Kindle Fire - 4/4 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Nov

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How To: Root, Enable 3rd Party Apps, And Establish ADB Access On The Kindle Fire

Posted by Charles Beel in Amazon, Applications, Development, Gingerbread 2.3, Kindle Fire, News, Tablets

The Kindle Fire, Amazon’s content-subsidized tablet, has been arriving to the delight of people all across the U.S. The heavily-skinned Gingerbread Android device has left many questions in the minds of the Android and Gadget community. For instance, will we be able to install apps outside of the Amazon Appstore? How about using adb? And, of course, the most important question of all - can the Fire be rooted?

If you remember, Amazon said it wouldn't do anything special to prevent rooting or interfere with those who want to customize their devices in other ways (although the status of the bootloader is unknown at this time).

Nov

Amazon Kindle Fire Review Roundup: For $199, It's A Great Tablet, With Only The Odd Bug And Bad Review To Throw It Off

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Amazon, Kindle Fire, Reviews

The Kindle Fire is just about ready to launch, and not since the launch of the Motorola XOOM has an Android tablet been so hotly anticipated. With a little help from the mainstream media, consequent consumer excitement, and - last but certainly not least - Amazon's front page (all things manufacturers like ASUS could only dream of), it has skyrocketed to the top of many tech enthusiasts' holiday shopping lists. And at $199, it won't break the bank, either; the only thing that could possibly hold it back now would be, well, an underwhelming user experience. So has Amazon ironed out the kinks?

Nov

Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet Vs. Amazon Kindle Fire: FIGHT!

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, News, Nook Tablet

When the Amazon Kindle Fire was announced, we were all pretty excited about its tablet-meets-e-reader form factor, low price, and powerful hardware. Barnes & Noble has fired back this morning with an equally impressive device (and in some aspects even more so), albeit with a slightly higher price tag. As always, both devices offer features that make them unique from each other -- but, at the end of the day, which one is the better choice?

Let's throw both devices in the ring and see how they fare with one another, shall we? First up, specs:

NOOK Tablet

7-inch IPS lamination display
1GHz dual-core processor
1GB RAM
16GB storage with SD card slot
400 grams
9 Hours of video playback, 11.5 hours of read-time
$249

Amazon Kindle Fire

7-inch IPS display
1GHz dual-core TI OMAP4 processor
512MB RAM
8GB internal storage, no SD card slot
413 grams
7.5 hours locally-stored video playback, 8 hours read-time
$199

With specs out of the way, let's take a closer look at each one to get a better idea of which device is the better buy this holiday season.

Oct

There's A Bounty Out For The Kindle Fire: $200 For Reversible Root, $800 For "Basic" Honeycomb Or Ice Cream Sandwich Port

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Kindle Fire, News, Tablets

It looks like the HP Touchpad isn't the only tablet to have a bounty placed on its head - Kindle Fire Forum is now offering a substantial reward to the first person who's able to provide a reliable, reversible root method, or either a Honeycomb or Ice Cream Sandwich port for Amazon's Android tablet.

The forum is offering a prize of $200 for a root method, and a whopping $800 for a "Basic" Honeycomb or ICS port. The original post outlines the goals like so:

Reliable Reversable Root Method - This one is self explanatory.

Basic Android Port – The stock Android home screen and apps boot.

Oct

Amazon's Upcoming Tablet Already 'Under Fire' For Patent Violations

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, News

What do you do if you're a known patent troll and a major company announces a new device that is sure to sell millions of units? Try to sue the heck out of them, of course. That's exactly what's going on with Amazon's upcoming Kindle Fire, the still-unreleased tablet from the online retail giant.

The story goes a little something like this: Amazon announces the Fire for an ultra-affordable price. Everyone is happy and wants this new device, so pre-orders are through the roof. Acacia hears about this amazing new technology and, being an innovation-stifling patent troll, decides to hit Amazon with some patent violations.

Oct

Amazon Kindle Fire Could Be On Track To Outsell The iPad In Its First Month

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, News

There's no doubt that the Kindle Fire is hot commodity right now, and the device hasn't even hit shelves yet. In fact, it's still roughly six weeks away from launch. Still, pre-order sales have been absolutely staggering for Amazon, with over 250 thousand in just a few days. They're averaging around 2,000 per hour, and, if they continue coming in at that rate, this puts the Fire on track to easily top the iPad's record for first-month sales.

The original iPad sold around 300 thousand units on its first day out, with over a million total units sold in the first month.

Sep

Rumor: A 10-Inch Kindle Tablet Is Probably Coming In Time For The Holidays

Posted by David Ruddock in Amazon, Kindle Fire, News, Rumors

When we reported that Amazon was working on a number of Android devices earlier this year, shortly thereafter, reports began surfacing that the company would release two Android tablets before year's end, one 7", the other 10". The 7" device, now known as the Kindle Fire, is obviously for real.

But what about its supposed big brother? At this point, it seems almost imminent that it will be released. It also sounds very much like Amazon will unveil this bigger, better, Fiery-er device in time for Christmas in the US, and now we've got at least two reasons to think this is happening.

Sep

Editorial: Amazon's Kindle Fire Has Just Made Every Other Android Tablet Manufacturer Look Bad

Posted by David Ruddock in Amazon, Android OS, Editorials, Kindle Fire

All I could think after reading the announcement for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet this morning was: "this is what we've been waiting for." Because it is. Amazon gets tablets, believe it or not. And despite the flagging success of the Amazon Appstore, the company has done what no other tablet manufacturer has even come remotely close to: matching access to Apple's curated content library (iTunes + App Store) at a price nearly everyone can afford.

Living In The Amazon Ecosystem

I buy my music from Amazon. I buy episodes of TV shows. I rent movies. I buy Kindle books - and I don't even own a Kindle.

Sep

[Update: More Details] Amazon Officially Announces The Kindle Fire, Available For Pre-Order Today For $199

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, News

It has been a long time coming, and even though we already knew basically everything about the device, Amazon just officially unveiled its very own Android tablet: the Kindle Fire.

The Fire is a 7-inch tablet/e-reader with an IPS display running at 1024x600, powered by a 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP4 processor and a heavily modified version of Android. Of course, it will be lacking any and all Google Apps, including the official Android Market. As expected, the Fire's go-to app store will be Amazon's official Appstore, which will run alongside other Amazon-specific apps like Cloud Player (Amazon MP3), Prime, Kindle (of course), and Amazon Instant Video.