mini (which does NOT allow ANY app that is not Apple approved and in the Apple store).

  Again, to see how easy it is to use Google apps on the Kindle Fire HD or HDX, with a choice of over 500,000 of them, see How to install non-Amazon apps on a Kindle Fire HDX or HD tablet.  A store-app is no harder to install than any other app from your favorite app store and then you get other apps with it.  This is possibly the best-kept secret in the world of tablets.]

"Where Amazon has a huge win is of course in e-books, magazines, and periodicals. They have probably the largest accessible catalogue of current ‘digital words’, and they make good use of it in the Kindle Fire HDX."

I added to Forbes's Comments area:
  'By the way, you might like that personal docs and hand-rolled e-books not protected with digital-rights CAN be sync’d with your other Kindle-compatible devices and the annotations backed up on your personal password-protected web page at Amazon where you can copy or print them.'

  That's another unique feature most don't realize is there.

  I also added that we can use the BS Player app (available at 1mobile store), HD Video Player or Mobo Player apps (at Amazon's store) that tend to be able to play almost any video format there is.  Also:

" Issues around content and UI aside, watching on the Kindle Fire HDX is a wonderful experience, and is certainly the gold standard of the current crop of tablets.

  TechnoBuffalo reviews the Kindle HDX (Dec. 15]
Brandon Russell, also using it for 7 days, headlines this:
"Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Review: The Most Enjoyable Way To Consume."   Excerpts:

' Amazon has created an experience that’s right on the heels of its closest rival, the Nexus 7; in some respects, it’s even better.

... - it might even be the best small Android tablet this holiday season.  That’s because the Fire HDX is less of a device and more of a perfect ideal.

... It’s no fuss, little effort, with plenty of reward.  You might say it’s the People’s Tablet.

... [Re no access to GooglePlay apps store] Amazon does mitigate this slightly by adding some cool software flare, such as a cool app for parents, X-Ray features, and an incredible new tech support service called Mayday.

... a remarkable new tech support tool called Mayday. Basically,  Mayday is like Apple’s version of making a Genius Bar appointment, except you never have to wait in line or leave your house.  Everything is done right through your Fire HDX and FREE.

... Tech Advisors can change settings, download apps and do pretty much any tech support related issues you need done, step-by-step, like your own tech support personal assistant.

  I never ran into an issue Amazon’s Mayday couldn’t fix, and found that representatives were incredibly helpful and explained situations very thoroughly.

... The scale and ease of use of Amazon’s Mayday is absolutely incredible, and is a godsend for those aunts and uncles who have never used a tablet in their life.

... sports a ridiculous resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Colors are deep, viewing angles are terrific and everything is extremely crisp.  Anything you can possibly hope to watch, read and view looks wonderful—better to my eyes than any other small tablet screen on the market, including the Nexus 7 and iPad mini with Retina.

  It creates a more immersive experience, helping to emphasize what’s actually on the display while the device itself (mostly) fades away.

... You won’t find the Kindle Fire HDX to be slow, even with Fire HD content beaming into your eyeballs. As far as battery life goes, the Fire HDX lasts forever. Like, forever. I was consistently shocked at how much battery life it had after a day’s use — I mostly read books and watch movies — and actually found it lasted more like two to three days without needing a charge. I had to try and run the battery down, rather than worry about if I needed a charge.'

Amazon suspends unneeded tablet activity while you're reading, which is one reason the battery lasts as long as it does if you spend a lot of time reading.

About that display, the Kindle HDX 8.9" vs Apple's iPad Air and Google's Nexus 10 (Nov. 2013)
  Here are some links with much shorter excerpts.  The first links are to very detailed tests of all these displays by Displaymate, a company that specializes in this, and they have very high standards to be met
Displaymate's Conclusions on an ultra-detailed page of testing results that were summarized by many techsites recently.

' Most impressive of all is the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, which has leapfrogged into the best performing Tablet display that we have ever tested, significantly out-performing the iPad Air in Brightness, Screen Reflectance, and high ambient light contrast, plus a first place finish in the very challenging category of Absolute Color Accuracy. '

CNet's Don Reisinger added, from a November testing of the smaller versions of these:
  "iPad Mini's Retina Display finishes last in small-screen review
   The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX and Google Nexus 7 drew higher scores in the DisplayMate shoot-out."

  "Apple was once the leader in mobile displays, unfortunately it has fallen way behind in both Tablets and Smartphones," DisplayMate wrote in its findings. "This should be a wakeup call."

There are other factors of course - The Apple apps are likely the best available collection (and if you have an iPhone you'd want to use the same apps, so you're wiser to go with an iPad or iPad mini in that case), and they have tended to run very smoothly although recent reports indicate there are problems as there are with other tablets.  The kicker is that their lowest-storage tablets tend to be more expensive than highest-storage tablets of their two main competitors, the Kindle Fire HDX and the Google Nexus tablets.

On the other hand, when you're paying a lot of money, it's also wise to consider these results.
TechnoBuffalo's Todd Haselton summarizes the smaller tablet testing before sending us over to the extremely detailed test descriptions and results:

' Additionally, DisplayMate only found “good accuracy” when it came to absolute color accuracy on the iPad mini with Retina, while the other two received “very good ” ratings.

  The Nexus 7 (2013) was inferior when it came to image contrast accuracy, however.  Overall, the Kindle Fire HDX 7 and Nexus 7 (2013) both received “very Good A-” scores while the iPad mini with Retina received a “Good B” score in the “overall” testing category.  Apple’s smaller iPad also suffered in relative maximum brightness, mirror reflections, relative contrast rating in high ambient light and other tests.

 DisplayMate found all three tablets were particularly weak in brightness decreasing at 30 degree viewing angles, but that the iPad mini with Retina had too small of a color gamut and a poor absolute color accuracy rating. '

WELL, that should gve an idea of how it goes.  The Kindle Fire HD/HDX line's main 'weakness' as reported is its lack of direct access to the Google Play apps store, but those who do just a bit of googling will know that those apps are easily available for and directly downloadable to the Kindle Fire HDXs and HD line and have been for awhile.  One can just google "how to install non-amazon apps on a kindle fire" ...


TIP - The excellent SMALL and portable AYL speaker(s) system is back but with an extension for more bass and gets good ratings by Amazon customers.

  I wrote about its earlier incarnation here and provided a little videoclip of that earlier version.


EARLIER articles here on the Kindle HDX and HD tablets -- they have thorough descriptions of what these tablets do:

  1. Overview of New Features
  2. Things to Know about the new features

  Those two articles have clarifications for some points that have puzzled some.



The image and table below are added so that you can compare the current Kindle Fire models specs and what each one has, to give you a head start on all the information at the product pages.

  Note that the Kindle Fire models in the table below are the WiFi-only models, and that they both have Dolby Audio Dual Stereo Speakers and Dual band WiFi, while the HDX model has dual antennas in addition.

Normal starting prices are w/ special offers that they say will offer more savings than Lighting deals.

Kindle Fire HD 7" - $139   Basic "family" tablet, HD Gen2 8 and 16GB options Display: 1280 x 800, 216 PPI Ram: 1GB   No Mayday No camera or mic (no Skype) No HDMI-out: Use 'Fling' - No Miracast Dual-core 1.5 GHz processor

Kindle Fire HDX 7" - $229   'Personal' HDX tablet 16, 32 or 64GB options Display: 1920 x 1200, 323 PPI Ram: 2GB Front-facing, 720p camera No HDMI-out: Use 'Fling' or Miracast Quad-core 2.2 GHz processor

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" - $379   'Does it all' HDX tablet 16, 32, or 64GB options Display: 2560 x 1600, 339 PPI Ram: 2GB Adds 8MB rear-facing camera No HDMI-out: Use 'Fling' or Miracast Quad-core 2.2 GHz processor

---

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.

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


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Google's Chromecast device - a follow up. What it does and doesn't do, a third review added

Google's Chromecast - Chromecast Follow up

In addition to the two articles I linked to on the July 29 blog article that included a look at the Chromecast device that Google priced so well ($35), David Pogue wrote a review this morning that also addresses real-world concerns and is quite positive.  This device is still temporarily out of stock, but if you're interested in it, Pogue's more positive reviews tend to cause a rush to buy, and Amazon is taking pre-orders.  Amazon says it doesn't charge your card until the item is shipped.

  I use the HDMI microport on the Kindle Fire HD devices to show what I want from my tablets to an HDTV (including browsing of webpage) and it's pretty straightforward.  This, if you use the Chrome browser on your mobile devices (including laptops) will also show your web content on a TV and it's very portable and will work with your phone and other tablets as well.

I'm including below the Chromecast info from the earlier post from this blog on July 29, with links to two other excellent articles at the bottom of it.

Chromecast is a 'dongle' that Google is selling for $35 that will stream some web video, music "and more" from a tablet, phone or laptop to a TV in many or most cases.  Reviews differ so far.

  Google was offering 3 months of free Netflix for this, even to those who already subscribe to Netflix.
  They discontinued that free Netflix offer this last week (due to overwhelming demand), to much consternation, especially since people had bought (from Google, Best Buy, and Amazon, et al) one of these gadgets with the expectation of getting that Netflix promo.

  Here is the upshot, on how Amazon will handle the Netflix promo for those who bought before the cancellation was announced:

' Netflix Promotion No Longer Available
Please note that the Netflix promotional offer (which was available in limited supply) has now ended.  Customers who ordered their Chromecast prior to 5:31 PM PST on July 24, 2013 will receive a Netflix gift code via email within 5 days of their product's ship date. '

  If you bought it from Google, their policy is: "Orders placed before 1PM PST on 7/25 will receive their promotion code once their order ships."

  Two excellent articles on Chromecast
  Here's a very informative set of explanations of what Chromecast does and how it does it, by RJ Raphael - "Android Power" column, at Computerworld.
  Also, one titled "... but not for everyone," by Craig Lloyd for Slashgear, includes some caveats.



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Kindle Fire News: Why a Kindle Fire HD? Why price reductions - why not free? Real questions as headlined. UPDATED

Kindle-related news over the last few days

Apologies to Kindle-Edition blog subscribers, as I needed to be away the last few days.  I used my tablet to look at the news and, as far as the Kindle world goes, not much was happening except tons of reactions to the reduction in prices on the Kindle Fire 8.9" HD and what it all means, including the expansion of the tablets to Europe and Japan.

  The reviews of the 8.9" model were similar to what we've read before but far less detailed.  They were actually more restatements of the product page information, so those past reviews, linked, are a bit more informative.  At the end, in response to people in the forums asking whether to get a Kindle Fire HD 7" or 8.9" (if wanting a Kindle Fire HD at all), I'll add links to a couple of earlier blog articles and the earlier basic comparison chart of Kindle Fire HD, Google Nexus, and Apple iPad mini, so those are the most popular 7" to 9" models.

BUT, a reaction column that most struck me was one that didn't wonder why the prices are now lower but asks instead when will Kindles (the topic being tablets) become free, and the writer, Beth Bacon, for Digital Book World, asks further why one would get one when the Apple iPad is available, which she considers more fully featured.
  She seems sincere in thinking most wanting a tablet would prefer a pure Android tablet or a Microsoft OS or spend $230+ more for the most basic iPad because, as she explains, Kindle owners would mainly want to read books and Kindle books can be read on an Apple while Apple books can't be read on any other system.

?  Hasn't the general complaint by general gadget writers and news-site commenters been that Amazon's attitude is wholly proprietary and you HAVE to buy a Kindle to read their books?  Yet it's Apple, she points out, that keeps other devices unable to read Apple iStore books.  And this is written as a Plus!

  As many know, you can read a Kindle book on almost every operating system under the sun, which can make words on an LCD screen somewhat hard to read.  You don't need a Kindle at all, to read a Kindle book.

  But what many general gadget reporters aren't familiar with are the many convenient features the Kindle Team has given their devices, and just a few of these are;
  1. Syncing of the reading of a book among all your devices (Apple doesn't even try);
  2. a free, private, password-protected personal webpage for your annotations on all your books;
  3. features that tell you which actors are in the current streaming Instant Video scene you're watching;
  4. the quickly-findable X-Ray'd info on any character or event name in a book you're reading, and
  5. if you choose a Prime Shipping program feature for free 2-day shipments of physical purchases, you also get the now 16,300+ no-fee Prime Eligible instant videos to watch at any time.

  On Friday, before leaving, I did respond to The Digital Books World article, and Bacon was good enough to print it (this is not always the case when a commenter adds some conflicting information).  Here's what I wrote -- not even mentioning the 5 points above! -- plus a correction I'm making:

' Andrys on March 15, 2013 at 8:42 pm said: [to]
Why would anyone buy a Kindle when there are full-featured tablets like Apple’s $500 one or the $900 Microsoft Surface Pro?

Factors include what features people are looking for.  David makes good points about ease of accessibility to the media mentioned.

Others:
1. A microHDMI port out to an HDTV (the Apple doesn’t have this) and people have used it to watch their Kindle tablet videos (even Prime Instant) on hotel HDTVs that way. **

2. A stereo set of speakers that are placed on on each end when watching movies or TV show videos and with Dolby Stereo for unusual spatial qualities and automated frequency emphasis depending on whether it’s speech or music.
  The iPad has two small speakers almost side by side on one short end – no stereo effect during movies unless you put on headphones or use external speakers

3. Amazon allows apps from "unknown sources" (Non-Amazon app stores) and Kindle Fire users can download, direct to the tablet, the popular Dolphin browser which supports the older Adobe Flash Reader still available that can be used easily, despite Adobe’s dropped support for mobile devices using the later Android 4.x systems.

  Because of this, Kindle Fire users can watch free network TV full-episodes like ABC’s entire primetime programs (and some daytime shows) when they missed an episode, as the network TV websites still use Flash for that, and Apple's Steve Jobs disdained running Flash on iOS, depending on sites to use HTML5. ***

4. The 7" size is proving very popular and Amazon’s has Retina-type high resolution while Apple’s iPad mini has lower, standard resolution but costs more.

5. It's like deciding not to bill for purchase of an economy car (giving them away instead) when an advertised-full-featured car is available (and when the fuller-featured car does not have some high-valued features that the less-expensive car does have).

6. There are now many Android app stores, including 1mobile.com, which carries over 200,000 apps, which are directly downloadable and usable for Kindle Fire devices. '

Here's the blog article on how to install non-Amazon appstore apps, which is done with Amazon's own settings option (an option which Barnes and Noble kept off the Nook system so that people have to find risky 'rooted' solutions to get the same features, which is one reason the Nook tablets haven't done as well in market share, in addition to having far less of an ecosystem for tablet entertainment).

In-depth Reviews comparing the Kindle Fire HDs, the Google Nexus and the Apple
Here are what reviews-in-depth reported in comparisons of similar-sized tablets, which found aspects not touched upon by the more superficial reviews citing pure speed or direct access to Google Play (and I would recommend that those who love games most get a Nexus and those who want apps that are compatible with their iPhones get the iPad models)

  1. Reviews of Kindle Fire HD 7 vs Nexus

  2. More on iPad mini vs Kindle Fire HD


Also, I'm placing below, the basic comparison table I put together in September, which has been updated for changing prices (please let me know if I've missed anything in that).

QUICK table of differences in features for price, with Google Nexus and IPad mini

Kindle Fire HD 7" $199 7-inch display 1280 x 800 resolution 216 ppi 16GB storage 1GB RAM Dual stereo speakers   w/ Dolby Plus HDMI-Out to HDTV Front-facing camera, 1.2MP Dual core TI OMAP 4470 w/ Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core Dual band, 2 antenna WiFi Battery-life claim: 11 hrs Customized Android, does Amazon store w/setting that allows apps from other app stores 50,000 apps + access to getjar.com, 1mobile.com, etc for google-play apps $10 more for a charger if you need one  Older Kindle & smart phone chargers work $15 add'l: no lockscreen ad $229 for 32GB model ($269 for 16GB 8.9" 1920x1200 resolution, 254 ppi) ($299 for 32GB 8.9" 1920x1200 resolution, 254 ppi)

Google Nexus 7" $199 7-inch display 1280 x 800 resolution 216 ppi 8GB storage (up'd to 16GB) 1GB RAM One mono speaker * No HDMI-out to HDTV Front-facing camera < 1 MP Quad core Tegra 3 Basic WiFi Battery-life claim: 9-10 hrs Pure Android and can do direct Google Play store ~600,000 apps $249 for 32GB model

Apple iPad mini 7.9 inch/ $329 7.9-inch display 1024 x 768 resolution 163 ppi 16GB storage 512MB? Per A5 chip specs. TBC. Built-in speakers *   Nov. 2, Apple finally added an 's' to 'speaker' * No HDMI out to HDTV ** Front (HD) & Back (to 1080p) cameras Dual-core A5 Dual-Band WiFi Battery-life claim: 10 hrs iOS 6 275,000 heavily-curated tablet-optimized apps  (Can also run small iPhone apps - any w/ Retina resources can scale w/o pixelating. 450,000 add'l.) 23% & 53% lighter than iPad. Lighter than the other tablets. $429 for 32GB model

  * iPad mini: See Speaker discussion - to be changed when Apple changes its iPad mini specs page.
    Update - On Nov. 2, Apple finally updated their iPad-Mini specs page to show "Built-in speakers" instead of "Built-in speaker" -- something I requested they do since Specs pages are official reference pages.  The speaker grilles are about an inch or two apart, on one short side, and maybe that's why they don't mention 'stereo' after the correction.  The whole thing has been bizarre.  This might be the first iPad w/ two speakers with separate baffles but they can do nothing for movies or videos viewed the usual way, as they are close together on just one side.

    Google Nexus: See Nexus owner forum thread about the speaker.

** Those w/ Apple TV's can do AirPlay Mirroring to them.
   Contributor Tom Semple adds: Apple's new $49 "Lightning" adapter can provide HDMI out.

***Tom Semple adds he uses Puffin app to access Flash video on his iPad.

**** 7" HD Kindle Fire pricing was changed from $249 to $229 on April 11, 2013.

Table updated March 19, 2013, April 11, 2013

For the initial comparison article, I didn't include the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet HD,
which has higher display resolution - but it has no cameras, not even one for Skype (important for family & friends who like to communicate via video chat), and B&N will not allow owners to enable installation of apps from non-B&N sources.  I may do an additional table later though.

---

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Kindle News: More detailed comparisons of 7" tablets: iPad mini, Nexus, + Kindle Fire HD... Amzn Lockers...Appstore in Japan...CyberMonday sales

I've been trying out wireless bluetooth keyboards on the 7" and 8.9" Kindle Fire HD's and will report on this in a day or two.   Found two that work VERY well and another that is said to, after the latest Kindle Fire HD software update (v7.2.1), and which is the least expensive but has Apple control-keys predominant and I prefer more Android-key functions at the fingertips.

Recent news
Amazon's appstore opens in Japan, it was announced Wednesday, ahead of Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD shipments there.  Here's the appstore for Japan.

  Amazon also announced that sales of its Kindles during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend was twice what it was for that time period last year (no numbers).

A HINT of the popularity can be seen in the most popular customer review at the product page, which so far has 12,653 people findng it helpful, of 12,853 taking time to 'vote.'  In the meantime, there are 424 posts in questions and answers connected with TL's obviously engaging review.
  Eric DiPier thought it 'incredible' that the review received almost 8,000 votes in less than 2 months (by Nov. 2) and Kerri Elders thinks that when you consider how few people take the time to respond rather than just read, it may well indicate the popularity of the device.  It's been felt that those who interact rather than just lurk dicussions are about 1 per 1,000.  It at least reflects a lot of interest.

 Amazon almost never offers numbers when it comes to Kindles; however, a company like Apple, with tablets and other hardware a major portion of its business, numbers are required by the SEC.  Kindles, a year ago were said to be only 5-7% of Amazon's business and so they don't have to report numbers and can keep the competition guessing and a bit off balance.

Amazon is finally offering, InternetRetailer reports, more of its "Lockers" for those who can't safely receive shipments at home because they're not there, etc. (where this is available).   The latest ones are at Staples.  An early report on the lockers here was on September 12, 2011.

WSJ's Greg Bensinger had a good article on the ones available as of August 2012.
  Here are links to several other news articles on how the new lockers will work and where they're available currently.


So, what else might Amazon be up to?  That's right (image at right) - Amazon Wine!


Holidays and Decisions - Tablets everywhere
In the meantime, some are still trying to decide on a tablet for the Holidays and I haven't added more recent reviews from tech sites since the early ones over a month ago, although I was logging them.

  Here are a few points from several during the last month. (Warning: this blog tends often to go into mindnumbing detail but I hope you find something here not found when trying to decide by reading other sources, that is, if you've stayed here after seeing the length of this.)

ZDNet's David Gewirtz - "How to decide: should you buy an iPad mini, a Kindle Fire HD (UK: here), or a Nexus 7?"
  His security concerns aside (which favor Apple's complete control over apps, with Amazon's app-vetting getting an 'honorable mention'), he is sanguine about the iPad mini's lower resolution that comes with a higher price.
  "... the iPad mini comes with a last-generation display that many users aren't happy with.  Our own Stephen Chapman called the...display 'atrocious' and added, 'With almost every single device of Apple's now having a Retina display, the regression for the iPad mini immediately makes it feel like a half-hearted, disingenuous, and greedy effort.'
  Ouch.  On the other hand, ZDNet's Joel Evans likes his iPad mini more than the iPad 3."
  Gewirtz finishes with some good guidelines on "How to decide."

Macworld's Mark Hattersley calls attention to DisplayMate.com's comparison covering lab measurements of display characteristics of the "iPad mini vs Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire" which Hattersley (as a Mac writer) cautions:
  "The conclusions aren’t always flattering for the iPad mini."

  Hattersley adds that "When it comes to playing games, watching video, and general tasks the iPad mini is as good as its larger brethren, but considerably lighter and more portable."

[I wouldn't say that is true of HD video material, which the iPad Mini cannot show in HD as it is not an HD display, at only 1024x768, as pointed out by Displaymate later.]

The full Displaymate details are at this page, and are pretty interesting for those keen to see how things 'measure up' for each tablet in several categories.  Examples:

  "While screen Resolution gets lots of attention from both consumers and marketers – it’s really only critical for providing visually sharp text – but that applies for most applications running on a Tablet.
  The $199 Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both have considerably sharper displays with 216 Pixels Per Inch, and they both delivered considerably sharper text..."

Displaymate further links to an earlier "7 inch Tablet Display Technology Shoot-Out" between the 7" models of the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus.

  "While the Nexus 7 has a very nice saturated Red that is close to the new iPad Red, its Greens and Yellows are less saturated than even the iPad 2, which is a significant step backward.  On the other hand, the Kindle Fire HD has Greens and Yellows that are slightly more saturated than the new iPad.

  "These were easy to see during the Viewing Tests.  Just as important as the Color Gamut is the Factory Display Calibration, which can ruin a excellent display if done improperly…

  "... the Factory Display Calibration on the Nexus 7 was severely botched, which significantly degrades its picture quality.  In spite of its good Color Gamut, colors and contrast are washed out due to a compressed, convex, and irregular Intensity Scale (sometimes called the Gray Scale).  Bright images look like over exposed photographs...it is a software or firmware problem rather than an inherent hardware display issue.  Depending on the display firmware this may or may not be correctable with a software update."

  [On another display issue] "... We borrowed and tested a second Nexus 7 unit and found identical behavior – so the effect is unlikely to be due to a defective unit. In fact, we discovered it to be another software bug.

  "The Kindle Fire HD has the highest measured Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of any Tablet that we have tested in our entire Shoot-Out series, and the Nexus 7 is a close second. Both are much better than either the iPad 2 or the new iPad.   The display on the Kindle Fire was the decisive winner of these two leading 7 inch Tablets. It is much better than the iPad 2 and almost as good as the new iPad in overall picture quality and color accuracy...
...
  "Conclusion:...
  ...Like the new iPad, the Kindle Fire HD has better picture quality and color accuracy than most HDTVs, laptops, and monitors, so it could wind up being your most accurate display for viewing photos, videos and web content.

  "Mobile displays are often viewed under reasonably high Ambient Lighting. The Kindle Fire HD has the highest measured Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of any Tablet that we have tested in our Shoot-Out series, which is impressive."

  [Back to their more recent comparison of the two with the new iPad mini]
  "While the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 had reduced 61-64 percent Color Gamuts, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both deliver a much larger 86 percent Color Gamut, and the new iPad 3 and iPhone 5 have full 100 percent standard Color Gamuts.
  "So it was a surprise and a major disappointment for the iPad mini to arrive with an antiquated smaller 62 percent Color Gamut.

  Displaymate testers give an example of their comparison factors, this one showing newest iPad 4 vs more 'dull' or 'faded' iPad 2 and iPhone 4 subject matter.

  Re "reflectance" or glare in high ambient lighting situations, they write:
  "Most displays are now coming with lower Reflectance screens.  The Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 managed to accomplish this, even at their low price points, but the iPad mini comes with an unusually high Reflectance – it reflects 53 percent more ambient light than the Nexus 7 and 41 percent more than the Kindle Fire HD.  This is another poor choice and another significant competitive shortfall…"

Displaymate ends the comparison with a very detailed "Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table."


PopHerald's Kevin Go writes about the same three tablets in "...The display game."
  He writes that the iPad Mini is the "perfect choice for those who want a full-fledged tablet that runs Apple's ...iOS... without the excessive bulk of the regular 10-inch iPad" but wonders if, at $329, consumers are getting what they really deserve... and then he goes on to quote from the Displaymate article above and doesn't think consumers get the best deal there.

  But really, Apple users will like the real lightness of the iPad mini (this is an important factor to any of us tablet users) plus its access to the 250,000 highly regarded tablet-optimized Apple apps and to another 450,000 phone apps that might look better on a smaller screen.  For Apple apps, there is no other 7-inch tablet choice.  Most won't care about display resolution that much.


Android Authority's Carl Parker compares the ipad mini to the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet.
That (missing) Charger - Parker points out something many miss about the option to get a charger during purchase of a Kindle Fire HD:
"Thanks to the standard Micro USB port, you don’t need to worry if you leave your Kindle Fire HD’s charger at home because you can just use your other Android device’s USB charger cable."

"These two displays provide very different results when viewing the same images.  The iPad mini display gives higher contrast, making whites whiter and blacks blacker, while washing out some colors.  The Kindle Fire HD, on the other hand, provides richer and vibrant colors, which may make media viewing on the Kindle Fire HD more pleasurable.
...
"Amazon tablet...[has a] responsive and smooth user interface, which arguably is smoother and silkier compared to the previous Kindle Fire.  But, I do get some occasional lags especially when reading highly animated comics.  Scrolling Web pages and zooming in or out are quite laggy compared to that on the iPad mini.

"As for benchmarks, while the Kindle Fire HD gave a much better score for overall performance (as reported by Geekbench 2), the iPad mini outran its Amazon competitor in the GPU and browser benchmarks, except in the Google V8 Benchmark Suite, in which the Kindle tablet lorded over the iPad mini."


HeraldNet's AP article by Peter Svensson is titled "Subpar screen hobbles Apple's smallest tablet."
"I ...bet that for a lot of people, it's not going to be the best choice. It's beautiful and light, but Apple made a big compromise in the design, one that means that buyers should look closely at the competition before deciding.
  "By comparison [with the iPad 4], the iPad Mini's screen looks coarse.  It looks dull, too, because it doesn't have the same color-boosting technology that the full-size model has...
 ..."The real issue is that this year, there are other tablets that are cheaper than the iPad Mini, weigh only slightly more and still have better screens."

  I'd not seen the following explanation before.

  "Sharper screens are darker, requiring a more powerful backlight to appear bright.  That, in turn, would have forced an increase in the battery size.  That's the reason the first iPad with a Retina display was thicker and heavier than the iPad 2.   So to keep the iPad Mini thin while matching the 10-hour battery life of the bigger iPads, Apple had to compromise on the display."

  Another reason, of course, was to make sure the new little brother could handle the many iPad 2 tablet apps wthout having to modify them all for a smaller size.

  "By next year, it will likely be even more obvious that Apple is seriously behind in screen quality on its small tablet, and it will have to upgrade to a Retina display somehow. That means this first-generation iPad Mini will look old pretty fast."
  [Other problems] - "One is that when you run iPhone apps on the Mini, it uses the coarsest version of the graphics for that app -- the version designed for iPhones up to the 2009 model, the 3GS. You can blow the app up to fill more of the screen, but it looks pretty ugly."

  "Some apps adapted for the iPad screen don't display that well on the Mini screen, either, because of the smaller size.  Buttons can be too small to hit accurately, bringing to mind Steve Jobs' 2010 comments about smaller tablets...
  "...In some apps, text on the Mini is too small to be comfortably read -- the section fronts in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal apps are examples of this.
  "... In particular, the Mini is a $329 entry ticket to the wonderful world of iPad and iPhone apps.  For quality and quantity, it beats all the other app stores."


CNET's Brooke Crothers comments on Displaymate's report described above and compares its findings with their own earlier statements, pointing out that:
  "... this echoes CNET's take on iPad Mini's display. "If you own a recent iPhone or the last iPad, you'll feel that this screen is blurry.  Text isn't as sharp. The pixels per inch don't even match what's available on a Kindle Fire HD or Nook HD," wrote CNET's Scott Stein."

Well, I hope that helped with some details not given in earlier reviews:


EARLIER posts on Kindle Fire HD
  . Basic Features Comparison Table for iPad mini, Google Nexus 7", Kindle Fire HD 7"
  . Comparison reviews of the Kindle Fire HD 7" and Google Nexus 7" tablets
  . Step-by-step guide for installing a working Adobe Flash player when needed.
  . Google Maps, Street View and other apps on my Kindle Fire, via enabling one device setting
  . Downloading and playing YouTube videos on Kindle Fire HD
  . Using the camera and Video, Panorama mode, Time Lapses
  . App for WiFi file transfers w/o cable.


A note on David Pogue's NY Times NYT article ignoring the Kindle Fire HD in favor of the also-impressive B&N Nook HD.  A friend mentioned this, and I responded with reasons I've given before for not including the Nook in the detailed comparisons, though I'm a B&N paying member and want the physical stores to survive.
  But you may notice few sites include the Nook tablets in their comparisons possibly for similar reasons.

  But if Amazon didn't allow apps from other online app-stores onto the Kindle Fire (which just involves checking just one easily visible option-setting to enable this), I wouldn't buy or keep the Kindle Fire HD either, nor write much about it.

  It's a self-destructive decision to actually restrict customers to only the vendor-store's own apps (unless you're Apple w/ a different operating system entirely), especially when they're so limited as B&N's are.  This was essentially my reply:

'Pogue has to cover a lot so can't be expected to know everything in depth but that doesn't keep him from surface-level judgments that will influence many due to his platform and entertaining style.

Nook:
  Most important:
KFire can easily have non-Amazon store apps installed.  It's just checking one setting that allows it (this is a typical Android option). That's why I have Google Maps and Street View on my Kindle Fires.  No 'hacking' involved at all.
  This isn't possible on an unhacked Nook.

1. Barnes and Noble refuses to allow its Nooks to have any apps installed in it except their own and they have the weakest app store

2. Ecosystem for tablet:  No B&N music or video streaming, and a lack of downloadable content store for those vs Amazon's Prime instant videos and music.
Content can be side-loaded to the tablet.
  Streaming is from paid, 3rd party Netflix or Hulu Plus subscriptions, etc.

3. Gives far less Cloud storage
    Amazon gives all customers 5 gigs for non-Amazon docs and books
    with syncing between devices though books were bought elsewhere.
      It keeps a log of annotations on those, if we want,
    in our personal Amazon server space for personal docs
    and for Kindle owners, it's an additional 5GB of free space.

  B&N gives server space only to B&N products, the last I read on their boards
  when I was using the NookColor daily.

4. Amazon has a 7-day-refund period - done by automated email - for any Kindle book that doesn't measure up -- formatting problems, poor editing, etc.

    B&N, though, has a hardline approach - NO REFUNDS on Nook books.
    They've even refused them when pages were missing.

5. Customer Support - Kindle support is usually superb at Amazon.
    Almost non-existent at B&N post-sales.
    Store clerks can try to be helpful but are not as well trained.

6. No camera for Skype (the only major tablet I know of w/ no way to do
    today's free camera/video communication popular w/ families and friends

7. Higher book prices at B&N. '

I hope that some of that info somewhat compensates for being absent from active blogging for a few days.  When quiet, I'm usually researching for a bit more context.  I was also active in some tech-site forums but also holidaying!

Note that I refrained from talking about additional stereo speaker comparisons although a few reviewers have referred to these as the best tablet ones and 'sublime' - an important factor when watching movies w/o having the head clamped by headphones or ears plugged.  :-)

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