Amazon Kindle Fire Is Great!
I may have to purchase a second Amazon Kindle Fire tablet because the one I bought is being monopolized by my wife and three year-old granddaughter. My wife is using the Kindle Fire to read a novel and play games and our three year-old granddaughter is playing games, looking at books for children, and watching a streaming “Angelina Ballerina” movie from Amazon Prime.
I have a 10.1″ Android tablet (the ASUS Transformer with the keyboard/dock) and I had some reservations about a 7″ tablet. I have found, however, that the Kindle Fire is fun and easy to use. I have looked at books and magazines and the 7″ screen is large enough for my old eyes. My wife says it’s easy to read her book and the Kindle Fire is easy to hold. I’ve also found that the onscreen keyboard is fairly easy for me to use as long as I hold the device in landscape mode (which provides a larger keyboard).
I think Amazon has the right idea in selling a tablet for $199 with just those features that people want and use. I’m not sure why most other tablets, both Android and iPad, duplicate the features found in smartphones. Most of us carry our smartphones with us and it makes sense for the devices to include a good camera and GPS. Tablets, on the other hand, are used around the house and don’t need those features that won’t be used and add to the cost of the device. Here is an interesting excerpt from a post on kindle-fireforum.com: “My granddaughter has an iPad .. and she really likes the FIRE better .. because it fits in her hand better, weighs less and she has a smooth operating experience zipping and doing everything she normally does with her iPad .. (Uses it in school to do notes and research too).”
By the way, I spoke with a relative who is considering giving her children Kindle Fires for Christmas and was concerned about Amazon’s 30-day return policy. I checked with Amazon and they will accept returns of Kindle Fires shipped between November 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011 until January 31, 2012 for a full refund, subject to their other return policies at:
http://www.amazon.com/help/returns/
If you are thinking about purchasing a Kindle Fire I would appreciate it if you would use my Amazon Associate link below.
Kaiser Permanente Thrive Ad
“Find Your Thing.” Love this ad!
Kindle Fire Uses Amazon’s Silk Browser
It was incorrectly reported that Amazon’s new tablet would use a Webkit browser. Instead, the Kindle Fire will use the “Silk” browser developed by Amazon. Instead of residing on the tablet the browser will be based “in the cloud” (on one of Amazon’s servers). For more information, you can watch a video at http://amazonsilk.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/introducing-amazon-silk/
Kindle Fire Confirmed By Amazon With $199 Price
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has confirmed the Kindle Fire with the 7-inch color display. The tablet will allow users to download books and full-color magazines, as well as free Amazon Cloud Storage to allow users to back up their purchases. It features a carousel interface, so whatever you just looked at shows up on top. Bezos used a scene from X-Men to demonstrate.
Fire display has 16 million colors, 169 pixels per inch, protective Gorilla Glass.
When playing music, you can see the album cover art on screen. Users can also pull up the menu while reading and pause music from top menu from wherever you are.
Bezos also demonstrated games with a round of Fruit Ninja. “You can see my Fruit Ninja skills are lacking,” Bezos jokes.
The device will sell for $199 and ship Nov. 15.
Amazon unveiled a Kindle Touch with a touchscreen for $99, and a 3G version for $149.
The company will also sell a version of the original Kindle for $79. It’s available starting today. The Kindle Touch will launch in November.
Latest News On Tablet PCs.
I have been reading rumours about Amazon’s Android tablet which is supposed to be announced at a press conference this Wednesday (09/28/2011). Today there is an article on Fox News with the headline “Apple Already Fearing Amazon Tablet Launch?” According to the article:
“Amazon.com is expected to reveal its entry in the volcanic tablet computer market on Wednesday, a $250 gizmo analysts say could be the first real threat to the iPad’s market domination. And even Apple appears to be getting worried.
“The company has reduced orders from Taiwanese manufacturers for new Apple iPads by as much as 25 percent, according to a JPMorganChase analyst cited by Bloomberg. Other analysts cited the aggressive initial pricing of the Kindle — the ebook reader designed by the world’s largest Internet retailer — as evidence that we can expect a similar price tag on a tablet device from the company.”
I’d be surprised if any one Android tablet turns out to be an iPad killer. According to the reports I’ve read, the ASUS Transformer is the second-best selling tablet after the iPad. ASUS, with virtually no advertising other than word of mouth, has been shipping over 400,000 units per month and has had trouble meeting the demand. Still, I don’t think Apple is worried about ASUS. Cisco Systems is introducing an Android tablet. Called the “Cius”, Cisco says it is the first business tablet built for the enterprise from the ground up. I have read about businesses experimenting with both Android and iPad tablets but with Windows 8 coming next year, I would think that most businesses would wait before any wide-spread adoption of tablets.
I have read articles projecting that Amazon could sell 2 to 4 million tablets during the remaining three month of the year. I find those projections hard to believe, but I have been wrong at least once or twice in my life. I didn’t think the mouse made sense when it was introduced, and not too long ago I remember scoffing at a prediction that by 2015 the most popular mobile operating systems would be Android and Windows. I had not read any good reviews of Windows Mobile and I couldn’t believe that Windows would become that popular on smart phones and tablets. It appears I was wrong because while Windows 7 Mobile isn’t that good, the reviewers have been raving about the advance releases of Windows 8. Apparently, Windows 8 will be a great mobile OS.
On the other hand, I was right about HP making a mistake when the company introduced a tablet with a proprietary OS. Also, it looks as if the Blackberry PlayBook may not be long for this world. I just read that Blackberry will be slashing prices on the PlayBook tablet. The company confirmed that price drops were imminent after the company reported just 200,000 units shipped into channels during the tablet’s first full quarter of availability. I thought the PlayBook would do better just because of the large Blackberry user base.
The Amazon Kindle Tablet — An iPad Killer?
I think Android tablets will overtake Apple’s iPad in a few years, just as happened in the smartphone market with Android phones overtaking the iPhone. I don’t expect any one Android tablet to outsell the iPad although, based on the lawsuits filed by Apple, the company seems to be especially concerned about the Samsung Galaxy Tab. I am very happy with my ASUS TF101 Eee Pad Transformer because, with its keyboard/dock, I have both an Android tablet and a netbook replacement (with dual batteries for longer battery life).
Although I’m still not convinced that a single Android tablet will outsell the iPad, a number of tech writers are predicting that the new Amazon tablet could be an “iPad Killer.” That may be the case, but the more rumors I read about the Amazon tablet, the less convinced I am that it will be a general purpose Android tablet. Here are some of the rumors…
1. Amazon will release a 7″ Android tablet in October or November. The tablet will sell for $250 and will include a free Amazon Prime membership (currently $79/year). Amazon is expected to release a more expensive 10″ tablet in the first quarter of 2012. This news is reason for excitement, but…
2. The OS may be Android in name only. Amazon software engineers took some version of Android prior to 2.2 and “forked” it (took the Android source code and created a distinct piece of software). Amazon will keep building on top of that over time and any future changes will be all Amazon. Currently, most smartphone, tablet manufacturers, and some service providers, add their own front end to Android, but it’s the same OS underneath, and when Google upgrades Android, all devices receive the upgrade at some point.
3. The main screen is a carousel that looks like Cover Flow in iTunes which displays all the content you have on the device. This includes books, apps, movies, etc. Below the main carousel is a dock to pin your favorite items in one easy-to-access place. When you turn the device horizontally, the dock disappears below the fold.
4. Above the dock is the status bar (time, battery, etc) and this doubles as a notification tray. When apps have updates, or when new subscriptions are ready for you to view, they appear here. The top bar shows “YOUR NAME’s Kindle” and then the number of notifications you have in bright orange. There are no physical buttons on the surface of the device. You bring up a lower navigation menu by tapping the screen once. This can take you back home, etc.
5. Amazon services are deeply integrated. Amazon’s content store is always just one click away. The book reader is a Kindle app (which looks similar to how it does on Android and iOS now). The music player is Amazon’s Cloud Player. The movie player is Amazon’s Instant Video player. The app store is Amazon’s Android Appstore.
6. Google’s Android Market is nowhere to be found. In fact, no Google app is anywhere to be found. There is a web browser, and while it’s styled a bit to match the Kindle UI, it looks pretty much the same as the Android’s WebKit browser. Yes, it has tabs! And yes, Google Search is still the default (the Kindle also has its own search tool to find content on your device).
7. The visual web reading app “Pulse” will be bundled with the Kindle. A game like Angry Birds may be as well. Again, it uses Amazon’s Android Appstore, so all of the content accepted into that store will play well on this device. Apps, games, content, you name it. Amazon creating their own app store is starting to make a lot more sense, and looks potentially very smart.
8. The device has 6 GB of internal storage. The idea is that this will be more of a “cloud device” for things like music and movies. The storage is meant for storing books and apps There were a few references to an SD card expansion. The initial version of the device will be WiFi-only. Amazon is supposedly working with carriers to produce 3G-enabled versions (as they have with their other Kindles), but that won’t be the case at launch. Battery life is supposed to be 10 hours or so. The back of the device is rubbery – very similar to the PlayBook (it’s black as well). The power button is underneath if you’re holding it vertically (which is a bit odd – but it’s obviously to the side if you’re holding it horizontally). There’s a micro-USB port (presumably for powering the device as well). The speakers are of the top of the device (again, if it’s being held vertically). There is no camera.
If the rumors turn out to be true, the new Amazon Kindle tablet may be an iPad killer (it may also be a Nook Color killer), but I don’t think it will be fair to call it an Android tablet.
Scambaiting
“Does somebody want to transfer millions of dollars into your account? Does someone want to pay you to cash cheques and send them the money? Met a new friend/penpal on a friendship/dating site who’s asking you for money? Has a dying person contacted you wanting your help to give his money to charity? Have you sold an item and are asked to accept a payment larger than the item amount
“IT’S A SCAM!
“Don’t fall for common scams like this – fight them!
“So what is scambaiting? Well, put simply, you enter into a dialogue with scammers, simply to waste their time and resources. Whilst you are doing this, you will be helping to keep the scammers away from real potential victims and screwing around with the minds of deserving thieves.
“It doesn’t matter if you are new to this sport or a hardened veteran; if you are wasting the time of a scammer, or frustrating them in any way well that’s good enough for us, and we would welcome you to join with our now very large community.”
If this sounds like fun you can join the “Scambaiting” community at http://www.419eater.com/.
Snowshoe Thompson?
Snowshoe Thompson Tanner trekking across the Sierra to deliver the mail.
Display Outlook Calendar On Desktop
I just ran across a very useful FREE utility called DeskTask that connects to Microsoft Outlook and displays your calendar on the desktop. The whole week is visible so you don’t have to launch or switch to Outlook. Besides the calendar items, the Outlook to-do list (Folder Tasks) can also be displayed. You can download the free DeskTask utility from http://www.carthagosoft.net/downloads.htm.
