Amazon Kindle.. "nice to have"..

I totally agree with Troy's review of Amazon Kindle. It is one honest, straight forward and real good review. Gives messaging very clearly..
So, in my view... you should get Kindle Fire HD if you are avid amazon book reader and you love to watch lot of amazon media. You get some free usage of Amazon's book library.. and hopefully some more freebies from Amazon. Other reason to get it could be if you want 16GB storage instead of 8GB storage on Google's Nexus 7 tablet in same price.

I guess, my expectation was much more higher.. I was thinking that Amazon will definitely surpass Google Nexus's tablet. I was hoping for even better user experience and integration for media than Google.

I think, Amazon launched it little sooner and they were really not done with the work especially on tablet OS and other hardware software marriage or integration. Knowing Amazon, I know for sure that they will fix all the gotchas they have left. At least on software side for sure.

Overall, it is excellent value for money. I think if aren't big iPad user then you would like it ;-) otherwise, you could wait for iPad mini if you want smaller or cheaper footprint..

Cheers!!

Amazon’s new Kindle doesn’t light my Fire

In terms of its underlying technology, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD is a huge leap over its predecessor.

Despite that, I was underwhelmed by the new tablet.

The initial Kindle Fire was the first compelling tablet device that wasn’t made by Apple. Unlike most tablets on the market when it debuted last fall, the Fire was inexpensive and easy to use, and its 7-inch screen made it easy to hold.

But the market has changed.

Google’s Android software is much improved and its rival Nexus 7 tablet is a better general purpose tablet than the Fire HD.

That’s not to say Amazon’s new device is a dud — there’s a lot to like about it. The Fire HD has a much higher resolution screen than the original and is able to display HD videos. With 16 gigabytes of storage, it has double the capacity of the Fire at the same price. It has a longer-lasting battery and a faster Wi-Fi radio.

And unlike the original, it has a front camera for video calls and a touch screen that can recognize up to 10 fingertips at once, rather than just two, allowing owners to potentially use sophisticated gestures to interact with it.

I don’t know how many people will notice the more sensitive touch screen or the faster Wi-Fi radio. But the Fire HD’s screen is beautiful. Its resolution is not as good as the new iPad’s, but it’s noticeably better than its predecessor’s. High-definition images and content look great. 

Skype users will appreciate the new front camera. I used it to make a Skype video call, and it worked fine. 

The device is solidly built, though plain. 

It comes in an unremarkable black, rubberized plastic case with two physical buttons: a power button and a volume rocker button. 

They are set flush with the case, which can make them hard to find in the dark. 

But the main feature of the Fire HD is its ability to connect with Amazon’s services and extensive array of digital content. Like its predecessor, it has a menu system that organizes content and features that are either on the device or accessible from the “cloud.” So users will find areas for books, apps, music, movies, the Web, photos and more. 

Those menu items generally point to Amazon’s services. If you want to watch Netflix movies, you have to find it in the apps area, not in the movie one. In the movie area, you’ll just find movies that you’ve bought or can download or stream from Amazon. Likewise, if you want to listen to music on Pandora, you won’t have that option in the music store; there you’ll only find music you’ve bought from Amazon or stored on its servers. 

If you are a heavy user of Amazon’s digital services, this type of organization is great. Consumers who have purchased e-books, movies or music from Amazon will be able to quickly access them. But if you want to do things other than watch Amazon movies or read Kindle e-books, the Fire HD is a much less satisfying device. 

All of your apps are crammed within the “apps” or “games” menu. Unlike Android tablets, you don’t have multiple home screens on which to organize favorite applications or a task bar in which to place frequently used ones. Instead, in the area where you might have a task bar, Amazon advertises applications. I kept clicking on icons within it thinking I was going to launch Netflix or the Weather Channel app, but was taken instead to pages on which I could download those apps. 

The device does have a “favorites” button underneath this marketing area to which you can save your most used apps, but I found that less useful than a true task bar. 

The Fire HD also lacks a true app switching or multitasking system. Unlike on a standard Android device or an iPad, there’s no way to see all of the currently running or recent applications or switch to them while you’re still using a particular app. Instead, you generally have to back out to the home screen. 

Thanks to these kinds of limitations, the Fire HD feels less like a general purpose tablet than a device meant to tie you to Amazon’s services. 

And there are other reasons to dislike the Kindle Fire. For one thing, it’s sluggish. 

Amazon says it bumped up the processor, but I often experienced a noticeable delay in launching apps. 

One technology Amazon has touted in its Kindle devices is its Silk browser. Silk attempts to speed the loading of Web pages by having some of the processing needed to display them done by Amazon’s servers on the Internet. Amazon said the Fire HD’s Silk browser is 30 percent faster than the original Fire’s. 

But that doesn’t mean it’s fast. In a head-tohead competition with Google’s rival Nexus 7 connected to the same network, the Fire HD’s browser often lost out, loading Web pages a second or two after the Nexus 7. 

Another thing some users may object to is that the Fire HD is like a mobile billboard for Amazon. When you turn it on, it displays an ad, whether for an Amazon product, a Discover card or for any number of Amazon’s advertising partners. You can opt out of seeing the ads, but it will cost you an extra $15. 

So Amazon’s new tablet is better than last year’s version, but it doesn’t really light my Fire. 

Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-840-4285 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or Twitter.com/troywolv. 

Yet Another Tablet!!! from Googlleeee

It was expected.. so here comes Google with another Android Tablet in sub-iPad  market. Prices point and size makes it clear that they don't want to go head on with Apple. So we will have to wait for couple of years more to see real good competitor for iPad.

I don't think that these $199 tablets are going to dent iPad market any time soon. These tablets are going to be second or third optional device or may be entry point tablets for kids.. I don't know.. but they are not going to be choice for any serious user with good valet. Let us see.

Unless these tablets have something magical which will be really different than iPad..

In my view, even if they go for these 7 inch tablets, Google and Amazon should not keep them really low end. Gone are the times when you can launch product in iPhone/iPad style of initially launching bare-bone device and keep on adding features slowly into it. That was then, when there was no iPad to refer to. Bar for Amazon and Google is already set really high by Apple. They need to accept it.. In the mean time they can launch these dinky tablets as an experiment and if users buy them good.. otherwise there is always next version..

However, Nexus 7 has front end camera which was not there in Amzon's tablet and they are also throwing $25 on Google Play store.. Screen resolution looks okay.. also, with original Android on it, hope that it will be much more open than Amzon fire. but then, Amazon should be coming up with next beefier version any time soon.. which I am sure should be better in terms of feature than Galaxy 7. Good news is that due to competition, they can't even dream of charging more to their next versions..

Good Luck with this Nexus thingy!!! I don't see myself buying it anytime soon unless.. unless.. I hear from you all something magical about it..

S.F. SOFTWARE CONFERENCE

Google takes full step into selling own product line

Search giant unveils its first tablet and a home entertainment console

By Brandon Bailey

bbailey@mercurynews.com 

SAN FRANCISCO — Pushing further into the consumer electronics business, Google announced Wednesday that it will sell a new digital home entertainment console and a 7-inch tablet computer aimed at bolstering its competition with Apple, Amazon and other rivals.

The giant Internet search company also showed off a host of new products and features for its Android mobile operating system, including new TV, film and magazine offerings in Google’s online store, and a voice-enabled search function that is Google’s answer to Apple’s vaunted digital assistant Siri.

While those seem far removed from Google’s core business of Internet search advertising, analysts say the new products are part of a strategy aimed at preserving Google’s dominance in that lucrative business. To do that, it hopes to deliver a broad range of digital media — books, music, films and other services — within an ecosystem of Google products at a time when other companies are luring consumers with similar services. 

KARL MONDON/STAFF 

Google unveils its Nexus 7 at the I/O conference Wednesday.

“It’s less about the hardware and more about the experience,” said Richard Shim, a mobile-computing expert with NPD Display-Search. “They are pushing into new services, but at the end of the day it’s an indirect way of highlighting their core business.” 

Google also invoked its freewheeling roots during the kickoff of the company’s annual three-day software conference. At one point, co-founder Sergey Brin bounded on stage at the Moscone Center to show off a pet project, the computer- in-a-headset known as Google Glass. A video screen behind him showed a team of sky divers inside a blimp flying over San Francisco, and the convention center audience cheered as the sky divers — wearing the cyborg-looking Google Glass headsets — leapt from the blimp and landed on the Moscone building’s roof. 

Images from their headsets were streamed over an Internet connection. The device, which also can receive data and messages, is still under development. 

As expected, Google CEO Larry Page did not appear, after the company said last week that he lost his voice under undisclosed circumstances. Brin said Wednesday that he’s “not worried” about Page, but “we didn’t want to stress him out by having him talk a lot.” 

The most anticipated news of the day, however, was the unveiling of Google’s new $199 Nexus 7 tablet, which will be manufactured by Asus according to Google’s design, and sold by Google through its online Google Play store. Google is using the tablet to showcase the features of its newest Android software, known by the code-name Jelly Bean. Microsoft is following a similar strategy with its own tablet, showing off new Windows software. 

“We wanted to provide the best of the Google experience, the way that Google envisions it,” said Android product director Hugo Barra. The tablet has a high-definition display and enough processing power for fast-paced video games, the company said. But Google Play director Chris Yerga stressed that the tablet is also well-suited to reading magazines and books. That’s a sign that Google is also positioning the Nexus 7 against Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire, which to date is one of the few Android-based tablets that has sold particularly well. 

Android is the world’s most popular operating software for smartphones, but Apple has dominated the tablet market with its iPad, which runs on Apple’s own software. Like Google, Amazon and Apple sell books, videos, music and other digital material over the Internet. 

Google’s new home entertainment console, dubbed Nexus Q, seems aimed at competing with similar streaming devices made by Apple, Sonos, Roku and others. While most consumer electronics devices sold in the United States are made by contractors in Asia, The New York Times reported that the Nexus Q is being assembled at an undisclosed Silicon Valley location. 

The bowling-ball shaped console can be controlled from an Android smartphone or tablet. But analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said he’s skeptical it will be a hit because its $299 price is higher than competing devices with similar capabilities. 

While Google doesn’t have much practice making and selling its own hardware — other than a Nexus phone that was not a success two years ago — Google has put years of work into developing voice-recognition technology. It already offers voice-enabled translation and navigation services. The new voice-enabled features in Jelly Bean go further by answering spoken questions with a naturalsounding female voice. 

In a demonstration, it appeared to function in a manner similar to Apple’s Siri. Analysts have warned that Siri could be a threat to Google’s core Internet search business if users of Apple devices find it easier to simply talk to their iPhones rather than type in a Google query. “Google has to do something just as good with voice because that may be where search is going for mobile devices,” said Al Hilwa, a software industry analyst with IDC. 

From the demonstration, it wasn’t clear how wide a range of questions can be answered by Google’s voice search service. Executives also showed another new search feature in Jelly Bean, called Google Now, which provides automatic updates on information the user has previously searched for — such as the status of an airline flight or the score of a baseball game. Executives said the service is only available for certain types of queries, although they plan to add more capabilities in the future. 

Follow Brandon Bailey at Twitter.com/brandonbailey.