Kindle Fire HDX and HD tips: Several things to know. Which tablets have certain features (or don't) and which features will come later. Unheralded enhancements. Yr 2012 HD 8.9" Kindle Fire HD w/ HDMI-out is now $229

What, where, and when are the new features coming with the new Kindle Fire HDX and HD line?

Here again is the simple table comparison of new models here for easy reference, with
Pricing bases plus Amazon links for the new HDX models and the new basic HD 7"
  ALL have Dolby Audio Dual Stereo Speakers and Dual band WiFi, while the HDX models have dual antennas also.

Starting prices are with special offers that they say will offer more savings than Lighting deals.

Kindle Fire HD 7" - $139   Basic "family" tablet, HD 2nd Gen 8 and 16GB options Display: 1280 x 800, 216 PPI Ram: 1GB No camera or mic (no Skype) No HDMI-out, No Mayday Dual-core 1.5 GHz processor

Kindle Fire HDX 7" - $229   'Personal' HDX tablet 16, 32 or 64GB options Display: 1920 x 1200, 323 PPI Ram: 2GB Front-facing, 720p camera No HDMI-out: Use 'Fling' or Miracast Quad-core 2.2 GHz processor

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" - $379   'Does it all' HDX tablet 16, 32, or 64GB options Display: 2560 x 1600, 339 PPI Ram: 2GBfling Adds 8MB rear-facing camera No HDMI-out: Use 'Fling' or Miracast Quad-core 2.2 GHz processor

  (The 1st generation HD 8.9" remains available, starting at $229) **.  See why you might want the Yr 2012 HD 8.9" 1st Gen model instead but you'd be missing many new features you might want (info in original new-HDX's blog article).

  (This is a follow up to the main Overview of features for new HDX/HD line that was first posted Sept. 25, 2013, with several information updates after that.)

QUESTIONS in the Kindle forums have generally been about the details of the many new features, which models offer them, and WHEN the features will actually be available, since the tablets to be received in Oct. and early November won't have them all.  A mid-November update is expected to bring most of the more-delayed ones.

READY ON THE NEWLY DELIVERED 3RD-GEN KINDLE FIRE HDX/HD's
    ("[ ALL ]" includes HDX and HD models -- confirmed by Amazon)

. Mayday video-help (Press release and Amazon's detailed Comparison Table say "HDX" only.
. Expanded X-RAY, with Music also, for Movies and TV [ ALL ]
      See Song titles as they play in-scene (powered by IMDB)
. Carousel and Grid Views -- From Amazon's Mojito" Press Release: [ ALL ]
      "...home screen easily switches between viewing their recent content on the Carousel
      or their favorites in Grid view.  [ ALL ]
. Quiet Time - mute all incoming notifications and calendar reminders [ ALL ]
. Quick Switch - Go between multiple apps, using a global swipe gesture [ ALL ]
      without navigating Home
. Enhanced E-mail - Makes it easier to set up accounts and group conversations
      by subject [ ALL ]
. Basic printing support Accessibility Tools [ ALL ]
. Downloading of "Prime Instant Video movies and TV shows -- "now available..." [ ALL ]
    The press release for the HDX models had mentioned this is
    "exclusively on Kindle Fire HDX," while the press release for
    the HD 7" model included it as an "Amazon-exclusive feature."
    I received confirmation it's on all 3 new tablets.)  But publishers will
    probably decide which movies can be downloaded as well as streamed.
. Miracast capability - Display, wirelessly on your HDTV, what is on your tablet. [ ALL ]
    This displays, wirelessly on your HDTV, what is on your tablet and
    it requires a Miracast-enabled adapter.   Amazon Search 1, Search 2.
      TV-involved technology is very sophisticated, so I asked for clarification
    on whether it was included in the $139 basic Kindle HD 7"tablet.
      The response: "Both Second Screen (coming later this month) and Miracast
    mirroring are available on all of the new tablets (including the $139 HD)."


COMING MID-NOVEMBER VIA A FREE OVER-THE-AIR UPDATE
. Second Screen and 'Fling' technology, turning your TV into the primary
    screen and freeing up your Fire as a 'second' screen to email, browse the web,
    play a game, or follow along scene-by-scene with x-ray.  
    Note that this works with some Samsung TVs and newer Playstations. [ ALL ]
. Goodreads integration - sharing from within a Kindle book [ ALL ]
. Cloud Collections - Organize your apps, books, newspapers, and magazines in
    customized collections...Whispersync sunchronizes the collections across
    your Kindle devices and reading apps.   [ ALL ]
    "Organize your content library into Collections like "Favorite Books" and "Sports Apps"
      Whispersync technology synchronizes the collections across your Kindle devices
    and reading apps so they’re available on all of your devices..."
. The 1-Tap Archive feature - Not enough space remaining?
    Frees up space on your Kindle Fire by identifying items not used recently
    and provides a 1-tap option to store them in the Cloud for later retrieval.  [ ALL ]
. Complete Enterprise Support - "Reliable management of Kindle tablet deployments,
    with support for encryption, Kerberos Intranet, secure Wi-Fi connections
    and VPN integration.  Encryption is software-based on the $139 model and
    hardware-based on the HDX.  [ ALL ]
. Extended Printing Support - Print photos, PDFs, e-mails, contacts, calendar,
    and Kindle docs.  [ ALL ]


LESS-KNOWN OR DISCUSSED FEATURES - Some are under the hood, but the results were requested.
The Essential and primary Coming features are already described in some detail in the main Kindle Fire HDX article, and I'll add some detail below while listing some of the less-marketed new features and capabilities.

New Graphics Engine "Perfect for Gaming"
Before this new line of tablets, the Google Nexus was superior in this area.  But the new Kindle Fire hardware is the fastest available.

  "The new Adreno 330 graphics engine on Kindle Fire HDX delivers 4x the graphics performance of the previous generation Kindle Fire HD.  This combination of a new graphics engine, HDX display, quad-core processor, and 2x the memory creates a more immersive, high-frame rate HD gaming experience."

The lightest, large-screen tablet , at 13.2 ounces and 34% lighter than before.
"Amazon integrated the capacitive touch layer directly into the glass display on Fire HDX, leaving a lighter single layer instead of the typical 2-layer display stack.

  The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" frame is a single-piece of machined magnesium with a blend of glass and nylon molded onto the unibody to create openings for the antennas and maximize signal strength without sacrificing sturdiness..."

8MP Rear-Facing Camera for Kindle Fire HDX 8.9"
While both HDX tablets have front-facing cameras at 720p for HD video calls with Skype use primarily, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9" model "has an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera that allows for high-resolution photos and 1080p HD video, plus an LED flash, Electronic Image Stabilization, and a wide-aperture 5P f2.2 lens that lets in more light, reducing exposure times and producing sharper images.  See a [19-second] video: http://amzn.to/fire-camera, which mentions "HDR images, panoramas, and burst photos, even in low light, as well as video in 1080p."

  In-camera 'HDR' would normally mean the camera takes at least 3 pictures with different exposures to get the best combination of highly-contrasting light, for a final single picture.  There's no explanation what was meant by 'HDR' in the video and no information on how the panoramas are done (wide-sweep like iPhones and Sony RX100's? or more like auto-stitched photos?).

Optimizing Download Manager
Amazon's doing serious work here.  They're optimizing parallel content downloads.

' Unlike standard Android, Fire OS adjusts the number of simultaneous downloads per device, so that foreground app performance is not impacted by background download activity.

In addition, the Optimizing Download Manager automatically pauses ongoing content downloads when the customer starts streaming an Amazon Instant Video, to maximize video quality.

  Customers can prioritize individual items to download first, and with progressive download they can open videos, Audible audiobooks, or magazines and start enjoying them while the download is still ongoing. '

That's pretty impressive.

Graphics Direct Texture - More optimization for speed
This "replaces the standard Android graphics pipeline.  The Fire OS graphics system is customized to quickly load large graphical assets like the high-resolution cover art in the Fire OS home screen.  It enables the Carousel and the Fire OS media libraries to include large, detailed images and still load quickly and scroll smoothly."

Touch Responsiveness - Very clever what they've done with the Touch processes.
  The system dynamically increases the CPU speed after the customer lifts the finger off the screen, to minimize delay in response to touch in games and apps.

  When a customer taps an app in the Carousel or Grid views, the system removes unnecessary overhead and drives the app animation direct to the graphics processor, and the app will open immediately.
  So, they were listening.

Tablet Reading Mode optimizations for battery life
Now, when you're just reading static pages, which would take less resources in the first place, the system "automatically powers down unnecessary system components, storing the text in a dedicated, low-power memory, and powering down the CPU."  A lot of thought was put into the lower-level enhancements.


Origami cases or covers that Amazon highlights
Well, these are fairly expensive -- For the 8.9" HDX, the cost is $65 for the leather one and $55 for the polyurethane, so what are the upsides?  I normally buy lighter, less-expensive ones but these are described by Amazon as the 'lightest, thinnest' available for the new Kindles.

  The Origami covers have magnetized panels that allow it to stand in either landscape or portrait orientation and should be easier to attach or remove, and they redirect the speaker sound back toward you.  An unusual plus for camera users is that if you slide the device up in the case, the camera automatically starts, allowing you to quickly snap a picture

  Here's a good video showing how it works for the larger model with the 8-megapixels rear-facing camera..


Youtube
The other day, I saw the words "Youtube optimized..." and the name of an app on one of the marketing pages.  Looking for it today, I no longer see that wording, but it's interesting to see how Amazon has worked on making Youtube, a Google-owned video site, easier to access.  What I see today is:

' YouTube
Enjoy your favorite YouTube videos — easily discover, bookmark, and view video content. '

The GooglePlay apps question
This question comes up a lot.  I replied yesterday to tech-site articles that said that Amazon users are locked into the Amazon ecosystem.  Well, of course that's not true, but it's still a powerful myth among tech writers on the larger sites.

  Android system tablets include a Settings box that lets us choose to allow installation of apps from 'unknown sources' and Amazon actually enabled that option box (while B&N did not for its Nook tablets before giving up on their current tablets and their own apps store).

That enabled setting lets us get other appstore shopping apps to download from as we do at Amazon, though Amazon is the best vetted store for Kindle Fire users.  1mobile and m.getjar.com are favorites of many of us, but 1mobile is the easiest and has over 300,000 Google Play apps now.  I go there only if an app is not available at the Amazon store for the Kindle Fire.  I also wait two or three days before downloading a new version from ANY appstore to make sure it's not giving users unforeseen problems.

  So, Kindle Fire users can install non-Apps easily by straight-downloading them to a totally unmodified Kindle Fire.  See How to install non-Amazon apps on the Kindle Fire HD to discover how easy it is to install google-play apps (not in Amazon's store) on a Kindle Fire because there are now many good app stores that carry those GooglePlay apps and which do not bar the Kindle Fires from downoading them.  No rooting or modifications are needed - just a checking of a Settings box.

  With regard to the walled-garden complaint,a summary: The setting to install apps from 'unknown sources' is a normal Android setting.  It also means that the Amazon tablets are not walled in or 'locked' into Amazon with no access to the world outside.  You can decide to open the door and allow yourself to go outside Amazon to pick up an item you want.  Amazon did the right thing there but gets little credit for it from most tech-review sites.


  Availability, Shipping Estimates - Pre-Orders for "a place in line" started Sept 25.
  Kindle Fire HDX 7":    Oct 18, but with 4G: Nov 14.
  Kindle Fire HDX 8.9": Nov 7, but with 4G Dec 10
  Kindle Fire 7" HD 2nd Gen: Oct. 2.


  You can do a TRADE-IN on your older Kindles
To learn how to submit a trade-in order for your Kindle, visit this Help page


Related article
Also, see the main Overview of features for new HDX/HD line that was first posted Sept. 25, 2013, with several information updates after that.

---

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.

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

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Kindle News: Barnes and Noble, and Amazon - expectations and results + reasons

News today on the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire and e-Ink eReaders

"Nook's death spiral and Kindle's triumph"
News headlines are done to catch the eye and get clicks and traffic, and this one is a mixture of hard facts with worst-scenario headline.

  For a few months though, the stories on B&N's Nook and the stores have not been positive ones and, as a B&N Club member, I do worry about store closings, especially of the one only 10 blocks from me which I really enjoy.  See "Could Bookstores Start Charging People to read?" which I retweeted from Paul Biba's twitter alert.

  The Nook has been positioned to be a bit of a lifesaver in a digital age, and they have had the smarts to make good hardware while not putting enough time and thought into the software functioning and its features the way Amazon has done for its Kindle (in ways few people know because there are so many features).

  Two or three things have stood out as I read about B&N through the last two years.
  1. Lack of attention to customer service -- in a severe way
      The hardline on no-return of e-books, sometimes even w/ missing pages, is hard to justify.
      Amazon has a 7-day return policy for ebooks with problems for the customer as long as the policy isn't abused, and it's automated at the ManageYourKindle page.
      The difficulty in getting quick effective help for Nook problems is well known.

  2. A completely closed off Nook tablet, unless people 'root' the device, which is not recommended for the latest models unless you know what you're doing.
      Again, Amazon's customer-wise here.  They allow, for Kindle Fires, installation of apps from "unknown sources" (a normal Android feature) and Barnes and Noble does not offer that feature, restricting people to the company store.

  3. A lack of attention to normal opposition-research.  At the launch of B&N tablets, they actually bragged that they were 'open' and Amazon was 'not open' and an example given was that B&N would allow access to Netflix and Pandora and Amazon wouldn't.  They missed that Amazon had announced IN their tablet launch earlier that Netflix and Pandora had their devices and something would be coming on that.

  B&N is too closed to the rest of the world.  Add that their comparison charts on their websites had basic errors that favored their device (with negative info in light gray against white as footnotes), and although I'm a member I didn't trust their website statements.  I did buy their NookColor and enjoyed it for a year.  They could have maintained a lead had they paid enough attention to customer wants and what the opposition is doing.

  The linked article, reprinted from BGR News's Tero Kuittinen, mentions that the unexpected *expanded* revenue decline is in both hardware and eBooks and describes the problems B&N faces.


Amazon shares climb
"Amazon shares climb on Kindle e-book optimism" - by Reuters' Alistair Barr reprinted in Chicago Tribune Business.

Amazon.com Inc shares up more than 4% after Morgan Stanley's Scott Devitt issued a research note with findings that "e-book market is a lot bigger than previously thought, and owners of Kindle e-readers and tablets are reading more e-books."

' Devitt estimated worldwide e-book unit sales of 859 million in 2012, up considerably from a previous estimate of 567 million. With almost 45 percent of the e-book market, Amazon likely sold 383 million e-books last year, compared with an earlier estimate of 252 million, the analyst added.

Amazon's broader strategy is to sell mobile devices at or near cost and make money when consumers use the gadgets to buy digital content, including e-books, music, videos, apps and games.

... data from a recent Amazon presentation show that consumers who bought a Kindle in 2011 read 4.6 times more e-books, on average, in the 12 months following their gadget purchase, compared with the 12 months before getting the device, the analyst noted.

Similar data from 2008 show consumers reading e-books 2.6 times as much after their Kindle device purchase, on average, according to Devitt.

The Kindle business, which includes the gadgets and related digital content sales, generated about 11 percent of Amazon's sales last year and 34 percent of the company's consolidated segment operating income, or CSOI, Devitt estimated...'

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Kindle Fire HD's HDMI-Out to HDTV - example. Friends + Family Gifting feature. Extended ordering & shipping schedule.

Kindle Fire HD's HDMI-out to HDTV
One of the features that the 7" and 8.9" Kindle Fire HD tablets have and which neither the Google Nexus nor Apple iPad mini offers is a simple, direct HDMI port that takes a microHDMI cable, which is then connected to the HDMI input of an HDTV so that you can show on that HDTV what you're seeing on your Kindle Fire HD.

I was able to just hook up the two end connectors and instantly saw the contents of whichever Kindle Fire HD tablet (KFHD) I was using, full screen, even the 7" tablet -- probably because my LG 22" HDTV (only $235 last year but now selling through others for more) in the computer space, is a 720p display (1080i).  It likely wouldn't fill the screen of an HDTV screen with an 1080p display.

The image above is taken with a Sony RX100 camera in a room with no lights on, and so there's no TV frame shown, as the border around the KFire's ABC episode shown (from Castle with Nathan Fillion) is just a lighter black, so I trimmed the photo to show just the screen.  I made a somewhat larger version, which shows the grid lines a bit.  On the TV itself I see no grid lines, but in photographing it, these show up and it's difficult to do a good photo of screen output like this.

Also tried to video part of a Vimeo video timelapse I really like but was concerned about digital rights violations since my favorite one was taken off of Youtube for country-rights reasons.  As for the HDMI-out feature, the plus (or minus) here is that everyone in the room can see whatever material you're seeing while surfing, including normal web pages and whatever video streaming there is.  I haven't tried a Prime Instant video yet, as I had read some user reports that it didn't work with those, but I'll try it later today and add an update here.  Have something else on right now.

UPDATE - Commenter JeffGr reported that during a recent hotel stay, he watched a Prime Instant movie from his 7" Kindle Fire HD on the hotel room HDTV via the tablet's micro-HDMI out and "it worked just fine."
  Excellent news!

Here's the 10 feet micro HDMI to HDMI cable with Ethernet that I used (it went down $1 while I was typing this).  It's by BlueRigger, and I chose it only because there was so much positive feedback for their cables and some had already used it for the Kindle Fire HD without any problems.  It is problem-free for me - no fancy setups to be done, just a direct connection on each end.  Of course this will work only if you have an HDMI connection freeable on your TV.  (I've no idea if it works with a switch box for multiple inputs but I kind of doubt it.)

Updated 12/13/12 to add a link to the blog article on how to play Flash files on the Kindle Fires when Flash is required to play video as with many TV network past-episode site pages.


Amazon's new "Friends & Family Gifting" feature
This new feature will appeal mostly to those who like seeing personal recommendations when shopping Amazon.  With 9 shopping days left, it'll also appeal to some who might like an organizational and reminder feature with links to the Amazon Wish Lists of potential giftees.  

  As is so prevalent these days, the connections involve both just adding names to a list on your own and/or using Facebook to add them.  Personally, I link my social networks minimally, but many do use the social connection features.

Now, for those who are interested in the feature, here is what Amazon highlights as benefits:
  . Keep track of birthdays and gift ideas
  . Get shopping reminders for every occasion
  . Find and remember friends' Wish Lists

Here's their FAQ on the feature and how it works.

They also have reminders for last minute shoppers on the "Top Holiday Deals" and, in keeping with the new feature, "Holiday 2012 Electronics Gift List"


Free Super Saver Shipping for last minute holiday shopping
Some information from their press release on this:

Amazon has 'extended the ordering deadline for Free Super Saver Shipping by two days.  Customers can now place orders through Dec. 18 with free delivery by Christmas on millions of items...'

' Amazon Prime members can place orders up until 7:00 p.m. EST on Dec. 21 to receive deliveries by Dec. 24 using Free Two-Day Shipping (cut-off time varies by item).

For delivery by Christmas, the following ordering deadlines apply:

Dec. 18: Free Super Saver Shipping
Dec. 19: Standard Shipping
Dec. 21: Two-Day Shipping (order as late as 7:00 p.m. EST; varies by item; free with Amazon Prime)
Dec. 22: One-Day Shipping (order as late as 3:00 p.m. EST; varies by item; as low as $3.99/item with Amazon Prime)
Dec. 24: Local Express Delivery (while available; select cities; varies by item; as low as $3.99/item with Amazon Prime)
Dec. 25: Email and printable Amazon Gift Cards can be sent immediately, at any time

Some restrictions apply.  Visit amazon.com/holiday-shipping for more details. '

---

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.

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

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Kindle News: More detailed comparisons of 7" tablets: iPad mini, Nexus, + Kindle Fire HD... Amzn Lockers...Appstore in Japan...CyberMonday sales

I've been trying out wireless bluetooth keyboards on the 7" and 8.9" Kindle Fire HD's and will report on this in a day or two.   Found two that work VERY well and another that is said to, after the latest Kindle Fire HD software update (v7.2.1), and which is the least expensive but has Apple control-keys predominant and I prefer more Android-key functions at the fingertips.

Recent news
Amazon's appstore opens in Japan, it was announced Wednesday, ahead of Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD shipments there.  Here's the appstore for Japan.

  Amazon also announced that sales of its Kindles during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend was twice what it was for that time period last year (no numbers).

A HINT of the popularity can be seen in the most popular customer review at the product page, which so far has 12,653 people findng it helpful, of 12,853 taking time to 'vote.'  In the meantime, there are 424 posts in questions and answers connected with TL's obviously engaging review.
  Eric DiPier thought it 'incredible' that the review received almost 8,000 votes in less than 2 months (by Nov. 2) and Kerri Elders thinks that when you consider how few people take the time to respond rather than just read, it may well indicate the popularity of the device.  It's been felt that those who interact rather than just lurk dicussions are about 1 per 1,000.  It at least reflects a lot of interest.

 Amazon almost never offers numbers when it comes to Kindles; however, a company like Apple, with tablets and other hardware a major portion of its business, numbers are required by the SEC.  Kindles, a year ago were said to be only 5-7% of Amazon's business and so they don't have to report numbers and can keep the competition guessing and a bit off balance.

Amazon is finally offering, InternetRetailer reports, more of its "Lockers" for those who can't safely receive shipments at home because they're not there, etc. (where this is available).   The latest ones are at Staples.  An early report on the lockers here was on September 12, 2011.

WSJ's Greg Bensinger had a good article on the ones available as of August 2012.
  Here are links to several other news articles on how the new lockers will work and where they're available currently.


So, what else might Amazon be up to?  That's right (image at right) - Amazon Wine!


Holidays and Decisions - Tablets everywhere
In the meantime, some are still trying to decide on a tablet for the Holidays and I haven't added more recent reviews from tech sites since the early ones over a month ago, although I was logging them.

  Here are a few points from several during the last month. (Warning: this blog tends often to go into mindnumbing detail but I hope you find something here not found when trying to decide by reading other sources, that is, if you've stayed here after seeing the length of this.)

ZDNet's David Gewirtz - "How to decide: should you buy an iPad mini, a Kindle Fire HD (UK: here), or a Nexus 7?"
  His security concerns aside (which favor Apple's complete control over apps, with Amazon's app-vetting getting an 'honorable mention'), he is sanguine about the iPad mini's lower resolution that comes with a higher price.
  "... the iPad mini comes with a last-generation display that many users aren't happy with.  Our own Stephen Chapman called the...display 'atrocious' and added, 'With almost every single device of Apple's now having a Retina display, the regression for the iPad mini immediately makes it feel like a half-hearted, disingenuous, and greedy effort.'
  Ouch.  On the other hand, ZDNet's Joel Evans likes his iPad mini more than the iPad 3."
  Gewirtz finishes with some good guidelines on "How to decide."

Macworld's Mark Hattersley calls attention to DisplayMate.com's comparison covering lab measurements of display characteristics of the "iPad mini vs Nexus 7 vs Kindle Fire" which Hattersley (as a Mac writer) cautions:
  "The conclusions aren’t always flattering for the iPad mini."

  Hattersley adds that "When it comes to playing games, watching video, and general tasks the iPad mini is as good as its larger brethren, but considerably lighter and more portable."

[I wouldn't say that is true of HD video material, which the iPad Mini cannot show in HD as it is not an HD display, at only 1024x768, as pointed out by Displaymate later.]

The full Displaymate details are at this page, and are pretty interesting for those keen to see how things 'measure up' for each tablet in several categories.  Examples:

  "While screen Resolution gets lots of attention from both consumers and marketers – it’s really only critical for providing visually sharp text – but that applies for most applications running on a Tablet.
  The $199 Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both have considerably sharper displays with 216 Pixels Per Inch, and they both delivered considerably sharper text..."

Displaymate further links to an earlier "7 inch Tablet Display Technology Shoot-Out" between the 7" models of the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus.

  "While the Nexus 7 has a very nice saturated Red that is close to the new iPad Red, its Greens and Yellows are less saturated than even the iPad 2, which is a significant step backward.  On the other hand, the Kindle Fire HD has Greens and Yellows that are slightly more saturated than the new iPad.

  "These were easy to see during the Viewing Tests.  Just as important as the Color Gamut is the Factory Display Calibration, which can ruin a excellent display if done improperly…

  "... the Factory Display Calibration on the Nexus 7 was severely botched, which significantly degrades its picture quality.  In spite of its good Color Gamut, colors and contrast are washed out due to a compressed, convex, and irregular Intensity Scale (sometimes called the Gray Scale).  Bright images look like over exposed photographs...it is a software or firmware problem rather than an inherent hardware display issue.  Depending on the display firmware this may or may not be correctable with a software update."

  [On another display issue] "... We borrowed and tested a second Nexus 7 unit and found identical behavior – so the effect is unlikely to be due to a defective unit. In fact, we discovered it to be another software bug.

  "The Kindle Fire HD has the highest measured Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of any Tablet that we have tested in our entire Shoot-Out series, and the Nexus 7 is a close second. Both are much better than either the iPad 2 or the new iPad.   The display on the Kindle Fire was the decisive winner of these two leading 7 inch Tablets. It is much better than the iPad 2 and almost as good as the new iPad in overall picture quality and color accuracy...
...
  "Conclusion:...
  ...Like the new iPad, the Kindle Fire HD has better picture quality and color accuracy than most HDTVs, laptops, and monitors, so it could wind up being your most accurate display for viewing photos, videos and web content.

  "Mobile displays are often viewed under reasonably high Ambient Lighting. The Kindle Fire HD has the highest measured Contrast Rating for High Ambient Light of any Tablet that we have tested in our Shoot-Out series, which is impressive."

  [Back to their more recent comparison of the two with the new iPad mini]
  "While the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 had reduced 61-64 percent Color Gamuts, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 both deliver a much larger 86 percent Color Gamut, and the new iPad 3 and iPhone 5 have full 100 percent standard Color Gamuts.
  "So it was a surprise and a major disappointment for the iPad mini to arrive with an antiquated smaller 62 percent Color Gamut.

  Displaymate testers give an example of their comparison factors, this one showing newest iPad 4 vs more 'dull' or 'faded' iPad 2 and iPhone 4 subject matter.

  Re "reflectance" or glare in high ambient lighting situations, they write:
  "Most displays are now coming with lower Reflectance screens.  The Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 managed to accomplish this, even at their low price points, but the iPad mini comes with an unusually high Reflectance – it reflects 53 percent more ambient light than the Nexus 7 and 41 percent more than the Kindle Fire HD.  This is another poor choice and another significant competitive shortfall…"

Displaymate ends the comparison with a very detailed "Display Shoot-Out Comparison Table."


PopHerald's Kevin Go writes about the same three tablets in "...The display game."
  He writes that the iPad Mini is the "perfect choice for those who want a full-fledged tablet that runs Apple's ...iOS... without the excessive bulk of the regular 10-inch iPad" but wonders if, at $329, consumers are getting what they really deserve... and then he goes on to quote from the Displaymate article above and doesn't think consumers get the best deal there.

  But really, Apple users will like the real lightness of the iPad mini (this is an important factor to any of us tablet users) plus its access to the 250,000 highly regarded tablet-optimized Apple apps and to another 450,000 phone apps that might look better on a smaller screen.  For Apple apps, there is no other 7-inch tablet choice.  Most won't care about display resolution that much.


Android Authority's Carl Parker compares the ipad mini to the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet.
That (missing) Charger - Parker points out something many miss about the option to get a charger during purchase of a Kindle Fire HD:
"Thanks to the standard Micro USB port, you don’t need to worry if you leave your Kindle Fire HD’s charger at home because you can just use your other Android device’s USB charger cable."

"These two displays provide very different results when viewing the same images.  The iPad mini display gives higher contrast, making whites whiter and blacks blacker, while washing out some colors.  The Kindle Fire HD, on the other hand, provides richer and vibrant colors, which may make media viewing on the Kindle Fire HD more pleasurable.
...
"Amazon tablet...[has a] responsive and smooth user interface, which arguably is smoother and silkier compared to the previous Kindle Fire.  But, I do get some occasional lags especially when reading highly animated comics.  Scrolling Web pages and zooming in or out are quite laggy compared to that on the iPad mini.

"As for benchmarks, while the Kindle Fire HD gave a much better score for overall performance (as reported by Geekbench 2), the iPad mini outran its Amazon competitor in the GPU and browser benchmarks, except in the Google V8 Benchmark Suite, in which the Kindle tablet lorded over the iPad mini."


HeraldNet's AP article by Peter Svensson is titled "Subpar screen hobbles Apple's smallest tablet."
"I ...bet that for a lot of people, it's not going to be the best choice. It's beautiful and light, but Apple made a big compromise in the design, one that means that buyers should look closely at the competition before deciding.
  "By comparison [with the iPad 4], the iPad Mini's screen looks coarse.  It looks dull, too, because it doesn't have the same color-boosting technology that the full-size model has...
 ..."The real issue is that this year, there are other tablets that are cheaper than the iPad Mini, weigh only slightly more and still have better screens."

  I'd not seen the following explanation before.

  "Sharper screens are darker, requiring a more powerful backlight to appear bright.  That, in turn, would have forced an increase in the battery size.  That's the reason the first iPad with a Retina display was thicker and heavier than the iPad 2.   So to keep the iPad Mini thin while matching the 10-hour battery life of the bigger iPads, Apple had to compromise on the display."

  Another reason, of course, was to make sure the new little brother could handle the many iPad 2 tablet apps wthout having to modify them all for a smaller size.

  "By next year, it will likely be even more obvious that Apple is seriously behind in screen quality on its small tablet, and it will have to upgrade to a Retina display somehow. That means this first-generation iPad Mini will look old pretty fast."
  [Other problems] - "One is that when you run iPhone apps on the Mini, it uses the coarsest version of the graphics for that app -- the version designed for iPhones up to the 2009 model, the 3GS. You can blow the app up to fill more of the screen, but it looks pretty ugly."

  "Some apps adapted for the iPad screen don't display that well on the Mini screen, either, because of the smaller size.  Buttons can be too small to hit accurately, bringing to mind Steve Jobs' 2010 comments about smaller tablets...
  "...In some apps, text on the Mini is too small to be comfortably read -- the section fronts in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal apps are examples of this.
  "... In particular, the Mini is a $329 entry ticket to the wonderful world of iPad and iPhone apps.  For quality and quantity, it beats all the other app stores."


CNET's Brooke Crothers comments on Displaymate's report described above and compares its findings with their own earlier statements, pointing out that:
  "... this echoes CNET's take on iPad Mini's display. "If you own a recent iPhone or the last iPad, you'll feel that this screen is blurry.  Text isn't as sharp. The pixels per inch don't even match what's available on a Kindle Fire HD or Nook HD," wrote CNET's Scott Stein."

Well, I hope that helped with some details not given in earlier reviews:


EARLIER posts on Kindle Fire HD
  . Basic Features Comparison Table for iPad mini, Google Nexus 7", Kindle Fire HD 7"
  . Comparison reviews of the Kindle Fire HD 7" and Google Nexus 7" tablets
  . Step-by-step guide for installing a working Adobe Flash player when needed.
  . 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
  . Using the camera and Video, Panorama mode, Time Lapses
  . App for WiFi file transfers w/o cable.


A note on David Pogue's NY Times NYT article ignoring the Kindle Fire HD in favor of the also-impressive B&N Nook HD.  A friend mentioned this, and I responded with reasons I've given before for not including the Nook in the detailed comparisons, though I'm a B&N paying member and want the physical stores to survive.
  But you may notice few sites include the Nook tablets in their comparisons possibly for similar reasons.

  But if Amazon didn't allow apps from other online app-stores onto the Kindle Fire (which just involves checking just one easily visible option-setting to enable this), I wouldn't buy or keep the Kindle Fire HD either, nor write much about it.

  It's a self-destructive decision to actually restrict customers to only the vendor-store's own apps (unless you're Apple w/ a different operating system entirely), especially when they're so limited as B&N's are.  This was essentially my reply:

'Pogue has to cover a lot so can't be expected to know everything in depth but that doesn't keep him from surface-level judgments that will influence many due to his platform and entertaining style.

Nook:
  Most important:
KFire can easily have non-Amazon store apps installed.  It's just checking one setting that allows it (this is a typical Android option). That's why I have Google Maps and Street View on my Kindle Fires.  No 'hacking' involved at all.
  This isn't possible on an unhacked Nook.

1. Barnes and Noble refuses to allow its Nooks to have any apps installed in it except their own and they have the weakest app store

2. Ecosystem for tablet:  No B&N music or video streaming, and a lack of downloadable content store for those vs Amazon's Prime instant videos and music.
Content can be side-loaded to the tablet.
  Streaming is from paid, 3rd party Netflix or Hulu Plus subscriptions, etc.

3. Gives far less Cloud storage
    Amazon gives all customers 5 gigs for non-Amazon docs and books
    with syncing between devices though books were bought elsewhere.
      It keeps a log of annotations on those, if we want,
    in our personal Amazon server space for personal docs
    and for Kindle owners, it's an additional 5GB of free space.

  B&N gives server space only to B&N products, the last I read on their boards
  when I was using the NookColor daily.

4. Amazon has a 7-day-refund period - done by automated email - for any Kindle book that doesn't measure up -- formatting problems, poor editing, etc.

    B&N, though, has a hardline approach - NO REFUNDS on Nook books.
    They've even refused them when pages were missing.

5. Customer Support - Kindle support is usually superb at Amazon.
    Almost non-existent at B&N post-sales.
    Store clerks can try to be helpful but are not as well trained.

6. No camera for Skype (the only major tablet I know of w/ no way to do
    today's free camera/video communication popular w/ families and friends

7. Higher book prices at B&N. '

I hope that some of that info somewhat compensates for being absent from active blogging for a few days.  When quiet, I'm usually researching for a bit more context.  I was also active in some tech-site forums but also holidaying!

Note that I refrained from talking about additional stereo speaker comparisons although a few reviewers have referred to these as the best tablet ones and 'sublime' - an important factor when watching movies w/o having the head clamped by headphones or ears plugged.  :-)

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Kindle Fire HD 7" and 8.9" screen resolutions...TuneIn Radio app...Kindle's 5th anniversary.

This image from The Book of Spells for Wonderbook (for PlayStation 3) has been showing up on the lock-screen of the Kindle Fire, as I haven't opted out of the "Special Offers" because some of the discount offers have been useful for me (though not this one as I've no interest in PS3's or Harry Potter).

  But, the image display was striking so I thought I'd take a screenshot (how?) of it and look at the resulting file, since the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD has a screen resolution of 1280x800 pixels.

  Here's what the resulting screenshot file is like in the original 1280x800 image resolution size.  Seen on a 7-inch display instead, the result is pretty sharp.

The new 8.9" Kindle Fire HD
  In comparison, the 8.9" Kindle Fire HD just released has a screen resolution of 1920x1200, or 254 pixels per inch (ppi) on an 8.9" display.
  That's vs a screen resolution of 1024x768 (163 ppi) on the 7.9" iPad mini.

Increasingly, comparison reviews of the iPad mini with other 7" - 9" tablets show more discontent with the screen resolution of the iPad mini at $329 (while loving the apps and the lightness of it) and more appreciation of the Kindle Fire HD's special features as well as for the Google Nexus' pure Android-ness.

  I collected a large assortment of these and will quote some specifics from those in the next day.


Some useful and popular apps (most are free)
  In the meantime, note the currently top-rated apps for the Kindle Fire models.

    Recommended Android app today: TuneIn Radio.

    This has 742 customer reviews, with an average rating of 4.6 stars.


Kindle turned 5 yrs old yesterday
Many tech sites noted the 5th anniversary of the Kindle, which began the recent intense interest in e-books and reading, due in large part to the ability to get a book within a minute without needing to connect to a computer.

  The free cellular network access for 3G downloads, which don't require WiFi networks either, remains a feature of the Kindles that offer 3G.  All the new e-readers with that feature (including the 3G Paperwhite) still offer free Wikipedia access also, from almost wherever you are, 24/7.

For nostalgia, here's a photo of the first Kindle e-reader, doing the web (slowly) at a cafe.  It was not the sleekest creature but that strange silver, mercury-like vertical cursor column with scroll wheel was a kick.  We couldn't access the screen directly with a cursor but could indicate the line wanted and had to choose from several words in the row when wanting a word definition or a search... And, hard to believe today, it was $390 and sold out for most of its time, before the Kindle 2 was released in Feb. 2009, for $360. (Yes.)


Interesting Kindle Daily Deal today
The Kindle Daily Deal for today, Tuesday Nov. 20, is William Shirer's Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941.

  Amazon's description: "A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R. Murrow at CBS, William Shirer began keeping a diary while in Europe during the 1930s.  His honest and passionate chronicle is considered the first full record of the rise of the Third Reich and the brutality with which Hitler came to power."
  It has 42 customer reviews with an average rating of 4.6 stars. 80% savings today only.

---

Current Kindle Models for reference, plus free-ebook search links.
NOTES on newer Kindles.

US: Updated Kindle Fire 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, 3G - $179/$199 Kindle Keybd 3G - $139/$159, Free but slow web Kindle DX - $379 $299, Free, slow web

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

OTHER International Kindle NoTouch Basic - $89 Kindle Touch WiFi - $139 Kindle Keybd 3G - $189   Keybd: w/ Free, slow 3G WEB France Boutique Kindle Deutschland - Kindle Store Italia - Kindle Store Spain - Tienda Kindle

---

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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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.



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

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