# New Fire Features Discussion



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

OK, I missed this during the press conference, but just noticed this on the Fire 4G page:



> Share your favorite videos and photos on your TV or other display in rich high definition via the built-in HDMI out port.


Coolness!

Betsy


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## jlee745 (Jul 27, 2010)

Does that mean U could hook up to Tv to watch prime instant videos?


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## Mollyb52 (Jan 4, 2009)

Does the new Fire have a camera?  I see it has Skype capability but I did not see mention of a camera.  Did I just miss it?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

jlee745 said:


> Does that mean U could hook up to Tv to watch prime instant videos?


Yes, as far as I can tell. EDIT: It just says "favorite videos," so I guess that could be interpreted to NOT include videos.



Mollyb52 said:


> Does the new Fire have a camera? I see it has Skype capability but I did not see mention of a camera. Did I just miss it?


Yes, it has a front-facing video camera. I don't know if it can be used for things other than Skype.

Betsy


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## docmama28 (Mar 6, 2010)

I ordered the 7" fire, 16GB and added the superfast charger right from the kindle fire page and got $10 off the charger (it's usually priced at $19.99).  For some reason if you add it later it won't give you the discount.  I ordered and cancelled 3 times already.  At first I thought I'd get the 8.9" 16GB, but once I thought about it I realized that the reason I love my fire so much is the compact size, so I changed to the 7" 32GB.  When I saw that the delivery date was at the end of October, I switched it to the 16GB which will arrive on September 14.  That way I'll have it for my birthday (yay!)
I wonder how these will compare to the soon to be announced ipad mini?  Do you think Apple will try to match the price of the new Kindles?


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## docmama28 (Mar 6, 2010)

jlee745 said:


> Does that mean U could hook up to Tv to watch prime instant videos?


It has an HDMI port to connect it to your TV I believe (saw this on the video on Amazon) "Every fire comes with HDMI out, just plug in and play your favorite movies"


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## omnibus34 (May 25, 2011)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yes, as far as I can tell. EDIT: It just says "favorite videos," so I guess that could be interpreted to NOT include videos.
> 
> Yes, it has a front-facing video camera. I don't know if it can be used for things other than Skype.
> 
> Betsy


 A front facing camera means that you are looking into the camera lens and the screen at the same time. With out a rear facing camera if you are on Skype you can only see an image of yourself. The ipods have got it right with two cameras.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

omnibus34 said:


> A front facing camera means that you are looking into the camera lens and the screen at the same time. With out a rear facing camera if you are on Skype you can only see an image of yourself. The ipods have got it right with two cameras.


That doesn't make sense. I think it means that you'll see the person you're skyping with. You don't need a rear facing camera for that. . .their picture comes through the internet. And your picture goes to them with the front camera. Unless I completely don't understand how skype works. . . all I know is it works on my computer and there's only one camera, facing me.

I guess what you won't be able to do is take video and still shots like you can with a phone because you wouldn't be able to see the image that you're snapping.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

omnibus34 said:


> A front facing camera means that you are looking into the camera lens and the screen at the same time. With out a rear facing camera if you are on Skype you can only see an image of yourself. The ipods have got it right with two cameras.


Yes, I understand that, and I agree, I was hoping for the rear-facing camera too. Although to be clear, I think, in Skype, the larger portion of the screen will be a picture of the person you are Skyping with and there will be an inset of you.

What I don't know is whether one can take still pictures with it? or, if I hold it up and and use the front-facing camera to take video over my head at a scene behind me, can I record and save those videos? Or can the camera only be used with Skype? That's my question...

Betsy


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

I see no mention of which Android version they are using. Do I assume it is a repristinated version of the Amazon Android?


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

n4uau said:


> I see no mention of which Android version they are using. Do I assume it is a repristinated version of the Amazon Android?


On Gizmodo, I read this: _... on the Fire HD we get a heavily modified version of 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich_.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

I hope that the HDMI out feature does mean that you can connect to your TV to watch streaming video and not just videos you have on the device.  

I can't imagine wanting to watch on a 7" screen at home when I have much larger options to hand, nor do I travel anywhere else where, even assuming there was wi-fi available, that I would have the time or opportunity to watch a movie.  

I'm also interested in the claims that the glare on the screen has been significantly reduced. I love my e-ink Touch and generally much prefer it to backlit screens, but I'd love just to be able to carry one device about with me - in addition to my phone of course. It would be great if the screen was easy enough on the eyes to be able to use it as my primary reader. Although, on the other hand, if it still doesn't have collections and just that silly carousel ... 

Wouldn't it be nice if they could just list all the different specs and you could cherry pick the ones you wanted and get a custom built device, tailored to your own requirements. *sigh*


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## messenger309 (Aug 17, 2012)

Hmmm,

I can't find the answer to this anywhere.

I would like to buy a fire for each of my two kids. Amazon states that they come preregistered to your amazon account. Can I have two on one account?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

messenger309 said:


> Hmmm,
> 
> I can't find the answer to this anywhere.
> 
> I would like to buy a fire for each of my two kids. Amazon states that they come preregistered to your amazon account. Can I have two on one account?


You can have as many as you want on each account! I've got 7 devices currently registered to mine, counting the two I ordered yesterday, as well as 3 "kindle app" devices. And I know people who have ore than that!


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Comments from ZDNet this morning:

http://www.zdnet.com/amazons-kindle-fire-hd-family-the-highs-and-lows-you-need-to-know-7000003880/?s_cid=e539


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks, Jim.  Just read that. 

They talk about apps and imply they have to be purchased from the Amazon appstore.  

They further imply that there aren't nearly as many there as at Google play -- that may be true, but I've not found many available on Google that weren't also available via Amazon.

But then they say that you may end up having to purchase some apps a second time.  I'm thinking that will be mostly not the case.  I'd expect the new Fires to have the ability to get things from other than Amazon just as the prior Fire does.  You can even get 'em from Google Play if you already have an android device you can copy the file from.  

Over all, I like how they say, 'these are the things to know and decide if it's important to you'.

Still debating a splurge for the 4G version. . . . . .


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## n4uau (Nov 26, 2011)

JimC1946 said:


> Comments from ZDNet this morning:
> 
> http://www.zdnet.com/amazons-kindle-fire-hd-family-the-highs-and-lows-you-need-to-know-7000003880/?s_cid=e539


Thanks this answered a lot of my questions. Sill going to be a challenge to get Android apps not cleared for Kindle. Worse you cannot migrate your current Kindle Fire apps.


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## StephanieJ (Nov 11, 2010)

Do y'all think these will be able to use a blue tooth keyboard?  My daughter loves to write, she spends HOURS on her "stories" every day.  She was saving for a laptop until yesterday.  If she could use a keyboard with this... she is sold for sure.  

I realize nobody has actually used one yet, just wondering if y'all have a better idea about it than I do!


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## sosha (Feb 9, 2010)

My favorite new features are :

BLUETOOTH.  Or, am I the only one who sorely missed this?

Whispersync for audio with Audible.  It's about time........they partnered up with Audible.com years ago.  Yes, it will take a while to get more than 15k books on board, but hey.....it's a start.

$50 for a year of data whilst out-and-about.  Yea, if you want to stream movies over 4G, you're gonna have to pay for more.  But, that makes sense.  When I had an iPad, some months I barely used the cellular service, and still paid the $30/month.  I'd rather have this style plan.

X-ray for movies/TV.  Hope this covers more than Hunger Games.  ;-)

And, of course, the HD screen.


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## sosha (Feb 9, 2010)

StephanieJ said:


> Do y'all think these will be able to use a blue tooth keyboard? My daughter loves to write, she spends HOURS on her "stories" every day. She was saving for a laptop until yesterday. If she could use a keyboard with this... she is sold for sure.
> 
> I realize nobody has actually used one yet, just wondering if y'all have a better idea about it than I do!


Looks like that's a YES.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

StephanieJ said:


> Do y'all think these will be able to use a blue tooth keyboard? My daughter loves to write, she spends HOURS on her "stories" every day. She was saving for a laptop until yesterday. If she could use a keyboard with this... she is sold for sure.
> 
> I realize nobody has actually used one yet, just wondering if y'all have a better idea about it than I do!


It's in the specs, so definitely yes.

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

n4uau said:


> Thanks this answered a lot of my questions. Sill going to be a challenge to get Android apps not cleared for Kindle. Worse you cannot migrate your current Kindle Fire apps.


I'm not sure why you think that. Any apps you've already purchased from Amazon will be available. And I'd guess that it will have the ability to get apps from other sites just as the 1st Fire did. I'll be REALLY surprised if it doesn't have that. So it won't be any harder to put your existing apps on as it will your existing books. The only tricky thing is apps that are exclusive to Google Play; you would have to have another android device to get those and then copy the file manually. But even that is doable.


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## fuschiahedgehog (Feb 23, 2010)

you may have to re-purchase HD versions of apps.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

fuschiahedgehog said:


> you may have to re-purchase HD versions of apps.


I think this is a legitimate question. iPhone apps were redone to take advantage of the HD screen of the iPad. In some cases, the iPhone app still worked, and Apple provided a way to "zoom" the app to fill the entire screen. In other cases, new apps were released that would work on both devices. In others, a separate new app had to be purchased.

Only time will tell.

Betsy


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

We only just got the Amazon Appstore here in the UK, so most of my phone apps were bought from Google Apps. (I had no idea it was Google till I just checked - I'm pretty clueless about this.   )

Does this mean that the apps I bought for my phone will be transferable to the Fire (HD compatibility permitting)? How would I go about doing that? I can't find out on Amazon as the support pages only have section titles with "Coming Soon" written all over them...

Incidentally, said support pages - for the Fire - have under accessories "Kindle Lighted Cover". Erm... I don't think so ....


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> We only just got the Amazon Appstore here in the UK, so most of my phone apps were bought from Google Apps. (I had no idea it was Google till I just checked - I'm pretty clueless about this.  )
> 
> Does this mean that the apps I bought for my phone will be transferable to the Fire (HD compatibility permitting)? How would I go about doing that? I can't find out on Amazon as the support pages only have section titles with "Coming Soon" written all over them...
> 
> Incidentally, said support pages - for the Fire - have under accessories "Kindle Lighted Cover". Erm... I don't think so ....


With the current Fire, you can install third party apps by allowing them under device settings. Then you have to get them to your Fire through email, Dropbox or something similar, direct download from the 'Net or transfer from another Android device using an app.

You can't download from Google Play directly to the current Fire. I get third party apps from 1mobile.

I expect it will be similar with the new Fire.

Betsy


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Thanks, Betsy - I'm sure it will all be fairly obvious and intuitive once I get the thing in my hands. 

On another note - did I read somewhere where someone was hoping that there would be external volume controls on the new device? Well according to the diagram in the Fire HD Quickstart Guide - there are! The picture is different than the one for the new non-HD Fire.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> On another note - did I read somewhere where someone was hoping that there would be external volume controls on the new device? Well according to the diagram in the Fire HD Quickstart Guide - there are! The picture is different than the one for the new non-HD Fire.


Oh, hooray for that! Also, the power button is in a new place which I think I will prefer.

L


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## Cyanide5000 (Aug 30, 2010)

The new Kindle Fire looks incredibly good, if onlyI wasnt broke this month! Guess I'll have to wait until next month until i can treat myself to one


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

I am leaning heavily towards the Amazon cases as they have an auto-on feature when you open the case, auto-off when you close it.  I'm not sure if other vendors will be able to replicate that feature, but if I was Amazon, I would make sure they couldn't.

The one thing I'm keeping my fingers crossed for is a keyboard w/ dock.  My current tablet gets docked on my desk when at work and I would really miss that.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Linjeakel said:


> Thanks, Betsy - I'm sure it will all be fairly obvious and intuitive once I get the thing in my hands.


Actually, it's not completely intuitive, but completely possible. . .there's a thread around here somewhere with a step by step. Which makes it very straightforward.



Cyanide5000 said:


> The new Kindle Fire looks incredibly good, if onlyI wasnt broke this month! Guess I'll have to wait until next month until i can treat myself to one


But it won't be delivered until next month, so they won't bill your CC until then. . .and then the bill won't be due until the month after. 



Jesslyn said:


> I am leaning heavily towards the Amazon cases as they have an auto-on feature when you open the case, auto-off when you close it. I'm not sure if other vendors will be able to replicate that feature, but if I was Amazon, I would make sure they couldn't.


Hmmmm. . . .I didn't understand that as a feature with the Fire covers. . . . . .just the PW covers


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

Just checked again.  On the Kindle Fire HD Covers "Wake or put your device to sleep by opening or closing the case"


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## Jesslyn (Oct 29, 2008)

FYI - I can't find where I saw it, but the ad canNOT be opted out of.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-3126_7-57508526/amazon-confirms-all-new-kindle-fires-stuck-with-ads/


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jesslyn said:


> Just checked again. On the Kindle Fire HD Covers "Wake or put your device to sleep by opening or closing the case"


Hmmm. Thanks. Cool.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Jesslyn said:


> FYI - I can't find where I saw it, but the ad canNOT be opted out of.
> 
> http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-3126_7-57508526/amazon-confirms-all-new-kindle-fires-stuck-with-ads/


And this article says that the possibility is still there:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/07/amazon-confirms-yes-you-can-opt-out-of-ads-on-new-kindle-fire/

I guess we'll have to wait and see. . . .but I won't be surprised at all if they ad an opt out feature. . . .especially on the 4G. I mean, you don't want part of your 250 Mb to go to downloading ad pictures. . . .'course they could set it that they only are delivered via WiFi. . . . . .


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Jesslyn said:


> I am leaning heavily towards the Amazon cases as they have an auto-on feature when you open the case, auto-off when you close it. I'm not sure if other vendors will be able to replicate that feature, but if I was Amazon, I would make sure they couldn't.
> 
> The one thing I'm keeping my fingers crossed for is a keyboard w/ dock. My current tablet gets docked on my desk when at work and I would really miss that.


I'd like to see a cover with a built in keyboard; there are a few available for the iPad. I'm not sure I want one, but I'd like to see one.

I ended up not getting a keyboards with a dock as the iPad could only be oriented one way with the dock, and it wasn't the way (landscape) I generally use my iPad. I have stand.

Here's the info about the cover:


> Our genuine leather case was engineered to be the lightest and thinnest protective case for your Kindle Fire HD 8.9". A fusion of soft, premium textured leather and an innovative, form-fitted interior secures Kindle Fire HD 8.9" without any hinges or straps.
> 
> The case automatically puts your Kindle Fire HD 8.9" to sleep when it is closed and wakes your device upon opening making it so easy to jump back into your magazines, music, apps, and movies.
> 
> ...


My only slight quibble with the cover is there's not a way to stand it in portrait mode, but I can use my stand for that. Comes in several colors--saddle tan, blue, black, fuschia, persimmon, honey.

Betsy


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## PinkKindle (Sep 10, 2009)

It looks like some of the other brands of "certified Made for Kindle" covers that Amazon is selling also do the auto wake/sleep feature with the covers for both the Fire and the PW -- in browsing through them it seems like the more expensive of the Marware and Belkin cases. For example, this Marware Axis for the Fire HD 7 (I only checked for the 7 inch, not the bigger Fires):



And it is available for release-day delivery, and comes in pink, and rotates to stand the Fire both horizontally and vertically, so that's kind of interesting. The description says (bold added):

Product Features
Color: Pink
Certified "Made for Kindle" Accessory for Kindle Fire HD 7" (will not fit Kindle Fire or Kindle Fire HD 8.9")
Rotates to stand device in three viewing angles in either portrait or landscape mode
*Wakes or puts your device to sleep when the lid is opened and closed*
Built-in interior hand strap provides for comfortable one-handed reading/viewing
Genuine leather exterior combined with a soft, micofiber interior protects your device

There were others, that's just an example, but I found it interesting that Amazon is letting other brands do the wake/sleep function in the covers.


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## ireadbooks (Jan 11, 2011)

The only reason I would consider buying a new Fire would be for Skype. I would use it in place of a cell phone. However, if I do this it would make sense to get the LTE version so that the connection would be available at all times.

You only get 250MB/month with the lowest priced data plan. Does anyone know if Skype uses MBs? How much per call? I imagine it's similar to streaming, no? Would one phone call completely wipe out my monthly allotment?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

PinkKindle said:


> It looks like some of the other brands of "certified Made for Kindle" covers that Amazon is selling also do the auto wake/sleep feature with the covers for both the Fire and the PW -- in browsing through them it seems like the more expensive of the Marware and Belkin cases. For example, this Marware Axis for the Fire HD 7 (I only checked for the 7 inch, not the bigger Fires):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Interesting! Thanks. Note that at the present time, the only covers shown for the 8.9" Fire are Amazon's....at least the only ones I find by clicking on the "Covers and Cases" link on the Accessories page.

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Hey, for those who, like me didn't order a PowerFast charger with your device and don't want to cancel your order, you can contact customer support by email or phone and ask that it be added to your order at the $9.99 price.

I emailed CS and they added it.  

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

OK, so I ordered the 4G. There's a note attached that I will be sent an email confirmation once they have approval from the FCC. Here's an article with more information about it:
http://m.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/amazons-new-high-end-kindle-lacks-fcc-approval-sale-986740
and it also confirms that AT&T will be the 4G provider.

Betsy


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## tamborine (May 16, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> But it won't be delivered until next month, so they won't bill your CC until then. . .and then the bill won't be due until the month after.


Watch out for this if you use a debit card! When the first Fire came out, I was broke, but preordered anyway, anticipating that I'd have the money in my account by time it shipped. Amazon cancelled the order a few days after I placed it due to insufficient funds - this was weeks before it shipped.


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