Amazon gives its flagship Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 a modest spec boost
If you’ve ever seen a TV commercial for Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets, you know the company isn’t shy about comparing itself to Apple. Indeed, the retail giant is hoping you’ll buy its flagship Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 this holiday season instead of a boring iPad Air. This year, though, Amazon appears to be competing purely on specs: The company just refreshed the HDX 8.9, and while it has the same design as last year’s model (20 percent lighter than the iPad, as Amazon is quick to point out!), everything under the hood is just a bit better. A bit faster. The tablet is up for pre-order today for $379, the same price as last year’s HDX 8.9. Which makes sense: All things considered, this is a fairly modest upgrade.
For starters, this is the first tablet with Snapdragon’s top-of-the-line 805 chip — a 2.5GHz, quad-core processor that brings a 70 percent graphics improvement boost, according to Amazon. Raw performance aside, Amazon is claiming 12 hours of runtime this year, roughly similar to its predecessor. In addition to that 805 chip, this is also the first tablet with Dolby’s Atmos surround sound technology. Naturally, Amazon is quick to say that it’s twice as loud as the iPad Air, but that’s not really the point. The point is that the sound feels more immersive, like it’s coming at you from all directions. Indeed, after getting hands-on, I can confirm the audio is impressive — if you plug in a pair of headphones. Preferably some over-ears. You’re simply not going to get the same effect with just the tablet’s speakers, and an Amazon rep admitted in an interview that even in-ear earbuds might not be the same. Still, the next time you find yourself on a plane with some noise-canceling headphones, you could have yourself quite the movie-watching party.
Moving on, the HDX still has an 8.9-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 display with a pixel density of 339 ppi. That said, Amazon added a new “Dynamic Light Control” feature, which changes the white balance of the pages in reading mode to make it look more like paper depending on the ambient light conditions. That means it can go from cool to warm, from blue to nearly yellow. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of such a feature — the Samsung Galaxy Tab S works much the same way — but it’s a welcome addition here, especially since the price is staying the same. (If you disagree, Amazon says you can turn that feature off.) Finally, the new HDX has 802.11ac WiFi, a step up from 802.11n. Kind of a no-brainer upgrade, if you ask us.
http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518421001&responsive=false
Other than that, many of the HDX 8.9’s improvements boil down to Amazon’s new software, dubbed Fire OS 4.0. (Following Amazon’s grand tradition of giving its software alcohol-themed code names, this build is called “Sangria.”) New features include unlimited online photo storage, the ability to add up to six user profiles, as well as a so-called Family Library where you can share apps, games, books and videos with someone else in the family — your spouse, say. For the first time, Amazon is also throwing in a word processing suite, WPS Office, which — surprise — stores files on Amazon’s own Cloud Drive service.
Firefly, a feature first introduced on the Fire Phone, is also making its debut on tablets. If you recall, it basically lets you scan anything you set your eyes on — and then buy it. Additionally, Amazon ported over its ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) feature from Fire TV, which guesses at which movies and TV shows you’re searching for, and gets ready to stream them before you actually hit “play.” This time around, the software is built on Android KitKat — not that this looks anything like Android. If anything, the move to KitKat might make it a little easier for developers to bring over their apps to Amazon’s own app store. But as far as the UI, this is uniquely Amazon: easy to use, but heavily skinned.
Though the software contains some useful new features, it’s not reason enough to buy the HDX 8.9 specifically: Amazon’s other new tablets run the same OS, and last year’s models will also get upgraded to Fire OS 4.0. On that note, the 7-inch HDX will still be around, except Amazon is cutting the price by $30 to $199. Always an option if you want the user profiles, but not necessarily the Snapdragon 805 chip. (We can’t blame you there.) Again, the new HDX 8.9 is up for pre-order today. Aside from the tablet, there’s also a keyboard to go with it ($60) and a new folding “Origami” cover that’s about 20 percent lighter than last year’s case. Will we review it? Maybe we will; maybe we won’t. Either way: You generally know what to expect here.
Terrence O’Brien contributed to this report.
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Amazon’s new budget tablets include 6- and 7-inch sizes, as well as a kids edition
Here’s the funny thing about Amazon: Because it’s already selling you stuff, it has an easy way of knowing when a product category is starting to take off. Case in point: budget tablets. After reading lots of user reviews complaining about cheap, unreliable slates, the company had two major takeaways. One, people actually buy this crap and two, maybe Amazon can do better. That brings us to today’s news: The outfit just introduced a 6-inch, $99 tablet, its least expensive yet. In addition, the company refreshed its $139 Kindle Fire HD 7 along with so-called Kids Edition models, which are basically the same 6- and 7-inch tablets, just with a two-year warranty and some robust parental controls. All of them start at under $200.
All told, with the exception of screen size, the two tablets have the same specs, including an unspecified quad-core 1.5GHz processor, a 1,280 x 800 screen, an eight-hour battery, Dolby Digital Plus audio and dual cameras, with the rear one capable of shooting 1080p video. Both run Amazon’s new Fire OS 4.0 (code-named “Sangria”), which brings over the Firefly scan-and-buy feature from the Fire phone and ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) from the Fire TV. With the new software, you can also add up to six user profiles. Finally, a new “Family Library” feature lets you share books, apps, games and videos with someone else in the house — maybe a spouse who has a different Amazon account.
Really, then, the only difference between the two tablets is screen density, with the 7-incher coming in at 216 ppi and the 6-inch model going up to 252. Obviously, since we haven’t tested these, we can’t vouch for the performance, but even so: Those are impressive screens for tablets this cheap. Other than that, the main selling point seems to be durability. Amazon used a Gorilla Glass panel to help ward off scratches, and it tested its tablets with sunscreen, salt water and even a machine that simulates items being tossed around inside a bag. Naturally, your mileage may vary, but Amazon is at least hoping its tablets will fare better than all those no-name brands people have been giving two-star reviews.
Meanwhile, as we said, the Kids Edition features the same 6- and 7-inch tablets, except it comes with a rubber case and a two-year replacement plan that covers the sorts of accidents not normally included in standard gadget warranties. Additionally, Amazon is including its “FreeTime Unlimited” package free for one year, which features various kid-friendly content that includes books, movies, TV shows, apps and games. (All this stuff varies in age-appropriateness, though Amazon says the tablet is primarily aimed at children ages three to 10.) Given that these are the HD 6 and HD 7, they do have front- and rear-facing cameras, though a future software update will also give kids the ability to add digital “stickers.” Like you do when you’re seven.
http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518421001&responsive=false
Speaking of software, there are naturally lots of parental controls on board here. By default, in-app purchases aren’t allowed, and kids don’t have access to the Appstore. Children can’t get into the settings — or email or the web browser, for that matter. Parents can set time goals (e.g., read for 30 minutes a day), and they can forbid kids from opening any of the “entertainment” content until they eat their vegetables get a certain amount of educational work out of the way. Parents can also limit time for different activities as well as set a curfew, after which the kids can’t access the device anymore. Finally, like other new Kindle Fire tablets, the Kids Edition has room for up to six user profiles, with the option to set different parental controls for each. And yes, if you happen to be the adult in the house, you could, if you wanted to, use the tablet in an unrestricted way, just like any other Amazon tablet.
The HD 6 starts at $99, while the HD 7 is priced the same as last year, at $139. Both are available in five colors, including white, black, fuchsia, cobalt blue and a neon yellow-green color (our name for it, not Amazon’s). The Kids Edition, meanwhile, starts at $149 for the 6-inch model and $189 for the 7-inch version. All of them ship in October, though you can pre-order them starting today. No word on whether we’ll enlist a kid to toss one of these around, but in the meantime, we’ve got some hands-on photos if you feel like taking a closer look.
Terrence O’Brien contributed to this report.
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Amazon’s $200 Kindle Voyage is the Rolls-Royce of e-readers
Perhaps Amazon sold a lot of 3G Paperwhites without special offers. Or maybe Kobo’s Aura HD has quietly taken the world by storm and Jeff Bezos decided he needed an answer. Whatever the impetus, Amazon has decided there is room in the world for a $199 e-reader. The Kindle Voyage was built for people who “love to read.” Clearly the company thinks there is a place out there for a premium e-reader and, while we can’t vouch for the vibrancy of the high-end e-reader market, we can confirm that Amazon has put together a stunner of a device. The familiar Kindle software has even picked up some neat new software tricks that the Voyage taught its more budget-minded siblings.
In many ways, the Voyage looks like your standard e-reader. It’s small, rectangular and there’s a crisp, beautiful E Ink screen up front. But once you start poking at it a bit, you realize this is a different beast from most of its predecessors. For one, like the Kobo Aura, the screen is flush with the body — there’s no raised bezel here. Secondly, the materials are decidedly more luxurious. The shell is made of a gorgeous matte magnesium that would feel at home on Lenovo’s top-of-the-line ThinkPads, while the front is a chemically hardened glass. That plate of glass is also micro-etched, which pretty much eliminates glare and lends a pleasing texture to the device. Amazon likes to say it feels like paper and, while that’s a bit of a stretch, the company isn’t completely off base. The small amount of resistance the etching adds delivers a tactility that is missing from a smooth, glossy panel.
Underneath the glass is a next-generation Paperwhite display that packs 300 pixels per inch in a 6-inch panel. To say text and images were “crisp” would be an understatement. Simply put, it’s the best screen we’ve ever seen on an e-reader. Even on complex images, you’d be hard-pressed to spot an individual pixel. And the lighting continues to be in a class above most of its competitors — it’s smooth, even and almost blinding at its highest settings. Amazon even sneaked some sensors into the Voyage, which allow it to automatically adjust the front light based on your surroundings.
The Voyage is also incredibly thin and light. At 7.6mm, it’s the thinnest Kindle yet and only 0.1mm thicker than an iPad Air. Obviously, we couldn’t sit and read for hours on end during our brief introduction to the device, but we can’t imagine you’d have any trouble holding it. And, even if your arm did get tired, there’s an Origami cover that can also act as a stand for your Kindle.
The Voyage also marks the return of page-turn buttons… sort of. Underneath the bezel is a force sensor that can trigger “PagePress” — Amazon’s fancy way of describing turning the page without touching the screen. You can still swipe if you want, but as any of you who read while standing on a bus or train know, one-handed swiping can be difficult. A small, vibrating motor even provides some haptic feedback to let you know you’ve turned the page (in case you couldn’t figure it out by looking at the screen).
The Kindle software has also picked up a few new tricks. Notably X-Ray has two new modes: an image browser for all your picture-heavy titles, and notable passages, which collects all the most important moments in a timeline view. While you could potentially use it like CliffsNotes, it seems more useful for quickly catching up if you’ve put a book down before finishing it. (I, for one, could really use this with my copy of The Wilderness Warrior, which has taken me almost three years to read.) There’s also WordWise, which puts definitions right on the page as you’re reading them. It’ll certainly be handy for students working to build their vocabulary, but it’s definitely too cluttered to use for everyday reading.
All of the new software features will be making their way to the refreshed Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite as well. The Paperwhite is getting only the mildest of upgrades — going from 2GB to 4GB of storage. The truly budget $79 Kindle, on the other hand, is getting a relatively significant revamp. The new design, other than its bulky body, is almost indistinguishable from the Paperwhite. The navigation buttons are all gone and the interface has gone all-touch. You also get a much beefier processor and twice the storage as before. While you don’t normally think about the processor in your e-reader, as Amazon keeps packing in features, you’ll be thankful for the extra horsepower. Even with the new CPU, you’ll probably notice a stutter or two as you poke around in X-Ray or start turning on features like WordWise.
Both the Voyage and the new Kindle will start shipping in October and are available for pre-order today. Now all Amazon has to do is convince someone that any e-reader, even one as lovely as the Voyage, is worth $200.
Filed under: Amazon
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It only takes $9,000 to join this social network
True or False: You don’t go on Facebook anymore, because it’s such a drag not being able to talk about your private jet’s new upholstery. After all, a few of your old friends post regularly about student debt and (gasp) mortgage payments, and it’ll make you look like an insensitive prick.
If you answered True, this new social network called Netropolitan hopes you’ll be willing to pony up a whopping $9,000 up front to rub virtual elbows with the equally rich. Netropolitan’s website describes it as “an online country club for people with more money than time” and is open to anyone over 21 with cash to throw around. There’s no need to add friends, since you can see everyone else’s post once you get it, but you can form groups around common interests (which, by the way, you can also do on Facebook for free).
This new social network for the elite was created by James Touchi-Peters, a former conductor of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, because he “saw a need for an environment where you could talk about the finer things in life without backlash,” according to CNN. He promises the website will show no ads and will offer a round-the-clock tech support to help you navigate the website. Netropolitan’s still in its very early stages, but if it lasts, you’ll have to pay a hefty $3,000 more per year to be able to stay.
If the website’s WordPress backend or .info TLD don’t suit your taste, though, you can always choose from the other exclusive social networks. There’s ASmallWorld, which was once described as the “MySpace for millionaires” and Affluence.org, which you can join for free if you can prove a $3 million net worth. Finally, there’s Topcom, which is like Facebook, Twitter and Skype combined, but only for the top 200 world leaders.
Filed under: Internet
Via: CNN
Source: Netropolitan
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Tim Cook makes Apple’s policies on privacy and security clearer
Whatever you think of Apple’s commitment to its user’s security as of say… two weeks ago, CEO Tim Cook seems to be following up on his promise to bring more clarity to the company’s efforts. Tonight he posted a letter to Apple customers on the company’s website, launching a new section focused solely on “Apple’s commitment to your privacy.” There you’ll find information information on how to use tools like two-factor authentication, recognize security threats and info on picking a strong password. Also included is the publicly available data on government requests and a little chest thumping on what Apple says it does to protect users that other companies (they mean Google) might not.
[Image credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite]
On iOS 8, Apple hides your device’s MAC address when it’s scanning for WiFi, which could otherwise be used to track the movement of a specific phone or tablet. Apple claims that unlike its competitors, it cannot bypass your passcode on iOS 8 to potentially unlock data from a device at the request of law enforcement. Of course, Apple still says that whatever data it does collect on users, could potentially be transferred to another company if it’s ever sold or merges — based on the current stock price that seems doubtful, but who knows. There’s a lengthy white paper available (PDF) on its iOS security policies as well, so whether you’re just need help locking down some private selfies, doing serious security research or trying to decide if Apple Pay is safe, there’s plenty of reading to be done.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Apple
Source: Apple.com/privacy, iOS Security White Paper (PDF)
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Amazon announces new Fire HD Kids Edition tablet ships in October for $149
Amazon PR went nuts this evening with a slew of new goodies to share. One such announcement is the release of a new kid friend and kid orientated Fire HD Kids Edition tablet. This isn’t a toy tablet, this is a full-blown Android tablet.
As you can see in the render, the Fire HD Kids Edition is very kid orientated in the look and design. Yes, that is just a case that surrounds it and it comes in blue, green or pink. Amazon doesn’t detail the internal specs, or even the screen resolution. They do make mention that it is a HD scree, so I assume at least 720p. It does offer up a front and rear facing camera along with Dolby Digital audio and a quad-core processor.
The Fire HD Kids Edition offers quite a bit for the kids that run our lives. This tablet comes with 1-year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. That gives the kiddos access to 5,000 books, movies, TV episodes, educational apps and games.
Amazon is really on point with this one. The tablet also comes with a 2-year worry-free guarantee. I am sure there is some fine print, but essentially if the tablet gets broken in the two years Amazon will replace it for you. That is probably one of the biggest fears I have when my son roams around with my tablet. Parents have additional control such as setting up individual profiles for each child, personalized screen time limits, educational goals and age-appropriate content settings. For instance, with the screen time limits, a parent can set it up to allow for unlimited reading time, but only a few hours of game time per day.
Keeping it kid friendly also makes it parent friendly in the bank account department. Amazon has priced these really well. There are two versions of the tablet, a 6-inch and a 7-inch. The 6-inch will set you back $149 and the 7-inch will set you back $189. Pre-ordering for the Fire HD Kids Edition is already underway with a shipping time line of October, no specific date given in the press release. If you are interested then head on over to Amazon for a closer look and to get your pre-order in now. I can already see the glow on the little tikes faces.
Via Amazon
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Amazon announces all-new Fire HDX 8.9 with 2.5GHz Snapdragon 805
We suspected it was coming, and now it is finally here. Months of speculation have ended after Amazon announced its follow-up to last year’s Fire HDX 8.9 with an all-new Fire HDX 8.9, boasting some very premium hardware. Chief among these is the processor, a Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.5GHz, the fastest that Qualcomm has to offer at the moment. The Fire HDX 8.9 also boasts a 8.9-inch 339ppi display, and is allegedly 20% lighter than the iPad Air. In fact, Amazon has marketed the Fire HDX 8.9 to directly compete with the iPad Air with almost all its features compared directly to the tablet market’s darling.
Amazon is also launching a new version of its forked Android OS, calling it Fire OS 4 “Sangria”. Fire OS 4 is essentially Android KitKat under the bonnet, but has been customized with Amazon’s wares. Of course, this means that Android apps will easily run on the Fire HDX 8.9, after a bit of fiddling. If that sounds like a good deal to you, Amazon is launching preorders for the device at $379 USD and there is also a 4G version of the device which will be available for $479 USD (on the website it seems to say $529 however) and can be preordered today as well – both tablets will start shipping in October. If 8.9-inches is a bit too big for you, Amazon will still be selling the Fire HDX 7 for $199 and will be updating it with the Fire OS 4 “Sangria” update in the near future.
If you’re interested to find out more about the new Fire HDX 8.9 devices, we have links to the Amazon pages below.
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Press Release
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 17, 2014– (NASDAQ: AMZN)–Amazon today introduced the all-new Fire HDX 8.9, which combines a startlingly light design and stunning HDX display with a new, more powerful processor, exclusive Dolby Atmos and the latest Dolby Audio, and all-new Fire OS 4 “Sangria” features and services. The new Fire HDX is available for pre-order starting today for just $379–learn more atwww.amazon.com/hdx.
The new Fire HDX features:
- Powerful 2.5 GHz processor with a 70% faster graphics engine for exceptional speed and fluidity, especially for graphically-intensive games.
- Exclusive HDX display with incredible pixel density (339 ppi) and perfect 100% sRGB color accuracy–now with Dynamic Light Control, which makes the pages of a book more closely resemble a real piece of paper in different lighting conditions.
- Startlingly light design–20% lighter than iPad Air.
- Exclusive new audio–twice as loud as iPad Air, with crisp, clear sound and no distortion; plus Fire HDX is the first tablet with Dolby Atmos.
- Fastest Wi-Fi, with support for 802.11ac MIMO which delivers up to 4x the peak bandwidth.
- Available with ultrafast 4G LTE wireless.
- New Fire Keyboard is the thinnest and lightest full-featured tablet keyboard, with a trackpad to make productivity and navigation easier than ever.
- Powered by the latest version of Fire OS–Fire OS 4 “Sangria”–with hundreds of new and upgraded features, platform updates, and Amazon-exclusive services.
- Family Library lets all members of your household access your apps, games, audiobooks, books, and Prime Instant Video content, even if they use a different Amazon account.
- Free, unlimited cloud storage for photos taken with new Fire tablets,automatically backed-up wirelessly.
- Front-facing HD camera makes it easy to stay in touch with Skype; 8MP rear-facing camera allows for high-resolution photos and 1080p HD video, and includes an LED flash, Electronic Image Stabilization, and a wide-aperturef/2.2 lens. The Camera application also allows customers to capture panoramas, lenticulars, and HDR recommended shots, and the film strip gives access to recent photos and videos, along with the ability to view, edit, share, and delete right from the camera.
- Firefly lets you quickly identify printed web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and bar codes, plus over 100 million items, including movies, TV episodes, songs, and products.
- ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction) predicts which movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and buffers them for playback before you even hit play, so videos start instantly.
- The Mayday button delivers revolutionary live tech support–one touch connects you to an Amazon expert who can guide you remotely through any feature–24×7, 365 days a year, and it’s free. Nearly 75% of Fire HDX and Fire phone customer questions now come via the Mayday button.
“The team has packed an incredible amount of technology and innovation into the new Fire HDX–an exclusive HDX display, a powerful quad-core processor, a 70% faster graphics engine, exceptional audio with Dolby Atmos, and the fastest Wi-Fi–and it’s still startlingly light,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Fire HDX combines best-in-class hardware with exclusive features and services from Fire OS 4 including Firefly, the Mayday button, Family Library, ASAP, and more.”
Exceptional Performance, World-Class Hardware
2.5 GHz, Quad-Core Processor Plus 70% Faster Graphics Engine
Fire HDX is the first tablet powered by the most advanced quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, with each core running at up to 2.5 GHz. With the updated CPU and a 70% faster GPU than the previous generation Fire HDX, the all-new Fire HDX provides fast and fluid gaming and video.
Exclusive HDX Display–Plus Dynamic Light Control
With 30% more pixels than iPad’s Retina display, Amazon’s exclusive HDX display combines exceptional pixel density (over 4 million pixels, 339 ppi) and perfect color accuracy (100% sRGB) resulting in the most lifelike images. The HDX display features Dynamic Light Control, which changes the white point of the display based on the ambient light of the surroundings in order to make the page of a Kindle book more closely resemble a piece of paper–this makes the best reading experience on a tablet even better on the new Fire HDX. Dynamic Light Control will be enabled starting later this year as part of a free, over-the-air software update.
Exceptional Audio–The First Tablet with Dolby Atmos
Fire HDX is twice as loud as an iPad Air, delivering crisp, clear audio without distortion. The new Fire HDX is the first tablet with Dolby Atmos, which creates a new mobile headphone experience with multidimensional sound that flows above and around you. In a movie with Dolby Atmos, sound moves around you to match what you see on the screen–rain on a roof, airplanes taking off–so you’ll hear the sounds where they would be in real life.
Startlingly Light Design–20% Lighter than Air
Fire HDX is startlingly light, 20% lighter than iPad Air. Weighing just 13.2 ounces, Fire HDX’s frame is made of 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 weight or durability.
Incredible Real-World Battery Life–Even Longer with Smart Suspend
Even with a faster, more power-hungry processor, Fire HDX delivers incredible battery life–up to 12 hours of reading, surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos, and listening to music–without adding weight or thickness to the design. The new Fire HDX also has weeks of standby battery life, so you don’t have to worry about waking up in the morning to find your tablet battery depleted because you forgot to plug it in. This standby battery life is made possible by combining power-efficient hardware components, low-level software improvements, and a new feature called Smart Suspend. Smart Suspend develops a device-specific profile for when the tablet is typically not in use and proactively turns wireless off and on to save power. Smart Suspend will still turn on Wi-Fi periodically to fetch new emails or app notifications, so when you pick up your tablet it’s ready to go and up to date.
Fastest Wireless–4x the Peak Bandwidth with 802.11ac
Fire HDX supports the latest-generation wireless standard 802.11ac, which is capable of a peak bandwidth of 600Mbps, 4x the peak bandwidth of the previous generation Fire HDX.
Fire Keyboard–Thinnest and Lightest Full-Featured Keyboard with a Trackpad
Tablet keyboards have been frustrating to use because they work for typing but not for navigation, so you have to keep switching between typing on the keyboard and reaching up to tap the tablet display. Fire Keyboard solves this by including a trackpad within its incredibly thin and light design–it weighs just 7 ounces and is 4.8mm thin, 30% thinner than a #2 pencil. Fire Keyboard also includes Instant Search–just start typing and the search bar will appear, letting you search across your content libraries, Amazon.com, and the web. The keyboard connects magnetically to the new Fire HDX 8.9 Origami cover making it simple to carry and easy to remove if you aren’t using it–since the Fire Keyboard is detachable you can place it as close to or as far from the tablet as you’d like for the most comfortable typing position. The keyboard is available for $59.99–learn more at www.amazon.com/keyboard.
Origami Cover
The new Origami cover is nearly 20% lighter than the previous generation, and attaches magnetically so it’s easy to take on and off. The Origami design provides a stable stand for both portrait and landscape positions, and automatically turns the tablet on when it’s opened, and off when it’s closed. The cover features a custom slide feature that quickly exposes the rear-facing camera and automatically launches the camera application so you won’t miss a great photo opportunity. The cover is available starting at $54.99–learn more at www.amazon.com/origami.
Connect to TV, Monitor, or USB Accessories
Fire HDX’s microUSB port is used not only for charging, but also to connect Fire HDX to your other devices. With the Amazon HDMI and VGA adapters you can connect Fire HDX to your TV, a computer monitor, or projector. With the Amazon USB adapter you can connect USB flash drives, SD card readers, or a wired keyboard or mouse. These are available at www.amazon.com/fire-accessories.
Introducing Fire OS 4 “Sangria”
Fire HDX is powered by the newest version of Fire OS–Fire OS 4 “Sangria”–which introduces hundreds of new and updated features. Fire OS delivers the most customer-friendly Android user interface–it starts with Android KitKat, and improves upon it by deeply integrating the hardware, platform, software, content, and the Amazon cloud. If an app runs on Android, it can run on Fire OS with little to no work. Read more:www.amazon.com/fire-os.
Profiles
Give everyone a personalized experience–each family member gets his or her own Profile, including individual email, Facebook and Twitter accounts, settings such as display brightness, page in the book, spot in a movie, and game levels, without taking up extra storage on the device for multiple copies of large files like videos and games.
Family Library
Never again worry about whose account has the Prime membership or who bought that book you want to read. Family Library links your Amazon account to that of your spouse or partner so you can easily share apps, games, audiobooks, books, and Prime Instant Video content within your household without changing accounts. Family Library lets family members share their content while using a single Fire tablet with different profiles, or across multiple devices–including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire phone, and Amazon Fire TV–as well as on all of the other most popular devices and platforms with the free Kindle, Audible, and Amazon Instant Video apps.
Firefly
Available for the first time on a tablet, Firefly combines Amazon’s deep catalog of physical and digital content with image, text and audio recognition technologies to quickly identify web and email addresses, phone numbers, QR and bar codes, plus over 100 million items, including movies, TV episodes, songs, and products. Simply tap on Firefly in the Quick Settings menu to use Firefly for text, songs, videos, products, and more.
ASAP–Advanced Streaming and Prediction
You shouldn’t have to wait 10 seconds for a video to buffer after you press “Play”–it should start immediately. The new ASAP feature predicts which movies and TV episodes you’ll want to watch and prepares them for playback before you even tap play. This feature is smart–the caching predictions get better over time, so ASAP will continuously improve as you use your tablet.
The Mayday Button–Revolutionary On-Device Tech Support
On Fire HDX, simply hit the Mayday button in quick actions and an Amazon expert will appear via live video to co-pilot you through any feature on the device. Amazon experts are able to draw on the screen, talk you through how to do a task, or do it for you–whatever works best. Mayday is available 24×7, 365 days a year, and it’s free. Amazon’s response time goal for Mayday is 15 seconds or less.
View, Edit, and Create Office Documents, for Free
Fire HDX comes pre-loaded with WPS Office, the most popular Android Office app with over 245 million customers and 250,000 five-star reviews. This lets you create, edit, and view Office documents, and is fully compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. WPS Office also integrates with Cloud Drive, so Office documents created or edited on Fire HDX are automatically backed up and available through the Cloud Drive app on other mobile devices and computers.
All the Content
Amazon offers the best selection of digital content–over 33 million movies, TV shows, songs, apps, games, books, audiobooks, and magazines–including hundreds of thousands of exclusives:
- Over 200,000 movies and TV episodes–stream or download, purchase or rent.
- Tens of thousands of popular movies and TV episodes are available at no additional cost for Prime members with Prime Instant Video, the exclusive subscription streaming home to shows like Downton Abbey, Extant, 24, Dora the Explorer, Blue’s Clues, and many more. Prime Instant Video is also the exclusive online-only subscription streaming home to award-winning HBOoriginal shows such as The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and many others.
- Over 300,000 apps and games in the Amazon Appstore, including the most popular titles like Facebook, Netflix, iHeartRadio, Twitter, Angry Birds Stella, Minecraft: Pocket Edition, and more. Apps are tested for the Amazon Appstore and Fire tablets.
- Millions of songs–purchases are stored for free in the cloud for access anytime, anywhere.
- Prime Music–unlimited ad-free access to over a million songs and hundreds of custom-built playlists. Download songs from the Prime Music catalog for offline playback. Free with Amazon Prime.
- Hundreds of magazines and newspapers are available for a free trial subscription, including popular titles like People, Vogue, Better Homes & Gardens, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and many more.
- Millions of books, including hundreds of thousands of titles that are exclusive to the Kindle Store. Over a million titles are $4.99 or less, over two million are$9.99 or less.
- Kindle Unlimited–enjoy unlimited reading of over 700,000 books and unlimited listening to a selection of thousands of audiobooks for just $9.99 a month, including Flash Boys, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Life of Pi.
- Over 150,000 professionally-narrated audiobook titles from Audible, with free samples to listen to before buying.
The Fire Family
Fire HDX 8.9 is $379. It is available for pre-order starting today atwww.amazon.com/hdx and will start shipping in October. The 4G version is $479–you can pre-order today at www.amazon.com/fire-hdx-8.9-4g and it will begin shipping in October.
Fire HDX 7 will continue to be available and will receive the Fire OS 4 update with many of these features later this year. Order today at www.amazon.com/fire-hdx-7 for just$199.
Amazon also today introduced the new Fire HD which comes with a stunning 6″ or 7″ HD display, quad-core processor, Dolby Digital Audio, front- and rear-facing cameras, and an incredibly reliable design–and starts at just $99. Order today atwww.amazon.com/fire-hd.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS,Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.
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GDC award for culture critic Anita Sarkeesian led to bomb threat
A bomb threat was made regarding a speaker and award recipient at the Game Developer’s Choice Awards (part of the annual Game Developer’s Conference) in San Francisco this past March. Anita Sarkeesian (pictured above), host of Tropes vs. Women in Video Games, a YouTube series that naturally examines the way women are depicted in video games, was the intended target. As Kotaku reports, an anonymous email was sent to around 25 of GDC’s organizers stating the following:
“A bomb will be detonated at the Game Developer’s Choice award ceremony tonight unless Anita Sarkeesian’s Ambassador Award is revoked. We estimate the bomb will kill at least a dozen people and injure dozens more. It would be in your best interest to accept our simple request. This is not a joke. You have been warned.”
Sarkeesian’s acceptance speech
The San Francisco police department scoured the Moscone Center’s grounds (where the show is held) but came up with nothing. Any further details regarding the investigation weren’t disclosed to Kotaku. Meanwhile, GDC’s organizers didn’t alert any of the attendees of the threat, but apparently upped security and increased random bag checks as people entered the award ceremony.
This isn’t the most recent threat against Sarkeesian, and sadly will likely not be the last we hear of, either. She’s been harassed since her wildly successful Kickstarter for the Tropes series (the project’s modest $6,000 goal was fully funded in 24 hours and went on to amass over $158,000 in pledges) made its debut. Her website was hit with distributed denial of service attacks, her email and social media accounts have come under hacking attempts and she’s been threatened that her personal contact info would be distributed to hate sites online. All before the first episode was made. Why? Because some people on the internet aren’t okay with her shedding light on the fact that women are often portrayed as little more than background dressing in video games.
[Image credit: Infomastern/Flickr]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Kotaku
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The Uber effect: how San Francisco’s cab use dropped 65-percent
Hailing a ride has never been easier — just take out your phone, tap on an app and wait for your internet-wrangled chauffeur to arrive. Companies like Uber and Lyft are reinventing the transportation industry, and traditional taxi services are feeling it. According to Kate Toran, interim Taxis and Accessible Services director for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the average taxi is only making about 504 trips per month. Two years ago (specifically, in March of 2012) the average trip per taxi averaged at 1,424.
“There’s been a real reduction,” she told the SFMTA board of directors earlier this week, “but obviously this doesn’t tell the whole story.” Without hard data from the transportation apps, the bigger picture is just unclear. Either way, the SFMTA is trying to find ways to retain and attract drivers to traditional taxi programs, and has moved to waive fees for dispatch renewal, color scheme renewal and taxi driver applications. The city is also considering allowing taxis to use wrap advertising on their cabs.
At least competition is forcing the taxi industry to evolve — Troan’s report says that 80% of the San Francisco taxi fleet can be e-hailed with Flywheel, and another 60% of the fleet has adopted Curb. More drivers are accepting credit cards these days too, and taxi drivers still have exclusive rights to pick up passengers at the airport. Will the taxi companies be able to bounce back from the Uber effect? Maybe, but there’s only one San Francisco transportation firm that offers DeLorean rides. You can check out Toran’s full slide presentation at the source link below.
[Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons]
Filed under: Misc, Transportation
Via: The Atlantic
Source: San Francisco Examiner
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Apple Releases OS X 10.9.5 With Reliability Improvements, Safari 7.0.6
Apple today released OS X 10.9.5, after approximately a month of testing and two months after the release of OS X 10.9.4.
The update, which is recommended for all Mavericks users, improves the reliability of VPN connections that use USB smart cards for authentication and it improves the reliability of accessing files located on an SMB server. Also included with OS X 10.9.5 is Safari 7.0.6.
OS X 10.9.5 will likely be the final update to Mavericks ahead of the release of OS X Yosemite, which is expected in October. OS X Yosemite brings several improvements to the operating system, including a revamped look and several new features that improve integration with iOS.
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