Next Gen Kindle Fire

[vailpass]

Anyone know anything about this? I think I want.
Amazon’s New Kindle Could Come in September
By Andrei C. | Jul 17, 2012 Add a comment .Posted In Android, Games & Gadgets, Mobile Devices
Reports are that Amazon’s new Kindle Fire will be unveiled in September.

The new device is expected to come with an improved display, both in terms of resolution (1280 x 800 pixels) and PPI (216), all on the same screen size. It will also be lighter, thinner and feature a built-in camera, although it’s not clear if it’ll be front-facing or not).

All of these details come from AllThingsD.

I’m betting the new Fire will include an improved chip, maybe a Tegra 3 Quad-Core.

The New York Times says the device “could compete more directly with the iPad, according to a developer briefed on Amazon’s plans who did not want to be identified talking about unannounced products.”

Ironically, the Kindle Fire’s strongest feature isn’t within the device itself: It’s Amazon Prime membership, which for just $79 a year provides access to a huge collection of movies, TV shows and books, plus upgraded shipping.



http://news.dice.com/2012/07/17/amaz...n-kindle-fire/

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by vailpass

Thank you. Amazon integration is why I'd get a tablet but those are some key differences. Wonder if the next gen Fire will come with JellyBean? Or if they will be pushing JB out to the current Fire in an OTA update.

Doubtful. Amazon basically took Froyo and built their own system on top of it, but by the time they released it, Google was already almost ready to release ICS. The problem with that is that they have to continually either update their own OS or re-build everything on top of the most recent Android OS's. My guess is the new one will include a software update, but it almost definitely won't be Jellybean based unless they delay it by at least 6-12 months.

Another warning if you're considering the Fire is that they do lock down the apps you can run on it. You can only use apps from the Amazon Appstore, and they keep a lot of good ones off of there. My wife has a bunch of apps that I've had to sideload because Amazon doesn't want them on there (like Dropbox, Spotify, Google Music, Google Reader, and Instagram).

Basically, if you're wanting an "Android tablet," buy the Nexus 7. If you're wanting a media consumption device that can also run most (but not all) Android apps, the Fire will do the trick.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Doubtful. Amazon basically took Froyo and built their own system on top of it, but by the time they released it, Google was already almost ready to release ICS. The problem with that is that they have to continually either update their own OS or re-build everything on top of the most recent Android OS's. My guess is the new one will include a software update, but it almost definitely won't be Jellybean based unless they delay it by at least 6-12 months.

Another warning if you're considering the Fire is that they do lock down the apps you can run on it. You can only use apps from the Amazon Appstore, and they keep a lot of good ones off of there. My wife has a bunch of apps that I've had to sideload because Amazon doesn't want them on there (like Dropbox, Spotify, Google Music, Google Reader, and Instagram).

Basically, if you're wanting an "Android tablet," buy the Nexus 7. If you're wanting a media consumption device that can also run most (but not all) Android apps, the Fire will do the trick.

Thanks Face, this is very helpful. A media consumption device that maximizes my Prime membership is exactly what I want so I'll get the new Fire. If it feels small after a while I'll void the warranty.

[Mr. Laz]

just ordered the Asus Transformer Infinity






*crossing fingers*

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by Laz

just ordered the Asus Transformer Infinity






*crossing fingers*

Nice. Aside from the fact that I had a pretty major bout with ASUS warranty service, I've been pretty happy with my Prime. ASUS appears to be one of the few manufacturers who is really trying to keep up with the software updates, so that's a nice bonus.

Although ASUS assured me that it was a rare problem, be gentle with the plug into the power port. I broke mine off plugging it in at a weird angle once, which is what caused the whole mess with their warranty.

[jiveturkey]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Has that worked pretty well? My wife has expressed some frustration with hers from time to time, so I've debated it. If so, got a ROM you recommend?

Here's the ROM that I'm currently running.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1591869

I only ran the stock interface for 3 days before I jumped to CM7. Both CM7 and CM9 have run extremely well. I've noticed that my battery life took a bit of a hit when I moved to CM9 but it's not enough to send back to CM7.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Yup. Honestly, my main complaint about the Fire is that the software's pretty clunky. In terms of hardware, it does just fine. That said, anyone who is looking for a real 7" Android tab these days shouldn't even consider anything other than the Nexus 7.

Quit telling everybody about the Nexus 7 Face. See what you did?

(Mashable) -- Demand for Google's 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet seems to have well exceeded the tech giant's expectations.

Last week, Google posted a message to its online store saying that shipments of the 16GB model were delayed one to two weeks. Now, the store has stopped taking orders altogether.

Those who want to purchase the $249 version of the tablet are told to sign up to be notified by e-mail when it is back in stock.

The 16GB version is also sold out at GameStop, Kmart, Sam's Club, Office Depot, Staples, B&H, Best Buy in Canada and, according to The Guardian, Tesco in the UK. The only place to get the device online at this point may be eBay.

Google is still accepting orders for the 8GB version however, which costs $199.

The 7-inch, Asus-built tablet, which began shipping earlier this month, is the first to run the latest version of Android, codename Jelly Bean. It has a 1280×800 HD display (216 ppi) and a quad-core processor.

It has received widely positive reviews from the press — our own Peter Pachal called it "the Android media tablet the Kindle Fire was supposed to be."


http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/tech/g...html?hpt=hp_t3

[DaFace]

Not too surprising, really. It's been reviewed incredibly well, and I think there are still quite a few people sitting on the sidelines and waiting for a high-quality tablet option in the $200-$300 range.

[WoodDraw]

I'm interested to see what direction Amazon goes with their OS. Will they build the same skin off of an ICS base, or completely redesign it? Amazon depends a lot on what Google does, which has to be worrying for them.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by vailpass

don't be offended by anything I say; it isn't meant as an attack. I'm mildly reeruned, if that helps you put me in perspective.

I fuking knew it.

[cosmo20002]

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2?

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

I'm interested to see what direction Amazon goes with their OS. Will they build the same skin off of an ICS base, or completely redesign it? Amazon depends a lot on what Google does, which has to be worrying for them.

Yeah, it's kind of a bizarre business model. Their only options are to continue developing their own Froyo-based OS or completely redo all of their tweaks on a later version. You'd think it'd be easier for them to just live with a lighter-weight skin on top of the OS, but they wanted to have total control. I guess we'll see where they go with it.

[NewChief]

Okay:

The boy got a kindle fire HD for Christmas. He loves the device. The ****ING 1-touch shopping is KILLING me, though. This bullshit of not being able to at least password protect purchases (like the apple app store) is ridiculous. I'm going to have to start making him use a different account or delink the amazon account from the fire.

He isn't intentionally buying stuff, but he just starts screwing around on it looking at books and then hits purchase on accident. He's bought like 30 bucks worth of books in the last week.

[KCFalcon59]

Have you tried this Go here

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by KCFalcon59

Have you tried this Go here

You can also disable In-app Purchasing in the Settings, under "Apps". That prevents you from buying coins and whatnot while playing games.

[NewChief]

Not happy with this device. We've had it less than a year, and it's seen very light use. I have it in a lifeproof case. It's stuck in safe mode (evidently it has something to do with the volume controls being stuck, which they are), and it won't come out. Looking it up, this is a very common problem, but the listed fix isn't fixing mine.

In contrast, we've had 2 iPads for 3 years that have both seen extremely heavy use, and I've never had a single problem with either of them.