Tuesday 27 November 2012

Amazon Kindle Fire 101

By Bill Tower


Odds are, if you're reading this, you are thinking about purchasing the Kindle Fire. You are likely a Kindle owner interested in upgrade, or maybe you are looking into the Fire as an e-reader and tablet. As far as pricing, it will not get better than the Kindle Fire. Amazon made available their custom Android tablet in November of 2011 at a cost under $200. It absolutely was a thought out move right before Christmas. It rocketed the Kindle Fire to the #1 spot on Amazon's Best Sellers list.

The earliest Kindle was released in 2007. The device was around the size of a medium paperback book developed specifically for reading. When Amazon released the 3rd generation of Kindle, which basically mirrored the first with the same E-Ink technology for sale in black and white only, Barnes and Noble made available the Nook Color. Individuals started customizing their Android powered Nooks to not only read books, but to play 3D games and run programs in full color. The Nook Color completely revolutionized the 7-inch tablet market.

It seemed to be a no-brainer for Amazon to reply to Barnes and Noble with the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire sports a custom version of Google's Android Gingerbread os. The highly well-designed and user-friendly interface, called the Carousel, makes it a straight forward device for anyone. The Kindle Fire is the first Kindle with a fully functional web browser. It's not just any old browser either. It's name is Silk and provides users a very computer-like Internet experience.

Since Amazon happens to be a web based retailer of books and music, they've used the Kindle Fire to monopolize entertainment. Together with the Fire, they rolled out a totally free month of membership for their Prime program providing users a chance to access well over 20,000 videos and television shows. Users can find nearly every type of content for the Kindle Fire including Android apps. There is a large library of this content available completely free, consequently it fits any budget.

The Amazon Kindle Fire downloads content in just seconds through a Wi-Fi connection. It has a lot of storage capacity, but any constraint is quelled via free cloud storage currently offered through Amazon. The content delivered electronically to your Kindle is duplicated online with your Amazon account. The focus on reading hasn't faded. Kindle books are now in full color, and you no longer need an external light to read the display.

You might be questioning "what's bad about the Kindle Fire?" Why is it so low cost? Amazon engineered the Fire to compete with the big boys such as the iPad as well as other popular tablets. The purchase price alone causes it to be a competitor. The functionality is fabulous. The downfall would have to be in the constraints put on by Amazon. Owners are only able to get apps from the Amazon App Store unless you sideload them by attaching the Fire to your personal computer. Amazon conveniently does not include the cord needed to do this with the Fire. Thankfully, if you own a third generation Kindle, the cord provided with that device will work or you can purchase one separately on, that's right, Amazon's website.

The largest supplier of Android apps, the Google Android Market, will not work for the Amazon Kindle Fire without major manipulation which will void the warranty. Additionally, those who have used an iPad will spot the lag in the Android Operating System. Then again, the overall performance has been significantly improved in the Android 4.0 OS. A few will determine that it makes the Kindle Fire a lesser device. Others will decide that such small things make it well worth its low price. If you're able to get around those few things, then a Kindle Fire could be the device for you.




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