How to Turn Your Nexus 7 into a Real Kindle Fire?

In these days, both the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire are becoming hot and hot. At the mention of Kindle Fire, the first thing comes in my head is it is a best E-book reader while Nexus 7 is a best entertainment tablet. It is of course reasonable that you cannot decide which to buy for your Christmas gift if you just want to choose from them, even though you have compared them.

Fortunately, now we can get (nearly) all of Amazon's great Android offerings on the Nexus 7 to turn it into a real Kindle Fire including the Kindle E-books.

In Android 4.1, you can enjoy Google Books, Google Music, Google Video, and the Google Play app store. Of course,you can upgrade the system to Android 4.2 to enjoy the new amazing features.But there are still plenty of people prefer to Amazon for books, music, and movies. Luckily, it is easy to get free Amazon's Kindle reader app and Amazon MP3 app using the Google Play app store. These two apps will give you access to your Kindle book library and Aussie Amazon MP3 collection.

Before you see Amazon-purchased Android apps on Nexus 7, you need to set Nexus 7’s security to allow installation of apps from "unknown sources". Enter into Nexus 7 settings, tap on Security, and check the box for "Unknown Sources".

Besides, you can get Amazon's Appstore app for Android from Amazon by visiting the Appstore Web page.Enter your email and check the download link at your e-mail on the Nexus 7.After the operations, you can find your purchased apps and start to download Android apps from google.

But you cannot really enjoy the Amazon video content (including free videos for Amazon Prime) since the unavailable Abode Flash service and the bad performance of the Google Video app and storefront matching the content, pricing, and capabilities of Amazon's video service.

But it is enough, right? At least, you have got the Kindle book and app library. So do you want to enjoy the Kindle Fire service on Nexus 7?

CNET guide video:

Related article:
How to Watch MKV Videos on Kindle Fire HD

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Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Review: the Most Worthy Buying Kindle Fire

With the coming of shopping season, Amazon has shipped Kindle Fire HD 8.9 on November 15, a few days earlier than announced. It is undoubtedly the best Kindle Fire at present for its high-performance but low price. With the larger screen, higher resolution, the faster processor and the new user interface, Kindle Fire HD 8.9 delivers a much better tablet experience than its 7 inch predecessor. Let’s just discuss it in detail below.

Appearance

The Kindle Fire 8.9’s unique size lands in between the 7.9 inch iPad Mini and the 9.7 inch iPad, which makes it neither small nor big. From the statistics about Kindle Fire HD 8.9, we can find it is in fact thinner than iPad and matches the Nexus 10’s profile length.
The tablet is dark gray and looks common. The only highlighted and impressed trait is a tablet-wide black strip on the back. A 720p Web chat camera lies in the middle of the top with a nearly invisible ambient light sensor sitting to its left. From top to bottem, you can also find Micro-USB port, Micro-HDMI port, a headphone jack, volume rocker, a power/sleep button and a microphone pinhole. Different from Nexus 7, the back of Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is very smooth with Dual inch-long speaker on it.

Key Specs

• Display and Processor.Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Offers 1,920 x 1,200(254 ppi) HD display and up to 1.5 GHz dual-core OMAP4470 processor with Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core for fast and fluid performance.
• Storage.Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes in 16GB(starts at $299) and 32GB in Wi-Fi version while the 4G LTE-enabled version comes with 32GB(starts at $499) or 64GB of storage.
• Battery life. 10 hours continuous use. But from CNET, actually, if you set the Kindle Fire HD 8.9's brightness as about 75 percent and constantly use it, then you may need charge about once every five hours.
• Connectivity. Kindle Fire HD 8.9 offers 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth and 4G LTE.
• Speakers. Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has dual stereo speakers which can delivers clear, loud (if you need it to be) sound when clear, loud (if you need it to be) sound. Unluckily, it lacks bass.For those who cannot stand the loud sound, the headphones is a very good option.
• Camera.The front-facing camera on the Fire HD 8/9 can record video up to 720p in resolution.

Interface

Amazon has completely redesigned the interface in 2012, first debut on Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire (2012).And the new interface on Kindle Fire HD becomes more mature. Images and texts are sharper thanks to the 1,920 x 1,200 display. And it developed the scrolls interface with the stay of carousel.

You can still find the content options tab including Newsstand, Books, Music, Videos, Docs, Apps, and Web. The new Shop, Games, Audiobooks, Photos, and Offers. Searches tabs have joined the tab family. Offers. Searches allows you to search in Amazon's stores in addition to the Web and your own library. The new Interface has also added social network integration, more customization, and tighter security.

Software

• Apps

When you use Kindle Fire HD, you access to the Google Play market with Amazon App store which stocks a fair number of top free apps on Google Play, including Facebook, Flipboard, Netflix, Pinterest, Pulse, Twitter,Words with Friends,etc. In addition, Amazon supplies more than 120,000 movies and TV episodes and about 22 million songs,and lists about 400 magazines in its database, including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, National Geographic and ESPN.

• FreeTime

Amazon’s FreeTime is an app that allows Fire owners to create a profile for each of their children and choose what books, apps, games and videos they want to give their kids access to.With FreeTime, parents can limit their kids' screen time or restrict certain categories - like games and video - while leaving unlimited time for reading. It is really useful tools in this times.

• X-ray

Amazon offers innovative features to people including X-ray and Whispersync. You can enjoy X-ray for movies(supports IMDB), X-ray for Books(supports Wikipedia and Shelfari), X-Ray for Textbooks on both Kindle Fire HD and on Kindle Fire HD 8.9.

• Whispersync

Whispersync can automatically sync not only your content, but where you were in a particular book or movie, across devices. Even better, if you've downloaded a book that has an Audible audiobook, you can switch between reading and listening seamlessly.The services you can enjoy include Whispersync for Voice, Whispersync for Movies, Whispersync for Books, Whispersync for Games.

• Amazon Prime

If you have bought a Kindle Fire HD or the 8.9 inch one, you can receive a free month of Amazon Prime, which costs $79 per year. Amazon Prime lets you borrow any title from the Kindle Owners' Lending Library for a month (which has more than 180,000 titles), and stream more than 25,000 movies and TV shows.

Verdict

The big disadvantage about Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is its lower pricing, superior streaming capability, and higher-resolution screen. Also, it has powerful ecosystem and supplies a series of unique service. It is indeed a top-end Kindle Fire and if you just want a Kindle Fire, this one is absolutely the best one. 


Related article:
Nexus 10 vs iPad 4 vs Surface RT vs Kindle Fire HD 8.9

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Nexus 10 vs iPad 4 vs Surface RT vs Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Google has announced its new and first 10 inch tablet Nexus 10 running the latest Android 4.2 to stack up against the recently released iPad 4, Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and Surface RT. Obviously, these four tablets all have their special features which will focus the different customer’s attention, and then which one is more likely to be loved by people? Google can make the Nexus 10 the same success as Nexus 7? Let’s just have compared they to get the conclusion.

Features

Nexus 10

• NFC (sharing and wallet)
• Widgets
• Enhanced notifications
• Google Now (voice or type or automatic based on settings)
• Instant shutter, panoramic, Sphere camera
• pic/video editing
• Google Search (voice or type)
• Instantly have ALL content on any Android device or PC by just logging in to Google.
• Solid interoperability with Chrome and thus any PC regardless of OS.

iPad 4

• Enhanced Notifications
• Siri (assistance/ searching)
• Passbook (holds ticketing/ reservatiosns/ etc)
• High quality camera, panoramic
• pic/video editing
• Best resale value
• Solid interoperability with other Apple products (Mac/Safari)

Surface RT

• ARM variant of PC Windows. Will be closest to PC-like experience.
• Bing (type or voice)
• Live Tiles
• Solid Interoperability with Windows 8 and winphone8
• Smartglass with all major game consoles
• Badass attachable keyboard
• Includes free full MS Office software

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

• Ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless from AT&T
• Stunning HD display
• Exclusive Dolby Audio and Powerful Dual Stereo Speakers
• Kindle Owners' Lending Library, Free Month of Amazon Prime, Vibrant HD Magazines
• Audiobooks by Audible
• X-Ray, Whispersync, Immersion Reading
• Access your content on other devices
• Free Skype HD Video Calls
• Amazon store’s music,books,movies,etc.
• Designed for both parents and kids.

Basic Spec

 

My Opinion
In terms of weight, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 takes this category as the lightest, but in terms of mobility, the revamped iPad 4 is the winner. And if you are Amazon fans,maybe you want to get the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 for its attractive Amazon service. With the most advanced android system at present, special NFC service and the highest resolution, Nexus 10 can without doubt get people’s attention.

The Windows RT boasts a quad-core processor, promising better performance than most its rivals. It’s also ripe with Microsoft Office capabilities, so those who are very familiar with using Microsoft Office for productivity will surely enjoy using the RT.

iPad 4 will also be hot with its A6X processor for Apple fans and others. If you consider of the price,then Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and Nexus 10 will be your options.

Whatever, just make a wise choice. 




Related articles:

• iPad Mini vs Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire HD vs Nook HD 
• Amazon 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD VS Apple New iPad 
• Kindle Fire vs New iPad  
• Google Nexus 7 vs Windows RT Surface: the New battle

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Amazon 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD VS Apple New iPad

With the faster and taller iPhone 5’s release today, Apple ensures its dominant space in technology again. Either smartphone or tablet, it is difficult to replace the Apple for both Google and google. Amazon just wants to maintain more space on the tablet market and it announced the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD aiming to overthrow the Google Nexus 7 as the best budget tablet (price range: $199 – $249), and the 8.9 inch Kindle Fire HD aiming to be a high-end device with the considerably price starting at just $299, lower than other tablets featuring the same kind of specs. And Apple’s iPad Mini is not unveiled and is anticipated to arise on Oct.

Apparently, Kindle Fire HD 8.9 inch will give heavy pressure on iPad with high-resolution display (1920 x 1200)and MIMO (multi-input/output) functionality, which Amazon claims will give the Kindle Fire HD 40 percent faster Wi-Fi than the iPad. But what exactly are better, Kindle Fire HD 8.9 inch or the New iPad?So let’s just compare them.

Display

The 8.9-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD has an 8.9-inch display (DUH!) that works at a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution (the same resolution used by the ASUS Transformer Prime Infinity) and a PPI(Pixel Per Inch) of 254.While the new iPad is at 9.7 inches with LED-backlit IPS TFT display uses a 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution, the highest resolution you’ll encounter on any tablet currently announced , and a PPI density of 264, also currently a valid record in the tablet market.

You maybe think that the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is not better than the New iPad from this aspect, but actually with the PPI of 254, the display on the 8.9 inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD is almost as sharp as that of the Apple iPad 3, although it is 0.8 inches smaller.

Besides, one advantage that the 8.9 inch Kindle Fire HD has over the new iPad is the first’s anti-glare technology which you can creat a display that’s easy to view, even in overhead light.

Hardware

Amazon announced the 8.9-inch Kindle HD uses Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 chips and the chip is faster than the Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC with a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor.Apple has used the new A5X chip, currently the fastest chip on the market when it comes to both CPU and GPU tests, inside the third-generation iPad with a 1.0Ghz dual-core processor. The performance offered by the CPU inside the Amazon Kindle Fire will be comparable, but the latter will not be able to compete against the iPad’s more powerful GPU.On to the amount of RAM memory, the latest version of Apple’s iPad carries 1GB of RAM, while the 8.9-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD is presumably using the same amount of RAM.

The Wi-Fi 8.9-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD, features a HD front-facing camera for Skype calls, comes in 16GB or 32GB models, Amazon is throwing in 20GB of cloud storage space for your own stuff, and unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content. The new iPad, which has a 5MP rear facing camera capable of 1080p videos and a VGA camera for video chatting comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions and offers up to 5GB of iCloud storage no matter whether they’re cellular-enabled or Wi-Fi-only versions.

The LTE version of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (8.9 inches) will only work with AT&T while The LTE-enabled version of the new Apple iPad can work with both Verizon and AT&T.

OS and Ecosystem
 
The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is powered by a forked version of Android 4.0 be able to get new apps from the Amazon Appstore. Basically you can do with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD is to access Amazon’s Appstore or buy books, music and magazines or rent movies. Google’s products are virtually non-existent on all the new Amazon Kindle tablets.The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is also well integrated with Amazon's services, so Amazon Prime users will get access to thousands of free streaming videos and Prime users will also get the Kindle Lending Program, which grants free access to eBooks. Your content will be stored and accessible from the Amazon Cloud. Amazon's content ecosystem is roughly equivalent with what you can find in iTunes, although Apple may have a slight edge.

Apple’s new iPad uses iOS 5, an OS that offers over 550,000 apps inside the App Store. As far as the quality of the available apps goes, the wide diversity of quality, tablet-optimized apps offered by the iPad may be unrivaled even by fully-fledged Android tablets. Apple also has a stronger ecosystem than Amazon when it comes to tablets. It definitely has the advantage when it comes to apps and I'd give it a slight edge in terms of movies, TV shows and music choices. The New iPad ecosystem extends beyond software though, as you can find all sorts of neat covers and accessories specifically designed for the Apple tablet.

Price

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 will be significantly cheaper than the new iPad. You can also pick up a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 with 32GB for $369 and the $499 version gets you 32GB and 4G LTE connectivity ($50 a month for 250MB of data). And the new iPad costs $499 with 16GB. A 32GB version costs $599, a 64GB model costs $699 and versions with integrated 4G LTE modems cost $629, $729 and $829 for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions.

The Apple new iPad has been available since March this year, while the Amazon Kindle Fire HD will be released on November 20.

Verdict

All in all, the 8.9-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD is nearly as powerful as the iPad though iPad is in reality better than it. But if you just want to look a high-end entertain tablet, I think it will be a better choice than iPad, after all, not everyone can afford the iPad.

The 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is currently the tablet that offers the best bang for buck ratio around. And if you have interest in it, just wait for its coming.


Related articles: 

• Kindle Fire vs New iPad 
• Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire

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Amazon will offer $15 opt-out for ads on New Kindle Fire tablets

The new Kindle Fire HD tablets from Amazon have good hardware and software technology inside that belies the low pricing. It turns out that pricing is low due to the inclusion of ads on the Fire HD lock screen and home screen.

These ads will be on all Kindle Fire HD models according to Amazon, without the ability to opt-out. Ads on Kindles are nothing new as Amazon has offered models of the ereader with ads at a lower price for some time.

Kindle buyers have the option to pay a little more for models sans ads or go cheap and put up with the ads. To be fair the Kindle ads have never been obtrusive.

The ads on the new Kindle Fire HD tablets will be on the lock screen that is displayed every time you turn the device on. These ads will include "sponsored screen savers" according to google. The lock screen disappears as soon as you unlock the display so this may not be an issue with most users.

The other ads will be on the lower left corner of the home screen. Amazon insists they will not interfere with the normal use of the tablet, but that will be up to each user. It cannot be turned off so it's there to stay.

Amazon took this ad-supported route no doubt to keep the prices of the Kindle Fire HD as low as possible so it may be an acceptable trade-off for most.

It turns out the ads will "be available in both the US and the UK".And Amazon is now stating that no-ad options will be available for the Kindle Fire HD for $15.

from zdnet

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Amazon Kindle Fire HD，A Big Hit on Tablet Market After Nexus 7

When Google Nexus 7 has proved itself by its tremendous success, Amazon takes the wraps off people’s long-anticipated new tablets, the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD. Although the shipment is said to be on Sep. 14, the order has already started yesterday.

With the price of $199, the same as the current darling, the Nexus 7, the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD adds more storage (16GB), faster performance, and a high-resolution display (1280x800) into the mix and with better hardware, which will the new kindle fire HD go even further to eat into the competition. Also you can take the 32GB for $249 (32GB).

Along with a slightly bigger screen (1920x1200),the larger 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD has the same hardware improvements. It is designed for content consumption in every way, and at $299 will likely be a big holiday seller. It will be available in November to reach that holiday crowd. There's also an extra-fancy Fire HD with AT&T's 4G LTE support priced at $499 for 32GB and $599 for 64GB.

The new Kindle Fire HD also includes dual-band 2.4 and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi. And Amazon announces that they use two antennas the first time in a tablet for 802.11n' built-in MIMO (multiple input, multiple outputs) functionality and make the Kindle Fire HD 21 percent faster Wi-Fi than the iPad. For a processor, the new Kindle Fire HD uses a Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 processor, which is a quad-core ARM-based processor. Bezos claims this processor is faster than Nvidia’s Tegra 3.What android system it will run is not certain.

Speaking of the features, lots of consumerism features are supplied such as FreeTime to let your kids not spend all day on the tablet; Dolby speakers for music and movies; X-Ray for Movies to let you get film info from IMDB while you're watching a film; and so on. Besides, the tablet comes with Microsoft Exchange support and out of the box can sync e-mail, contacts and calendars with Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo.

So you maybe wonder whether Amazon has profits to sell these at this price point. Well as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, “We want to make money when people use our device not when they buy our devices.” And it really gives all the people especially the kindle users the big surprise with its amazing performance and low price.

The Kindle Fire HD won’t offer a pure Android experience like the Nexus 7, but for Kindle users, Amazon Prime members, and those simply looking for a low-priced device to consume media on, the HD makes an extremely convincing argument in its favor, and also it will be a powerful competitor for both Google Nexus 7 and Apple iPad series including the forthcoming iPad Mini.

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Kindle Fire vs New iPad, Which is Right for you?

As Amazon’s first foray into the tablet market, Kindle Fire is widely perceived as the first real competitor to the iPad. Many people who want to buy a tablet just cannot decide which one to buy. Although the release of Nexus 7 makes the condition changed, Kindle Fire is still a great choice for most people for its popularity. So for those who want to buy one from Kindle Fire and New iPad, getting a better understanding of these two tablets is very important. Following we will compare these two tablets in every possible ways.

Specs

First,the considering factor should be the price. At $199, the Kindle Fire will be a full $300 cheaper than the lowest-priced iPad 2. That's possibly an easier entry point for folks who are intrigued by the iPad but can't justify spending $500 for a portable computer when they already have a smartphone and a laptop.

Hardware cannot decide everything. That means the new iPad thoroughly creams the Kindle Fire in a strict spec comparison. However, not everyone needs Apple's dual-core A5X processor with quad-core graphics. After all, the dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP4 processor in the Kindle Fire is no slouch. A tablet's screen is one of its most important features, and the iPad's 9.7-inch 2,048-by-1536-pixel Retina Display can't be beat. But what if you want to slip your tablet into your jacket pocket? The Kindle's 7-inch (1,024-by-600-pixel) display makes it a lot easier to tote, but it also limits your screen real estate.

Both tablets offer unlimited cloud storage for their respective eco-system content, so internal storage may not be a huge factor, but it's worth thinking if you need to load your own content. The Kindle Fire offers 8GB, while the iPad comes in 16G, 32G, and 64GB capacities. MicroSD or any other storage expansion options are not available on both these two tablets.

As to connectivity, The new iPad offers 4G LTE compatibility, which gives it an edge over the Kindle Fire, but don't forget that there are plenty of solid and affordable mobile hotspot options that will bring the same capability to Amazon's Wi-Fi-only tablet. Both tablets are 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi compatible, but only the iPad supports AirPlay and Bluetooth—this is especially important if you want to stream music or videos wirelessly to your compatible speakers or HDTV.

If you want your new tablet to own a digital camera, then the iPad's new 5-megapixel camera will be a big factor. The Kindle Fire lacks a camera, but the general usefulness of tablet cameras is still up for debate. For Battery life, Kindle Fire is likely to be longer on the iPad.

Software

More than anything, the software is what sets the Fire and the iPad apart. The Fire’s home screen is a dark faux-wood bookshelf; a search box is fixed on the top, and a list of media categories is spread out underneath it. Below that, recently used items appear on a “carousel” and take up most of the bookshelf, with the rest reserved for a scrollable “favorites” area, where you can pin apps, books, magazines, websites, videos, and even music. The interface is all about getting to your media quickly; rather than tapping on an app and then drilling down to the media you want, à la iPad, you can just click on the media itself. It’s an interesting concept, and it works well.

While the Fire runs a heavily modified build of Android 2.3, you can still feel Android when you’re using it, in the jerky scrolling, in the ever-present software Back, Home and Menu buttons, and in the slightly modified notification drawer. The browser on the Fire, called Silk, has a feature that’s supposed to accelerate page loading: Popular pages are monitored by Amazon and cached on their servers, so when you browse to one of those sites, it loads faster. The problem is that the service doesn’t seem to work well; Vimeo user Sencha did a video comparison of the Fire’s browser with acceleration turned on and off, and the results showed that Silk doesn’t make much of a difference. For now, the iPad’s browser is just as fast as the Fire’s, but Kindle Fire now can upgrade to Jelly Bean which is considered as the best android system so that it can run faster on the web.

Apps

The Fire will run on a modified version of Google's Android operating system. That means users will have access to several thousand apps in Amazon's app store for Android. The New iPad, of course, has access to more than 425,000 apps in the Apple Store. So, advantage iPad on this one.

Amazon has, of course, optimized the Fire for its own content, like streaming movies, e-books and music. It also will come with a 30-day free look at Amazon Prime, the company's premier service that offers free two-day shipping of products from google.com and free streaming from a library of more than 11,000 movies and TV shows.

Conclusion

We can get the conclusion that New iPad is better than Kindle Fire,but its expensive price may keep many people from buying it. Whatever, Kindle Fire is a best android tablet with an inexpensive price.When you decide to buy one from this two,you should synthesizes each factor and make a wise decision.

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Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire,Which One Should You Buy?

Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire are two hot and favorable android tablets at present,and most of people cannot decide to buy which one.My suggestion is buy the Nexus 7 unless you're a huge Amazon user. Then get the Fire.

There you go. No beating around the bush. Just a simple answer. Or is it?

Let's regroup for a second and really look at the question. The Kindle Fire is Amazon's $199 7-inch Android-based Kindle device. It's WiFi-only. The Nexus 7 is Google's $199 7-inch Android device. It's also WiFi-only.

Now you can see why there's some level of confusion. The two devices are the same size and the same price. There are some differences, however.

Physical device

The Kindle Fire weights 2.6 ounces more than the Nexus 7. It's 14.6 ounces, while the Nexus 7 is 12 ounces. In a handheld device, 2 ounces is something you'll notice.

More to the point, the Nexus 7 is a lot more machine for your $199. It's got a much faster CPU, a graphics processor, twice the RAM of the Kindle Fire, and (for an extra fifty bucks) can store twice as much as the Kindle Fire.

On raw horsey-power, the Nexus 7 gets the win.

Android OS

Although both devices are based on Android, you'd be hard-pressed to notice Android on the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire is a Kindle first, with Android 2.3 running underneath, hidden from view.

On the other hand, the Nexus 7 is Google's current benchmark tablet, running Android 4.1 (otherwise known as Jelly Bean).

On Android compatibility, the Nexus 7 gets the win.

Software compatibility

Here's where things start getting interesting. You'd think the Nexus 7 would run more Android apps, but because it's the first Jelly Bean product in a 7-inch tablet form, many Android apps (like Instagram) won't run because they check the version number. 4.1 is higher than many apps are comfortable with.

On the other hand, the Kindle Fire runs apps primarily from the Amazon app store. While you can side-load regular Android apps, there's some hoop jumping involved.

When it comes to software compatibility, at the time of writing, neither wins the top slot. It's a draw.

Gaming

There are quite a few nice, little games for the Kindle Fire. But the Nexus 7 has a built-in Tegra 3 T30L graphics processing unit. Almost, without a doubt, and especially since the system also has twice the RAM, the Nexus 7 will be the better gaming machine.

Nexus 7 gets the win.

Security

This one is interesting. Android security is somewhat problematic, especially if you decide to download apps from secondary app stores. Apps purchased through Amazon have a much higher chance of being safe. In fact, the entire Kindle experience is tied into your Amazon account, and is secured by Amazon's relatively strong attention to detail.

For security, the Kindle Fire gets the win.

Media

Here's where Amazon takes the lead from Google. Amazon has a rich media experience, and also provides a substantial library of free movies and TV shows to Prime customers. Google Play isn't nearly as good. Jason Perlow also pointed out that only actual Kindle devices (not just those devices running Kindle software, like an iPhone), can take things out from the Kindle Lending Library. So if you want to read best-sellers for free, the Fire is your best bet.

On the other hand, the Nexus 7 will play that media better, because it has substantially more power and a higher-resolution display.

We'll call this a draw.

Which should you get?

Without a doubt, the Kindle Fire is a Kindle, while the Nexus 7 is an Android tablet. If you want a Kindle more than you want an Android tablet, then you might be happier with the Kindle Fire. Likewise, if you want to stay out of the morass that is the Android ecosystem and just want to stay in the welcoming, comforting arms of Amazon, you'll be happier with the Kindle Fire.

On the other hand, if you want a powerful, inexpensive, solidly designed pure Android tablet, the Nexus 7 is a no-brainer.

My wife and I have two iPads and two Kindle Fires at home. I'm honestly thinking about selling my Kindle Fire and getting a Nexus 7 to replace it. If you do decide to sell your Kindle Fire, make sure you remember to decommission it before you sell it. Otherwise, the device has access to your entire Amazon account.

Hmmm...maybe the Kindle Fire isn't that secure, after all.

from zdnet

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10-inch Kindle Fire Rumored after the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini

A new article from the New York Times let loose a firestorm of speculation and rumor-mongering today, heating up the tablet wars even further. Just as the launch of the Google Nexus 7 seems to be going strong, this NYT article suggests that the two other biggest heavy-weights in the tablet industry are developing rivals. Supposedly, the NYT can confirm (through unnamed sources) that Apple is taking the threat of the Amazon Kindle Fire and the new Nexus 7 tablet seriously. Despite the reservations from the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the Cupertino company is supposedly planning to launch a 7.85-inch iPad Mini sometime this fall.

Of course, Amazon is not going to be sitting on their hands either. Also according to this same article, Amazon is working on a 10-inch Kindle Fire variant to go head-to-head with the current iPad. Of course, this isn't too surprising because a larger variant from Amazon has been rumored several times previously. Still, in the past, the NYT has been very good at predicting these things, so they must have good sources. This also means that this possibility is even more of a probability than before. There are no details other than Amazon may also be looking to launch in the Fall too. It would be interesting to see Amazon launch at the same time as Apple, sine they might take some of the wind out of their sails at just the right moment.

from androidtablets

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Kindle Fire is accessible to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean port

Ever since it launched, the Kindle Fire has been hacked like no tomorrow. Earlier this week, Google open-sourced Android (Jelly Bean) 4.1 for third-party modification. As such, nobody should be surprised to learn Kindle Fire owners can now install Jelly Bean on their tablet. 

Over on XDA Developers, forum user "Hashcode" revealed that he has ported Google's latest mobile OS to the device. Amazon will probably not be very pleased, but anyone who knows that their Kindle Fire is outdated will be jumping up and down. There's currently no hardware video acceleration support, and enabling Wi-Fi is a pain, but it's definitely a start. 

It is now my job to give you the usual warnings. If you're not feeling confident, don't bother doing it. Stick with whatever you currently have on your Kindle Fire, either the custom version of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) or something later.

You're going to be rooting your device. You're going to be installing custom software. You're going to have to do it all the way through. You may end up bricking your device and rendering it useless. You may have to do some extra tinkering. You may run into problems (this is the first build, and it's labeled as a beta). 

Hashcode has provided the following to-do list for himself, which should give you an idea of what's to come:

• Fix the wifi script.
• Wifi location fix.
• Add superuser and a compatible su binary.
• Default CPU to 1.2ghz instead of 1ghz.
• Fix slower I/O performance via init*.rc script changes.
• Add Terminal Emulator.
• Add File Manager.
• Fix HD Codecs.
• Fix the over rotation issue in frameworks/base.
• Probably lower headphone volume a bit.
• Add in the libwvm file.
• Change Bootanimation.
• Figure out /emmc sharing issues.

With all that out of the way, the download links you need are as follows: ROM and Google apps. The basic instructions are simple: "Flash in recovery, wipe data/cache and reboot." If you want more, Liliputing has put together a detailed walk-through of the process. 

from zdnet

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Google Nexus 7 Costs $151.75 To Make, Analysist Says

Google released their own brand Nexus 7 tablet at the IO conference, Nexus 7's low price causes people’s great interest. How much does its hardware really cost? Whether Google sells it at a loss or not? Google and Asus were said to earn about $15 each machine before, in other words, the cost of Nexus 7 was $184. However, ISuppli brought a other answer to us today, the total cost of the hardware construction of Nexus 7(8 GB version) is $151.75, most of the costs use for flash memory, NVIDA Tegra 3 processor and 7 inches 1280 x800 IPS display screen.

Compared with Amazon Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 is more advanced. Its CPU is four nuclear Tegra 3 and the screen is 1280x800 pixel,but Kindle Fire has only DE instrument dual-core processor OMAP 4430 and 1024 X600 pixel screen.

The report says the switch technology in-plane Nexus 7 uses costs $38, Kindle Fire only $35.

Nexus 7‘s camera costs $2.5, Kindle Fire don’t have one. In addition, the Nexus 7 also imports the technology chips, supplied by NXP and supporting NFC (near field communication), and the GPS receiver chips, supplied by Broadcom and supporting map.

The accelerometer and gyroscope supplied by Invensense Company are also a concern. Many mobile devices have applied Invensense’s gyroscope, but it is rare that accelerometer and gyroscope are integrated into the same chip just like Nexus 7.

Accelerometer and gyroscope are mainly used to judge the position and movement of mobile devices. Only Samsung Galaxy S3 is equipped with these two devices besides Nexus 7. Accelerometer and gyroscope Galaxy S3 has used are provided by the European chips supplier STMicroelectronics.

Overall, as IHS iSuppli estimates, the cost of production of Nexus 7 is $18 higher than Kindle Fire .IHS iSuppli also points out, Amazon Kindle Fire will use the new higher quality display screen, so the situation will soon change.

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The New Kindle Fire Tablets

Come November, Amazon’s Kindle Fire Android tablet will be a year old, which means that its successor is shortly on the way.

Sources “familiar with Amazon’s plans” have told AllThingsD that the next-generation Kindle Fire will be thinner and lighter, and feature a built-in camera. It will also have a display resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels — about the same as the iPad 2, and a substantial upgrade from the current Kindle Fire’s 1,024 x 600-pixel screen. (The iPad 3′s “retina” display is 2,048 x 1,536 pixels, for comparison.)

The Kindle Fire 2′s screen won’t only be sharper, it will also be slightly more square, AllThingsD‘s sources said. The screen of the next Kindle Fire will have an aspect ratio of 1.60, compared to the current Kindle Fire’s more elongated 1.71 aspect ratio.

The device is expected to ship before September.

AllThingsD made no mention of a second forthcoming tablet. Last week, tech blog BGR reported that Amazon is planning to announce two new Kindle Fires as soon as next month: a 7-inch version called “Coyote” and a 10-inch “Hollywood” tablet. The Coyote, BGR says, has a dual-core processor just like the current Kindle Fire, while the Hollywood is said to pack a more powerful quad-core processor.

Whether it launches one tablet or two, Amazon is going to face some tough competition leading into the holidays. According to multiple credible outlets, Apple is planning to launch a 7-inch “iPad Mini” that could come within the price range of the $199 Kindle Fire. Google’s 7-inch, $199 Nexus 7 has also already received rave reviews from the press — our own Christina Warren called it “the Android media tablet the Kindle Fire was supposed to be.”

Of the one actual and two rumored tablets — that is, the Kindle Fire 2, the iPad Mini and the Nexus 7 — which do you expect will lead the pack through the holidays?

from mashable

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Amazon's new Kindle Fire tablet will debut in early August? (update: maybe July)

We knew that there would be another Kindle Fire at some point, but we didn't know when it would arrive, or exactly what it'd look like. If the latest report from the China Times is true, however, we can expect Amazon's new slate to ship around August 7th. Like the first Fire, this new version will be built by Quanta, with a metal chassis and displays provided by LG and Panasonic. Other details, like its size or the contents within said metallic frame, are still nowhere to be found. What we can tell you is that the new tablet can't get here fast enough for Amazon given the Fire's declining sales numbers and its fresh competition from Mountain View.

Update: Looks like something was lost in translation -- it turns out the China Times report actually states that the new Kindle Fire is set to make its appearance in July or August, not specifically on August 7th.

  

 The Basic Specifications:

• Form factor: Tablet
• Operating system: Android (Gingerbread [2.3])
• Screen size: 7 inches
• Storage type: Internal storage (8 GB, Flash)
• Maximum battery life: Up to 8 hours
• Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 in
• Weight :14.6 oz
• Released: 2011-11-15

from engadget

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