Amazon Fire

barryd09

Are these actually available to buy in Ireland or from the UK online anywhere?
Would like to buy one of these for Xmas for my other half.
These are pretty much ipad rivals,ya?
Anything i need to know? are these upgradable?as in the operating system,everytime android release a new OS are these upgradable?

(EDIT-Just seen these are only released on Nov 15th in the US)

vibe666

check out post no.8 in this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056431450

Biggins

Here is a review of the 'Fire':

* http://www.zdnet.com/blog/diy-it/7-reasons-the-kindle-fire-is-better-than-the-ipad/278?tag=nl.e539

http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/2011-11-16-kindle-fire.jpg

7 reasons the Kindle Fire is better than the iPad

Summary: To be fair, I’ve only had a few hours to tinker with the new device, but I can already say that there are a bunch of ways the Kindle Fire is better than the iPad.

My Kindle Fire arrived last night. I was surprised to find myself excited, waiting for it to arrive. This was especially surprising, because in September, I detailed 12 reasons you might NOT want to buy a Kindle Fire.

To be fair, I’ve only had a few hours to tinker with the new device, but I can already say that there are a bunch of ways the Kindle Fire is better than the iPad.

Reason 1: Price

This is the Big Kahuna of reasons. The Kindle Fire is $199. The cheapest iPad is $499. There’s three hundred big reasons the Kindle Fire is better, already.

Obviously, if the device was terrible, the price savings wouldn’t matter. But — at least on first impression — the Kindle Fire is solid, fast, and smooth. In fact, it seems to be just as nice, if not nicer than the iPad.

The proof: within about an hour of my using the Kindle Fire, my wife wanted one. And, at $199, it was easy to make her happy and pull the trigger. Hers, though, will arrive in a few weeks since she didn’t pre-order.

Reason 2: Flash

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Flash is dead. We all know that. ZDNet has been covering the death of Flash in substantial detail over the last week or so.

But, the real fact is, Flash is not dead. It’s baked into many web sites, and I’m talking about real web sites, not just silly casual gamer sites.

Take, for example, educational web sites. My wife is continuing her college education, and she’s been using a fantastic mathematics simulator site called MathXL. This site runs on Flash, so it won’t run on our iPad. It will run on the Fire.

Did I mention the Fire costs $300 less than the iPad?

Reason 3: Native USB drive mode

These next two reasons are related. There’s much better access to the Kindle Fire as a storage device than Apple provides with the iPad. For example, you can take a USB cable, plug it into the Kindle Fire and then to your PC, and drag-and-drop documents for later reading.

There are some hacks for this for the iPad, but native USB drive mode is supported, out of the box, for the Kindle Fire.

Reason 4: PC-format document viewer

Once again, out of the box, the Kindle Fire supports PC-format documents, ranging from Word files and PDFs, even to PowerPoints.

Yes, there are add-on apps that will do this for the iPad (the excellent GoodReader is the best example), but the Kindle Fire supports it, out of the box.

Reason 5: Free Prime video

I’m an Amazon Prime customer and use the absolute heck out of that service. As a Prime customer, I also get free Prime movies and video.

I turned on my new Kindle Fire, jumped over to the Video tab, and within seconds was watching a completely free episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. A few moments later, I was watching John Cleese playing Mozart and mocking both Genghis Khan and A. Lincoln (of the U.S.A.) in an episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Minutes later, I was watching Top Gear in all its HD glory. You know, come to think of it, I never realized just how much John Cleese and Jeremy Clarkson remind me of each other.

In any case, Apple doesn’t have anything like this. With Apple, you have to buy everything and struggle with iTunes and the iTunes store. With Amazon, it’s just there.

Update: I also forgot to mention the free Amazon lending library for books. Another free bonus that Apple certainly doesn’t provide.

Which brings me to…

Reason 6: Amazon integration

We’ve talked a lot about how pocketbook-dangerous the Kindle Fire may be.

That said, the integration between the Kindle Fire and the Amazon cloud is excellent. There certainly is an iPad-based App store and iTunes store, but their integration isn’t nearly as smooth. iCloud is still substantially untested, and — to be fair — Apple has very little successful experience providing cloud services while Amazon provides them to the entire planet.

Reason 7: Size

There is something deeply satisfying about the 7″ tablet form-factor. It’s possible to easily hold it in one hand like a paperback, carry it around without worrying that you’re lugging an entire window pane in your backpack, and even use it as a live shop reference when crawling around machinery, doing maintenance.

It’s easy to hold in the hand, it’s easy to prop up on a pillow for bedtime reading or a last-minute TV show, and it’s just, plain comfortable.

Now that I’ve used the Kindle Fire for a little while, I think Apple is missing the boat seriously if it doesn’t come out with a smaller, 7″ iPad.

vibe666

unfortunately adobe just killed the flash format thanks to apple, so you can cross that off the list.

my kindle fire has arrived at the US based mail forwarding company, but i have to wait for two other things to arrive before i send them on together.

Biggins

vibe666 wrote: »

unfortunately adobe just killed the flash format thanks to apple, so you can cross that off the list.

Not really just yet.
There are many hundred of thousand sites that still have flash incorporated as their website functionality. They clearly indicate this in point 2 above. It will be quite some time before flash vanishes off the scene.

InTheTrees

I pre-ordered one and I got a notice that its "out for delivery" right now. (I'm in seattle).

So I'm excited. I already use a regular kindle as an e-reader and I expect to keep using it while and if I adjust to the fire. At $199 its worth a risk anyway.

vibe666

i'm getting it more as a cheap tablet than an ereader, i don't think it would compete well with a regular kindle for reading books.

MayoForSam

I'm quite tempted to get a Kindle Fire for Xmas (as a pressie for the missus but I'm sure I will be able to 'borrow' it ), I have a basic wifi Kindle for about a month and I am a big fan. The 7" form factor to me seems to be around the 'sweet spot', my smart phone screen isn't big enough and an Ipad is a bit bulky and non-portable in comparison.

If I go and order one from amazon.com and ship it over using Viaaddress.com, am I liable to be charged import duty, how much will this come to?

Does Amazon have a facility to be able to sync books across devices so you can pick up any Kindle lying around the house and re-commence reading the same book from where you left off?

tuxy

The main advantage of kindle for me has always been e ink. It's a great technology for people that love reading. I'm not sure why they called this product a kindle also, it just seems to be aimed at a totally different audience.

InTheTrees

Mine arrived last night and I spent quite a few hours playing with it.

First impression is that its heavy, you need to prop it up if your using it for any length of time. The dimensions are really nice though.

The set up was easy (i already have a kindle and an amazon account).

The main user interface is unpleasant. There's a "carousel" of the previous apps and files you had open that twirls centre screen and dominates the page. Under that are your "favorites" which are links to apps you've specified on the app page. Thats what should be centre screen and dominating the page not a history file of your past use, that should be below.

At the top of the main screen are tabs for apps, etc. Apps seem pretty limited. There's also five or six preinstalled that you cant remove, annoying. Facebook for instance.

The browser seems okay. Nothing special or fast about it though. And I thought they said other browsers would be available from the app store but I couldn't find any.

The touch screen seems fine. I had some old stylus that i bought on ebay to use with my iphone (they sucked), but they work great on this. There's an amazing Sketching App by Autodesk that works really well with the stylus.

Thats all. Just some random impressions.

Biggins

Just some news on Kindle Fire 2

Amazon is allegedly planning to release a next generation Kindle Fire in spring 2012.

DigiTimes reports that the firm has ordered Quanta Computer to begin producing another seven-inch tablet, rumoured to be the Kindle Fire 2.

Amazon recently launched the Kindle Fire in the US. Strong launch sales have led to the platform holder recruiting Nishoku as an additional chassis supplier. Three production outlets will be making parts for the e-reader as of 2012.

The Kindle Fire 2 is expected to sport a redesign following multiple comparisons to the BlackBerry PlayBook by reviewers.

As the first generation Kindle Fire is yet to be given a UK launch date, the reports of its successor have led to speculation that British customers may be in for an even longer wait.

Sources:

* http://www.digitalspy.ie/tech/news/a350873/amazon-kindle-fire-2-rumoured-for-next-spring.html

* http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111114PB202.html/

blackius

I'd definitely wait for version 2 or 3.
I got to play with one in best buys here in the states and after a few minutes hated it.
Sure it is the same dimensions roughly as a kindle but it is too thick and heavy for it's size.
Thin tablets are the way to go.
Also I found it very sluggish operating wise.
Also theres no e ink so you'd not be long going blind trying to read a book on it.
Let there be a version that can reboot into e ink for your books and then you are in business.
Right now it a major fail for me.