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Dec

[Deal Alert] Gameloft Offering 6 Games For $0.99 Each In The Amazon Appstore, Most For The Kindle Fire

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Deals, Games, Kindle Fire, News

Owners of Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet have a great chance to expand their gaming portfolio right now thanks to Gameloft. One of the most popular game developers for Android is offering a handful of games for just $0.99 in the Amazon Appstore, most of them special Kindle Fire editions.

Among the discounted titles are Order & Chaos, Block Breaker 3 Unlimited, UNO, and Asphalt 6: Adrenaline. Those who don't own a Kindle Fire can still get Hero of Sparta HD or Shadow Guardian HD at a deeply discounted price. There's no word on how long these prices will last, so grab a game or two while you can here!

Dec

[New App] Amazon Releases Android App For Students - Compare Prices, Buy, And Trade In Your College Stuff; Six Months Of Free Prime In Tow

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Amazon, Applications, News

Amazon has just launched the Amazon Student app for Android, providing students with an easy way to shop for textbooks, electronics, apparel, and all the other gear they need to survive their college year.

In addition to browsing and buying stuff, the app also features a barcode scanner that gives students a chance to compare prices on anything they intend to buy from a brick and mortar store. The scanner also allows students to scan their old textbooks, games, DVDs, and a million other eligible products to see their current trade-in value. These items can then be shipped to Amazon for Amazon.com Gift Cards.

The iOS version of this app has been out for quite some time now and offers much of the same features as the Android one.

Dec

Kindle For Android v3.3 Now Supports PDF Documents And ICS Devices

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Amazon, Applications, News

Amazon's recent update to its Kindle for Android app brings an important change by allowing native support for reading PDF documents.

Unfortunately, PDF support, as it currently stands, is fairly barebones. Aside from being able to view PDF documents, zoom, and turn pages, the app does not have any other features. Indeed, unlike ordinary ebooks, the PDF portion of the app does not support bookmarks, highlights or the ability to make notes.

The 3.3 update ties in nicely with yesterday's announcement from PDF software maker Foxit that Amazon had made an investment in the company. Although Kindle devices natively supported PDF documents since 2009, reading them has always been a little cumbersome.

Nov

Kindle Fire Gets An Update That Breaks Root – Don't Worry, You Can Root Again

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, Kindle Fire, News, Tablets

Amazon has begun pushing a software update to Kindle Fire owners, updating the tablet's software to version 6.2. The online shopping giant kept quiet about just what the update included however. Given this (lack of) information, the real story here is that the update breaks root. Additionally, the Fire is configured to update automatically over WiFi, and there isn't an immediately apparent way to stop it.

There is a bright side, however. After your Fire updates, regaining root access is not only possible, but easy, using SuperOneClick. For instructions, head over to the discussion on XDA Forums. It's worth mentioning that the update may wipe the Android Market app and custom keyboards, along with your root privileges.

Nov

CyanogenMod 7 Makes Its Way To The Kindle Fire - Still A Bit Buggy, But Nearly Usable

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Kindle Fire, News

Just two short weeks after the Kindle Fire received its first dose of Android development goodness (read: root), the first full custom ROM has made its way to the device. The ROM is question is, of course, CyanogenMod 7, the most widely distributed custom ROM among Android devices.

Basically everything works, though there are a few glitches. The touchscreen was initially on the receiving end of one said glitch, as the alignment was off by 90 degrees. The developer behind the port, JackpotClavin, has since fixed this issue, so touch should be good to go now. Wi-Fi isn't 100% up-to-snuff just yet, though, as it will scan and find networks, but it is unable to connect.

Nov

[Rumor] Is An Amazon Smartphone In The Works? Signs Point To 'Yes'

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Amazon, News, Rumors

Even though the Kindle Fire has only been out for a couple of days, rumors are already circulating about what Amazon could be planning for next year - a foray into the smartphone world.

According to a research report put out this morning by a couple of Citi analysts, Amazon appears to be developing a smartphone in collaboration with Foxconn, though the actual device will most like be manufactured by the same company that produces the Kindle line. The suggested chip under the hood of this device is said to be a TI OMAP4, with a Qualcomm dual mode 6-series standalone baseband handling the radio work.

Nov

Good News – The Android Market Can Now Be Installed On Amazon's Kindle Fire

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Development, Kindle Fire, News

Since before the launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire, the Android community has been atwitter, planning to break through the shopping giant's custom Android variant to achieve a true Android experience. Coming one step closer to that, BriefMobile has provided detailed instructions on how to get the Android Market running on Amazon's affordable 7" slate.

Of course, the Kindle Fire is not compatible with all the apps in the Market, so you may notice a few missing. Hopefully developers will be adding support for the Fire in the future, but for now, there are still plenty of reasons you want the Market on Amazon's Android tablet.

Nov

Is Amazon Deliberately Hiding Non-Kindle eReader Apps From Kindle Fire Owners?

Posted by David Ruddock in Amazon, Kindle Fire, News

It sure seems that way, according to Android Guys. They claim competing eBook apps such as Kobo and Aldiko don't appear in search results when using the Amazon Appstore on a Kindle Fire tablet. Additionally, eBook reader developer BlueFire claims that while his app is listed as Kindle Fire-compatible on the Amazon Appstore, it too fails to show up in search results on the device.

We've not heard of many apps mysteriously not showing up in the Fire's app list (presumably Amazon had lots of time to work on ensuring most apps on its store would be compatible) for a lack of compatibility, so if this does turn out to be true, we can probably assume that Amazon made a conscious decision to keep competitors' apps out of the hands of users.

Nov

Amazon Posts Kindle Fire's Open Source Code

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Amazon, Development, Kindle Fire, News

Unlike some vendors which shall remain unnamed (*cough*, HTC, *cough*), Amazon didn't make us wait for the mandatory open source bits of the Android Fire's kernel and released them over at their Source Code page the same day the tablets themselves started arriving in consumers' hands. The download, which comes as a compressed tar.gz, weighs in at a whopping 809MB.

The source code should allow for custom ROMs and tweaks to the OS, which we can hopefully expect soon, considering the Fire has already been rooted. There is still no word on whether its bootloader can be easily unlocked, however, so theoretically there could be a few potential bumps on the road to the first custom ROMs.