How to Play Flash on Kindle Fire HD / HDX. Step-by-Step guide to install Flash video for Youtube and other Flash-driven websites. Network TV full-episode changes. UPDATED Nov.27, 2013

How to install flash to play flash videos on Kindle Fire HDX and HD devices, for Youtube and websites using Flash

This blog article, updated November 26, 2013, is a companion article to How to Install non-Amazon apps on Kindle Fire HD.

  NOTE: - The current update has to do with (1) a recommendation of an older Dolphin browser version for the HDX line + advice on downloading the specific flash app-file recommended for Kindle HD and HDX (and Nexus tablets) and with (2) the Network TV Full Episodes being available in dedicated app form now, with the Networks favoring their own apps for mobile-device watching (probably having to do with ad statistics) and restricting mobile-device access on web video versions.

  Where Dolphin web browser tended to work with a "user agent" setting of "Desktop" mode instead of "Android" in those cases, that workaround has been hampered by some new Network processes.

  The upside, of course, is that Network TV full episodes are now easily watchable via their dedicated apps, some of which are at Amazon's appstore and those that aren't can be downloaded by using 1mobile.com's appstore.
  (1Mobile now has over 500,000 apps available from GooglePlay, athough you'd search there for the NBC TV or CBS TV apps having the usual network logos and showing the highest number of downloads -- or you can just view and match their icons, app names and version #'s with the apps that are listed on GooglePlay itself.)

  TIP: Amazon's own browser can now handle NBC Full Episodes website video! (Nice job, Kindle Team.)

  TIP 2: Amazon's own browser currently handles Youtube well by taking you to the mobile version of that site, showing you a small version of the video selected from a search and, when you click on one, shows you a full screen version of it in decent quality w/o your needing to change (via a long-press) the Youtube video gear-wheel setting at the right-bottom of a video, to change the video quality.

  Youtube's mobile area was completely rewritten by Youtube to use HTML5 rather than Flash and in the recent past sometimes had a somewhat smaller selection of videos, but they are very similar now.  Amazon works with the HTML5 via their new experimental Flash-replacement streamer, which will be described further below.

  NOTE: The quality of streaming will be affected by the speed of your Internet connection.  Providers of DSL home Internet access usually use a default, first-tier lower speed that's often about 1/6th the speed of cablemodem speeds, so if you love to watch Internet streamed material via WiFi network connections in your home, I do recommend cablemodem access like Comcast's.

  Apps already carried at Amazon's appstore:
  WatchABC, which includes viewing of LIVE ABC programs rather than just after the fact, is quite a boon and is much more stable now after some updates.  (I think that CBS app (available at 1mobile.com) requires a 5-day delay.)  Also carried at Amazon is "Xfinity TV" app, which Comcast users use for "On Demand" offerings.
  Amazon's appstore also carries PBS, Smithsonian TV apps, and other TV apps.  If you Search the Amazon store for "TV" you'll also see apps for Discovery; History; WatchESPN; RAI; and several others.
  But then there's always Amazon Instant Prime viewing, which now includes downloadable files for watching offline, and Amazon keeps adding exclusive material on that feature while providing optional X-Ray background info on actors in the scene you're watching.

  Sidenote: One of my favorite new features is playing a favorite mp3 song from the Cloud or downloaded to my device and seeing the new x-ray'd lyrics scrolling down, with the current line highlighted.

TIP 3: - Amazon's new HDX tablets provide what has been described by major tech-site reviewers as the fastest and smoothest experience on tablets today (I still haven't done a report on all that but will), and if multmedia files are your focus and you want them accessible on your device to play offline, get a device with more storage than 16 GB.
  I didn't want to pay a few hundred dollars for a multimedia tablet and wind up feeling constrained (as I also have a lot of photos on mine), so I got the 64GB one and love the freedom from worrying about space, Cloud or no Cloud.
  I think of it as a built-in SD card space.  Still, a 32GB tablet will be enough for many multimedia users though.

When shopping different makers and models and analyzing costs, note that a key competing tablet will cost an additional $100 to get to each higher level of storage space - to 32 and to 64GB - and that one does not play Flash on web sites created with Flash.

ADOBE and Flash Support
In October 2012, Youtube and other Flash video no longer worked on Kindle HD and other newer Android devices like the Nexus tablet line, because Adobe stopped supporting Flash on later models of mobile devices.

  The workaround was to use a web browser that supports an Adobe flash player file that works with later mobile devices.  (Since all this No-Flash drama happened, Amazon has been working on its own workaround, at Youtube and with a growing number of web sites.)

  Many of us are able to view, using Amazon's own default Silk web browser, some of the main Flash-playing sites, even for network TV full episodes now, as mentioned, as Kindle Team has been working on Amazon's Experimental Streaming Viewer which works with a limited number of sites, but they are large, popular ones, and Amazon is expanding the number of websites that will be able to work with it.

  Here's my earlier introduction to the Experimental Streaming Viewer, with some initial tips that will help, though there may be some added web-browser setting changes needed via the browser menu for some.
  A key step is to enable "Accelerate page loading" setting in the Silk web browser menu (it's now the default setting on the HDX tablets), which automatically turns 'ON' the Advenced Setting of "Prompt for experimental streaming viewer."

Back to the Google-owned Youtube:  Here's a brief history of THAT dilemma brought on by Adobe's dropping of Flash support.
A Kindle support rep encouraged customer Daryl R. Budd in October 2012 to download the Dolphin browser, which had been a common recommendation of Kindle owners who are regulars on the Amazon Kindle forums.

  Adobe announcement about ending support for Flash Player on mobile browsers.
  Despite Adobe's decision, there were some browsers that supported the final Flash Player file that still ran fine on mobile devices for Android systems up to v4.1 (Kindle Fire HD was using v4.03), and that file was made available on a developers forum for devices like the older Google Nexus and the Kindle Fire HD.

  As time went on, the Nexus was upgraded again, and XDA developers had to find another Flash Player file that would work with it (which also works for the Kindle Fire HD and HDX).  The Adobe site HAS this in their "Archived" files area.  The Amazon Kindle Forum regulars have relied on the XDA Developer Site for the latest working file to be tested by knowledgeable XDA forum members and offered for download.

  Over the last year, Youtube's videos have worked sporadically for various devices, with intermittent Flash compatability with browsers using special Flash files, while Youtube developers worked to provide full HTML5 support (the eventual Flash replacement on all websites that keep up to date) in place of Flash.

  Amazon has now been able to improve Experimental Streaming Viewer so that Youtube videos can be viewed without any special work on the part of the user.

  (Just be sure to look at your web menu Settings option and choose to use that experimental feature by checking that box.)

  Amazon does take you to the mobile version of Youtube as described above.  You see a large thumbnail of the video you're about to play and when you click on that, it plays full screen and automatically in HD if the video was done in HD and if your Internet connection is fast enough.


WORKAROUND and Step-by-Step GUIDE, for sites that need the Flash-player workaround
  Per Amazon's Kindle Forum discussions, Kindle Fire HD and HDX owners are using, as needed, three files that provide a good workaround, the same 3 files that Google Nexus owners need to get Flash video on Youtube since the Adobe Flash (Non)Support travails.

  Re those three files, linked below, FIRST do the following:
STEPS: (based on *~*Pineapple*~*'s guide from the forums:

Do the following on the Kindle Fire HD or Kindle Fire HDX tablets:

• Go to the 'Home' screen.
• Swipe down (lightly pressing and pulling down) from the top of the screen.
• That gets you the Quick Settings Menu.
• Click on "More" at the top right.
• Go down the Settings list to "Device" and click on that.
• Choose to "Allow Installation of Applications From unknown sources."

Installation files end in ".apk" ...

Then download and tap to install, to your Kindle Fire 2/HD, the files at the following links, with your new Kindle Fire HD or HDX tablet:

1. the free file manager app, ES File Explorer
   
     [It's ALSO useful, in case of an install problem to get Easy Installer app, which can do a search for install-files and then shows them to you so that you can choose which one to install.
       Be sure to check Easy Installer's top-right Menu
         (3 vertical squares),
       click on 'Setting' and check the 'Scan Hidden Directories' box.]
   
   
2. the specific Adobe Flash file offered at XDA Developers Forum Please read recommended alternate source just below.
   
     The XDA Developers Forum file links now lead to strange ad-crazy pages, one of which asks for your credit card info and one of which promises racy pictures.
     So, since the actual recommended file uploaded by XDA forum's "Recognized Contributor" stempox is the Flash File version that ends with ".27" and that file is directly available at Adobe's Archives with no download fuss:
     Here is the general Adobe Archive page for Flash Player files, and, more to the point, here's the direct Adobe link to that same file (Flash Player 11.1.for Android 4.0 (11.1.115.27) in Adobe's own archives.
   
     Also:
   


3. Here's the Dolphin browser (v8.5.1), identified in the forum post as "APK Download," which supports that specific Adobe Flash Player file.

   (I've, in the past, used the most recent Dolphin browser HD (v10.0.3), with the earlier Yr 2012 Kindle HD as that had worked well for me with the older special Adobe Flash Player file.)
     HOWEVER, on the HDX 8.9" tablet I have, the older v8.5.1 Dolphin browser file, linked to above, works more smoothly with the current recommended Adobe Flash Player file.
   
   (If you want the the latest Dolphin browser despite that, you can get it from 1mobile -- To use any android appstore, you just download its store app, which will work like the Amazon store app).  The Dolphin makers continue to update that browser; HOWEVER, the one file that's recommended at the Amazon Kindle forum is the v8.5.1 linked to above, so it's better to just get v8.5.1 linked above to be sure, especially with the HDX tablet)

Once an install file (.apk) downloads, you'll receive a Notification that it's been downloaded.  Then, do the following:

When you receive notification that the Adobe Flash Player is downloaded, run or launch the ES File Explorer app if the Amazon Silk browser doesn't do it automatically.   So, ONLY IF needed:

1.   Use ES Explorer file manager to look in the "Download" folder
       if an app doesn't auto-install.
2.   You should see the Dolphin HD browser icon.
3.   Tap it to install the browser.
4.   If needed, do the same for the Adobe Flash Player file.

Dolphin HD Browser settings

When you've launched the browser, the usual Android Menu icon (it's square and looks like an air conditioner or a washboard) can be tapped to bring up several options.

1. Tap on "More" (it has 3 lines).
   
2. Then tap on the 3rd option, which is "Settings."
   
3. Go down to "Web Content" and tap "Flash Player" -- the choices are:
   • Always on (videos will auto-run - easiest but it'll slow down some page loads and sometimes Flash routines will cause crashes, one reason Steve Jobs hated it).
     
   • On Demand (You'll tap a blank rectangle -- or one with a down-arrow in it -- to have it run only when you want that.)
     
   • Off (I see no reason to use this.)
4. Other settings - ones I use, in case you wonder what might work:
     . Auto-fit Pages: ON
     . Default Zoom: 200% (Close up)
     . Open Pages in Overview: ON

ALSO, make sure Javascript setting, just below Flash, is On or Enabled.

Then, after installing the app files and making sure that the Flash setting is set to run Flash either Always or On Demand, you'll be able to switch to the Dolphin HD browser app when needing to see a video requiring Flash.

Very interesting additional Dolphin setting:
Getting back to the Main Settings page list, the FIRST one is "User Agent"   I tend to use "Desktop" there because I hate ugly, oversimplified mobile-device optimized pages, which are built for small smartphones.

 The webpages you visit with the tablet will tend to know you're a visiting Android, or Android device :-) and sometimes will not run Flash as a result.

  For example, SOME TV video pages will actually not allow videos to run on Android devices but will allow them to run for "Desktop" devices or on iPads.  This is where you can camouflage your device as a a 'Desktop' or iPad  :-)
  Remember to change it back when needing to use the Android setting though.

Troubleshooting.   Restarts - I had an HD Youtube video close on me one night in October 2012 after a few seconds.  Twice, after I'd been running the browser with many tabs open.   When quite a bit has been run on a tablet, sometimes memory gets fragmented and there's not enough to hold what's needed in 'contiguous' mode and then an app will close.

  In case that might be the reason, I just powered off the device from the Home page, which will clean up the memory the same way our computers do upon power-off or restart.  After doing that, I had no problems with that same 9-minute Youtube High Definition video and played it full-screen a few times, using the Dolphin browser and the Adobe Flash Player file that members of the Kindle forums recommend.

Other app stores that are recommended when Amazon does not have a particular app   Besides 1mobile.com, popular ones are androiddrawer.com, m.getjar.com, iapktop.com slideme.org, handango.com, and others.  As with any appwstore, you can search for an app and download it to the tablet.   This is because Amazon has always allowed the option of installing appication files "from unknown sources" despite what you'll read on large tech sites (for reasons I don't understand, since they spend space talking about 'rooting' the tablets or doing 'modifications' on them and the normal mode requires none of that.  Just a checkmark on a box.

I always recommend though that people wait a few days before getting apps from any other sites, to see if anyone is having problems with malware (even at Google Play market, when Google allows access, but Google doesn't acknowledge Kindle Fire devices).  Google doesn't take as much time to vet apps as Amazon does, to test for both malware or incompatability.

  Amazon's appstore should be supported though.   Of course, if Amazon carries the app, it's definitely best to get it from Amazon because Amazon does a strong vetting of the apps they offer and because it's the way they make revenue from (now the highest-quality hardware) tablets sold at cost.   They also keep a copy of the app in your Amazon Cloud area, which is useful when you are getting another Kindle tablet or if you just need to re-install the file.  I think it's important to support the Amazon Android appstore, but I also think it's important that Amazon make more good apps available to us at a faster pace, and maybe they should have a suggestion box for the more popular requests.

The actual ADOBE statement on Flash Player support (or not) for types of tablets. Also, the Android versions involved
 The Kindle Fire HDs are currently using Android v4.03, and the HDX's OS 3.x is a heavy customization of Android Jelly Bean v4.2.2.  The Google Nexus uses v4.3.x.

  Adobe: "The easiest way to ensure ongoing access to Flash Player on Android 4.0 or earlier devices is to use certified devices and ensure that the Flash Player is either pre-installed by the manufacturer or installed from Google Play Store before August 15th [2012].   If a device is upgraded from Android 4.0 to Android 4.1, the current version of Flash Player may exhibit unpredictable behavior, as it is not certified for use with Android 4.1. [Nexus]   [Discovered by josh1120 of the Kindle Forums]

  "Future updates to Flash Player will not work.  We recommend uninstalling Flash Player on devices which have been upgraded to Android 4.1."

  As we've seen, Adobe seems to be reluctantly providing SOME support via their archived file versions.

SHORTCUT Links for this blog article that will be easier to remember:
  http://bit.ly/kfhdflash
    OR   http://bit.ly/how-to-install-flash-player-on-kindle-fire-hd

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RELATED posts on Kindle Fire HDs which are useful also for the Kindle Fire HDX line (descriptions of Kindle 7" features will apply to the 8.9" models also).

  . Getting non-Amazon apps on Kindle Fires
    (The basic models of each Kindle Fire tablet line
      have storage space limitations though.)
  . Google Maps, Street View and other apps on my Kindle Fire,
      via enabling one device setting
  . Downloading and playing YouTube videos on Kindle Fire HD.
     Also, TubeMate app for Youtube will download videos to play on your Kindle Fire,
      and BSPlayer app will play almost ANY video format.
  . Using the camera and Video, Panorama mode, Time Lapses
  . Add Wi-Drive pocketable disk/stream'g for Kindle models
      and for other tablet or phone devices,
      or, Portable wireless 320G Patriot Gauntlet drive/stream'g for 7" & 8.9" devices.
  . App for WiFi file transfers w/o cable.

For reference, here is the Current Global Listing of available Kindle devices.

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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Kindle Fire Tip: Photo Transfer app (wireless, Android to/from iOS) is Free Android App of the Day, Wednesday 8/6/13

Free Photo Transfer App (wireless) today

This app by ERCLab is normally $1.99 and and is Wednesday's Free Android app of the day.  It's compatible with all Kindle Fire devices and Android ones.

 This is a mixed bag.  It has an average rating of almost 4 stars out of 5, with 284 customer reviews as of today.

  An upside is that if it works for you, you can transfer photos without having to first upload them to a server from one device and then download them from the server on another one.

  Another upside is that the app should work between Android and iOS devices.

  However, there are problems for 48 of those 284 customers as of today's stats, and it involves the fact what one reviewer mentions a lack of security for your photo files  And, for some of these customers, the app worked at one point and stopped working sometime afterward.

  Nevertheless, 196 as of today give it a 4 or 5-star rating.

  I'm letting people know about it in case they want to try it to see if it'll do the wireless transfers for them (and quickly) as it does for many.

Added Tip: Remember that Amazon recently added a "Cloud Photo" feature that automatically backs up, to your server area at Amazon, all photos you put on your Kindle Fire.  You can disable that in Settings if you don't want that done (for space reasons etc).

  All Amazon customers get a free 5 GB of server storage space for almost any kind of file (this includes Video files, but one of those very large multimedia files could eat up most of your free space).

  Kindle owners also get an additional 5 GB of free storage space specifically for "Personal docs" - text files that are not Amazon purchases.



  For daily free ebooks, check the following links:

Temporarily-free books - Non-classics USA: by:    Publication Date      Bestselling   High-ratings UK: PubDate   Popular The Kindle Daily Deal What is 3G? and "WiFi"?       Battery Care Highly-rated under $1,  Newest: $1-$2, $2-$3

Most Popular Free K-Books U.S. & Int'l (NOT UK):    Top 100 free UK-Only:    Top 100 free Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. USEFUL for your Kindle Keyboard (U.S. only, currently):   99c Notepad 1.1,   99c Calculator,   99c Calendar,   99c Converter

  *Click* to Return to the HOME PAGE.  Or click on the web browser's BACK button

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Kindle News: Amazon Cloud Drive Photos app for Apple devices + some info re the Android Cloud Drive Photos app. Amazon working on 3D smartphone?

AMAZON'S NEW CLOUD DRIVE PHOTOS APP FOR APPLE DEVICES

FIRST:
Amazon Cloud Drive Photos app for Android (and for ORIGINAL Kindle Fire) was released November 5, 2012 and described here, in detail, in the blog article for that date.

At that time, the Kindle Fire 2nd Generation tablets were to have these Cloud Drive photo features built in, but as of today, I can download photos from my Cloud Drive to my HD tablet but NOT upload photos from the Kindle Fire HD tablet to my Cloud yet, although I can email them to anyone, including myself, for receipt of these on a different device.
  Oddly enough, photo uploading to the Amazon Cloud works with my Original Kindle Fire.

Amazon Cloud Drive Photos App for iOS, Apple Devices.
As PC Magazine's Angela Moscaritolo points out, the app:

'...lets you securely store thousands of photos taken with your device in the Amazon Cloud for easy access.

  Users get 5GB of storage for free, before having to pay for additional storage. Prices for extra storage start at $10 a year for 20GB. See the iTunes page for the app.

  Once uploaded to Cloud Drive, the photos are accessible from your iPhone or iPod touch, computer, or any Web browser. You can also upload photos to Cloud Drive from your computer and access them on your iOS device.
Photos taken from your iPhone or iPod touch are automatically saved to Cloud Drive whenever the app is running. You can also select photos from your Cloud Drive and share them through Facebook, email, or other apps. '

Re the last point, the Cloud Drive Photos app for Android CAN upload photos directly to the Amazon Cloud Drive even when the app is not open.

Slashgear's Craig Lloyd sees the app as Amazon taking on Apple's Photo Stream iCloud feature, as well as Google and Dropbox cloud-storage-and-access solutions.

GIGAOM's Erica Ogg makes some interesting points about Amazon's strength when it comes to Cloud services:

' Just like Google with Maps, Search and Mail and Facebook with social things, Apple’s biggest and most important competitors are repeatedly besting Apple on its own platform when it comes to producing well designed, popular basic apps that are core to the mobile experience.

But the secret behind Amazon’s cloud-based photo storage is something at which Amazon is verifiably awesome, and something at which Apple is not: the cloud.

  Even with its billion-dollar data center and more on the way, Apple repeatedly struggles with keeping its cloud-based services reliable for users.  And even when things are added to iCloud, like photos, some users still run into problems, as outlined in the link above, with multiple copies or confusing organization. '

Reminder
Free Cloud Drive Space - Three different types
  1) ALL Amazon customers, globally, get 5 free gigs of Cloud Drive space to use for personal photos, documents, music that they didn't get from Amazon, and
  2) Kindle device owners get an additional 5 free gigs of space for personal docs and non-DRM'd books from other sources, for which which Amazon will now provide annotations backup and will also sync the reading of these between one's several devices even though the books and docs don't come from Amazon).

  If you want even more space for non-Amazon items, $10 per year will get you 20 gigs of space, with other options if you want more space.

  3) Anything you buy from Amazon gets automatically-free Cloud Drive space not counted against your space maximums.


Is Amazon really working on a 3-D phone that you control with your eyes?
If you judge this by the number of stories appearing on the conjecture, you'd think so.  There is no confirmation that it is.

MSN puts it this way:

' You may be startled to hear that the online retail giant is actually working on TWO smartphones, and one of them will be a high-end device with a 3-D screen for which no special glasses are required. "Using retina-tracking technology, images on the smartphone would seem to float above the screen like a hologram and appear three-dimensional at all angles," the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with Amazon's plans. "Users may be able to navigate through content using just their eyes." Whoa. Watch your back, Google '

Wired hopes it's nothing like the Nintendo3DS, described as "the worst reading environment ever after reading in total darkness.”  On the other hand, Jeff Bezos has been pretty fussy about readability and stayed away from color eInk as being a not-good experience for the eyes.

  At any rate, it doesn't seem likely for many reasons.  Who would be the audience for this? Maybe it would be a novelty buy for those who want to see their favorite contacts in 3D, but watching 3D on a small screen phone?  It's not that easy on even a giant screen (though I've enjoyed it).  Maybe someone at Lab126 wanted to try something like this for experimental reasons and that started the rumors.

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Current Kindle Models, worldwide for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$229 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $269/$299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $399/$499 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $99 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi , UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $79 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $129 Kindle Paperwhite, 3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China [?] Japan - Amazon Japan

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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Kindle Tips: a 4-USB port car-charger for Kindle, Android, Apple devices

A 4-USB port car charger I just bought
Thought others would be interested in this very useful gadget for your car.  It will charge, using four high output ports (2.1A max total), both Apple and Android/Kindle devices at the same time.

There is also an alternate 2-USB port model, with one port that promises compatibility with Apple, using a 2-Ampere port for iPad, plus a 1-Ampere port for other devices, including Kindles, on the other port.

The iFlash High Output 4 USB Car Charger - 2.1A Output is said to work with "iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPhone 4 / 4S, HTC, Droid, EVO, Galaxy S2, Kindle Fire, GPS, and Other Tablets, Smart Phones and USB Powered Devices"

(Ports that work for Kindle Fire also work with the e-Ink Kindles.)

  So far, this 4-USB port charger has about 25 customer reviews with an average rating of 4.6 stars.  For $9.99 and Prime shipping, I didn't think twice.
  Most reports on that page are very enthusiastic.  However, there are a couple of reports that it interferes quite a bit with the reception of radio stations with weak signals or, in one case interferes with a 'whining tone' that 'wanders in pitch, with weak station signals.  One customer said to start your car first and let it run for awhile before plugging it in, as otherwise it spiked her battery and resulted in the trip mileage and clocks resetting themselves, but she otherwise headlines it as "Awesome for multiple gadgets when traveling."
  The other 22 reviews as of today are 5-star ones.
  One aspect mentioned in the product description: "...monitors charging to direct the power to the device that needs it most."

  (Note: There is also a "Skiva PowerFlow QuadFire" device that's advertised to be twice as fast with twice the wattage and it gets many positive reviews (for 3 times the price), but it also gets a lot of bad customer-reviews for suddenly not working, being actually slower than the 2.1 amp devices, and in one case reported to work with only 2 ports at a time.)

  Here's one with two USB ports, this combo using Apple protocol on one port (2-ampere and designed for Apple products but useable by the mentioned other devices), the other port being for Standard devices, usually phones (1A only).
  Made by iFlash, which makes the 4-port one I bought, it's SAID by the vendor to also work on 'all' Apple mobile products, providing output for all 4 at a time, but I'd double check with the vendor on the newer iPad 4.

  Here are some other options.

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Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.  Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

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Kindle News: Amazon gives some stats on its GameCircle social platform & Android tablet market share

Another Amazon offering with an added social layer

The normally tight-mouthed Amazon offered a few stats at the GDC conference in San Francisco, in connection with its GameCircle platform, launched last September alongisde the Kindle Fire 2nd Gen and HD models.

  This platform has a social layer for competition between players, which lets "players track how they're doing in games compared to friends," explains Polygon's Christopher Grant, who reports today on Amazon's sudden loquaciousness during a reception for developers and press in connection with its growing game business.

  Aaron Rubenson, director of Amazon's Appstore Initiative, wanted the group to know that, as Grant put it:

' GameCircle-enabled games have 80 percent more revenue per user (RPU) than non-GameCircle-enabled games.  Developers that have included GameCircle support in their games are a third more likely to convert free users to paid, and players are a third more likely to make in-app purchases, Rubenson said '

That's us! It's good news, though, that they'll be letting developers keep more of those payments after some real concerns about how the timing of promotions and "severity of discounts" were not proving beneficial to the creators of these apps.  Rubenson explains that they "changed these terms last year" and the new terms, Grant writes, "guarantee developers their usual 70 percent of the list price, regardless of what price Amazon drops it to..."

  The Free App of the Day doesn't work the same way though.  The guarantee isn't in effect but the developers "are compensated for making the game available."

  Amazon presented data from Localytics indicating, according to Grant's writeup, that Amazon has 56% of the U.S. Android tablet market and 33% of the worldwide tablet market.  That seems very high, but Apple is way ahead of other platforms, including Android, on this (having over 75% of that tablet market), so we are talking rapidly growing market share of a small subset so far, though not necessarily for long, the way Android is doing on smartphones.

  Several monitors of use and traffic on the web with respect to apps use have shown the Kindle Fire with a fast-growing share of the Android-based pack's share, often neck and neck with Samsung.

  On February 13, I posted the following about a January 2013 status report which I'll repeat here.

Is Kindle Fire going worldwide?
In more good news for Amazon, Localytics found that, as I Programmer reports, "Amazon's Kindle Fire accounts for a third of Android tablets on a global basis, even though it is available in only a handful of countries outside the United States."

  Of more interest to me, though, was the quote that I Programmer has from an Amazon rep:

' Localytics goes on to remind us that to date the Kindle Fire isn't even available in Canada, although at the recent launch event of the Kindle Paperwhite in Canada, Amazon’s VP in charge of the Kindle noted that they are working hard to launch the Fire lineup worldwide which should provide a boost for Android developers. '

The Localytics story has an interesting graph from January 2013 that I'll include here:

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Kindle Fire News: Kindle Fire's fast-growing popularity: 2nd most popular tablet vendor...Gets Green Throttle gaming system before Google Play

"Amazon: The Second Most Desirable Tablet Vendor" - per BGR

BGR's Tero Kuittinen wrote that headline yesterday, when they took a look at a survey by Yankee Group that showed the Kindle Fire as the "second most desirable vendor among consumers planning to buy a tablet" per BGR, while the graph showed survey responses to "What brand tablet do you intend to buy?"

Of course, Apple, at 47% of US Consumers citing that brand, leads the pack with its iPad, the first one released almost 3 years ago.  Yankee Group's report focuses on Samsung's plans to double their tablet sales in 2013, but while they've been in that business for awhile, the graph shows a somewhat higher percentage of consumers intending to buy an Amazon Kindle Fire tablet.  Now, the 7% vs 6% number isn't statistically meaningful, but what stands out is it came from virtually nowhere to "squeeze ahead" of both Samsung and Hewlett-Packard, not to mention the other biggies such as Dell, Motorola and HTC.  As BGR puts it:

' The jumped-up bookshop has managed to seriously challenge leading hardware companies. '

They point out that the Nook's continuing inability to make its mark in consumer mindshare (and not mentioned in the survey) will continue to be a factor in Kindle tablet's momentum.

  In fact, Yankee Group doesn't mention Amazon's survey results, and its own story about the Nook's problems had some interesting wording in it:

About Barnes & Noble Board chairman Leonard Riggio's plans to buy all the assets of the bookseller's retail business while excluding the Nook business, CEO William Lynch put it this way:

  “We see substantial value in what we’ve built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it’s the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value.”

  "Unlock" is the new "Dump."

  In my blog article (Feb. 14) detailing three big reasons that B&N's tablet, with good hardware, could not succeed in B&N's closed-off view of the world, it should be clearly seen how difficult it will be for another company to make it work.  I didn't even mention the well-known problem of a non-competitive ecosystem for that tablet.

  In fact, in the same Yankee Group article, Yankee Group Research VP Carl Howe doesn't mention the long-range planning that has been Amazon's basic mode nor that store's ability to profit from the presence of desktop- and tablet-using consumers exploring all that is retailed at Amazon, not all of it with smallest margins.

  He looks at it from a more limited point of view:

“Barnes & Noble is experiencing the pain that comes from competing with an irrational market competitor, Amazon.  Amazon doesn’t try to make money from its Kindle e-readers, while Barnes & Noble thinks making money on hardware would be a good idea..."

  Um...

  Back to BGR's Tero Kuittinen. "...if the tablet market continues shifting towards the sub-$200 price bracket, Amazon is now best-positioned to benefit from the trend."

  Yes.  And would the auto industry offer only more expensive cars and ignore those whose priorities would lean toward economy autos?  Would Sony make TVs only in the most expensive range?  It's not so much about shifting but scaling.


Green Throttle launches Kindle Fire HD gaming system with local multiplayer support
In line with the above, TechSpot's Jose Vilches writes that "Led by Guitar Hero co-creator Charles Huang, Green Throttle aims to turn any Android device into a gaming platform by pairing it with a dual-stick gamepad and what they call a multitiered gaming system housed on an Android app."

Surprisingly, the Green Throttle Arena app is available for the Kindle Fire HD (both the 7" and 8.9" models) before it rolls out to the Google Play Store by the end of the month, for other Android-based tablets and smartphones, "starting with the Samsung Galaxy S3 (which means my Kindle Fire gets it well before my Samsung Galaxy S2).

  The Atlas controller

' connects via Bluetooth to the Kindle Fire HD, which itself pipes out video and audio from the Arena app to an HDTV via a micro HDMI cable.  Fire everything up and you can start gaming on your living room TV. '

(Some of us already have an HDMI cable to show Kindle Fire videos and web browsing on an HDTV.)

Of course, one would have to buy the hardware first.  Amazon carries both the Single Controller and 2-Player Bundle and they're eligible for Prime shipping.
  The free app itself already has two reviews, but although they are Amazon Verified Purchases, both are from reviewers who started reviewing at the time this product was released.  There are no hardware reviews yet for either controller product.

  AFTER I wrote this, I saw that TechSpot wrote this from Venture Beat's article by Rus McLaughlin.  There's more detail in that article.  McLaughlin writes:

' The Arena app leverages existing mobile hardware and creates a central hub for finding, buying, and playing games.  Connect your device to a television using a Micro HDMI cable, and those games automatically scale to the HD picture.  I watched a simple twin-stick shooter go from a 7-inch tablet screen to a 55-inch LCD with absolutely no loss in image quality. '

  As for the reason the Kindle Fire was chosen for the first release of Arena:

' “It’s a way to promote different game developers and different games that work with our controllers,” says Matt Crowley, an alumnus of Nokia, Palm, and Philips Electronics now serving as Green Throttle’s chief operating officer.  “We decided to do our commercial release on the Kindle Fire — it’s marketed as a $199 e-book, but it’s actually a pretty good gaming system.” '

  McLaughlin adds:

' Priority goes to the devices that make the games look good. The hardware itself handles the negotiation for scaling up to an HDTV...
...
...the powerhouse game consoles set to release this fall could find themselves at a severe disadvantage. Green Throttle’s hardcore gaming system will run on hundreds of popular devices that iterate on a yearly basis, and with a (perceived) entry cost of $40, it will easily run consumers 1/10th or less the likely purchase price of a PlayStation 4. '

The display resolution of the Kindle Fire HD 7" is 1280 x 800 pixels, suitable for a 720p HDTV.
The Kindle Fire HD 8.9" is 1920 x 1200 and would more likely fill a very large HDTV screen better.

VIDEO: VentureBeat's GamesBeat has an exclusive video on how this new gaming hub works (setup, mostly), presented by Jason Woodward, the low-key designer of the Arena software, though they don't actually show a game being played.  They should issue follow-up, higher-energy video though.
  NOTE: Kindle-Edition subscribers of the blog won't be able to get the video on their e-Ink Kindles.

Update - The Sacramento Bee has a PR release that details existing and upcoming games.

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Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.

  NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 2 Basic  7" tablet - $159 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB - $199/$249 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 16/32GB - $299/$369 Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G 32/64GB - $499/$599 Kindle NoTouch ("Kindle") - $69/$89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $119/$139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299 Discontinued

UK: Kindle Basic, NoTouch - £69 Kindle Touch WiFi, UK - ~£89 Refurb'd Kindle Keyboard 3G, UK - £149   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - £109 Kindle Paperwhite 3G, UK - £169 Kindle Fire 2, UK -  £129 Kindle Fire HD 7" 16/32GB, UK - £159/199 Canada - Kindlestore, CDN-$ Kindle Basic, NoTouch - $89 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi - $139 Kindle Paperwhite, WiFi+3G - $199

*OTHER International* Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB Paperwhite WiFi $139, 3G/Wifi $199 France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle Brazil - Amazon Brazil China - Amazon China Japan - Amazon Japan

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Basic Features and Comparison table: IPad mini, Google Nexus 7", Kindle Fire HD 7". Updated Nov. 2, 2012 and Mar. 13, 2013

Apple's iPad Mini reveals value of Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus

Updated March 23, 2013
SEE UPDATED CHART INSTEAD (this one now outdated).

Updated March 13, 2013 to use new pricing on Kindle Fire 8.9 in the U.S.

Photo credit: USA Today - Oct 23 post updated Nov. 2 to reflect the Apple change to their specs sheet to indicate more than one speaker even if on the same side.

While this is a Kindle-focused blog, and some in my mailbag want it to stay that way, it's about a Kindle world, and many have been wondering what Apple had up its sleeve with the smaller version of the iPad.

They started out by upsetting iPad 3 owners who just bought their new iPads only 7 months ago or less. That was called "The New iPad" and this would then be "The newer iPad"?  They did call it "4th Generation" though and it sounds good at the same price.
NOTE that after Amazon showed their chart of Kindle Fire HD vs Apple iPad 3, Apple has added dual-band WiFi and other features to their iPad4.

BUT back to the iPad mini, which some feared would "kill" the Kindle Fire.  It in fact boosted it "for the rest of us" (an old Apple marketing tool)

Tweeting the iPad mini part of the event (at @kindleworld) - Added bolding:
I tweeted while reading live blogs today and here are the brief notes I tweeted, in chron order, earliest first, with a couple of TYPOS corrected.

• iPad mini...7.2mm pencil-thick..68 lb, b/w models...1024x768 hmmm
• iPad mini...at 7.9" w/1024x768 ...they're going for low-ball pricing [no]...35% more display area than 7" Android...No onscreen controls, more space
• iPad mini...equal or better than iPad2..dual-core A5 processer, FaceTime HD camera, 5MB camera w/1080p record'g...LTE wireless, dualband WiFi
• iPad mini...10 hrs battery life...SmartCover has no metal hinge...headphones on top...Cvr in 5 colors...16GB $329 with WiFi
• iPad Mini...32GB $429, 64GB $519, $130 add'l each, for LTE cellular connectivity. WiFi ships Nov 2, Cellular 2 wks later. Lots of countries.
• iPad mini ... Almost 8-inches with only 1028x768 and w/16 GB at $329? This was expected though. Surprised at the resolution for that size.

A couple of Twitter conversations on this
David Pogue (@Pogue) tweeted
"Price for new iPad Mini: $330 (for 16gb model). Kindle Fire is allowed to live"

[to which I replied]
"...Not to mention Kindle Fire at 1280x800 vs 1024x768 on bigger 8" & w/ dual stereo spkrs + hdmi-out for $200. It'll thrive: my guess."

Larry Magid (@larrymagid) tweeted:
"I've never seen Apple make such a big deal about how better it is than competition. Makes me think they're really worried about Android"  [and he asked]
"Given a choice between 9.7 and 7.9 inch iPad I'd opt for the 7.9 inch mini. What about you?"

My reply (going a bit off the precise topic)
"...I'd actually go for full 10" for magazines/PDFs and a 7" for portability, easy carry use. The almost-8" size? Odd."

But the size is targeted at optimal display of tablet apps -- and Apple claims that lack of need for some onscreen controls gives users more display space.

Note that Apple said it was equal to or better than the iPad2 -- (and today they introduced the iPad 4, twice as fast, twice the features of the iPad 3, same price: $499 for 16GB).


QUICK table of differences in features for price, with Google Nexus and IPad mini

Kindle Fire HD 7" $199 7-inch display 1280 x 800 resolution 216 ppi 16GB storage 1GB RAM Dual stereo speakers   w/ Dolby Plus HDMI-Out to HDTV Front-facing camera, 1.2MP Dual core TI OMAP 4470 w/ Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core Dual band, 2 antenna WiFi Battery-life claim: 11 hrs Customized Android, does Amazon store w/setting that allows apps from other app stores 50,000 apps + access to getjar.com, 1mobile.com, etc for google-play apps $10 more for a charger if you need one  Older Kindle & smart phone chargers work $15 add'l: no lockscreen ad $249 for 32GB model ($269 for 16GB 8.9" 1920x1200 resolution, 254 ppi) ($299 for 32GB 8.9" 1920x1200 resolution, 254 ppi)

Google Nexus 7" $199 7-inch display 1280 x 800 resolution 216 ppi 8GB storage (soon 16GB) 1GB RAM One mono speaker * No HDMI-out to HDTV Front-facing camera < 1 MP Quad core Tegra 3 Basic WiFi Battery-life claim: 9-10 hrs Pure Android and can do direct Google Play store ~600,000 apps $249 for 32GB model soon

Apple iPad mini 7.9 inch/ $329 7.9-inch display 1024 x 768 resolution 163 ppi 16GB storage 512MB? Per A5 chip specs. TBC. Built-in speakers *   Nov. 2, Apple finally added an 's' to 'speaker' * No HDMI out to HDTV ** Front (HD) & Back (to 1080p) cameras Dual-core A5 Dual-Band WiFi Battery-life claim: 10 hrs iOS 6 275,000 heavily-curated tablet-optimized apps  (Can also run small iPhone apps - any w/ Retina resources can scale w/o pixelating. 450,000 add'l.) 23% & 53% lighter than iPad. Lighter than the other tablets. $429 for 32GB model

  * iPad mini: See Speaker discussion - to be changed when Apple changes its iPad mini specs page.
    Update - On Nov. 2, Apple finally updated their iPad-Mini specs page to show "Built-in speakers" instead of "Built-in speaker" -- something I requested they do since Specs pages are official reference pages.  The speaker grilles are about an inch or two apart, on one short side, and maybe that's why they don't mention 'stereo' after the correction.  The whole thing has been bizarre.  This would be the first iPad w/ two speakers but they can do nothing for movies or videos viewed the usual way, as they are close together on just one side.

    Google Nexus: See Nexus owner forum thread about the speaker.

** Those w/ Apple TV's can do AirPlay Mirroring to them.

Table updated Oct 31

For initial comparison article, I haven't included the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet HD,
which has higher display resolution - but it has no cameras, not even one for Skype (important for family & friends who like to communicate via video chat), and B&N will not allow owners to enable installation of apps from non-B&N sources.  I'll do an additional table later though, which will include them.



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