tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88141601931654781402024-03-13T09:08:59.997-07:00Kindle Fire Reviewsgourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-29891629716437416682012-02-21T23:56:00.000-08:002012-02-21T23:56:44.331-08:00Kindle Fire Vs Other Tablets<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95X-QXDFvOapeMvrfoOkOxXuk4_wuv6QGJiPjmeBS6UwckhmHLfIaM4F8b2iJX-E8x4jZbkgPKETRQRVn9iaRPZy8aYiKpEQnv2QPnWxnTkxoyqgw8ykkCC3WsHHGO0zWL2lUdwEgjZk/s1600/kindle-fire-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="kindle fire" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95X-QXDFvOapeMvrfoOkOxXuk4_wuv6QGJiPjmeBS6UwckhmHLfIaM4F8b2iJX-E8x4jZbkgPKETRQRVn9iaRPZy8aYiKpEQnv2QPnWxnTkxoyqgw8ykkCC3WsHHGO0zWL2lUdwEgjZk/s400/kindle-fire-2.jpg" title="kindle fire" width="266" /></a></div>The Amazon Kindle Fire has already become a tablet to be reckoned with since its introduction on Sept. 28. In just one month (Sept. 28-Oct. 28) Amazon is rumored to have collected 500,000 pre-orders for the new tablet, with possibly another million or more pre-sales made through retail partners such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.<br />
What makes the Kindle Fire so popular? How does it compare with other tablets on the market? Here's the low-down.<br />
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<b><i>The 5 Best Features</i></b><br />
<b><i>Price</i></b><i>-- </i>Price is undoubtedly the most attractive feature. At $199, the Kindle Fire is less than half the price of most other tablets; its nearest cost competitor is the Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble at $249.<br />
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To achieve this cost advantage, Amazon has likely adopted a loss-leader strategy and priced its tablet below cost, anticipating that it will create more sales for Amazon down the line. In addition, the device forgoes many of the frills offered by other tablets. For example, it has no camera/video, no GPS, no microphone, and no Bluetooth or 3G wireless connectivity. (More on that below.)<br />
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<b><i>Portability </i></b>-- The 7-in. touchscreen makes the Kindle Fire more portable than larger tablets such as Apple's iPad2 and HP's TouchPad. The whole tablet is less than half an inch thick and slightly smaller than a mid-sized paperback book in width and height. It weighs just 14.6 oz.<br />
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Of course, size is a classic Goldilocks dilemma when it comes to tablets. Too big, too small, and just right depend on how you use it. If you do mostly Web browsing, then a 7-in. screen is usually too small for the typical Web page. You'd be doing a lot of scrolling around. But if you like to watch streaming video or movies, play games, listen to music, or read an e-book, then a 7-in. screen is usually just right.<br />
The device is clearly designed as a portable content-delivery device, particularly for Amazon content (but not exclusively). The 7-in., 1024 x 600-pixel display works well for streamed or downloaded visual media and delivers crisp, bright, vibrant images.<br />
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<b><i>Seamless Access to Amazon Portal </i></b>-- When you order the Kindle Fire from Amazon's online store, it will be delivered with pre-links to all your favorite Amazon accounts, such as Apps, Games, Kindle eBooks, Cloud Player and Kindle Prime. The media can be bought or rented and then streamed or downloaded to the tablet from the vast server farms of Amazon Web Services (AWS).<br />
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If you have other devices for streaming media, Amazon's Whispersync technology keeps them all synchronized with the tablet. For example, if you stop watching a movie on the Kindle Fire, and later you want to start watching it again on your MacBook, Whispersync saves your place so you can pick up where you left off whenever you reconnect to the Web.<br />
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Amazon also provides 5 GB of free Cloud storage, which helps compensate for the meager 8-GB of onboard storage. (More on that below.)<br />
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In addition to Amazon's ginormous library of more than 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, and magazines, the Kindle Fire also provides seamless access to many other sources of content such as Netflix, Rhapsody, Pandora, Twitter, Comics by comiXology, Facebook, The Weather Channel and games from Zynga, EA, Gameloft, PopCap and Rovio.<br />
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<b><i>Simplicity </i></b>-- Amazon has done a great job with the user interface (UI). The home screen is intuitively graphical, consisting of two virtual bookshelves with media icons arrayed on them. The upper, larger bookshelf, called the "carousel," contains icons that are stacked chronologically with the last-used item on top. The lower, smaller shelf is designed to hold your favorites.<br />
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In one stroke, Amazon's bookshelf UI pays homage to its bookstore roots while also demonstrating a flair for form and function once found only in Apple products.<br />
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<b><i>Innovative 'Silk' Web Browser</i></b>-- Perhaps the most innovative feature is the Web browser. Unlike standard browsers, Amazon's "Silk" browser does not compose a requested page locally. Instead, the high-speed AWS Cloud server caches the page first, then sends it to the tablet in one stream of code.<br />
The result is a split browser system that resides both on the tablet and in the server cloud. The division of labor enables web pages to download faster than with typical Android devices. According to Amazon, the servers also adapt to your browsing habits, so the process gets faster over time.<br />
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<b><i>Kindle Fire vs. Other Tablets</i></b><br />
Much has been said about the Kindle Fire vs. the Apple iPad2. Let's be clear: Apple has nothing to worry about. The two tablets are not really comparable in any meaningful way. In fact, Amazon has created its own genre of tablet, which makes it a little awkward to draw straight comparisons with other devices. Amazon has also created its own closed-platform version of Google's Android OS, so even comparing the Kindle Fire with other Android tablets is tricky. Nevertheless, it is useful to list the specs of other popular tablets just to see how the Amazon Kindle Fire stacks up against them.<br />
<b>Kindle Fire:</b> <br />
<ul><li>Operating System: Android (custom)</li>
<li>Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4</li>
<li>RAM: 512 MB</li>
<li>Storage: 8 GB</li>
<li>Display: 7-in. IPS LCD</li>
<li>Resolution: 1024 x 600</li>
<li>Cameras: None</li>
<li>Video: None</li>
<li>Battery Life: 8 hrs. (reading only)</li>
<li>WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n</li>
<li>3G/4G: No</li>
<li>Bluetooth: No</li>
<li>GPS: No</li>
<li>Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 in.</li>
<li>Weight: 14.6 oz.</li>
<li>Price: $199</li>
</ul><b>Apple iPad2:</b> <br />
<ul><li>Operating System: iOS 4</li>
<li>Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core Apple A5</li>
<li>RAM: 512 MB</li>
<li>Storage: 16 GB</li>
<li>Display: 9.7-in. IPS LCD</li>
<li>Resolution: 1024 x 768</li>
<li>Cameras: Two</li>
<li>Video: 720p</li>
<li>Battery Life: 10 hrs. (browsing, video, etc.)</li>
<li>WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n</li>
<li>3G/4G: 3G (+$130)</li>
<li>Bluetooth: Yes</li>
<li>GPS: Yes</li>
<li>Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.35 in.</li>
<li>Weight: 1.33 lb.</li>
<li>Price: $499</li>
</ul><b>BlackBerry Playbook:</b> <br />
<ul><li>Operating System: QNX</li>
<li>Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4430</li>
<li>RAM: 1 GB</li>
<li>Storage: 16 GB</li>
<li>Display: 7-in. IPS LCD</li>
<li>Resolution: 1024 x 600</li>
<li>Cameras: Two</li>
<li>Video: 1080p</li>
<li>Battery Life: 7 hrs. (playing video)</li>
<li>WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n</li>
<li>3G/4G: 3G/4G</li>
<li>Bluetooth: Yes</li>
<li>GPS: Yes</li>
<li>Dimensions: 5.1 x 7.6 x 0.4 in.</li>
<li>Weight: 0.9 lb.</li>
<li>Price: $499</li>
</ul><b>Nook Tablet:</b> <br />
<ul><li>Operating System: Android (custom)</li>
<li>Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4</li>
<li>RAM: 1 GB</li>
<li>Storage: 16 GB</li>
<li>Display: 7-in. IPS LCD</li>
<li>Resolution: 1024 x 600</li>
<li>Cameras: None</li>
<li>Video: None</li>
<li>Battery Life: 11.5 hrs. (reading only)</li>
<li>WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n</li>
<li>3G/4G: No</li>
<li>Bluetooth: No</li>
<li>GPS: No</li>
<li>Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 0.48 in.</li>
<li>Weight: 14.1 oz.</li>
<li>Price: $249</li>
</ul><b>HP TouchPad:</b> <br />
<ul><li>Operating System: WebOS 3.0</li>
<li>Processor: 1.2-GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon</li>
<li>RAM: 1 GB</li>
<li>Storage: 16 GB</li>
<li>Display: 10.1-in. IPS LCD</li>
<li>Resolution: 1024 x 768</li>
<li>Cameras: None</li>
<li>Video: None</li>
<li>Battery Life: 9 hrs. (playing video)</li>
<li>WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n</li>
<li>3G/4G: 3G</li>
<li>Bluetooth: Yes</li>
<li>GPS: Yes</li>
<li>Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.5 0.54 in.</li>
<li>Weight: 1.6 lb.</li>
<li>Price: $499</li>
</ul>The list makes it pretty clear how Amazon can offer its tablet for only $199. It's no-frills all the way. The tablet has 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of storage memory (half the storage of other devices), no camera, no video, no microphone, no 3G/4G, no Bluetooth, and no GPS. It also lacks an expandable memory slot.<br />
If the Amazon Kindle Fire were competing head-to-head with other more-established tablets, it would lose. Instead, Amazon has shrewdly recognized that content is king, so it has created a low-cost, no-frills tablet that taps into what is arguably the largest online repository of content on the planet. Who needs a GPS for that? Do I really need to know my exact coordinates while streaming my favorite episode of "Mad Men?"<br />
Of all the other tablets in the above list, Barnes & Noble's newly announced Nook is the closest competitor. The Nook also runs a custom Android OS and taps into Barnes & Noble's content. The Nook has twice the RAM (1 GB), twice the storage (16 GB), and a longer-lasting battery. It also has an expandable memory slot and a microphone. Based on hardware specs alone, the Nook offers more, but it also costs $50 more. Moreover, when it comes to content Barnes & Noble is still mostly an online bookstore. Not even Apple can compete across the board with Amazon's vast array of media, products, software, etc. When it comes to overall content, Amazon is king.<br />
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<b><i>The 3 Worst Features</i></b><br />
<b><i>7-in. Display</i></b>-- Although the 7-in. display is an asset when it comes to portability, it is an annoyance when viewing certain content. Web browsing and magazine reading, for example, are frustrating on a 7-in. screen. Screen size, therefore, cuts both ways.<br />
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There is no obvious way to avoid this "Goldilocks dilemma" for all types of content without a technological breakthrough such as a flexible, roll-up tablet (which is probably just around the corner). For now, the trade-off is between the full viewing experience of larger displays vs. the more limited experience of smaller, cheaper, more portable screens.<br />
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<b><i>No Expandable Memory Slot</i></b>-- When designing a bare-bones tablet, it makes sense to skimp on memory to lower your cost. But how much more, if anything, does it cost to include an expandable memory slot in your design? Including a memory slot not only keeps your manufacturing costs low, it also adds value for your customers, who now have the option of adding more memory.<br />
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One can only assume that Amazon wants its users to store their media in the Amazon Cloud. Amazon provides free, unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon-acquired content, but non-Amazon content over 5 GB costs money to store. When combined with the onboard storage of 8 GB, the total free storage for generic content is just 13 GB. That's still less capacity than the onboard storage of other tablets, and not very much capacity for digital media.<br />
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Also, the only access to the Amazon Cloud is through the Wi-Fi modem. There is no 3G or 4G connectivity. If you're traveling, for example, and have no Wi-Fi connection to the Cloud, all of the content you want to access must be pre-loaded. It would be better for Amazon and its customers if the Kindle Fire came with a memory slot.<br />
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<b><i>Mediocre Battery Life</i></b>-- When compared to its closest competitor, Barnes & Noble's Nook, the stated battery life of the Kindle Fire comes up short by about 3 1/2 hours. An 8-hr. battery life for just reading is nothing to write home about. Besides, most people would be doing a lot more than just reading.<br />
Unfortunately, the rechargeable battery is sealed inside and can't be upgraded.<br />
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<b><i>Verdict</i></b><br />
Kudos to Amazon for recognizing the value of a low-cost tablet specifically designed for delivering content. The beauty of this tablet is that it plays to Amazon's indisputable strength as a content provider while also extending the Kindle legacy. It's ironic to think back to November of 2007 when the Kindle First Generation was introduced for $399. It sold out in 5 1/2 hours. It was the only Kindle to have an expandable memory slot, too. (Hint, hint.)<br />
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If pre-sales are any indication, the Kindle Fire is going to be another raging success. Despite the dismal economy, or perhaps because of it, people were lining up to buy this low-cost no-frills tablet even before it started to ship.<br />
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The Kindle Fire is no iPad2, but it has the potential to become an important new media and information platform. Only time will tell if this is just another Kindle or something else altogether. Who knows, the Kindle Fire could do for Amazon what the Walkman did for Sony.</div>gourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-12129314495472455952012-02-21T23:51:00.000-08:002012-02-21T23:51:07.966-08:00Amazon Kindle Fire Review<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-shnJtsknDkg/TqQeZdgJHXI/AAAAAAAAANk/aZpod79Rde8/s320/Buy+Amazon+Kindle+Fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Buy Amazon Kindle Fire" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-shnJtsknDkg/TqQeZdgJHXI/AAAAAAAAANk/aZpod79Rde8/s320/Buy+Amazon+Kindle+Fire.jpg" title="Buy Amazon Kindle Fire" /></a></div>The world's largest online retailer, Amazon.com Inc., unveiled its all-new tablet on September 28, 2011. The tablet is called the Amazon Kindle Fire and will be available in the US market on November 15, 2011. A lot of buzz has been generated since Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, made the announcement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Apple's iPad has single-handedly dominated the tablet PC landscape since its launch in early 2010. With so many tablets being launched since 2010, the question always arises as to how these new tablets stack up against the market leader, the Apple iPad 2.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have seen many top tech companies launch their own version of tablet PCs like the Samsung Galaxy, Motorola Xoom and RIM's Blackberry Playbook, to name a few. However, none of these competitors have been able to significantly impact Apple's domination in the tablet PC arena so far.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">At first glance, looks like the Amazon's all-new tablet will pose a significant challenge to the iPad 2, especially that it's priced at $199 compared to Apple's iPad 2 price of $499. However, a closer look at the specifications and features is required to help determine which tablet is right for you. Having said so, let's take a close look at the pros and cons of the Amazon Kindle Fire.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Operating System:</b> the Amazon Kindle Fire runs on a customized version of Android 2.3 OS, whereas, the Apple iPad 2 runs Apple's iOS 4.3.1. Without getting too technical, these two operating systems are comparable, with a few differences. However, with the combination of the new cloud-accelerated split browser, Amazon Silk, the web experience on the Kindle is expected to have an advantage in terms of speed and performance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Amazon Silk Browser: </b>as briefly mentioned above, Silk is a cloud-accelerated internet browser that is exclusive to Amazon's Kindle Fire. In simple terms, this innovative web browser does all the heavy lifting through Amazon's remote servers, thereby using less resources of the Kindle Fire device. This not only helps in the tablets speed and performance, but also conserves battery life.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Processor:</b> the Kindle Fire uses the TI OMAP 4 dual-core processor, whereas, the iPad 2 uses Apple's A5 dual-core processor. Both the processors have a speed of 1 GHz, therefore, they are quite comparable in terms of speed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Memory & Storage:</b> the first generation Kindle Fire has limited storage space at 8 GB and does not have an option to increase this storage (i.e. it doesn't have a microSD slot). However, the iPad 2 has various memory storage options, namely, 16, 32 and 64 GB. Having said so, Amazon provides free online storage space through Amazon cloud for digital content like apps, music, movies, books and games.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Display & Screen Resolution:</b> the Kindle Fire as well as the iPad 2 have high-resolution multi-touch screens. However, the Kindle tablet has a smaller 7 inch screen as compared to the iPad's 9.7 inch screen. Therefore, depending on what you intend using your tablet for, you would choose one over the other.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Camera & Microphone:</b> one of the drawbacks of the Kindle Fire tablet is that it lacks webcams. The iPad 2 comes with front and back cameras which are great for online video chatting or conferencing as well as for recording videos.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Battery Life & USB Port:</b> the iPad 2 has an advantage over the Kindle Fire when it comes to battery life. The iPad 2 battery can last up to 10 hours as compared to approximately 8 hours on the Kindle Fire. In terms of USB support, the iPad 2 USB port is via the dock connector, whereas, the Kindle tablet has a built-in USB 2.0 (micro-B Connector) which is more convenient.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wireless & 3G Connectivity:</b> the Amazon Kindle Fire comes only with the Wi-Fi options, whereas, Apple's iPad comes with both, Wi-Fi options as well as 3G connectivity. So if you are constantly on the move and need to be connected to the internet, you need to be aware of this lack of 3G option in the Kindle tablet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Apps Availability:</b> the wide range and sheer number of apps available through the Apple Appstore as well as security of the apps is huge advantage for iPad users. However, Kindle Fire runs on the Android operating system, which means that users will have access to the Google Android App Market. Also, Kindle tablet users will have access to the Amazon Appstore which includes thousands of apps and games.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Price Comparison:</b> Amazon has surprised the consumers by pricing the Kindle Fire tablet at US$199. Compared to the iPad 2 (the cheapest one) costing around US$499, this provides Amazon a huge advantage, especially if price is a big factor in choosing a tablet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">From the above review, one can determine that Amazon's Kindle Fire will not pose a significant challenge to Apple's iPad, other than the price differential. However, I believe that this is a great start for Amazon as it enters the competitive world of tablet PCs. By pricing the Kindle Fire at US$199, Amazon has made tablet PCs much more accessible to the mainstream and will be a popular gift idea for the Christmas/Holiday season.</div>gourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-49602730561737750642012-02-21T23:48:00.000-08:002012-02-21T23:48:06.628-08:00Feel the Heat: A Complete Kindle Fire Review<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sh9MFYZZfHCZkGKGswOfmvhNy87WJD0Gfq_EC6n2yuGYWf7o194j5qovRtM0JrXrM3xwjrC11uI-v93PGVeUT1UcUvU2syK4crcsfPOTpQzBFRkAU6IhMpJomp8i5MAVKrlukV-_VYv3/s400/kindle%252520fire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="kindle fire" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sh9MFYZZfHCZkGKGswOfmvhNy87WJD0Gfq_EC6n2yuGYWf7o194j5qovRtM0JrXrM3xwjrC11uI-v93PGVeUT1UcUvU2syK4crcsfPOTpQzBFRkAU6IhMpJomp8i5MAVKrlukV-_VYv3/s320/kindle%252520fire.jpeg" title="kindle fire" width="226" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kindle Fire is an enhanced version of Amazon's original Kindle, which was released in 2007 and quickly became a popular bestseller worldwide. This Kindle Fire review will give you the run down on Amazon's latest product aimed at the tablet reader market. Some of the new enhancements added to the Kindle Fire include a color touch screen, increased processor speed, and an improved web browsing capability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Color Touchscreen</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kindle Fire includes a 7" color touch screen, which incorporates In-Plane Switching technology panel (IPS). This technology includes small crystals which lie parallel to the IPS panel. Hitachi originally developed IPS technology in 1996 in order to broaden viewing angles. This means you do not have to be directly in front of the screen in order to see what is on the screen. This can come in handy when simultaneously viewing movies with other people. IPS technology also dramatically increases color quality by delivering 16 million colors in high resolution. Amazon has seamlessly incorporated IPS technology into the Kindle Fire, which is a huge improvement from the original Kindle product's ink display screen. Additionally, the multi-touch screens responds well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Dual-Core Processor</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amazon has also added a dual-core processor to the Kindle Fire for faster response when surfing the web and viewing e-books, magazines, and movies. This is a significant improvement from Amazon's original Kindle's processing power. Users will definitely notice improved speed and efficiency when streaming online media, such as music and videos. This is perfect for those who like to watch videos on websites such as YouTube or listen to music on Pandora. For those who enjoy multitasking online, the dual-core processor will help those who like to stream music while reading books. Download speeds have also greatly increased.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Intuitive Interface</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Users will appreciate Kindle Fire's smart and easy-to-use interface design. You can easily browse through recently accessed reading material, movies, videos, and music directly from the home screen. You can easily access all types of media and content with a single touch. This can be quite useful for those who regularly perform Internet research.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Large Selection of Content from Amazon</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One powerful advantage Amazon has over its competitors in the e-tablet market is the company's massive selection of content. The gadget can easily access Amazon's massive catalog of over 18 million titles of all types of electronic media with just a touch. This includes over 100,000 movies and television shows which users can stream, download, purchase or rent. Amazon Prime members may also stream over 10,000 select movies and television shows. This beats going to the movie theater or watching live television because Amazon has taken out all of the annoying movie previews and television commercials.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>An Array of Games and Apps</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">No Kindle Fire review would be complete without mentioning the multitude of apps and games available. Amazon has tested thousands of the most popular apps and games to ensure proper compatibility. Fire users will also receive one paid app for free everyday. Most of the apps and games only cost between $0.99 to $1.49 on Amazon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is one of my favorite aspects of the gadget. I travel by plane regularly, which means that I have a lot of downtime waiting in airport terminals. Sometimes the airport terminal can be too noisy and distracting for reading a book, however a game, which requires me to be actively involved really helps to pass time quickly. One of my all-time favorites is the classic game of Solitaire, which is available on the Kindle Fire.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Amazon Silk Browser</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kindle Fire features a new browser known as Amazon Silk. This new browser is cloud-accelerated, which means that it draws upon Amazon's Web Services cloud (AWS), also known as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). This server contains extensive computational power, which is available to all Kindle Fire users. The EC2 server performs with a round-trip latency of 5 milliseconds or less, which is twenty times faster than most wireless connections.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Amazon Silk browser delegates a portion of computational labor to the EC2 server, which connects more quickly to the Internet than the device's wifi connection. This conserves computational and battery power. The division of labor between the mobile hardware and the server is known as "split browser" architecture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I personally have noticed that the Kindle Fire responds faster than the original Kindle when streaming video on websites such as YouTube. Download times are also faster than my original Kindle. Many other Kindle Fire reviews have expressed the same experience. If you bought the original Kindle and are looking for a mobile device that performs faster on the web, then upgrading to the Kindle Fire is a sure bet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Magazine Layouts</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One aspect of the original Kindle which I did not particularly care for is the inability to view magazines in the same layout available in the print version. Part of the appeal of print magazines is the craftsmanship of the magazine layouts. The device addresses this issue with its "Page View" option, which offers hundreds of magazines in full-color layouts just like the print versions. In fact, the Kindle Fire offers even more than what the print version contains by including video, audio, and other interactive media.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, I have noticed other Kindle Fire reviews claim that the tablet's screen can be too small to read an entire magazine page in the "Page View" mode. Although, this is not my experience, if you prefer to view just the text of the magazine, then you can choose the "Text View" option. Additionally, although I have not tried it out myself, another Kindle Fire review I read claims that the device works well with comic book layouts as well.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Social Media</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One aspect which I found to be lacking in the Amazon's latest gadget is the lack of built-in native social media apps. Although, overall I am happy about the device, I felt that a full Kindle Fire review should address this short-coming. Social media is such an important aspect of how we communicate today that it seems almost outdated not having some built-in native Facebook or Twitter apps. The supposed Facebook and Twitter "apps" are actually just links to the mobile sites. However, for some this may be preferable because the mobile sites do not take up storage space on the mobile device.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you are looking to purchase a tablet reader, which offers more than just displaying simple text, then this gadget is a good choice. The Kindle Fire is also cheaper than its main competitor, the Apple iPad. Amazon's mobile device runs around $200, while the iPad can cost anywhere from $400 to $500.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">This Kindle Fire review is based upon my experience using the device for approximately a month now. So far, I have had few complaints and the device has worked flawlessly. However, the device has only been on the market for a short time, therefore nobody has posted a Kindle Fire review based upon any prolonged use of the device.</div></div>gourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-51114033175136209512012-02-21T23:36:00.000-08:002012-02-21T23:36:54.818-08:00Kindle Fire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6N5mxMZ69QlW5MtnarP3NrCYQJpJF5NzTvm3BgXpnyueGKZHDfNI2FVbYya2S3WfcTZGBhWYANdqq_hWjQZYIYuew_QG2Upl4D94I2P4SAC_YNGloPneHz2yQyZUcylqmjhFM8o2-UK1/s320/Kindle_Fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="kindle fire" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6N5mxMZ69QlW5MtnarP3NrCYQJpJF5NzTvm3BgXpnyueGKZHDfNI2FVbYya2S3WfcTZGBhWYANdqq_hWjQZYIYuew_QG2Upl4D94I2P4SAC_YNGloPneHz2yQyZUcylqmjhFM8o2-UK1/s320/Kindle_Fire.jpg" title="kindle fire" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After being on vacation all week hunting in Missouri, I came home just in time to receive my Kindle Fire. I have to say I really enjoy using it although I cannot find the text to speech feature.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">It is very easy to use, the screen is bright and the amount of multimedia now placed at my fingertips is staggering. It's nice to watch videos, check e-mail etc. all from my desktop. What are your thoughts on the new Kindle fire?</div>gourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-29001086781841768922012-02-21T23:32:00.000-08:002012-02-21T23:32:24.224-08:00Kindle Fire Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzNvjg3h10tBszLxM4wUfVRVjGQgDw2prp7kLWUZaUYN0n-VBqaBfYszRVlan2NURGOWhnQBROkQoIUnJ9JLmClNUzqzbKFM1jjt787Xefz9q44RA1lGN-ypMekKW0zsjekVuRSZNt0lT/s400/iu_Xpl5DLCOM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kindle Fire Review" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkzNvjg3h10tBszLxM4wUfVRVjGQgDw2prp7kLWUZaUYN0n-VBqaBfYszRVlan2NURGOWhnQBROkQoIUnJ9JLmClNUzqzbKFM1jjt787Xefz9q44RA1lGN-ypMekKW0zsjekVuRSZNt0lT/s320/iu_Xpl5DLCOM.jpeg" title="Kindle Fire Review" width="230" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the day that Amazon began accepting pre-orders for the Kindle Fire, I placed mine. For several weeks I excitedly awaited its delivery sure that it would fill the gap between my iPhone 4 and my Macbook Air. I couldn't really justify an iPad, but at $199 the Fire as a media server seemed exactly what I needed. (I should also point out that I have a 3rd generation Kindle which I love.)</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">When it arrived I was initially pleased. Its size was nice - about the same size as my Kindle – and it was very well made feeling very solid in my hand. Firing it up I was offered a Cover Flow-like interface that was preloaded with every Kindle book I had ever purchased. There was a "favorites" shelf below that held four of my favorite apps, books, magazines - whatever. More on that later.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I poked around its features and was initially impressed with the quality of the display, the variety of offerings and its seemingly simple interface. I made a Facebook post exclaiming its merits – going so far as to call it a "keeper". I even ordered a case for it. Then the romance waned.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Over the next weekend I put the Fire through its paces downloading every possible form of media, surfing the web on its "Silk" browser, downloading a few apps – some free and some paid. I set up my email accounts including my Exchange account at my office. The bugs began to crawl out.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">On the home screen there is a Cover Flow-like interface for my books and recently used apps and media. I noticed that it was almost impossible to access my desired item among the "covers" on first try. The interface is so sensitive that I repeatedly went past my selection - coming and going - before I could at last get the item to stop where I could "click" on it. Frustrating.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">The "favorites" shelf below the scrollables only held four items. It looks as if it should be scrollable to hold more than four, but it was not – you only get four. And, if you send a new favorite to the shelf you bump one already there off the shelf (of course), but I could never figure out how to keep the three I wanted and bump the fourth I wanted to replace. It seemed random and pointless. I also noticed that if you wanted to delete a book, app, magazine - whatever - from the home screen the icon for the item remained displaying a "download now" arrow. I deleted it. Why would I want to reload it now? So I ended up with several "ghost" icons taking up space on my home screen. That is just dumb. Give me an archive (like on my regular Kindle) but get the icons out of my way!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Navigation - I began to notice that many of the virtual buttons, like the back button and home button, would often be unresponsive and would require multiple clicks to work correctly. There was no "throbber" image that would indicate that a function was running so I had no choice but to repeatedly press the button until it cooperated. Also frustrating. Oddly, on some screens the buttons were so super sensitive that just brushing one accidentally would open an unwanted item. Go figure. The keyboard works at least as well as that of an iPhone.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Magazines - I downloaded a magazine - <i>Car and Driver</i> for which I also have a print subscription - to see how it compared to the physical copy. It was exactly like the print magazine page for page only much, much smaller. So small that it was impossible for me to read without enlarging the page to the point that I could only see a small portion of a paragraph and none of the images on the page. There is a "read" mode that is text only, but frankly that defeats half the purpose of a magazine. Enjoying the images along with the copy is what makes the magazine experience so enjoyable. That is almost impossible on the Fire. The table of contents was not "clickable" so I had to manually scroll through 59 pages to get to the first article I wanted to read. Also dumb - it is as if they just scanned the images and put them up (which is probably what they did do). A PDF would have been more useful. At least it has navigation!</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Movies - the display is excellent and the quality of the movie image was superb (depending on its original quality I imagine). I loaded <i>Elizabeth</i> from my free Amazon Prime collection and was blown away by the quality of playback. Unfortunately, from the very limited selection of free Amazon Prime movie offerings, I could find nothing else I cared to watch. Most of the free movies are years old and of genres that do not appeal to me - teen comedies for example. Another disappointment. (There is a Netflix app that I did not try as I have no Netflix account - maybe that could fill the gap).</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Apps - I will admit that I am an Apple user and the Apple app store is extensive and well managed (meaning you have to get past Apple's sometimes Byzantine approval process before an app is accepted). Most of the apps in the Apple store are uniform, useable and tested. Not so with the Kindle Fire (Android) store. I found many of the apps poorly designed and in some cases downright infantile. Not to say there aren't gems, but I found both the selection and quality lagging. I admit that may be an Apple bias, but I felt it nonetheless.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Books - The Amazon book store can not be beat. Almost everything ever published is at your finger tips. As mentioned, I have a "regular" Kindle which I love. The reading experience on the Fire is identical to that on the iPad and Nook. Meaning it is OK, but no where near the quality of the regular Kindle's ePaper experience. It will get you by in a pinch, but long reading sessions on a back-lit screen (just like your laptop or desktop) are tiring and less than enjoyable. Had I kept the Fire, I would also have kept my Kindle 3.</div><br />
Browser - It works and works reasonably well. Not as quick as my laptop, but not too bad. Flash does work.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">Battery life - OK, I only used it a little less than a week, but in my limited experience there is no way the battery will last the predicted 7 hours under anything other than minimal usage. I did nothing out of the ordinary and found that after a couple of hours the on-board battery life indicator (in the settings module) would indicate a remaining battery strength of only a couple of hours - less than 40 percent. Perhaps it would have lasted longer, but that is what the display indicated, so back to the charger. I charged it three times over the course of the weekend. Under moderate use viewing a few magazines, playing a game or two and maybe a movie I would estimate more like four hours.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Conclusions - The Kindle Fire is very well constructed. It feels solid and substantial in my hand and is the perfect size to hold. Its display rivals the iPad and iPhone in quality - may even be better. At $199 it seems to be a great value for someone looking for a media device. The deal breaker for me was the clunky navigation, the limited movie offerings,the less than ideal magazine experience and the disappointing app store. Your mileage may vary.</div>gourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-70686755242285910592012-02-21T23:28:00.000-08:002012-02-21T23:28:41.633-08:00Why Kindle Fire will torch everyone except Apple<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6LoytSGo6sHrS-cEAi0i2W1GI49DA-Z-U6TkQapjUFE78b1_waB4tizsPQ0_qyt3MszyJ3Dnu4CPovMDi13X-GsfS961hVp_BIDdrWKPNohrPVVBRDZooQ0Rf1qn7XT-1HAfzwh-X0cB/s200/Kindle+Fire+%2528home+angle+1%2529s-420-90.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="kindle fire home angle" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6LoytSGo6sHrS-cEAi0i2W1GI49DA-Z-U6TkQapjUFE78b1_waB4tizsPQ0_qyt3MszyJ3Dnu4CPovMDi13X-GsfS961hVp_BIDdrWKPNohrPVVBRDZooQ0Rf1qn7XT-1HAfzwh-X0cB/s320/Kindle+Fire+%2528home+angle+1%2529s-420-90.jpg" title="kindle fire home angle" width="320" /></a></div>Amazon is smart.<br />
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Yes, they're late to the tablet market, but they used that time to create a strategically superior product to the tablets from Motorola, HP, Dell and the other iPad wannabes.<br />
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Unlike those brands, who looked at the market leader and asked, "how can we give iPad users more for a little less?" Amazon asked, "How can we give others exactly what they need at a price that radically realigns the category?"<br />
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At $199, the Kindle Fire is 60% cheaper than the least expensive iPad. Since most tablet usage is at home, it has only WiFi, gives you access to Amazon's huge catalogue of books, music, magazines and video, and offers a limited suite of the most popular Apps. <br />
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It only has 8 gigabytes of memory, so storage is limited, but that's part of the strategy to make users reliant on the Amazon cloud service, generating significant amounts of annuity revenue through purchase and storage of Amazon's content.<br />
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This is a classic disruption strategy. While everyone else is battling for the same customers at the top end of the category, Amazon found a way to open the market to a huge swath of people for whom a $500 tablet just doesn't make sense.<br />
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Very few people who "need" an iPad will trade down to get one of these. But those tablets stuck in the middle will see their volumes fall to a product that's just good enough but a whole lot cheaper. The fact that Amazon is being launched with an integrated multimedia ecosystem guarantees it.gourexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15558597426968102201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8814160193165478140.post-59344610847346138312011-10-03T20:35:00.001-07:002011-10-03T20:35:40.203-07:00Itchy BitsItchy BitsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com