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Amazon releases new tablet, updates Kindle line


Neil P

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Amazon today updated their Kindle line with all new devices, including the long rumored tablet--now known as the Kindle Fire.First up is the basic Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wi-Fi-Ink-Dis...;pf_rd_i=507846$79 with "special offers", $109 withoutNext is the Kindle Touch (basically the same as the regular Kindle, but with a touch screen):http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Touch-Wi-Fi-I...;pf_rd_i=507846$99/$139Then there is the Kindle Touch 3G, about the same but with no-fee (no-contract) 3G included:http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Touch-Free-Wi...;pf_rd_i=507846$149/$189And the tablet: the Kindle Fire:http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Multi-t...;pf_rd_i=507846$199The Kindle Fire runs Android and is a 7" tablet. It has a color screen (the other Kindles have 6" B/W screens). The new basic Kindle weighs under 6 ounces (the other two weigh 7.5 and just under 8 ounces), while the Fire runs a little over 14.5 ounces. The Fire has 8GB of storage. The basic Kindle has a battery that will last 1 month on a charge, both Touch varieties last 2 months! The Fire lasts 7.5 (video) or 8 hours (reading).Here are two Computerworld articles:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/922...omputerworld%29http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/922...omputerworld%29(the headline is wrong on the second one: the Touch is $99, not $79)

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I will be getting one of the Kindle Fires as long as the processor and the ram are decent. I know they are selling them so they can get additional purchases from users but I would be getting it for the hardware as I will be rooting and installing a custom rom anyway:

Amazon: This tablet isn’t about hardware. It’s about consumption of Amazon services like music, streaming movies and apps. The Kindle Fire is an extension of Amazon’s store. How can Amazon price at $199 for a Wi-Fi tablet? Because you’ll shop more, consume more and be an Amazon Prime subscriber. The Kindle Touch and Fire equate to a lot more shopping and usage.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazons-kind...147?tag=nl.e539
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...All web connections from your tablet will connect directly to Amazon, rather than the destination web page. Amazon will keep this connection between your Kindle Fire and EC2 open indefinitely while you are actively surfing, reducing the latency and connection times to retrieve web pages.Hopefully you can start to see the problem here. All of your web surfing habits will transit Amazon's cloud. If you think that Google AdWords and Facebook are watching you, this service is guaranteed to have a record of *everything* you do on the web.In fact Amazon Silk's terms and conditions notes that URLs, IP addresses and MAC addresses will be logged and can be retained for 30 days.{{{SNIP}}}Fortunately Amazon will support an "off-cloud" mode for Silk. This lets users opt-out of the benefits of using EC2 while retaining the traditional privacy benefits of connecting directly to remote web sites.
More at the source: Amazon Kindle Fire’s Silk browser sounds privacy alarm bells | Naked Security
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That's you, but most who purchase it will most likely not even realize the implications or that they can opt for "off cloud".
Unfortunately true :unsure:
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:umm: I still don't understand, what does the Kindle Fire do? read special ebooks from Amazon & allow for surfing the WWW, I got.Can you do whatever you want at web sites? does it do streaming of any content? can you run apps from the device itself if no internet access?From the looks , it does not seem intended to compete against an iPad or other tablets or with netbooks. It seems to me to be a specialized ebook reader that can also do some browsing - which at the price & weight I think a lot of people would be interested in, especially students if the textbooks are Amazon'ed.Did I miss anything?

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:umm: I still don't understand, what does the Kindle Fire do? read special ebooks from Amazon & allow for surfing the WWW, I got.Can you do whatever you want at web sites? does it do streaming of any content? can you run apps from the device itself if no internet access?From the looks , it does not seem intended to compete against an iPad or other tablets or with netbooks. It seems to me to be a specialized ebook reader that can also do some browsing - which at the price & weight I think a lot of people would be interested in, especially students if the textbooks are Amazon'ed.Did I miss anything?
Yes you can do whatever you want on a web siteYes you can run streaming content from one of the Android apps from the Amazon market or via a web browserYes you can run apps that are installed without internet access. This is basically like all the rest of the tablets, except Amazon has their custom interface on top of Android. The majority of Android apps are still available on the Amazon market. Pretty much you are getting an Android tablet with a Amazon's interface on top of it. If you are able to root the tablet and install another ROM, it will be like any other Android tablet. This is sort of like how the Nook Color was released as a ereader/browsing tablet until it was rooted and a custom rom became available. After the customization's, the Nook Color is just like other Android tablets well except for the lack of ram in the device. (I hope the Fire has at least 1gb of ram)Atleast, this is my take on it going by what I have read thus far. :unsure:
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:umm: I still don't understand, what does the Kindle Fire do? read special ebooks from Amazon & allow for surfing the WWW, I got.Can you do whatever you want at web sites? does it do streaming of any content? can you run apps from the device itself if no internet access?From the looks , it does not seem intended to compete against an iPad or other tablets or with netbooks. It seems to me to be a specialized ebook reader that can also do some browsing - which at the price & weight I think a lot of people would be interested in, especially students if the textbooks are Amazon'ed.Did I miss anything?
You can also watch videos on it. It seems like a pretty good entertainment device.
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The Amazon fire is a content consumption device designed specifically for Amazon's content- MP3s, videos, etc. Josh already mentioned the Amazon App Store. Sounds a bit like Apple......

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The Amazon fire is a content consumption device designed specifically for Amazon's content- MP3s, videos, etc. Josh already mentioned the Amazon App Store. Sounds a bit like Apple......
Well they are Android apps, they just have their own market offering them. I use their Market app all the time on my Android phone because they offer the "free app of the day" promotion. They give away mostly paid games but I have gotten some nice apps for free that way.
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You can also watch videos on it. It seems like a pretty good entertainment device.
;) i'm going to give something else a try as an entertainment device, a Coby MP977 player with HDMI out for under $80. Hope to have it running tonight.
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I posted this elswhere and reproduced it here just to let non USA folk have some info they may not be aware of concerning the security aspects.

http://fossforce.com/2011/10/the-dea...l-org-returns/Quote:Privacy Issues with Kindle Fire’s Silk BrowserAlmost as soon as Amazon unveiled their new Kindle Fire tablet last Wednesday, Naked Security raised some privacy concerns about the device’s browser, called Silk. It seems the browser, in order to offer a quicker user experience, does most of it’s heavy lifting in the cloud: “All web connections from your tablet will connect directly to Amazon, rather than the destination web page. Amazon will keep this connection between your Kindle Fire and EC2 open indefinitely while you are actively surfing, reducing the latency and connection times to retrieve web pages.”Amazon’s terms and conditions state that URLs, IP addresses and MAC addresses will be logged and can be retained for as long as 30 days. Most problematic, however, is how the browser handles a secure HTTPS connection: “It sounds as if Amazon will install a trusted certificate in the Silk browser allowing them to provide a man-in-the-middle (MITM) SSL proxy to accelerate your SSL browsing as well. “As Amazon is a US based company this would enable a US court order to intercept and record your secure communications.”The good news is that there is a mode available in the browser that bypasses the cloud and lets users connect directly with web sites. Although Amazon promises they’re collecting no identifyable user date with their logging, I would still recommend this mode, especially for secure connections.Worth looking into if you are thinking of buying one. Don't know if this affects all Kindle's. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-The Sign of Four“My mind,” he said, “rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, — or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world.”
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