Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review

This was easily one of the most impulsive purchases I’ve ever made… a $200 device preordered within hours of the press conference announcing it. Granted, it helped I had about a $150 credit with Amazon, so my Kindle Fire only set me back a little over $50. I’m secretly hoping this device will replace my 1st generation iPad & existing 2nd generation Kindle.

Before I get started, I’m not sure anyone else can say that every device they’ve released uses the same type of common cable. Every Kindle has used a microUSB connection to connect to your laptop or to charge the device. Love it! Sure the Apple connectors are fairly standard now… but only for iPods/iPads/iPhones.

To put things in perspective, it helps to understand how I use the existing devices.

Kindle 2nd Generation - I read books & newspapers (specifically the Wall Street Journal) on it. I love the eInk screen as it is easy on the eyes and I don’t get tired reading or holding it.
iPad 1st Generation (32GB WIFI) - I use it mostly for reference as I keep PDF manuals, eBooks as PDF for technical stuff (SharePoint, Silverlight, Azure, etc) & videos from conference sessions I wanted to catch up on (using the app Buzz player which always gets out of sync). I also use it to do light web surfing (Facebook, news, etc) and a few games (I’m not much of a gamer). I also rip a few DVDs to it to watch on a flight or while on the road.

Form Factor

The size of this little tablet is perfect. I’ve been used to holding my iPad which now feels quite big. The screen is a great size for surfing, checking email, playing games, watching a movie and reading PDFs as well as books. The device is a slight bit smaller than the Kindle 2nd Generation and a bit thicker… similar in thickness to the first iPad. Because of it’s size it isn’t heavy and works great for one handed operation. I can hold it with one hand comfortably.

User Interface / Touch

The operating system, a custom Amazon fork of the Android OS, is pretty good. It did take a little getting used to but I think I like it. It breaks things down into a homepage kind of view (most recent apps shown in a carousel view, kind of like Apple’s Coverflow) with favorites pinned at the bottom, and then has tabs for Apps, Video, Docs, Web, Music, etc. Each tab then has an option to say “show me my content in the cloud” or “show me my content on the device" making it easy to download a book you bought previously, but don’t have it locally. Before with previous Kindles you had to go to the website to download it. This is very different from the iOS approach where everything is an app… and I think I like this new approach move over the iOS approach.

The touch experience is also quite good. There are times when it seems to not be as responsive as you’d expect, but I’m guessing this isn’t a hardware issue and more of a software issue. I say this because when typing an email on the keyboard, I can type quite fast without issue and without pressing very hard. Seems some times you have to be careful about what you touch. Hoping it is a software thing Amazon can address with an update.

Media (Videos, Music & Documents)

One of the big things I used my iPad for was to have a local reference of a bunch of PDFs of technical books and manuals instead of having them on my laptop. For the iPad I had to find an app (GoodReader) and then put those PDFs somewhere (FTP) where they could be pulled into the app. Same was true for videos where I used an app (Buzz Player) and had to import vidoes from somewhere on my network. Yes, both of these apps let me copy files from my laptop into them, but I had to use iTunes (which I hate just about as much as taxes) and then you still couldn’t setup subfolders.

With the Kindle Fire it’s so much easier. I did get a PDF reader app (ezPDF Reader) for $0.99, but I can easily copy my PDFs over from my laptop because connecting the Kindle to the laptop via USB has it show up as a USB drive.

Same is true for videos… you can encode them as a M4V file (same format that iPad recognizes) and copy them over. What is a bit confusing is that the videos don’t show up under the Video tab in the OS (that’s reserved for content you get from Amazon like TV shows/movies) but instead shows up in the included Gallery app. It’s a bit disappointing that WMV files aren’t recognized by the Kindle Fire, but that isn’t a deal breaker for me. What is nice is that playback works great… no matter the format I used on my iPad, the audio & video always got out of sync.

I’ve also tried reading some magazines (Wired & Sports Illustrated) and they work great on the Kindle Fire. The screen isn’t too small… in fact it is a very good size for this experience.

It’s a Kindle so you can obviously read books, one of two things I use my Kindle 2nd Generation for. I’m currently reading an autobiography (Steve Jobs) & the experience is very good. I’m still waiting to see how I feel reading a book over a long period of time which I just haven’t had a chance to do. My concern is the backlit screen will cause eye stress which I have with my iPad and others complain about. That’s what’s nice about the 2nd Generation Kindle… the eInk technology is like reading a paperback. Only time will tell.

Browsing

It’s a web browser… it just works Smile … AND I can configure my search engine so I’m not forced into Google.

Apps / Games

Finding & buying apps is great… much better than ALL other mobile platforms (Apple & Microsoft). Not only can you browse, install & buy apps on the device, but you can also do it from their website on the Amazon Appstore for Android. You don’t even need your device with you, just send it to the device!

I found apps for everything else and like all the following:

Email (Exchange) – Touchdown w/ Exchange ActiveSync
Twitter – Seesmic
Facebook – Web experience … feels just like their iPad app… but would love a good offline reader
PDFs / eBooks – exPDF Reader

Apps I need:

Google Reader – Blog/RSS reader WITH offline caching & sync
OneNote – for now the web experience of SkyDrive works, but prefer to have offline sync

What’s Missing for Me

So far I’ve talked about what I like with some criticism in there. Now for what I think is missing or leaves a bit to be desired.

Wall Street Journal – You can subscribe and have it delivered to your existing Kindles, but it isn’t supported on the Kindle Fire. What gives? Ends up this is a WSJ issue, not a Amazon issue as WSJ selects what devices it can be delivered to. Rumor in the forum is that some users have called the WSJ who’s told them they are adding support for it this week (Thanksgiving week, week of November 21, 2011) so we’ll see! This would be the only thing keeping me from making the complete cut over from my existing Kindle 2nd Generation.
No Hardware Volume buttons – There’s only one button on the device & that’s power. I would like to have volume buttons on the device like I have on the iPad… but not a deal breaker. In addition, I do like the iPad’s “don’t rotate the screen” switch.
Good Google Reader app – Man, everything I’ve found in the Appstore so far sucks. Some are ok, but they show you the folders you’ve created for organization AND all your tags. That’s annoying for those who haven’t taken the time to tag stuff as things show everywhere. How should you do it? Look at FeedlerPro on the iPad. For now I’m sticking with the web interface on Google Reader (which sucks as I’d like to go offline).
OS Update – As I mentioned above some of the touch stuff needs to get tweaked. I don’t believe it to be a hardware issue as when I use the keyboard it is very fast and responsive.

Conclusion

All in all, this is a killer little device with a ton of promise. As is, I love it and not complaining… simply have some feedback & requests.

So what will it take for me to retire my Kindle 2nd Generation?
Sadly it will never be completely retired. You can’t read anything with a backlit screen outside in the sunlight so I’ll keep my Kindle for when I head out on vacation to the beach. But once the WSJ subscription issue is resolved, the only time I’ll pull my Kindle 2nd Generation out is when I am doing some book reading at the beach/outside.

So what will it take for me to retire my iPad 1st Generation?
Well it’s been 4 days and I’ve yet to pickup my iPad so for now, it’s done it! We’ll see how that pans out (no, it isn’t for sale just yet)… but it might become a kids toy soon.

[Update 11/23/2011 @ 9:15a] - After some fantastic comments in this post, I've sideloaded the Google Reader app that is usually only included on Android devices that can use the Google Marketplace. Check out the links in the comments... Brian & Joe were a huge help. Joe posted a detailed post on how to do it. I didn't root my device as it isn't necessary... just sideloaded. In addition, it appears the WSJ has received TONS of calls about their subscribers not being able to get it on the Kindle Fire. It has been delayed for a week, but they are going to support it soon.

posted on Monday, November 21, 2011 3:03 PM

Feedback

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/21/2011 3:14 PM @SPJeff

Very cool.

Yeah, I got one Friday and played with it over the weekend. I was surprised that Facebook was only a webpage. It looks good, but the repetitive login is annoying. I read at androidforums.com/.../...book-app-kindle-fire.html how you could "sideload" the APK file. I tried and it kind of works, crashed a few times, figure I should just use Seemic for now.

Agreed on the feedback points above. Just needs time to refine and mature, but this a scrappy little tablet for sure.

I'll probably keep eInk Kindle nearby for long reading time. I tried a 1 hour session on the Fire and felt some eye strain ... or I just stay up too late. =)

Best,
@SPJeff

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/21/2011 3:17 PM Jeremy Thake

Interesting no mention of no 3G, that was the blocker for me on the road. I think I'll wait for the equivalent Windows 8 device e.g. my Samsung 7 Slate but with 8 hours of battery life in the form factor of Fire. Great write up mate.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/21/2011 5:01 PM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@Jeremy - Nope... no mention of 3G as I'm not paying for another connection (like iPad & many other tablet makers require). I've got a Verizon 4G LTE MiFi and use it for all my devices when I travel. Yup, one more thing to carry, but fast connection and can share across so many things. Until the device makers (and laptop makers) can figure out a way to say "add this to my existing cell provider and use my existing data / voice plan" I'm not buying a device with WiFi built in. Then again, I have enjoyed the 3G Whispernet service from my 2nd Generation Kindle for the last few years :)

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/21/2011 10:29 PM Brian

I agree with most of this and thanks for the tip on exPDF Reader! I've been looking for something like this...now, if I could just annotate Kindle books...

For reading, I have changed the background to the off-white and tweaked the font sizes/line spacing and that seems to have helped. I could also set it to a black background with white text. Wish it had a light sensor to do that automagically like Pulse does on my phone.

I'd add to the list of wants:

1. Podcast Manager - Good for the commute. I use Google Listen on my Phone - mostly for Google Reader integration, but no good podcast solution on Kindle...yet. Stitcher radio indicated to me that they'll soon be introducing the ability to create your own "stations". I don't think they'll have Google Reader integration. As Jeff indicates, I need to try side loading to see if this helps here.

2. Sync my Angy Birds results. Maybe I need to pony up the .99 for the paid app for this?

3. Amazon to recognize that I've purchased hard copies of books and provide me with access to Kindle versions for no/minimal charge so I dont have to rebuy a copy of all the hard copies I've purchased. Like Inside SharePoint 2010 <wink/>.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/21/2011 11:22 PM Brian

Upon further review, found ways to get Google Apps installed, such as Google Reader (Blogs) and Listen (Podcast):

forums.theregister.co.uk/.../kindle_fire_google...

Search the comments on or about Page 2 for a posting by mewshi (http://forums.theregister.co.uk/user/54875/)

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 6:21 AM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@Brian - Is this something you've already done? I'm not familiar with Droid's... Google Reader is an app on Droid? I don't see it listed: http://www.google.com/mobile/android/

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 9:34 AM Brian

Andrew, yes, last night I "side loaded" the Google Reader Android App and the Google Listen Android App onto my Kindle Fire using the process described in the comments made by the links I referenced in my previous posting.

Google Reader is both a "service" offered by Google and an "application". The application, created by Google, is more of a "richer" interface for the service (i.e. has ability to synchronize for offline reading - which isn't on by default).

http://www.google.com/mobile/more/

Some of these apps just don't make sense on a kindle due to the lack of camera, mic, etc, but Listen and Reader I think definitely do.

Google Reader "Application" is nothing fancy (like Pulse), but it does the job. In fact, the UI is pretty consistent with the web based UI.

What of a PDF/Kindle copy of Inside SharePoint 2010 - so I don't have to lug around my hard copy? ;)

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 10:14 AM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@Brian - Thanks for the links... no issues with the side loading? As for the PDF, that's out of our hands... that's a publisher thing. :(

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 11:37 AM Joe Litton

Thanks to many who have researched / experimented / shared, I have quite happily modified my Fire (rec'd Wed 16Nov) to run a number of apps that are not available via the Amazon Appstore. In addition to sideloading some apps, I had to temporarily root the device and edit a SQLite file to get Swype to work...But with Google Maps, GMail, Swype, and a few others now working, I am very much liking this device! So much so that I'm giving my 3rd gen Kindle to my daughter in law and will use only the Fire.

Review with links to very helpful posts from folks far brighter than I: littlejoe.typepad.com/.../...been-looking-for.html

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 12:54 PM brian

No issues so far...but I haven't been running much since last night. I did confirm offline availability to 2 different blogs I subscribe to in Google Reader. Also played 1 10 min podcast with Listen.

Just watch where you obtain the APKs...and that you are getting latest version.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 2:29 PM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@Joe - THanks for that link... I'm thinking about giving this a shot. Bit timid though being someone who's not familiar with Android or experienced in Linux & rooting... wish there was an easy way to backup / image the device before doing this...

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 3:24 PM theotherAC

Supposedly if you root your Kindle Fire, you will lose the ability to stream Amazon Instant Video.

For the time being, just try to sideload as many apps as possible knowing that you cannot get the android market and most google apps working.

Using this approach, I was able to put enough 'unsupported' apps on my kindle without f*cking myself for whatever happens in the future.

If you do decide to root, get some warranty package so that you can purposely break it and get a new one. Chances are high that in 6 months you will want something new anyway.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 3:25 PM Joe Litton

@Andrew, I'm not horribly experienced with Android, 'tho I've got linux running a few machines at home. I'd rooted one of my droid phones (and later my wife's) with some trepidation. Sort of like the first time you wipe a drive, it's a bit scary :) ...but the great step-by-step directions that others have shared helped a lot. The slowest part for me was editing the sql db on the Fire ...mainly because I was triple-checking everything for fear of bricking the new device! (and this was only needed in order to get Swype to be listed as an available keyboard).

After 25 yrs in IT and 15 yrs with Notes/Domino/Java, I'm just learning SharePoint. Learned of your blog last week. Funny that the first post I read is about the Kindle :-D

Cheers!

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 4:01 PM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@TheOtherAC - Nice name :) You can unroot the Kindle to get the streaming to work again... check the links oflks have posted.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/22/2011 4:54 PM theotherAC

I'm treating rooting like the old xbox modding scene. Everyone did it the first time around, then MSFT got smart and started messing with everyone. So whatever method you have to get back to stock might not work in the future. Perhaps I'm just getting old, tinkering by rooting just isn't fun for me anymore.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/23/2011 6:09 AM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@TheOtherAC - Funny... that sums me up perfectly :)

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 11/23/2011 9:09 AM Joe Litton

Posted follow-up, with more specifics / screen shots re sideloading Google apps (no root needed):
littlejoe.typepad.com/.../...ding-google-apps.html

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 12/2/2011 7:20 AM Mike Walsh

Interesting Review. When I got my iPad (2) I could find no use for the Kindle I was using up to them.

The reason is probably that I read newspapers and magazines on the device and they unlike the books you read do benefit from the extra screen space (and colour).

But there is a minor point from the article that might have some people searching Amazon in vain. There isn't a Steve Jobs "autobiography" so what you are reading is probably the "authorised biography" based on conversations with Steve Jobs (etc.) by an author of his choice but where according to what I have read the only part of which that was controlled/approved by Steve Jobs was the design of the cover.

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 12/2/2011 5:46 PM judi jaranowski

can I download gps on the kindle

# re: Kindle Fire - 4+ Days Later, a Quick Review 12/8/2011 8:37 AM AC [MVP SharePoint]

@Judi - There's no cellular radio on the device, it's wifi only. However it is an Android device so you can put any number of apps on it for mapping.

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