Initial Thoughts on Kindle Fire

The Popular Science review on the Kindle Fire...on the Kindle Fire...in front of my desktop

After looking over one of the infamous Kindle Fire tablets – currently headlining all tech blogs and news sources as a cheaper, Android-based alternative to the iPad – I have found that this device holds much potential in personal and niche business markets, although I wouldn’t compare it to Apple’s original innovation.

The Kindle Fire is small, just 7-inches, which leads to a small (sometimes TOO small) display on some websites with a lot of content. That being said, the touch interface is effective enough to easily zoom in and out to fill out form fields or more closely review particular areas of a web page.

The obvious advantages lie within personal consumption of entertainment and news – and if you shop Amazon, you will love the seamless synchronization. If you ordered your Kindle Fire and received it in the last couple of days, you may have noticed it was already configured to your personal Amazon settings.

The homepage scrolling feature is reminiscent of RIM’s PlayBook, although it’s a bit more slick and functional. I found web browsing to be quite easy with the option of numerous, multiple tabs that you can scroll to access (you know, because of the small screen).

So where will this be useful in business? Our specialty at Vernon Computer Source is short term rentals, and companies that seek out tablets generally tend to use them at events to take notes, conduct surveys, hook up to a large screen monitor, or even email remotely. Some organizations even test out applications, or Skype on these rentals.

The Kindle Fire, although not quite yet up to speed with the iPad on this front, holds the potential for eventual use in all of these venues. It can already perform the most basic tasks of note taking and surveying via apps in the Android marketplace. Yet it comes at a remarkably lower price tag.

However, with this price drop, the tablet also lacks some important features, like a front and rear facing camera and built-in microphone for videoconferencing on-the-go. You also don’t have the option for 3G connectivity, or GPS location services.

So the main question you have to ask yourself when it comes to using this tablet for tasks beyond online shopping and ereading is: do I want the bells and whistles, or bare bones functionality for a cheaper price?

To learn more about tablet rental, contact us at Vernon Computer Source.