Running Android 4.0 on the Kindle Fire is one of the many options to change out the operating system from Amazon’s version to one that is more open and widely available on other tablets and smartphones.

I’ve already posted a review and how to guide for CM7 on the Kindle Fire, a custom version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. For this review and tutorial I’ll show you CM9 on the Kindle Fire for the latest version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, How To, Reviews | Tags: kindle fire | 19 Comments »

Amazon has issued another firmware update for the Kindle Touch. It is a minor update that Amazon describes as adding “general software improvements”.

I was hoping the update would add landscape mode to the Kindle Touch, but alas Amazon doesn’t seem to think that is an important feature—there are lots of people that disagree with that notion, especially when all the other Kindles have landscape mode.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle | Tags: firmware update, kindle touch | 7 Comments »

CynangonMod is aftermarket software for Android phones and tablets, including the Kindle Fire. Developers have been hacking the Kindle Fire since day one so it’s not surprising to see CM7 running on Amazon’s first tablet.

There are different versions of CynangonMod, each based on a different version of Android. CM7 is for Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The Kindle Fire runs on Andoird 2.3 natively but it’s been heavily modified by Amazon to include the Kindle Fire’s unique interface.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, Reviews | Tags: cm7, kindle fire | No Comments »

This article will show you how to install and use TWRP Recovery on the Kindle Fire to flash custom ROMs on it to transform it into a completely new tablet with different builds of Android—CM7, aka Cyanogenmod 7, for Android 2.3.4 or CM9 for Android 4.0, MIUI, and various other ROMs.

Among other things, you can also use TWRP Recovery to backup ROMs and backup your Kindle so that it can be restored to exactly how it was before installing ROMs. It sounds complicated at first but after you do it a few times it becomes really easy.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, Android, How To | Tags: kindle fire | 9 Comments »

Barnes and Noble hasn’t released any actual sales figures for the Nook Tablet, and neither has Amazon for the Kindle Fire, but if you look closely at some of the signs it becomes clear that the Nook Tablet isn’t selling nearly as well as the Kindle Fire.

Since I don’t have access to any hard proof, I’ll show you the evidence that suggests Nook Tablet sales aren’t very good. Here are three things to consider…

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, Nook | Tags: kindle fire, nook tablet | 14 Comments »

If you’ve ever considered rooting your Kindle Fire and installing the Android Market to get a richer tablet experience, now is the time to do it because the process is easier than ever and requires virtually no technical work.

I just rooted and installed the Android Market on my Kindle Fire and the entire process took like 5 minutes. And I wrote down everything I did in an easy-to-follow manner so that you can quickly get through the process without getting bogged down in all the misinformation out there too.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, How To | Tags: android market, kindle fire, root | 37 Comments »

There’s some good Kindle news to report this morning. First, Amazon has finally started rolling out the Kindle Touch to countries outside the US. Second, Amazon has started selling refurbished Kindle Fires for $179.

Despite the lack of an official announcement, the product page for the WiFi Kindle Touch now has the option to select a country for shipping outside the US. However, the 3G Kindle Touch still doesn’t have an international shipping option, at least not yet.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, Sales and Discounts | Tags: kindle fire, kindle touch | 1 Comment »

Perusing the Kindle store this morning, I noticed several new Kindle games and active content available for Kindle E Ink ereaders.

I also noticed some of the older games have been updated to support the Kindle 4 and Kindle Touch. So if you have either of the new Kindles, now would be a good time to check out the games and active content section, which includes plenty of freebies too.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle | Tags: kindle games | 1 Comment »

The Kindle Fire is Amazon’s first tablet and while it has a lot of good things going for it, one of the three biggest disappointments with the Kindle Fire is the fact that it comes with just 5.37 GB of available storage space (plus an additional 1.17 GB for apps) and doesn’t have any memory card slots or support for USB drives for memory expansion.

Amazon opted to use the opportunity to promote their cloud storage service on the Kindle Fire instead, where you store your files online with Amazon to access them from anywhere you have an internet connection. Cloud storage is a good option, and you can use other cloud storage services too (more on this below), but there are some other ways to add more storage, ones that don’t require you to be connected to the internet to use them.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, How To | Tags: kindle fire | 3 Comments »

When it comes to reading ebooks, the Kindle Fire is a lot different than other Kindles. For one, the Kindle Fire automatically sequesters sideloaded ebooks and documents from Kindle Books, making them appear in a separate section for documents instead of the main ebook library list.

Thanks to Calibre, there is an easy fix for this if you want to get your sideloaded ebooks (non-Amazon ebooks) to appear in the ebook library along with all your other Kindle ebooks.

Filed under: Amazon Kindle, How To | Tags: kindle fire | 4 Comments »