It seems pretty clear that Amazon's market strategy with its Kindle Fire has been all along to tap into the niche for budget tablets. At the level of quality, it has never really measured up to the standards of the competition. The price, though, is hard to argue with at $229 for the current edition.
As expected, with the coming of the holiday season, so too comes Amazon's new shot at the brass ring. The 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX hit the market on October 18 followed by the larger 8.9-inch screen version in November. There are a couple interesting additions, such as the free Mayday feature, on this Android-based system.
However, anyone hopeful of major upgrades of functions and capacity will find little to cheer about here. Not only is there little in the way of quality upgrades, but some are going to wind up feeling a bit cheated. While the system is based on Google's Android, it's kind of the poor man's Android, lacking Google's popular apps and services.
Instead, the new Kindle Fire owner has to download his or her apps from Amazon. (This includes, by the way, activating the Flash Player , which does not come activated, to the annoyance of many users.) The selection of apps is paltry in comparison to that available on the standard Android. We're talking around 85,000 apps compared to nearly a million for Android. Of course that also means you're missing a lot of stuff that many people value highly: e.g., Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube.
And this brings us to another problematic matter, which can't be glossed over. Like its predecessor, this version of the Kindle Fire is calibrated to a relentlessly fevered sales pitch for Amazon products. You can't brush your mouse over anything without the Amazon hawker springing into action, pointing out some nifty similar Amazon product you should be buying.
Admittedly this might be a matter of taste. Some people might quite like this relentless sales pitch. Especially given how skimpy the come-with goods are. For me, it's just too annoying. The catch here of course is that the marketing model is much like commercial television; this onslaught of sales pitches is the price you pay for the low sticker cost.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. There are some genuine improvements. Happiest of all is a noticeable reduction in how buggy is the software. This has always been a problem with this tablet and while Amazon hasn't entirely remedied the situation, the reduction of glitches is much welcomed. Also, a thumbs-up for the "carousel" style view finder: it allows you to find apps, movies, books or any other offering with ease and a visual flair. The navigation bar at the bottom of the screen accesses the full assortment of content on the tablet.
And let us not forget what some people might find the coolest feature of all. At the press of a button this Kindle Fire version provides you the Mayday service, in which you are immediately hooked up with a live service representative. The rep appears in a corner of your tablet's screen and addresses any problems or concerns you have. And your little corner friend, who you'll know on a first name bases, can even take control of your Kindle Fire, should that prove the most efficient manner of resolving your issue. There's no question this is a cool feature and the commitment to customer service makes a statement
The thing is, though (and call me Joe-cynical if you like), but isn't the point of these tablets the creation of a distinctively user-friendly work environment? It's almost as though the Mayday name was less about the Fire owner calling out to Amazon than Amazon calling out Mayday to the market. It's like, okay, we admit, we couldn't do any better, but, hey, here's this cool workaround our inability to come up with a tablet most people could figure out on their own.
The bottom line with this one, as with past versions, is that it's a good buy if your intention is to restrict your usage to Amazon products and services. If that's all you want to do, this product is certainly an improvement over earlier versions. If you're just looking to save money on a tablet, you can do better .
As expected, with the coming of the holiday season, so too comes Amazon's new shot at the brass ring. The 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX hit the market on October 18 followed by the larger 8.9-inch screen version in November. There are a couple interesting additions, such as the free Mayday feature, on this Android-based system.
However, anyone hopeful of major upgrades of functions and capacity will find little to cheer about here. Not only is there little in the way of quality upgrades, but some are going to wind up feeling a bit cheated. While the system is based on Google's Android, it's kind of the poor man's Android, lacking Google's popular apps and services.
Instead, the new Kindle Fire owner has to download his or her apps from Amazon. (This includes, by the way, activating the Flash Player , which does not come activated, to the annoyance of many users.) The selection of apps is paltry in comparison to that available on the standard Android. We're talking around 85,000 apps compared to nearly a million for Android. Of course that also means you're missing a lot of stuff that many people value highly: e.g., Google Maps, Gmail, and YouTube.
And this brings us to another problematic matter, which can't be glossed over. Like its predecessor, this version of the Kindle Fire is calibrated to a relentlessly fevered sales pitch for Amazon products. You can't brush your mouse over anything without the Amazon hawker springing into action, pointing out some nifty similar Amazon product you should be buying.
Admittedly this might be a matter of taste. Some people might quite like this relentless sales pitch. Especially given how skimpy the come-with goods are. For me, it's just too annoying. The catch here of course is that the marketing model is much like commercial television; this onslaught of sales pitches is the price you pay for the low sticker cost.
It's not all doom and gloom, though. There are some genuine improvements. Happiest of all is a noticeable reduction in how buggy is the software. This has always been a problem with this tablet and while Amazon hasn't entirely remedied the situation, the reduction of glitches is much welcomed. Also, a thumbs-up for the "carousel" style view finder: it allows you to find apps, movies, books or any other offering with ease and a visual flair. The navigation bar at the bottom of the screen accesses the full assortment of content on the tablet.
And let us not forget what some people might find the coolest feature of all. At the press of a button this Kindle Fire version provides you the Mayday service, in which you are immediately hooked up with a live service representative. The rep appears in a corner of your tablet's screen and addresses any problems or concerns you have. And your little corner friend, who you'll know on a first name bases, can even take control of your Kindle Fire, should that prove the most efficient manner of resolving your issue. There's no question this is a cool feature and the commitment to customer service makes a statement
The thing is, though (and call me Joe-cynical if you like), but isn't the point of these tablets the creation of a distinctively user-friendly work environment? It's almost as though the Mayday name was less about the Fire owner calling out to Amazon than Amazon calling out Mayday to the market. It's like, okay, we admit, we couldn't do any better, but, hey, here's this cool workaround our inability to come up with a tablet most people could figure out on their own.
The bottom line with this one, as with past versions, is that it's a good buy if your intention is to restrict your usage to Amazon products and services. If that's all you want to do, this product is certainly an improvement over earlier versions. If you're just looking to save money on a tablet, you can do better .
About the Author:
Mishu Hull writes on electronics at a range of blog sites. For more valuable information about the product discussed here, see Kindle Fire Updates .
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