Amazon Kindle Fire Features Review

Amazon's recently introduced Kindle Fire is a fine device and value for the money. For $199, the Fire's seven-inch screen is adequate to view high-definition video, as well as read text. Powered by the Android operating system, an open system used by many manufacturers, the Fire is capable of displaying up to 16 million colors. It uses the same style in-plane switching at 169 ppi at 1024 by 600 dpi resolution. With the proper adapter you can interface the Fire with a high-definition device as it does support the USB 2.0 convention (micro-USB connector). With the right adapter cable you can view or update the Fire with your PC. The USB connector also acts as a battery charger.

When I had the chance to use one recently, I jumped at it and I found that I could view streaming video through a public WiFi hotspot as I was viewing a video I had wanted to watch for some time. It is impressive to turn the screen a full 90 degrees (from vertical to horizontal) and without missing a pixel. Like all network-enabled Kindles, the Fire supports WiFi in public hotspots or it can be used as part of an enterprise network with the proper security features. The Fire recognizes WPA, WPA2 and WEP security and 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.n networking. This allows the Fire to work at very high speeds. An impressive feature of this networking capability is the "Whispersync" feature that updates your Fire in the background.

Fire comes equipped with 8GB of memory as standard. They reserve 2GB for operating and system functions and leave 6 for the user. This is more than enough to store as many books as one wants. Amazon claims you can have up to 4,000 loaded, but that is a bit much. Several hundred is probably a good figure and it leaves room for you to upload various apps that you might want to upload. As an Android-based device, there are many approved apps that enable GPS or clock or whatever function you might imagine.

There's also Amazon's Silk browser with its speed and smooth action. With it you can log into your email service and take care of business from your seat on the tram, as long as there is a public WiFi hotspot nearby. (The best thing about most major cities across the US and globe is that the city leaders recognize the value of instant connectivity so WiFi networks are growing outward all the time.) Even at home you can use the Fire and its touch-screen keypad to enable not only Web browsing through Silk but also use your email and other services.

A 1GHz dual-core processor supports the speed of the Fire. If you order one - we found - that it comes already preregistered to your Amazon account and that you have access to more than 18 million movies, videos, magazines, books and apps. You can also download any DOC or DOCX document or PDF file to read later. And, your cloud drive storage, which starts at 5 GB can be expanded quickly.