Kindle Fire Launches This Week With Android Goodies

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://androinica.com/2011/11/kindle-fire-android-apps/' target='_blank'>http://androinica.com/2011/11/kindl...e-android-apps/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The Amazon Kindle Fire launches next week with thousands of apps available through the just re-launched Amazon Appstore for Android. Amazon just sent us a note that Hulu Plus and ESPN Scorecenter will be among the big names of apps joining the lineup of Fire options."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/adt/auto/1321219559.usr7.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Now the question simply is - how long will it take for certain nice things (like the Hulu Plus app) to make it from Amazon's Kindle Fire to the rest of the Android world (Amazon streaming video would be nice too!). Anyone got a Fire pre-ordered?</p>

[Macguy59]

Yup. Preordered mine yesterday from Best Buy. I was only the 25th preorder and they anticipate having over 100 Fires in stock for Tuesday. By their own admission they had done zero promo for the preorder. They weren't even sure yet where they were going to be placed physically in the store yet. I think Amazon is going to sell a ton of these (assuming they work as well as they did in the demo units) once word gets out. Finally saw a TV ad for it yesterday.

[Michael Knutson]

Mine should arrived tomorrow. I looked in my Kindle account, and the Fire is already there, and configured to use all my existing content. I'll be curious about Amazon's "market" for additional content. As an Android newbie, I'm excited (can you tell?) !!!

[Macguy59]

Took it back to Best Buy. Not a bad first effort but it needs to cook some more. Just looking at the specs you would think the Fire would feel quite a bit lighter than iPad 2. It didn't. Felt surprisingly heavy. The real killer for me is no location services. On the plus side Netflix and Hulu Plus worked well.

[Chris Gohlke]

Liking mine so far. The UI does involve a bit of a mindset change for those that have been using tablets for a while, but I bet tablet newbies will like it.

The form factor is great. I know some people will be begging for a bigger screen, but I think the size is just the perfect balance of screen size and portability.

I'll be using it two ways.

At home as my casual, sit on the couch look something up quick browser, and carry netflix/other media to other rooms of the house/garage/backyard.

Away from home, as a companion to my smartphone for media consumption. Sure my phone handles all these tasks, but the huge screen (relative to my phone) and ability to save the battery on my phone makes this a small and lightweight companion that I'm willing to toss in my bag. Sure you can do this with an iPad or other tablet, but both the price and size make this more usable.