This is the first really bad news I’ve heard about the Kindle Fire

And it just might be a deal breaker for me. I’m fine with the cus­tomized OS and the lack of cam­era, but block­ing APIs and restrict­ing apps I really don’t like.

Embed­ded Link

Kin­dle Fire will get Hulu Plus and “sev­eral thou­sand” apps, but not all Android apps will be com­pat­i­ble
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.
How­ever, accord­ing to tech mover and shaker Robert Scoble, not all Android apps will be com­pat­i­ble with the Kin­dle Fire. Scoble made a com­ment on Google+ that a devel­oper showed him an amaz­ing Android app for phones and tablets t…

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Post imported by Google+Blog. Cre­ated By Daniel Tread­well.

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15 thoughts on “This is the first really bad news I’ve heard about the Kindle Fire”

  1. Rebecca Raven
    November 11, 2011 at 17:54

    I haven’t seen the list of APIs but the Fire is so stripped down (no phone, no cam­era, etc) that it prob­a­bly doesn’t need half the APIs as my 4g phone. Does the Fire even have GPS? No APIs needed for loca­tion then either…it looks like an incred­i­bly sta­tic device which pretty much fits the $200 price point.

    Reply
  2. Linda Horne
    November 11, 2011 at 17:58

    If you want a tablet to do more, get a big tablet. This is for those of us who wanted a reader with just a lit­tle bit more at a reader price. Do not treat this first release as some big tablet release!

    Reply
  3. Eoghann Irving
    November 11, 2011 at 18:00

    I want a tablet that does more but comes in around this price point.

    Reply
  4. Linda Horne
    November 11, 2011 at 18:12

    We’ve come a long way with pric­ing, but we’re not there yet for tablets. You can wait for the next release of the Fire which will prob­a­bly have a cam­era, but I sus­pect they will con­tinue to block a lot of API’s and apps. If you depend on a huge range of apps, you should con­sider sav­ing up for some­thing else. I sug­gest a Sam­sung, but that’s because my per­sonal expe­ri­ence using it was fab­u­lous.
    The price tag directly reflects Amazon’s wish to get more Ama­zon users. If it works smoothly, it will be suc­cess­ful. It will not be suc­cess­ful for every­one, but this tablet is def­i­nitely a trade-off.

    Reply
  5. Eoghann Irving
    November 11, 2011 at 18:18

    I’m not inter­ested in a $400 tablet. The price/value just isn’t there for me. I’d be bet­ter off stick­ing with my Net­book at that point.

    Reply
  6. Linda Horne
    November 11, 2011 at 18:20

    If the con­stric­tion both­ers you then that would prob­a­bly be a bet­ter option, at least until we see what the next release holds. It won’t be long com­ing :)

    Reply
  7. Jennifer Coleman
    November 11, 2011 at 18:33

    Depend­ing on the RAM on this thing, you won’t be able to install all the apps avail­able any­ways. As an android user, most of the decent apps prob­a­bly only num­ber to max of 1000 or so. I wouldn’t dis­miss the fire right away unless there is an app you absolutely need is not included.

    Reply
  8. Eoghann Irving
    November 11, 2011 at 18:37

    It’s more that it’s locked down. Which was always a pos­si­bil­ity but pre­vi­ously uncon­firmed. I’m not inter­ested in a com­puter or tablet that’s locked down.

    I like being able to install all sorts of weird stuff on my phone and just try things out.

    Now when some­one gets round to root­ing this thing…

    Reply
  9. Katey Springle Lempka
    November 11, 2011 at 18:38

    Is it rootable? We like our rooted Nook color. Though, we’ll now be in the car and my 4-year-old will pipe up, “Mommy, do we have Wi-Fi?”

    Reply
  10. Eoghann Irving
    November 11, 2011 at 18:41

    Nobody knows for sure yet, but there are very few android based devices that aren’t rootable one way or another.

    Still there’s always the new Nook which is only $50 more.

    Reply
  11. Frances Ashton
    November 11, 2011 at 18:41

    I’ve given up even look­ing at stuff that won’t do at least 2 and prefer­ably lots more things. For instance I wanted a gam­ing box so picked up a PS3 for the Blu-ray capa­bil­ity. Got an android phone for the Kin­dle app, rather than a Kin­dle. If it’s soft­ware related, why spe­cialise on one thing. It just becomes use­less after a cou­ple of years. Any­one want a Sony eReader?

    Reply
  12. Eoghann Irving
    November 11, 2011 at 18:43

    The fact that I’m look­ing at get­ting a Galaxy Nexus with it’s nice big screen, does sig­nif­i­cantly reduce the value of a Kin­dle Fire to me.

    The phone should be eas­ily big enough for me to read com­fort­ably and will play music just fine.

    Reply
  13. Frances Ashton
    November 11, 2011 at 18:43

    Yeah, I was look­ing at that too. Want to see how the first batch go first though.

    Reply
  14. Katey Springle Lempka
    November 11, 2011 at 18:45

    I’ve read plenty of books on my Droid 2. I do have to turn pages more fre­quently, but since I can hold it in one hand and swipe with my thumb, that’s not a big deal. (And my hands are prob­a­bly on the small side for an adult.)

    Reply
  15. Josh Susen
    November 11, 2011 at 19:32

    Just wait for the jail­break to bust open the full droid OS and life will be fine. :)

    Reply

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