Tag Archives: Fire

All new Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet announced

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Amazon has announced an all-new Fire HD 10 Tablet. The 10.1″ tablet comes with Alexa Hands-Free and features a 1080p full HD Display (224 ppi). At only $149.99, Amazon has shaved over $80 to $100 off the price of the old Fire 10.

This tablet is a huge improvement over the old one:

  • The previous generation only had a 1280 x 800 display (149 ppi). The new tablet is 1920 x 1200 (224 ppi).
  • The old Fire had 1.5 GHz processor, the new one is a faster 1.8 GHZ.
  • Old tablet cost $229.99 to $259.99, this one is $149.99.
  • The previous generation required you to push the home button for Alexa, the new tablet will be voice-activated and hands free (after an update).
  • The new Fire weighs 2 ounces less and is marginally thinner than the first version.
  • It also promises better battery life.

In order to bring this tablet in cheaper than the previous version, Amazon did seriously downgrade the cameras in this device. The new version has VGA Front-facing camera and a 2 MP rear-facing camera with a 720p HD video recording. The previous Fire had a 720p HD Front-facing camera + 5 MP rear-facing camera with full 1080p HD video recording. Since most people do not buy these tablets for the cameras anyway, this will probably not be a deal-breaker.

(You can find the specs for the previous generation here if you want to compare.)

I passed on the previous tablet model because at only 149ppi, it didn’t offer a good enough resolution for reading and watching video for my tastes. This one may be a different story. There are no third-party cases and covers for the new tablet available yet, but given past experience, new one should be popping up soon.

The new Fire 10 HD will be released on October 11, 2017. Amazon is offering the tablet on a payment plan of 5 monthly payments of $30.00.  You can pre-order the tablet here.

What do you think of the new tablet?

More Fire de-registration issues for children’s tablets

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kids_freetime_xSeveral times this year, owners of Fire tablets have had issues with Amazon Fire tablets spontaneously unregistering. This happened in back in April and in June (see here and here). The problem seemed to be especially prevalent in Fires that had Freetime installed.

Well, it seems that the issue has been happening again over the past week. I’ve had a number of Fire users reach out to me here on the blog trying to find out if there has been a fix for the problem. Just like in June, the problems seem to be related to Fires running Freetime under child profiles. The Fires de-register and all app data is lost. Since most of these are tablets used by children, it is particularly frustrating for parents and children alike.

The bad news, from what I can find, is that Amazon still does not seem to have an explanation for the problem.

While your best bet for assistance is to call Amazon Kindle support, there are several threads on this issue on Amazon forums that may be helpful:

You can stay updated on the issue by clicking the “Track this discussion” button located on the right side of the screen on any of the forums.

Many parents are complaining that Amazon isn’t being helpful on the issue. More on this to come….

Did your Fire Tablet just deregister itself?

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fire HDXI am reading multiple reports on the Amazon forums that some people are having problems with their Fire tablets somehow spontaneously deregistering from their accounts. Members are reporting that all their books, personal photos, documents and emails are being wiped off the devices.

Many of the reports seem to involve the Fire HD 8.9, but I did see one reporting the problem on an Fire HD 8 and another reporting the issue on a Fire HD 6.

It’s not clear if this is an update gone wrong or a bug. It does seem to be specific to the Fire tablets and not the e-ink Kindles. The tablets seem to doing a factory reset while in sleep mode. One forum member said that they called customer service and were told that Amazon is working on the problem.

I don’t keep very many personal items on my Fire tablets, but I do have a couple of apps that I have to install manually as they are not in the app store. I did notice that the Scribd app was missing from my Fire HD 6, as well as a couple of others. So, I will be calling customer service later today to see what’s up.

Have you had a problem with your Fire tablet?

Update: I posted an update to this issue here.

Update 2: Amazon has posted an announcement on the issue. Post here.

Related: Did your Fire tablet just de-register … again? June 17, 2016

 

 

Finds and Deals: Kindles, Fires and Victorian mysteries

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perryFinds and Deals for Sunday, December 13, 2015:

In Sunday’s Kindle Daily Deals offers a selection of books for just $1.99 each. Included are several titles by James Patterson as well as 9 books in Anne Perry’s Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series of Victorian mysteries, starting with the series opener, The Cater Street Hangman. This is a good jump start if you are interested in this 31 volume series. 🙂

And just in time for Green Monday, Amazon has once again marked down prices on Kindle e-readers and Fire Tablets. The $50 Fire is not included (it is out of stock until after Christmas, anyway), but you can find:

You can also still save $25 on the Fire TV Gaming Edition, priced at $114.99. Deal ends December 20, 2015

Barnes and Noble’s Nook Daily Find is Save Me by Kristyn Kusek Lewis for$1.99. The Romance Daily Deal is The House of Hardie (Hardie Family Series #1) Anne Melville, also $1.99.

I am experiencing a glitch with the Kobo Daily Deal which is is also supposed to be Lewis’ Save Me for $1.99. Instead of coming up at $1.99, the price is showing as $9.99 on both the deal page and when I put in in my cart. This is very strange as the book is normally $4.99.  If you see that the price gets corrected, please leave me a comment below. 🙂

Did you know that Kobo has a whole section of ebooks in Spanish? I didn’t know that until I stumbled on it today. I thought that was a neat find! 🙂

(Note: All prices current at the time of posting and subject to change. Most items marked Daily Deals are good for only the day posted.)

Amazon Black Friday Sale updates for $35 Fire, more

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blackfridayHere are some availability updates on some of Amazon’s Black Friday deals:

-The $35 7″ Fire is now showing as out of stock until December 15.  If you want one of these, order soon so you can still get it delivered in time for the holidays! On sale until November 29.

– My favorite, the Fire HD 6 is still available for $69.99 through December 1. (You can read my review here.)

– The Fire HD 8 and the Fire HD 10  are both still in stock.

– The Fire Kids Edition is also showing as out of stock until December 16. On sale until December 1.

– The Amazon Fire TV Stick (standard remote) is sold out and will be back in stock December 10. It is on sale until November 29.The Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote is also sold out and will be back in stock on November 29. It is on sale until November 29.

– The Amazon Fire TV  and Amazon Fire TV Gaming Edition are both still available. They are on sale until December 1.

– The Amazon Echo is still available, but may require extra processing time. It is on sale until December 1.

– All of the e-ink Kindles (including the Paperwhite and the basic Kindle for $49.99) are still available and on sale until December 1.

Note: Shipping updates were accurate as of 3 pm CST on November 2, 2015 and are certain to change as more orders accrue. 

Cases and covers for the new Fire tablets

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new fire cases

The new $49.99 7″ Fire tablet was released today, so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the covers and cases that are available for the new Fire tablets. The new devices are labeled as the 5th generation and the cases for them are also identified as 5th generation – 2015 release.

The bad news is that there aren’t very many yet, especially if you prefer the generally lower-cost option of a third-party case. And, cases that fit the new devices are currently only available from Amazon. That means nothing on eBay or other sites yet. The good news is that is a variety of styles, colors and  price ranges are already listed on the site and for sale .

Here is what’s currently available:

For the 7″ Fire:

Amazon Fire Case (5th Generation – 2015 release), Black – Price is $24.95.  Made by Amazon. This case is polyurethane, has a magnet closure and a built in stand that can be used horizontally or vertically. The case allows access to all ports and buttons. Available in black, blue, green, magenta and tangerine.

NuPro Fire Slim Standing Case (5th Generation – 2015 release) – Price is $19.99. Made by NuPro. This case is polyurethane, has a magnet closure and a built in stand that can only be used in the landscape position. Available in Black, navy, pink, purple, and turquoise.

NuPro Fire Standing Case (5th Generation – 2015 release) – Price is $14.99.  Made by NuPro. This case is polyurethane, has a magnet sleep closure and a built in stand that can only be used in the landscape position. Available in Black, navy, pink, purple, and turquoise.

For the 8″ Fire HD:

Amazon Fire HD 8 Leather Case (5th Generation – 2015 release)– Price is $49.99. Made by Amazon. This case is premium natural leather with a matching microfibre interior, has a magnet sleep closure and a built in stand that can be used horizontally or vertically. The case allows access to all ports and buttons. Available in black and gray.

Amazon Fire HD 8 Case (5th Generation – 2015 release) – Price is $39.99.  Made by Amazon. This case is polyurethane, has a magnet sleep closure and a built in stand that can be used horizontally or vertically.  Available in black, blue, green, magenta and tangerine.

NuPro Fire HD 8 Slim Standing Case (5th Generation – 2015 release) – Price is $24.99. Made by NuPro. This case is polyurethane, has a magnet sleep closure and a built in stand that can only be used in the landscape position. Available in Black, navy, pink, purple, and turquoise.

For the 10″ Fire HD:

Amazon Fire HD 10 Keyboard Case (5th Generation – 2015 release)– Price is $99.99. Made by Amazon. This is a protective case with an integrated, full size keyboard with track pad. The shortcut keys provide  access to e-mail, media controls and volume. Available in black only.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Leather Case (5th Generation – 2015 release) – Price is $64.99. Made by Amazon. This case is premium natural leather with a matching microfibre interior, has a magnet sleep closure and a built in stand that can be used horizontally or vertically.  Available in black and gray.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Case (5th Generation – 2015 release) – Price is $49.99.  Made by Amazon. This case is polyurethane, has a magnet sleep closure and a built in stand that can be used horizontally or vertically.  Available in black, blue, green, magenta and tangerine.

All of these say that they cases only fit the new 5th generation Fire tablets.

I will be doing a follow-up post  when more new third-party cases become available. I happen to be a total case junkie, so if you bought one of the new Fires with a case, please leave a comment and let us know what you thought of the case. 🙂

Daily Links: Setting up Profiles and Family Sharing on the Kindle

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kindle_voyageFrom The Ebook Reader, How to set up profiles and family library sharing on Kindle and Fire Tablets. 

Scribd welcomes Chronicle book titles, from the Scribd Blog

From The Digital Reader, A hands on look at new and old Washington Post apps.

Indiewire share top film scripts for free download, from Teleread.

The Fire HD 7 is on sale for $119 as part of Amazon’s Black Friday promotions. I have the previous generation of this and it is a nice little tablet. I use mine for movies, games and reading book where color is important (gardening and cooking).

Daily Links are interesting links I discover as I go about my online day. The frequency and number of links posted depend upon the daily news.