ShouldI get a Kindle fire even though i own an iPad 2???

[milo]

Looks like an interesting device for the price but will Amazon support the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android or leave it stuck with an old forked proprietary version?

If you have an iPad already I see no reason, if you really want a kindle get one of the even cheaper black and white ones for reading books.

 

[jsh1120]

Looks like an interesting device for the price but will Amazon support the upcoming Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android or leave it stuck with an old forked proprietary version?

If you have an iPad already I see no reason, if you really want a kindle get one of the even cheaper black and white ones for reading books.

Amazon has made it clear they have no interest in staying on the Google update path to Ice Cream Sandwich and beyond. Being another Android tablet is not what the Fire is about.

Personally I find the Fire an interesting device that can fill many users' requirements. I don't think, however, it makes much sense as a complement to the iPad, at least not for me.

 

[Confuzzzed]

If you want to experience the Amazon ecosystem, by all means buy a KF. Another advantage is the size and the price allows you to be a little less precious with it (throw it over to the kids to muck about with in ways that you probably wouldnt allow a $600 device). But don't expect the KF to be an iPad 2. And don't be surprised when in January-March, the KF2 launches which will have a camera and a better processor. If the fantastic iPhone 4S upgrade is anything to go by (and I must admit to being wrongly skeptical initially), next year will be exciting for tablets. If I were you I would sit it out because there is great fun just round the corner. Apple TV 3 for instance.

 

[FloatingBones]

If that's your main reason, don't get it. Kindle Fire is not an Android device, period. It's a Kindle device tailored specifically for Amazon's cloud services. If you don't use any of the Amazon's services, you will be disappointed.

This claim was completely incorrect. From yesterday's MacBreak weekly (November 15, 2011 Timestamp 36:05):

Andy Ihnatko: The good news is that you don't have to re-write anything for the [Kindle] Fire. If you'd like to do that, you can certainly optimize the experience. But you can take existing Android apps and just dump 'em on here and they'll work just fine. You can even sideload apps -- if you push that magic button that's in most Android devices that says download content from unsigned sources you can still just download and install apps from a web browser.

Leo Laporte: Oh. That's Huge!

Andy: You're taking your chances, because not all of them work really well.

Leo: Right.

Andy: But, if you want, you don't wait for something necessarily to hit the Amazon [app] store.

Leo: It's a full Android device, then. That's interesting.

Andy: It's a full Android device, but, again, it's optimized for content consumption. It's optimized for books, video, music, and photos.

Many people here were making unsubstantiated claims that the Fire wasn't an Android device. They confused Amazon's lack of emphasis of that feature to confirm their speculation.

This is an Android device, and it will have all the risks and downside of Android. If it becomes a popular device, I fully expect to see malware custom-tailored for the device.

There is a chance that you can't run any Android apps you want on it. It's not running the Android OS completely, it's a heavily customized fork of an older version of Android OS that will not be compatible with any apps created specifically for the newer 3.x/4.x Android OS.

Yes. That source code fork/fracture will also create massive confusion. But the chance you can't at least try to run the Android apps you want on it is zero.

Cavete ergo downlaoder (let the downloader beware).

 

[urkel]

Many people here were making unsubstantiated claims that the Fire wasn't an Android device. They confused Amazon's lack of emphasis of that feature to confirm their speculation.

This is an Android device, and it will have all the risks and downside of Android. If it becomes a popular device, I fully expect to see malware custom-tailored for the device.

I have a problem taking any info from Macbreak Weekly as "fact" since they tend to speak out about a ton of stuff with no research and never correct themselves when proven wrong. IF its true then its a big deal but I'd hold off until it gets verified by actual users.

BTW. I just refused my Kindle Fire delivery yesterday. I definitely do want a 7" tablet but I guess I'd rather wait for a 7" iPad or the Fire2.

 

[mkrishnan]

I have a problem taking any info from Macbreak Weekly as "fact" since they tend to speak out about a ton of stuff with no research and never correct themselves when proven wrong. IF its true then its a big deal but I'd hold off until it gets verified by actual users.

I think that the Fire is running a modified Android 2.3 and can sideload apps that are compatible with that android version (with varying results) are both reasonably established at this point.

http://www.androidguys.com/2011/11/15/how-to-sideload-apps-onto-kindle-fire/
http://www.ubergizmo.com/2011/11/amazon-kindle-fire-allows-sideloaded-apps/
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33198_7-57324707-286/cnet-answers-your-kindle-fire-questions/

Etc.

 

[FloatingBones]

I have a problem taking any info from Macbreak Weekly as "fact" since they tend to speak out about a ton of stuff with no research and never correct themselves when proven wrong.

Then let me put your fears aside. Those claims were made by Andy Ihnatko on the show. Among other things, he is a print journalist. You can confirm them by reading his published review of the device from the Chicago Sun-Times website.

Amazon has made it clear they have no interest in staying on the Google update path to Ice Cream Sandwich and beyond. Being another Android tablet is not what the Fire is about.

Yet it is an Android device, and Amazon has provided the "promiscuous" switch to allow the downloading of Android apps from anywhere. Read Andy's review. If that was a mistake in the release, it was a heck of a gaffe to make. It's one thing to never allow apps to be downloaded from other sources, but I can't imagine their removing this option after the initial release. It's also interesting to note what Andy said about Amazon's review process for their App Store:

All they seem to be doing is making sure that the app won’t crash the Fire (by expecting it to have a camera or an old-timey row of fixed Android hard buttons, for example) and doesn’t have one of those phone-oriented user interfaces that looks intensely weird when scaled up to a 7-inch screen.

 

[iKIKO]

i guess i was on the same boat too, until yesterday, that i bought an asus transformer (android) just to play around with it. i kinda like it, but know i see why iOS is so cool. on android apps crash too much, at least for me. iOS is perfectly polished.

and also i like better the aspect ratio of the iPad. specially for web browsing. the asus its too wide, but hey, thats perfect for movies

anyway, i like waaaay better the iPad. and now, I'm gonna love it more than never before, and I'm going to stop thinking about cheat on her with android.

if you got an iPad 2 and want an android tablet just to mess around, don't do it

 

[jsh1120]

Yet it is an Android device, and Amazon has provided the "promiscuous" switch to allow the downloading of Android apps from anywhere. Read Andy's review. If that was a mistake in the release, it was a heck of a gaffe to make. It's one thing to never allow apps to be downloaded from other sources, but I can't imagine their removing this option after the initial release. It's also interesting to note what Andy said about Amazon's review process for their App Store:

The confusion here is that while the Fire supports downloads from sources other than the Amazon App Store, it does not support downloads from the Amazon Marketplace. Most Android devices support such "sideloads" and the Fire follows this practice. But one cannot connect to the Amazon Marketplace as one would with a traditional Android device; the Amazon App Store substitutes for that.

So if a developer provides a means to download an app without going through the Androoid Marketplace (as some developers do), that process would work on the Fire. If not, and the app is not in the Amazon App Store, it would not be possible to put it on the Fire.

 

[FloatingBones]

The confusion here is that while the Fire supports downloads from sources other than the Amazon App Store, it does not support downloads from the Amazon Marketplace.

There were many sources of confusion in the pre-release Kindle Fire threads. The biggest was the claim that the Fire somehow wouldn't even be identifiable as an Android device by users. That's clearly false.

Most Android devices support such "sideloads" and the Fire follows this practice.

FWIW, I don't know a single Android device that doesn't allow unsigned downloads.

But one cannot connect to the Amazon Marketplace as one would with a traditional Android device; the Amazon App Store substitutes for that.

If you enable sideloading, you can download from any source.

So if a developer provides a means to download an app without going through the Androoid Marketplace (as some developers do), that process would work on the Fire. If not, and the app is not in the Amazon App Store, it would not be possible to put it on the Fire.

Not possible?

I can't tell if you realize: sideloading is available on the Kindle Fire. You just have to turn on that option.

 

[4DThinker]

No sideloading from market.android.com. Try going there with the Silk browser and it re-directs you to Amazon's AppStore. No way to associate the Fire with your Google account either. Any android apk you can download to your computer can be installed on the Fire though.

 

[FloatingBones]

No sideloading from market.android.com. Try going there with the Silk browser and it re-directs you to Amazon's AppStore. No way to associate the Fire with your Google account either. Any android apk you can download to your computer can be installed on the Fire though.

No direct sideloading. But you can sideload market.android.com apps from another Android device. This article says how:

If you have another Android device that has access to the Android market, you can use Astro File Manager, another free app, to create APK backups of any app you have installed. Then you can copy them from your device to your PC for transfer to the Fire.

Amazon hasn't created a walled garden; they've created a garden with obfuscated entrances. You are in a maze of twisty passages, all different.

Is Amazon hacking the DNS on the machine, is their browser hardwired to re-direct people, or is something else going on?

Any sort of comparisons between this device and the iPad are rather silly. I'm waiting for reviews comparing it to the new B&N Nook.

 

[4DThinker]

Is Amazon hacking the DNS on the machine, is their browser hardwired to re-direct people, or is something else going on?

I was surprised when they announced their own Silk browser, but it make perfect sense now that I see what it is doing. It intercepts email or web links to the Android Market and directs them to the Amazon appstore. If the linked-to app isn't also available there, then you get a "not-found" error. If it is, then users are "tricked" into downloading the app from Amazon, and Amazon makes the sale~profit.

 

[drober30]

$500 to burn? ... buy groceries ... you do not need a Kindle

Or a few lap dances!

 

[violentfarmer]

Similar Problem

I have a similar problem. I just purchased a Kindel Fire for my girlfriend for Christmas that she doesn't know about, but it seems that she has purchased an iPad for herself and her son for Christmas. What should I do with the Kindel? She loves to read and she has no actual computer at the moment.

 

[bufffilm]

I have a similar problem. I just purchased a Kindel Fire for my girlfriend for Christmas that she doesn't know about, but it seems that she has purchased an iPad for herself and her son for Christmas. What should I do with the Kindel? She loves to read and she has no actual computer at the moment.

i think you should probably return it, they're going to want to use the ipad for now and the KF is going to pale in comparison.

they might welcome a second tablet later on once they've started using the ipad but that's later on. how old is the son, btw?

 

[Kissaragi]

No

 

[urkel]

I have a similar problem. I just purchased a Kindel Fire for my girlfriend for Christmas that she doesn't know about, but it seems that she has purchased an iPad for herself and her son for Christmas. What should I do with the Kindel? She loves to read and she has no actual computer at the moment.

Fire + iPad is a good combo (that I own) but the Fire is most valuable to people who DONT own an iPad. So unless you got it on a severe discount or feel a need for it right now then Id just return it.

 

[*LTD*]

Why bother with both? The iPad does the Kindle's job plus a helluva lot more. You already have an iPad 2, save your money.

 

[crzdcolombian]

Why bother with both? The iPad does the Kindle's job plus a helluva lot more. You already have an iPad 2, save your money.

If you go to the beach then buy a $80 kindle. The kindle fire like the ipad is ****** for reading outside because of the screen. I have a beach house in Colombia and tired to read on my ipad but the glare almost blinds me. I will prob pic up a black and white kindle when I find one for under $50 bucks on craigslist.

Like others said ipad does the same job as the kindle just better.

 

[The Great Boony]

The Kindle is very cheap

It's cheap for a reason.... The same reason you can buy genuine Windows Vista on eBay for a dollar

 

[J&JPolangin]

I have a 1st gen iPad and I played with a fire at the store yesterday for about 15 min and it didn't inspire me to buy it...

I'll be waiting for iPad3!

 

[fjanderson94]

Better idea

I think you should invest in apple stock instead. The iPad can do everything the kindle fire can do and more. I wouldn't buy something that you don't need and only want it because you can't save money.