Kindle Fire Review

The Kindle Fire has hit the market place by fire (no pun intended). It has been compared to the BlackBerry Playbook based on looks and feel. The main comparison is to the RIM hardware. There have been only a handful of people lucky enough to see or get their hands on the new Kindle Fire.  Right now, the Kindle 4 is being pre-ordered for those wanting to get an early jump on the crowd before their is an onslaught of consumers vying for a chance to own the new Amazon Kindle Color.

The Amazon Kindle Fire is a great e-reader and tablet rolled into one device and is easy to transport. The performance of the software and apps is encouraging and reacts very well as promised. Getting the most attention, is the silk browser which has been described as being super fast because of the way it is set up. When accessed, the browser processing is split between the device and the Amazon Cloud server. Can the new Kindle 4 be a serious contender in the tablet warfare? Yes, it is already getting off to a great start because of it’s appearance, portability and most importantly the price. It is going to be sold through Amazon at $199, which is substantially less than the iPad and not to mention the Nook Color. The Kindle Fire comes with 8 GB of internal storage and a beautiful 1024 x 600 IPS extra-wide viewing display. Weighing in at 14.6 ounces, the Kindle Color is a lightweight device that can be held in one hand. The Kindle Fire measures 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 inches, making it easy to carry in your bag.

What Is The Kindle Fire?

On September 28, 2011, Amazon.com announced a new product line of Kindle. The Kindle Fire,  a color device that allows users to read books and watch TV shows and movies, read magazines, play games and use apps, plus surf the web. The Kindle Fire is being released on November 21, 2011, just in time for the Christmas season. As for Amazon, it has been successful with its previous Kindle products Kindle and the new Kindle Color is  another one that is sure to be a success. It is already the number one best seller in Electronics on the Amazon website with the previous generation of Kindle coming in second on the list.  As you can see, the Kindle Fire has several terms that it is being referred to such as the Kindle Color, which mimics the Nook Color’s name. The question is does it perform the same as the Nook Color? Just how much are the two tablets alike?

The comparison now seems to be with the iPad 2, but that is not a correct assessment. Although, the Kindle Fire could be a competitor, but not to the point technology enthusiasts is making the Kindle Color to be. If anything, the Kindle Fire is a strong competitor for the Nook Color. It already has several pluses that the Nook Color does not.  For example, the price. The ability to save all content on the Amazon Cloud, the Gorilla Glass display, faster processor, apps and the fact that the Kindle Fire’s UI will be ran on top of a modified Android OS.

The obvious huge negative for the Kindle Fire is that it does not provide the consumer the option to expand it’s memory. Plus, it would have been nice to have a camera and mic for video chat, but statistics show these features are not really in demand because most consumers use their smartphones or computers.

The Kindle Fire allows you to access more than 18 million pieces of media, including movies, magazines, newspapers, television programs, applications and games. It has a 7-inch screen, the device displays vibrant colors. Navigating through the Web makes Amazon Silk, a browser built by the company to provide faster page loads and transit times when the Kindle Fire is used to browse the Internet. The device also comes with 8GB of internal storage which will hold approximately 80 applications, 10 movies, 800 songs or 6,000 books. Battery life is not as good as the other Kindle versions, but then the other Kindle versions cannot perform in the same way as the new Kindle Fire.

Kindle Fire Product Features

• Dual-Core 1GHz processor TI OMAP
• 512 MB of memory
•  Kindle Fire comes with a Dual-Core 1GHz processor TI OMAP, 512 MB of memory
•  Has Gorilla Glass protected, Multi-touch capable IPS display
• 1024 x 600 display with IPS technology and extra-wide viewing display
• WiFi connectivity
•  Access to 18 million pieces of content, including movies, books, apps, games, and magazines
•  Uses Amazon Silk, an accelerated web browser that allows for faster page loads
•  7-inch touch screen display makes reading and web searching easy to see, great for portability
•  Battery lasts 7-8 hours, depending on the activity
•  8GB of internal storage
•  Free Unlimited storage for Amazon products on the Amazon Cloud
• One month free Amazon Prime for movies and TV shows
• Measures 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 inches, Weighs 14.6 ounces

 

Is the Amazon Kindle Fire Worth It?

Because it is still in the pre-order stage, there are no customer reviews for the Amazon Kindle Fire, but there are some pros and cons regarding the device that have been compiled.   The Kindle Fire is being compared to the iPad2, which is not fair because it is not in the same league as the larger tablets nor does it come close to having the same or even similar features as the iPad. The device that is most comparable to the new Kindle is Barnes and Nobles,  Nook Color.  There are those that would like to disrespect the Kindle Fire and call it your ordinary ereader instead of a tablet, but that is not a fair assessment. The features of the device makes it a tablet and some even want to label it an iPad lite. In the overall scheme of things, the Kindle Fire is definitely a tablet, a 7″ tablet for that matter. Checkout the PROs and CONs of the Kindle Fire tablet below.

PROs

 

 

•  Price of the Kindle Fire which is being advertised for under $200 dollars
• Portable, can fit in your pocket, book bag or purse
• Battery life is good with normal use at 8 hours, games and video battery life goes down to 7.5 hours (with WiFi off)
• Has Flash support
• Dual core processor with 512MB RAM
• Gorilla glass protected, multi-touch display
• Focused on user experience with a library of content to access: movies, music, books, mags and all with unlimited storage of Amazon content in the Amazon cloud
• Can store all content in the Amazon cloud which allows streaming of music and video, the ability to download, delete or add content
• Recency carosel: one click permits access to most recent accessed apps, book, game or video
• While music plays can go surf web, open book or watch video
• Whisper Sync now works with movies and TV shows. Users can pause video on Kindle Fire,  go home and resume viewing on HDTV, Roku or TIVO device
• The Kindle Fire has the Amazon Silk browser which makes web browsing faster and more efficient. For each page request, Silk divides the work up between the Kindle Fire and the cloud for faster page loads.
• There are no physical buttons on the surface of the device. Users can access a lower navigation menu by tapping the screen once.
• Access to: Amazon Appstore (Should be able to access some of the Android Apps), Kindle books, magazines, etc. which all can be stored for free via Amazon Cloud Storage
• Get a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime (This feature is not only good for Free 2-day S & H on Amazon orders, but also provides members with free access to unlimited, instant streaming of Amazon movies and TV shows)

CONs

•  No microphone or camera for making video, taking photographs or for video chat
• Kindle Color has WiFi, but no 3G or 4G capability
• There is 8 GB of internal storage on device, but most content should be stored in the Amazon cloud to save space on device
• No expansion slots to expand story
• Amazon controls software, hardware and where users can purchase apps
• Comes in one color:  Black
• Amazon UI built over Android OS
• Kindle Fire is not an iPad-killer, but opens the door to a new market: aiming for high school and college students, and families
• Amazon basically now has a hardware extension of its online services by furnishing access to their services: Apps store, books, movies, music, etc.
• No Android Market, users will not have access to Google’s Android Market, but to the  Amazon app store with Android apps
• Limited access to Amazon Cloud: this is a good idea, but since the Kindle Fire does not have 3G and only WiFi, if you do not have WiFi, having access to the Cloud could be a moot point
•  Only available in US. There was some discussion regarding legal issues that needed to be worked out would could have involved copyright issues for distributing content abroad.
•  Kindle Fire is not for productivity. The device is definitely oriented for media and digital products.

 

 

Judging by the success of past Kindle products, it is safe to say that the Kindle Fire will become a bestseller also. It is already doing well with the pre-orders for the device. The Kindle Color  is available on Amazon.com for pre-order and will be shipped out in November 2011, making it a great gift choice for the holiday season. Protective cases are also available for the Kindle Fire on Amazon.com.  Check out the video review of the Kindle Fire below:

 

 

 

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