Kindle Fire HD Will Be Tough to Hack, Easy to Repair

We've got bad news and good news for gadget-hounds looking at Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablets.

The bad news:

If you're counting on replacing the forked version of Android Amazon loads onto its Fire tablets with an unadulterated install of Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean, you might want to hold off buying. A thread on the XDA developers forum suggests Amazon hasn't made the devices nearly as easy to hack as last time:

"It doesn't look good. This is not to say that it's impossible, but it will be considerably more difficult to manipulate these devices than [it was with] their 1st generation cousin."

While it's possible to work around a locked bootloader, the Fire HD tablets apparently include other "high security" features hard-wired into TI's OMAP processors. If a customizable interface or access to to the Google Play store are must-have features for you, choosing between Amazon's tablets and Google's Nexus 7 shouldn't be difficult.

The good news:

A report at iFixit - the guys who take new gadgets apart so we don't have to - has concluded the Kindle Fire HD (7") won't be impossible to repair or upgrade. Citing a "very easy to open" backplate, relatively few internal components and no adhesive to hold the battery in place, they scored it 7/10 for "repairability" - the same as the Nexus 7, but a big jump from the latest iPad's 2/10 rating.

It might not be exceptionally easy to upgrade the processor or LCD display, but you shouldn't have to send it in to the factory just to replace the battery.

If Amazon manages to stop you from rooting it, will you still buy a Kindle Fire HD? Let us know in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN. 

Source : ign[dot]com

Amazon Unveils New Products, Partnerships

Today at a media event in Santa Monica, Amazon announced an assortment of heavily-rumored products, including a new Kindle eReader.

The backlit 'Paperwhite' Kindle reader will surely tempt to eReading aficionados. The new eReader sports a white background that is reminiscent to paper, easier on the eyes, and is gently backlit.

The new Kindle has 25% more contrast, 212 PPI, 62% more pixels. It also has a more accurate touch capacitive screen. Light Guide took 4 years of research and development. "It's exactly like ambient light."

They're going to leave it on all the time, so they worked on 8-week battery life even with the light on.

The new Kindle is 9.1mm thin, 7.5 ounces.

The new Kindle also comes with a brand new feature, called "Time to Read." By clicking the bottom left corner, the Kindle will tell you how much time is left in the chapter, and how much time it will take you to finish the book. The Kindle tracks your average reading speed, adjusts the timers based on your individual reading speed.

The new touchscreen paperwhite Kindle will sell for $119, and will ship October 1st. The 3G version offers free 3G at $119.

The $79 Kindle has also received a minor upgrade, with faster pageturns a black body, a price drop, and a "new name: the $69 Kindle."

New Kindle Fires

Amazon updated its Kindle Fire with a faster processor, doubled the RAM, and cut the price by $40. For only $159 you can get a pretty serious 7-inch tablet.

But the Kindle Fire bump was small news when compared to the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon's new tablet, which has an 8.9" HD IPS display, at 1920 x 1200 resolution at 254 PPI.

The Fire HD has an OMAP 4470 processor, made by Texas Instruments.

Amazon has updated their display, which features 25% less glare with a laminated screen. The Fire HD also has dual stereo speakers, two antennas, and a MIMO-capability, which supposedly makes the internet 41% faster internet than the iPad, and 54% faster WiFi than the Nexus 7.

Amazon also unveiled a feature across their tablets capabilities, called Whispersync. Whispersync will save your progress in a book, even if you're listening to it as an audiobook. For Games, Whispersync saves your progress, unlocked levels, and more. If you ever have to reinstall your games you won't have to start over.

The Fire HD will start at 16GBs.

No word yet on pricing or release date.

Developing...

Nic is the Editor of IGN Tech. He loves technology almost as much as The Great Gatsby, The Idiot, and Life of Pi. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Kindle Touches Get Yanked, Refresh Inevitable

Mere weeks before a major Amazon announcement, both the Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G are out of stock on Amazon's website. Does this mean a Kindle refresh is inevitable?

In a word? Yep.

The Kindles were refreshed almost exactly a year ago, and increasing pressure from e-reader competition like the backlit Nook and sub-$200 tablets like the Nexus 7 may have ostensibly forced Amazon to refresh their entire line of Kindles.

Current rumors suggest we could see up to five or six new SKUs from Amazon, but it's uncertain whether these alleged SKUs will be a variety of different Kindle Fires or include e-readers (Amazon currently sells six different Kindles).

While a backlit screen is almost guaranteed, what else would you want to see from Kindle e-readers? What would get you more excited about a Kindle Fire 2 than, say, a Nexus 7? Let us know in the comments.

Nic is the Tech Editor at IGN. He loves technology almost as much as Brand New, Boyz II Men, and A Day to Remember. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com