Amazon aims to speed up deliveries with new truck trailers

Don’t be surprised if you see an Amazon-branded semi-trailer on the road this holiday season. The shopping giant just announced that it’s snapped up “thousands” of trailers (the rear cargo portion of tractor-trailers) to beef up its shipping capabilities in North America, CNET reports. That’ll be particularly useful as we approach the holidays, since it’ll help to avoid delays and offer shoppers more time to select Amazon’s speedy two-day and one-day shipping options. The company will still rely on partners for their drivers and trucks, and it’s only using the trailers to move packages to its distribution centers. Amazon is already relying on couriers and branded vehicles for its same-day Prime Now service, as well as for AmazonFresh grocery deliveries, so there’s a chance it could eventually compete with the likes of FedEx and UPS.

Source: CNET

Amazon Fire review: Its little price gets you decently far

Amazon is a firm in believer in its Fire tablets. So much so that this time around, Amazon priced the Fire at a meager $49, making it very attractive for those on a budget. At $49, you don’t expect much, but it’s by far the best value tablet on the market. You’re not going to find anything better than this for $49.

That’s the most important thing to keep in mind about the Fire. It’s the best tablet for the price Amazon is asking. That doesn’t mean the specifications are as good as the specs found in a Nexus 7 (2013) or the more Nexus 9. But, that’s not what Amazon is trying to get at. The online retailer has made tablets accessible to everybody at this price point, and while they’re not necessarily the best Android tablet out there, the value you get is extraordinary for $49.

Design

The design of Amazon’s new Fire is what we’ve come to expect over the years. There’s not a whole lot of changes. On the front, you still have the front-facing VGA camera up top. Around the back, you get the standard Amazon logo near the center of the tablet. FCC branding is near the bottom with the speaker grill placed to the left of that. Finally, there’s a 2-megapixel rear camera at the top left of the tablet.

It’s not an ugly tablet and it’s not a nice looking tablet. However, it has some characteristics that are outright annoying, such as the charging port at the top of the device. Oddly, the power button, the volume rocker, and the 3.5mm audio jack are all at the top as well. It certainly makes it awkward to hold if you’re charging the tablet and watching a movie simultaneously.

Aside from the awkward button placement and chunky design, the Fire is easy and comfortable to grip. You’re going to experience little to no slip when reading books or watching media for an extended of time, which is a big plus.

Hardware

The Amazon Fire features a 7-inch 1024×600 IPS LCD display, a quad-core 1.3GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for an additional 128GB, a 2MP rear camera, a VGA front camera, and an unknown non-removable battery.

Performance

The media package in the Fire leaves you wanting more. Equipped with a 7-inch display and a meager resolution of 1024 x 600, various types of media content just doesn’t look great on the Fire. Don’t get me wrong, the display looks nice, but you’re not going to be watching movies and video in the highest quality.

In some cases, text on webpages look blurry as well, and increasing the brightness only seems to make it worse. What else would you expect from a $50 tablet, though? It’s obvious Amazon had to make some serious cost cuts in order to bring this device to the market.

As far as performance goes, the Fire is impressive. Amazon’s tablet is very speedy and responsive. In my time with the tablet, I experienced little to no lag, though there was some stutter at certain points when navigating or loading an app.

Sound is also awful. It’s not crisp and clean many would expect when playing a song. In fact, playing music or video, the speakers sounded muffled and almost produces a level of static.

Amazon has truly made an excellent low-end tablet. For $49, this is the best you’re going to get. But keep in mind, the best actually isn’t very good when compared to tablets higher up the food chain.

Battery

The battery in the Fire does just fine for this tablet. It’s a non-removable battery rated for up to 7 hours of use. I was able to average five or six hours of video playback on the tablet before it would finally die. However, if you don’t watch video regularly, the Fire will actually last you days on end.

For example, I’ve looked at email, browsed various websites, checked up on Facebook fairly regularly, and this tablet has lasted about three days before getting low on juice. There are even Power Saving features built-in, which’ll only increase the amount of battery life you’ll get out of the Fire. Obviously your miles will vary, but for $49, it’s impressive.

Camera

As far as the camera goes, you’re not looking at anything special. All you get is a meager 2-megapixel rear performer and a VGA front camera. Both produces grainy and overall low quality photos. And that’s not a bad thing whatsoever. After all, are you truly buying a tablet for the camera? Probably not.

There’s enough here to make video conferences and video calls workable, and that’s all the Fire really needs to do. Despite that, I’ve provided some photo samples below.

As you can see, they’re most definitely not the best photos you’ll ever see on a mobile device, but again, does that truly matter with the Fire?

Software

With Fire OS 5.0, there’s been some significant improvements to Amazon’s Fire tablets. The user interface is much cleaner, things are generally quicker when navigating through menus, playing video, and so on. While Amazon may have made some great enhancements to Fire OS, it still lacks much of what makes Android great: Google Play Services.

If you’re not familiar with Amazon’s Fire tablets, they’re completely cut off from the Play Store any other related services like YouTube and Gmail. You can access these services through the Web, but most certainly not a dedicated application. Besides that, you’re pretty much stuck with what Amazon decides to give you in the Appstore. Granted, the Appstore has seen a lot of significant improvements content-wise. In fact, it has “apps” like Gmail and YouTube, but not in the sense that you might think.

These so-called apps advertised on Amazon’s Appstore aren’t worth writing home about, as they’re essentially just bookmarks to accessing Gmail and YouTube on the web. It’s very disappointing, which makes the Fire tablet lose much of its value, at least for me.

But there are also a lot of benefits to this type of ecosystem. All of Amazon’s services work extremely well. Getting books, TV shows, movies, and music on the Fire tablet is all a seamless process and enjoyable process.

With that in mind, what it all boils down to is whether you can live without Google’s services on your tablet. And if so, you’re in for one of the best Amazon Android experiences you can get your hands on. Amazon has made it clear: this is not a Google tablet, but an Amazon tablet.

And you know what? Amazon makes it work very well.

Closing

Amazon has truly shown us that tablets don’t have to be expensive. There honestly isn’t too many noticeable differences from the Fire tablet, and say, the Nexus 9. Despite the lower specifications, the Fire hardly lags in playing more demanding games. It’s able to handle almost anything you throw at it. And the only two real cons here is that it has a much lower quality display and it’s missing Google’s services. But then again, for $49, is that really something to complain about?

Amazon has put together an amazing 7-inch tablet for just $49. Not only that, but in getting rid of Google’s services, they’ve tried to provide ways to replace those services and even give users access to them in roundabout ways. Amazon is trying to take care of its customers with this $49 tablet, and they’re doing that well.

So, should you get the Fire? I’d say yes. It’s only $49, making it a very low-risk purchase. Jump in and see what the Fire is all about. You might end up actually liking it.

[Amazon]

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Amazon launches Fire 7 tablet in China

As expected, Amazon has now launched its latest Fire tablet in China. The slate carries a price tag of RMB 499 ($78) and comes with complimentary 3-day shipping included — so if you order today, the device should be with you by Monday, December 7.

Amazon has teamed up with Chinese Internet firm Baidu to give customers access to search, applications and online video streaming. Users will also be able to get their hands on English-learning features, like Word Wise as well as tons of Kindle books.

If you’re based in China, like the sound of the Fire 7 and would like to find out more about picking one up — hit the source link below.

Source: Amazon

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Amazon’s Fire 7 tablet will soon be available to purchase in China

Amazon today announced that its fastest selling tablet yet, the Fire 7, will soon be available to purchase in China. Amazon discounted the Fire 7 to just $35 during its Black Friday sales, and as a result, it was one of the hottest selling electronics this season.

Amazon China was able to reach a deal with Baidu, a leading internet provider in China, to offer search, apps, and an online video experience for Amazon tablets in China. There’s no telling at this point how much actual content Chinese users will have access to, largely because of China’s strict Internet laws.

“With millions of readers already using Kindle e-readers in China, we’re excited to now offer another incredibly affordable option, particularly for customers learning to read English. With tools and features like Word Wise and Blue Shade, plus a large selection of Chinese and English content, we think readers will love the new Fire tablet, ” said Neil Lindsay, Vice President of Amazon Devices.

Customers will be able to purchase the Fire 7 from Amazon Chine for CNY$499.

Be sure to stay tuned with Talk Android, as we’ve got a review of Amazon’s Fire 7 tablet coming down the pipeline!

source: Business Wire

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[Deal] Amazon’s All-New Fire TV with 4K Ultra HD is reduced to just £65 in the UK

Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t deals to be found in the run-up to Christmas. Amazon UK slashed the prices of its Fire Tablet (keep an eye out for Brad’s upcoming review), Fire TV Stick and Echo devices last week, and this week the company is one of a selection of retailers discounting the all-new Fire TV 4K. 

Instead of the usual price of £79.99, you can now buy the all-new Fire TV 4K for just £64.99, giving a saving of £15. Besides the obvious choice of buying it from Amazon, if you can’t wait for it to be delivered you can pick it up from the following outlets:

• Currys/PC World
• Argos
• John Lewis (Update: out of stock)

If you’ve waited to pick up Amazon’s newest Fire TV, which boasts the ability to stream 4K content as well as improved internals, this could be as good a time as any to do so in the UK. It isn’t known when the promotion will end, so if you are thinking of buying it as a present, for someone else or even yourself, it’s probably best not to spend too much time pondering. Let us know if you pick one up in the comments below.

Come comment on this article: [Deal] Amazon’s All-New Fire TV with 4K Ultra HD is reduced to just £65 in the UK