Round up #172: Z-Pass, International Fire & Appstore

Round up #172: Z-Pass, International Fire & Appstore

The ILMK Round ups are short pieces which may or may not be expanded later.

There’s some good stuff this time…let’s get started!

Wait a minute…I guess I do want to set the world on Fire

Amazon sent me two press releases today, and these are big news (especially for my readers around the world)!

Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” Now Available for Pre-Order for Customers in over 170 Countries Around the World, Shipping June 13

Amazon Appstore for Android Now Open in Nearly 200 Countries Worldwide

First, it means that the

Kindle Fire HD 7″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB
Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB

are available for order in many places around the world (but not all…while Amazon would undoubtedly like to sell everywhere in the world, and beyond if possible, it’s difficult to make the necessary arrangements in some countries, notably the Middle East).

It does not appear to include the 4G model,or the standard definition Kindle  Fire 2nd Generation.

Oh, but you can get the 32 GB versions.

It doesn’t look to me like you’ll be able to do Amazon Instant Video on them…and I’m curious about, say, Netflix.

You can do e-books, music, audiobooks, magazines…and apps.

That last one is the other announcement, and will be welcome to many people.  The Amazon Appstore is opening in even more countries than the Fire will be available. Does that make sense? Sure, the Appstore is limited to just the Fire as a market. Even where Amazon can’t sell their hardware, they can sell apps for Android SmartPhones (for example).

To celebrate this, the Free App of the Day is the very popular

Fruit Ninja

Some of you may remember Jeff Bezos demonstrating the CEO’s own limited Fruit Ninja skills at the Kindle Fire intro event.

As always, check the price before you get the app…

Enjoy!

Oh, and please let me know your experience with the Amazon Appstore if you are outside the USA and notice any significant restrictions…or advantages.

Lud-in-the Mist: a fantasy classic as a KDD

“Ranulph had always been a dreamy, rather delicate child, and backward for his years. Up to the age of seven, or thereabouts, he had caused his mother much annoyance by his habit, when playing in the garden, of shouting out remarks to an imaginary companion. And he was fond of talking nonsense (according to the ideas of Lud-in-the-Mist, slightly obscene nonsense) about golden cups, and snow-white ladies milking azure cows, and the sound of tinkling bridles at midnight. But children are apt, all the world over, to have nasty little minds; and this type of talk was not uncommon among the children of Lud-in-the-Mist, and, as they nearly always grew out of it, little attention was paid to it.”
–Hope Mirrless
writing in Lud-in-the-Mist
collected in Bufo’s The Mind Boggles: A Unique Book of Quotations
category:literature
decade: 1920s

One of today’s Kindle Daily Deals (KDDs) is

Lud-in-the-Mist

by Helen Mirrlees, originally published in 1926 (and, I believe, not in the public domain).

Neil Gaiman and many others have praised it, and I recommend it to you (you can see above, I included it in my book of quotations). The price today is only ninety-nine cents…the digital list price is $12.95.

Borders hoarder? So sorry…

Have you been holding on to a Borders gift card, figuring you would get the value for it in the bankruptcy pay-outs?

Well, you and close to 18 million people with close to a quarter of a billion dollars worth of gift cards should get nothing for them, according to U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter, as reported in this

NPR article

Other debtors will get money, but not consumers.

This District Court is the last stop before you get to the Supreme Court, which may not happen in this case (this judge was upholding a lower court ruling).

It kind of makes you wonder if Judge Denise Cote, who has been great on so many consumer issues that involve e-books, could rule on everything.

Zinio Z-pass: three magazines for $5 a month

As regular readers know, I prefer Zinio’s arrangement on subscriptions to Amazon’s Kindle Newsstand. One of the key things is that they store as many issues as you’ve had for you…unlike Amazon, which does a “rolling seven” (they store the current edition, and six previous ones: you can save them yourself, but just on the current device. Those saved issues aren’t backed up for you by Amazon).

The Zinio app is not in the Amazon Appstore, but you can “sideload” it entirely within the rules at Amazon…the information is here:

http://imgs.zinio.com/faq/kindlefire.html

They have a new deal, called “Z-Pass”. You can get a free trial for it right now (and you can read Zinio mags on other devices like PCs, for those of you without a Fire).

The basic idea is that you pay $5 a month, and you get three magazines, which  you pick out of a list of over 200 eligible titles (and these are big names).

You can add additional magazines…could be $1.50 a month, might be more if they are “premium titles”.

You can swap up to three a month…I think what this means is that you can change which one you will get the following month, not that it is an “all-you-can-eat program”.  Definitely sounds like you aren’t committed to the magazine for a year…so if yo were going to buy a car, for example,  you might get car magazines that month, and travel magazines before you go on vacation.

I’m going to check with my Significant Other, but I do think we may do this.

One more thing to note: the magazine doesn’t appear in your newsstand on your Fire…you get to it through the Zinio app. Even though you sideload it, it does appear on your apps tab and can be added to your Favorites.

Here are the

Z-Pass FAQs

and here is the main

Z-Pass website

where you can see the magazine options.

What do you think? Should consumers have gotten money for their Borders gift cards? Will you use the Amazon Appstore outside of the USA? Do you have Zinio experiences to share? Feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

 

Kindle Fire 8.9″ launches in Europe and Japan: prices drop for the USA

Kindle Fire 8.9″ launches in Europe and Japan: prices drop for the USA

In this

Amazon press release

they are announcing that the larger, 8.9″ Kindle Fire is being released in Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and Japan.

For customers in the USA, the price is also being reduced.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB – Includes Special Offers now $269 (down from $299): without Special Offers, $284…the 32 GB model is $299 with Special Offers $314 without

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless 32GB (which has both wi-fi and a cellphone like access to the internet),  has gone down to $399 (from $499) for the 32GB model with Special Offers, $414 without Special Offers and 32GB, $499 for 64GB with Special Offers, $514 for 64GB without Special Offers.

This is a considerable price drop!

The smaller models seem to be the same: $199 for Kindle Fire HD, and $159 for the Kindle Fire (not HD).

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

My Kindle 4G comes in handy

My Kindle 4G comes in handy

As regular readers know, I haven’t really felt like the Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G was worth the money to me.

Right now, though, I am posting this during a power outage.

I was working away, and there was a big popping noise and all the power went out. I thought the noise might have been somebody in a cherry picker or something accidentally knocking down wires.

I went outside to make sure everything was okay, and my neighbors were in the street. Apparently, a transformer had blown. A car even stopped, because a child in it had seen a mighty flash.

It’s been about forty-five minutes so far, and I think they are likely to get it fixed pretty soon (virtual fingers crossed).

So, I am on the 4G on my Fire, using my Bluetooth keyboard to get this post out to you. I’ll be somewhat conservative, and shut if off soon, just in case.

This is not a big disaster like the Superstorm, but I think it would be functioning this way if it was (unless cell towers went down, I guess). Based on the noise I heard, I’ll call this a “post-a-POP-alyptic world”.

If the power were to stay out for longer than my battery charge lasted, I could recharge my Kindle Fire in my car. I don’t expect that to be the case, of course.

Just wanted to check in with you, and despite the circumstances, it is cool that this works…no lights, no power, no home wi-fi…but I still have you, readers.

Update: the power is back on, but our desktop hasn’t successfully restarted. It’s possible that it’s toast, but we’ll see. For now, we’ll see if I can replace it with my Fire and my Bluetooth keyboard.

I have some clear concerns. One is that copying and pasting just isn’t as easy. Another is that you can’t really multi-task on a Fire. That’s why I haven’t linked to things in this post…I can’t “alt-tab” like I can on windows between this post and a place where I could get or create links.

If the desktop is done, will we replace it? I think probably. We haven’t had a chance to discuss it yet. I’m not sure what we would get…but it might be fun to look at the options.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Watch live TV on your Kindle Fire

Watch live TV on your Kindle Fire

Do you ever just want to watch TV?

You know, not pick something to watch (outside of choosing a channel), but just see whatever is playing?

I know that sounds weird to a lot of you. When I was a kid, you didn’t have any choice about what was on. We didn’t have on demand, or Tivo, or DVDs, or videotapes. I did have some movies on Super 8mm, but they were three minute long silents and I needed to get out the projector.

When we watch broadcast TV now, we can go through a “guide” first to see what is playing.

Well, what if you do want to be surprised?

Better yet, what if you know that the kids just want to watch Cartoon Network and you don’t want to go through the big rigmarole of deciding what show to put on?

You can do that on your Kindle Fire with this free app:

US TV Free

Let me warn you, this is not an optimal viewing experience. It has ads (tiny ones, like the ones you would see in other apps), and it periodically asks me if I’d like to upgrade to Pro…in the middle of the screen.

Sometimes it buffers (where you have to wait for the video to load), and sometimes it has foreign language subtitles.

It also stops working from time to time.

I’d like it to the old hobbyist crystal radio set I had when I was a child, or trying to tune a TV with “rabbit ear” antennae.

That said, it does work.

What channels do they have?

This list could change at any time, I’m sure, but here is what I see right now:

• HBO
• Showtime
• Cartoon Network
• Cinemax
• Discovery Channel
• MTV Spanish
• Disney Channel
• ESPN2
• Fox News
• ESPN
• Animal Planet
• National Geographic
• Panorama Action
• ESPN America
• BBC
• A&E
• MSNBC
• Fox Movies
• CNNUS (the American feed of CNN)
• Tom & Jerry
• Syfy
• Tru TV
• C-Span 2
• TLC (US)
• Sky
• Active Channel
• CNNIT (the International feed of CNN)
• ABC
• USA Network
• Sky Poker
• Starz
• NHK
• RT2
• CBX News
• Fox 13
• EuroNews
• CW
• Pentagon Channel
• BBC (I don’t know what it is listed twice)
• Amazing Facts TV
• NASA TV
• RT3
• Kids TV
• CBN News
• NBC
• CBC
• WSTV
• CBN
• CBN (again, don’t know why it is twice)

That’s right…you can watch all those channels (less than optimally) for no charge. If you do upgrade to Pro (which allows previews of the channels, for one thing…and removes the ads), it’s $1.99…a year. Oh, I just tried some channels, and they told me they were unavailable…and while watching a show, I tried the channel thing again and got a lot more choices. As, I say, quirky.

On my Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless 32GB (which is the only one where I’ve tested it), I can turn the device to landscape (wider than it is tall), and it becomes full screen.

It looks pretty sharp, although it may vary by channel. I did try it with the HDMI to my TV, and it was a bit muddier there, but watchable. I haven’t tried to adjust the settings on the TV to go with my 8.9″, so I might be able to make that better.

The interface is pretty simple, although not entirely intuitive. When in doubt, tap the screen to get more choices. It seems like once I start watching a show, I end up exiting the app when I leave it, instead of getting back to channel choices.

I also haven’t played with the settings on the app itself: for example, there is a “Post-processing” choice which is supposed to improve the picture quality, but to also “consume more energy”.

I’m sure this must take some significant battery charge, although I don’t see a huge drop.

It also, of course, requires that you be connected to the internet. I’m sure it would consume a lot of your 4G, if you have that, but on wi-fi, that doesn’t really matter. You aren’t going to be using this when you aren’t connected, by the way…unless you provide wi-fi in the car somehow (maybe from your phone, or some cars can do it), this isn’t going to help on trips.

Hm…I just noticed that you can set up a preview section. You choose channels, and it shows you a still of what is on currently. It doesn’t give you the title, though.

It also lets you add your own channels by putting in a URL (uniform resource locator…web address) for a feed.

If you do decide you want to upgrade, you need to be on the homescreen of the app in portrait mode (taller than it is wide), and then tap More.

Overall, I’d say this is a novelty item at this stage…it’s not going to replace your cable bill (for those of you who still have that…we do). Still, it’s another fun thing to do with your Kindle Fire.

One more big thing…it says it is even compatible with the 1st generation Kindle Fire, although I’ve only tested it on the one model.

Is it legal? I’m guessing it is. I’m thinking that this is one of those things where content providers have special off feeds intended for a small audience, and that you can get to them on the internet. I think this app probably just consolidates them in one place, and brings it to a wider audience. They have a screen in the beginning that says that rightsholders can contact them for removal.

If you’ve tried it out and want to give your opinion, or have other questions, feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

Update: I have now found myself using this…I was watching BBC News while I was writing something. A big tip: if you have having trouble getting the app to launch or to open, put your Fire into portrait mode (taller than it is wide). I think the first time you try to open it, it may need you to agree to its EULA (End User License Agreement), and it can’t show it to you in landscape where the shows would be full screen, so it kicks you out. I know that sounds weird, but it seems to work that way.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Kindle Fire 8.9″ $50 off from Amazon, limited time

Kindle Fire 8.9″ $50 off from Amazon, limited time

This one is going to go away quickly!

The

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB – Includes Special Offers

is $50 off from Amazon today only, and you need to use a special code (FIREHD89) at checkout.

Important note: do not use 1-click to buy the item! You won’t have a chance to enter the promo code.

This is also while supplies last, so I wouldn’t wait around at all if you want one.

It’s good on both the 4G model (it brings the net price from $499 to $449) and the wi-fi only model (from $299 to $249).

Here are the terms and conditions:

Terms and Conditions
• The promotion is valid for a limited time only. Amazon reserves the right to modify or cancel it at any time.
• If you do not purchase the qualifying item when the promotion is in effect, the promotional code will not apply. 
• The promotion is limited to one per customer. 
• The promotion applies only to Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G LTE Wireless devices sold and shipped by Amazon Digital Services. It does not apply to the same products sold by other sellers.
• If you return items purchased using a promotion code, we will subtract the value of the promotion code from your return credit. 
• Promotion codes may not be combined with other offers.
• Does not apply to orders placed with 1-Click.
• Offer good while supplies last. 
• Void where prohibited.
• If you violate any of the Terms and Conditions, the promotion will be invalid, and the promotional code discount will not apply.

If you did buy one in the last thirty days, you could hypothetically return it and buy another one that has the discount. I’m not seeing anything so far about an easy way to do a credit instead (that has happened sometimes in the past). It wouldn’t hurt to contact Kindle Customer Service and see what they say, though. If they give you one, I’d appreciate knowing about that.

http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport

You can read my opinion of the 4G model after a week of use in this earlier post.

Again, if you want to get one, I’d jump on this offer before it ends.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

One week with the Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G

One week with the Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G

I’ve been using my Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless 32GB for a bit over a week now.

Well, actually, this is my second one.

I had to send my first one back due to serious power issues. The screen would flicker and turn off, and it wouldn’t start up properly.

When I first wrote about my replacement KF8.94G, it wasn’t very positive. I think that surprised some people, because I really do love my Kindles. I tend to be upbeat generally, and I’ve been positive about my Kindles since I got used to the first one.

Objectively, though, there was also a mechanical problem with my replacement. The power button was hard to push…not just hard to find, which is arguably true of the 7″, but physically difficult to push. I could do it with a lot of effort, but I have family members who could never have gotten it to work.

I knew that wasn’t normal…I would have heard about it in the Kindle forums and from my readers if it was. That also wasn’t the way it was on my first, short-lived KF8.94G.

I wrote at the time that I hoped the button would loosen up over a few days.

The good news is that it has!

I seesawed back and forth over sending the replacement one back…my Significant Other was somewhat amused by that. If the button hadn’t gotten better, I might have done that.

Now, I feel like I have a normally functioning device.

Given that, what do I think about it? Is the bigger, sharper screen worth the extra money compared to my Kindle Fire HD 7″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB?

Let me start out by saying that I like this one. I have been using it as my “out and about” device…I haven’t brought my 7″ out of the house, partially to really test this for you.

I’d say it’s okay. The bigger screen sometimes has advantages (particularly for a comic book), but weighed against that (so to speak) is how much more it weighs than my 7″. My Kindle Paperwhite seems very light to me…certainly, comparable to a p-book (paperbook). My KF7 has noticeable weight, but it isn’t bad. I’m aware of the weight of this one most of the time. I often want to set it down for reading and such…you used to see that in the ads for the first iPad, where people were resting it. It’s not too heavy; certainly not like a netbook, but coming from the 7″, I feel it.

When I use the HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cable to connect it to my TV, the 8.9″‘s higher resolution does make a noticeable difference. Part of the question of that becomes how often are you going to do that? I have a Roku HD Streaming Player (not that model, an older one) that lets me watch Amazon Instant Video on our main TV. I have Juice for Roku, an app that lets me wirelessly show videos I’ve downloaded to my Fire from other sources. I have used it with DroidTV PrimeTime (which I would not be able to Juice), however, it unfortunately appears to be currently unavailable in the Amazon Appstore.

I find I tend to use the HDMI cable on a secondary TV when I want to look at a video that’s on a website. That doesn’t come up all that often. I’m looking at the possibility of using a projector with my Fire, and the HDMI would be part of that…I”m not sure how much difference the resolution would make then.

The other major difference between this one and my 7″ is 4G. Has that been worth it for me?

It’s been nice a couple of times. I find that I tend to download the things I need by wi-fi anyway, and it’s not all that common I am someplace without wi-fi. A couple of times, I’ve used it to put things on my Fire when I am teaching. The weird thing there is that there was a wi-fi network in those cases, but it is for “guests”, and I shouldn’t use it as an employee.

I could already check and approve comments using my SmartPhone, and check my e-mail that way as well.

I love my Microsoft Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 5000 when I’m at home, but I don’t tend to carry it with me. That means that responding to e-mail, while easier on the 8.9″ than the 7″, isn’t super easier. I haven’t gotten into the Swype keyboard yet, and we’ll see how that goes.

I’ve also never been a fan of paying a monthly dataplan. The annual plan we can buy with the KF8.94G is relatively very inexpensive (about $50 for a year), and if I end up taking data off my SmartPhone to pay for the data on my Kindle Fire, it might seem like a wash. However, after the first year, I’m guessing it goes to about $15 a month.

I haven’t found a book I can use to test X-Ray for Textbooks yet…I’d want it to work on a sample.

Bottom line? If I didn’t need this one as a reference tool for helping people, it probably wouldn’t be worth the difference to me.

This one

Kindle Fire HD 7″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB

for $199 seems like a good buy to me.

If you wanted the bigger sharper screen, you could get one without 4G for $100 more

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB

If you don’t have other ways to access the internet when you are away from home, you could consider the 4G model. However, I’d also look at the cost of using your SmartPhone as a wi-fi hotspot. It might turn out to be more cost effective for you to do that. The 4G model is $200 more, plus a dataplan. You also need to consider how long it will be before you replace the device.

Since I’m keeping it, I know long time readers might want to know what I named it. This one is Vulcan…not related to Star Trek, but because “4G” made me think of “forge”, and when I think of someone using a forge, I go to the God Vulcan. While that may make me sound erudite, I think the fact that I had recently watched Vulcan, Son Of Jupiter might have something to do with it.

For those of you have one or are thinking about getting one, let me be clear. Once the mechanical problems were resolved, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with owning one. If it was the only tablet I had owned, and if I didn’t have my SmartPhone’s internet option, or commonly available wi-fi, I would think it was great!

What do you think? Do you think I was prejudiced by having the first one be defective and the second one difficult? Have you had a 7″ and an 8.9″ and you like the latter better? Have you found uses for the 4G that make it really valuable for you? Feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Updates for 7″ Kindle Fires, iDevices

Updates for 7″ Kindle Fires, iDevices

There are a couple of big updates available!

First, you can go from this page:

iOS app

to get the latest version of their app for iDevices (iPhones, iPod touches, iPads).

Version 3.5. brings X-Ray to the devices, which is a great feature! It allows you to get more information about characters, locations, and other items in a book you are reading.

It also improves rendering for Manga (Japanese graphic novels, basically).

There are also updates available for the current generation 7″ Kindle Fires:

Kindle Fire HD 7″ Software Update Version 7.2.2

This one brings a camera app (yay!), the Swype keyboard (I know people love it, but I haven’t tried it yet), and Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, which I wrote about earlier, and I which I think is truly innovative and a potential game changer.

This update for the least expensive current gen Kindle Fire

Kindle Fire (2nd Generation) Software Update Version 10.2.3

brings Swype and Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, but no camera app…since it doesn’t have a camera.

Those features aren’t available yet for the 8.9″ or the Kindle Fire 1st Generation, but I suspect the 8.9″ will get it shortly.

I’ll download the update to my KFHD7, and let you know what I think. If you’ve done any of these and have any comments, feel free to let me and my readers know by commenting on this post!

Thanks, Amazon!

Update: I hadn’t realized that the keyboard on my 8.9″ was Swype (I knew it was different and that I liked it better), so I have used it.

I’ve done the update…it’s a large file, well over 500MBs. If you download it manually, don’t forget to delete it after the update is complete. Update: it now appears that the file deletes itself after updating, which is a considerable advantage over the way it used to work.

I’ve played around a bit with Kindle FreeTime Unlimited. You are automatically subscribed for a free month. As I suspected, there is content in there I’ll enjoy. For example, there was an old Speed Racer cartoon, and (Mr.) Peabody & Sherman.

Update: here’s some more information on the content in KFTU (I’m getting tired of typing “Kindle FreeTime Unlimited” ):

Books: there are literally hundreds of options. Give that they are for supposed to be curated for three to eight year-olds, I’m not surprised that I’m not seeing recognizable “chapter books”.  Lots and lots of licensed characters (Madagascar, Phineas and Ferb, Shrek, SpongeBob, Mater), many light non-fiction (a history series, “PUGS ARE THE BEST!”, Exploring Stems).

The videos included Mister Rogers Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, SpongeBob, Dora the Explorer…and some older ones, like H.R. Pufnstuf and The Archies). I didn’t see almost any feature length movies.  It appears to me that they are only available streaming…not for download to view offline.

Apps: here you had Where’s My Water, Where’s My Perry, Cut the Rope, Magic Piano Kids, and other popular titles. There were also a number of adaptations of classic works, like Gulliver’s Travels and Moby Dick (is it just me, or does Moby Dick seem like an odd choice for five-year olds?).

Overall, I’d say the choice of content is pretty good, and I would guess it changes fairly often.

I’d need to experiment more with the changes in the interface…looks like they might have made it easier.

I haven’t found a camera app yet…

Update: thanks to readers Jay R Bernhard and Ann Von Hagel, I now know the camera app is available by going to the Photos tab. Silly me, I was looking for what Amazon told was an app under Apps.

When you tap on Photos, you’ll see a little icon of a camera up under the battery charge life indicator. Tap that, and you’ll activate the camera. There will then be an icon of a shutter (although how many people know what a physical shutter like that looks like any more?).

Tap the shutter, and your picture appears in a thumbnail strip. Tap the picture there, and then you get an e-mail icon, a trash icon, and a menu icon.

Tapping the menu icon gives you a choice to either Send it or get Help.

I don’t see any settings, or a way to access the video or panorama functions (which I’ve used with the camera with other apps).

The picture is then accessible to you through the Photos tab, where it will show up in a collection called “Camera”.

This is definitely a bare bones app, but it’s nice to have. Ann also pointed out that it is on the 8.9″.

That means that the update brought two things to the 7″ that were on the 8.9″ already: the Swype keyboard and the camera app. We should still see an update to the 8.9″ to bring the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited.

For other camera apps you can use, see this earlier post.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Replacement Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G: first impressions

Replacement Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G: first impressions

I know some of you are waiting to hear my reactions to a replacement Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless 32GB I received last night.

It is a replacement because, as explained in this earlier post, the first one I received had power issues (the screen would flicker, turn off, and it wouldn’t start up properly).

I’m giving you first impressions here, and there will undoubtedly be an emotional component to it.

This is the first Kindle (and I’ve had them back since 2007′s first generation Kindle) that I am considering returning as unsatisfactory.

Part of that, honestly, is that I irrationally expect it to work smoothly at $499. I say irrational, because a $69 Kindle should also work as expected…not have the same capabilities of a $499 model, but they both should perform the basic functions expected of them well.

First, let me say that this one does not at all have the problems that the other one did. There has been no flickering: the screen stays lit beautifully. It is a beautiful screen, by the way: it looks very good. Looking at the home screen is like looking at a glossy picture in a magazine, to my eyes.

However…

The first big problem is the power button. It’s extraordinarily hard to push. I say extraordinarily, because I also have the 7″ Kindle Fire HD, which has a similar button. It took me a bit to find that button on the first model, but that’s not what is happening here. It is literally hard to get it to recognize that I”ve pushed it.

It’s sort of like trying to push a thumb tack into wood.

People without reasonable finger strength simply couldn’t do it.

That’s not how it was on the first one: that was easy to push.

This is a significant inconvenience.

I’m hoping, however, that it “loosens up” in the next couple of days. If it does, I won’t return it for that.

I’m lucky that I have a cover that automatically puts it to sleep, though.

Second, I’m paying $200 more for 4G, and the set up isn’t working.

I’m sure that’s because of the unusual circumstance of having returned one after having bought a plan on it. I want that plan to apply to the new one, and it might, but I can’t figure out what options to choose. It now shows that I have two devices on the plan, but the new one doesn’t have a data plan. It asks me if I want to switch to a “postpaid plan”. Prepaid makes sense to me, but I don’t know what they mean by postpaid.

I tried to figure it out based on the information available to me on the device, but I”m going to have to call AT&T and have them walk me through it.

While it’s possible that I’m unusually ignorant on dataplans, I think I can reasonably say that this would not be obvious to many consumers who buy a Kindle Fire 4G.

I generally understand technical instructions well. I can often read a legal document (like copyright law) and have it make sense. I’m a former banker (although that was some time ago).

Hopefully, the call to AT&T will be as pleasant as a call to Kindle Support is, but that is a high bar to meet.

Third, and someone asked me to test this, the sound on my 8.9″ is not as good as the sound on my 7″, which is surprising to me. I took them both out of their covers, and played the same song on both. No question, the sound on the 7″ is certainly richer (I’d also say it is louder, but that’s a bit harder to call…”richer” is subjective, “louder” is objective, and I don’t have a good way to measure it).

I checked my volume settings, and tried it with Dolby both on and off: same result.

Prime video looks good on the device.

When I ran a Netflix video at first it didn’t look good. When I ran it this morning, it looks great. It may have updated the app.

Oh, and this one did perform a general update of the software last night. It’s at version 8.1.3.

I’m trying to answer questions people have asked, so in response to another one: the 8.9″ has both Ivona text-to-speech and Pico text-to-speech on it, which is the same with the 7″. The Ivona TTS, which is really good, is what is invoked by the Kindle reading app on it.

Here’s an interesting discovery some of you might like. When I open a book with the device in landscape mode (wider than it is tall), it defaults to a two page display (like an open p-book…paperbook). That may make your eyes get less tired reading on it. I’ve heard that one reason reading on a computer screen is tiring is that your eyes have to move so far from side to side. You can change it to one column by going to

Aa – More Options – Two Column (Off)

This was a weird thing: one of the apps I consider to be very important, ES File Explorer, wasn’t available for me to download from my archives/Cloud, so I assumed it wasn’t released yet in a compatible version for the 8.9″.

I went to the Amazon Appstore, and there it was, and it was compatible (and didn’t tell me I had bought it previously). I checked both versions they have in the Amazon Appstore, and neither one seems to be the one I had gotten earlier…even though I have that one on my other devices.

Again, I think a lot of people would find that confusing.

I’m going to keep testing it out today, and a lot may depend on how the call to AT&T goes. By the way, I asked somebody yesterday at an AT&T kiosk if I could use the 250MB a month dataplan on two devices (I was just curious at that point). One person emphatically said yes, and the other person looked shocked at the answer. I’ll ask them about that as well. That could save people some real money…if they aren’t going to use much data and can pay $49.99 for the first year for two devices, that would be good.

Well, I’ll check back in with you on this later. With my experience up to this point, I wouldn’t be recommending the device to others in my personal circle yet, like I enthusiastically do with other Kindles.

Update: the AT&T folks were very nice, almost effusively so. Everybody wished me a happy day, weekend, holiday…pretty much everything, and thanked me repeatedly for using AT&T.

It took half an hour and three people to resolve the issue.

The first person didn’t understand the situation very well, which is probably because I used the “mobile” option for a topic. I wasn’t sure what to use…later on, they used “session based services”, but I’m not sure how they got me to a tablet person. The first one wanted to discuss voice and texting, which doesn’t apply.

The second person got me to the third person.

The fix was to give me a credit for the $49.99 I’d already spent, and then have me sign up again on the new device.

I got a definitive answer: you can’t use the $49.99 plan on two or more devices.

I’ve now tested the video through an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cable to my TV: it looks good, much better than my 7″. That’s a plus. I tried Prime streaming and through the Netflix app.

At this point, I’ll keep it, test it on the road (for the 4G element), and hope the power button loosens up and becomes more responsive.

Update: I’ve been using it for most of a day, and the power button is loosening up…yay! While on the road, the 4G connected smoothly. I’ll have to look at the idea of dropping the data on my phone (I’d keep voice and text). Not sure how much that would save. I need to run some more tests on the sound…some comments have made me think it might have been the source material.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G: first impressions

Kindle Fire 8.9″ 4G: first impressions

I got my

Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless 32GB

last night when they predicted I would. They said by 8:00 at night…it came at about 7:00.

Setting up was as easy as is to be expected, and that is very easy. I turned the power on, entered my password to connect to my wi-fi (I would have been allowed to skip that), confirmed I was me, and that was it.

It showed me a demo screen for how to do things, similar to what I’d seen on the 7″.

My Carousel was populated, and by default, I did see recommendations at the bottom (“Customers Also Bought”, now sometimes abbreviated as CAB).

It had 37% battery charge life when I got it.

I swiped down, and saw this for Service Activation Needed (although it was already showing me AT&T as an icon near my battery icon).

Tapping that Activation Needed, it took me to “Welcome to DataConnect from AT&T!”

Okay, I want to be careful about this next part.

My experience here may be quite atypical…I don’t think there are a lot of these 4G models out there yet, but I’ll be interested to hear what happens with other people.

It quickly became the most frustrating experience I’ve had using a new Kindle.

The screen kept flickering on and off (I had it both in and out of the case). The lighting on the screen actually looked irregular near one short edge…sort of like the Kindle Paperwhite.

The flickering was at a level that was clearly unacceptable.

It wouldn’t wake up without the power button being used twice. The first time, it would only go to a gray screen…no image.

Clearly, it seemed like a power issue, so I decided I would charge it overnight.

This morning, I was still having problems. At that point, I copied the screenshots I had taken for this post (just like with the Kindle Fire 7″, you can hold the power button and the lower volume button ((the one towards the center of the screen)) at the same time and get a screenshot which is stored in Pictures…and it’s a nice animation so you know it has happened) to my desktop, and did a factory reset.

Yes, that meant it automatically deregistered it, and that I’d have to download content and set up my wi-fi again. I wanted to try that early, before I had much on it.

It seems to be fine this morning so far. Calling Kindle Support has never been an unpleasant experience for me, but I didn’t want to have to send it back (even though they make it as easy as possible).

I’ll have to try it for a day or so and see if the problem recurs, and if it does, I’ll contact them.

Let’s ignore that for now, and I’ll give you some more impressions of it.

The screen is gorgeous: I can tell the difference between this one and the 7″ (this one has more pixels per inch: 1920 x 1200 versus 1280 x 800).

It’s pretty comfortable to hold…it doesn’t feel that much heavier than the 7″, interesting, although I haven’t held it for a long session. It is 6.1 ounces heavier).

The Carousel showed about 20 items when I started, and I believed it is cumulatively adding things as I open them. Oh, another problem at first…even after I downloaded items, it wouldn’t open them, telling me there was a problem with the DRM (Digital Rights Management). Restarting the device took care of that.

Downloading seemed slow before the reset to factory defaults…now it seems fine.

I like the look of the bigger screen! I’ll have to see how it is to carry it around with me compared to the 7″.

The screen seems super responsive to the touch…maybe even too much. In landscape mode, the keyboard is big enough for me to actually type, although I don’t quite have the hang of that. I’ll have to try my Bluetooth keyboard with it.

The keyboard is also different from the 7″.  It has an icon of a scissors on the ABC/?123 button (the one that switches you from letters to numbers. Holding that down gives me a bunch of editing tools, including ones for copy and paste. I found it a little confusing at first. You have to use the T with the square around it to select the text, then you can copy.

Drat! The issue with the screen is still there!

It’s easy to identify it now…just setting it lightly down on something causes it to flicker. Plugging in the USB cable causes it to happen. It appears to me to possibly be a loose connection in the power system, a loose battery or something.

I’m going to contact Kindle Support for what I presume will be a replacement.

At least you got to see how to register for the AT&T…

Update: the new one should be here Thursday. It’s not the first Kindle I’ve returned, and the process is simple. I’m always a bit surprised at the lack of information that the Customer Service rep may have about my account, though. I do go through

http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport

which means I identify my device before we are on the phone. However, the rep asked me when I had originally ordered this Fire…and I looked it up at

http://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle

I would have guessed they could see that as easily as I could.

For those of you who don’t know about the returns, you contact them and if return is the right answer (it isn’t always), they e-mail you a link to a return label. You print it out, take it to a UPS store, and that’s it. You do not need to send the defective one back before you get the new one. The one big recommendation I have for you: keep the original packaging material for thirty days at least after you get it…that makes it easy to box it up for return, if necessary.

Update: I went through all of the one star reviews on this model on Amazon…nobody else mentioned this problem, so hopefully, mine was a fluke.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.

No overage charges on the Kindle Fire 4G

No overage charges on the Kindle Fire 4G

Thanks to Josh W., an Amazon official, for this information! Josh said it could be shared with customers, and I thought you’d be interested.

It may eventually be added to the Help Pages.

There has been some not unreasonable concern about the 250MB per month data plan that we’ll be buying for our

I’m thinking that’s generally going to be enough for me. I’m in wi-fi enough that I can download the videos need without worrying about the 4G. I expect to use that 4G connection (which is similar to the way a SmartPhone connects) for simple website kind of use, including e-mail, and I’m not thinking I’m going to use a lot of data. I know I could be surprised, though.

If you were planning to download or even stream video with the 4G, though, that 250MB limit might get hit pretty quickly.

There was some speculation about what would happen at that point. Would you  suddenly find a bill with extensive overages? Would you have an opportunity to upgrade to a larger, more expensive plan on the fly?

TuxGirl, a regular reader and commenter here, raised the question in a comprehensive, forward looking way.

Here are the answers provided by Josh:

*Overages – This is a prepaid plan. When a customer reaches their 250MB limit, they will receive a message letting them know they can either wait until the following month, or upgrade their plan to a 3GB or 5GB plan. There will be no overage charges.

*Restrictions – To prevent the data from being used in one sitting or accidentally, there are some restrictions to the data usage. They include:

-Downloads over 50MB from Appstore, Amazon MP3, Amazon Instant Video (AIV), Audible, or the Kindle Store require a Wi-Fi connection to complete.
-Transitioning from Wi-Fi to cellular (e.g. customer leaves home Wi-Fi network) when downloading an item over 50MB will result in the download stopping and asking the customer to connect to Wi-Fi to complete it.
-Transitioning from Wi-Fi to cellular when streaming AIV content will result in the stream stopping and asking the customer to connect to Wi-Fi to continue watching.

*Customers may see a restriction to their AIV streaming, this restriction will be removed with a software update once the device is connected via wireless and has at least a 40% charge.

*If a Wi-Fi network is recognized by your device and you’re in range, it will connect to it automatically.

*When you’re connected to the 4G network, the status bar will display the AT&T logo, the network type, and the network signal strength bars. If you’re connected to Wi-Fi, the mobile network type will not be displayed.

That should take care of some anxiety! While the 50MB limit may frustrate some people (you want to download that 2GB HD movie, which is about what Amazon estimates, while on a camping trip without wi-fi, and can’t do it), I think this is generally a good implementation.

This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog.