However, Amazon may be taking a step backward, if the rumors are true that it is planning to open a retail store in Seattle. Seattle is where the company’s headquarters is located. The company is said to try the physical store to test if the move can be profitable. According to the rumors, what Amazon intends to put up is a boutique type store. The lay out design of the store is also contracted sing a shell company to keep the business move a secret.

The Amazon store will primarily sell its best sellers, including Kindle e-readers and Kindle Fire. The store will also sell accessories, such as, cases, screen protectors, and USB adapters. Another reason why Amazon will open a boutique is to provide its own books an actual shelf to sell. It may be recalled that Amazon recently opened its own publishing division and invited some authors to write original books for the company.

The reason for Amazon’s tax issues may also be reason for trying to go with a physical store. Presently, Amazon is tax exempt from State taxes whenever the company recorded a sale. However, there are proposals to remove that exemptions and a physical store may just save Amazon from huge taxes.

The opening of the Amazon physical store is said to take advantage of the holiday season, which is at the end of the year. This means we have the rest of the year to speculate and wait for any confirmation about this rumor.

The said update triggers the Fire’s firmware to version 6.2.2 and will bring in minor upgrades, tweaks and previous fixes on certain glitches. The most notable improvement however is the full screen toggle button on the Fire’s Silk browser. This one definite development may prove to the world that both Amazon and Kindle Fire have something brewing, and the said full screen upgrade is just the tip of the iceberg. The documentation on version 6.2.2 is still not complete as of the moment, but it will be worth waiting for.

For Kindle Fire owners who are interested on updating their tablet manually, files can be downloaded here. After getting the file, you need to install it in your tablet’s kindleupdates folder then proceed to Settings>Device>Update your kindle. After doing so, you are on your way on enjoying new features of this update. However, let we remind those who previously opted to root their devices using BurritoRoot software that installing this firmware will nullify root access. We heard that Whiz kids are working on a new version of this software so, stay tuned.

Get the SolarKindle, apparently. SolarFocus, a company dedicated to innovation and devices that use solar energy, has just unveiled a cover especially made for the Amazon Kindle e-reader, and is expecting a large crowd to gather around its booth at the upcoming CES 2012. It serves three purposes; first, protecting the Kindle with a tough leather casing, second, illuminating the E-Ink on the Kindle with an 800 lux LED light powered by an internal 1,500mA lithium battery, and third, helping you go green with a solar panel on the cover top.

If you’re asking how the light would be recharged, all you need to do is place the cover under the sun for about 8 hours for a fully charged battery that has the potential to power both the light and the Kindle for extended reading time. However, there is also a USB port for those who don’t want to leave the case out in the open. It’s admittedly pretty innovative, and has the potential to sell quite a lot. Hopefully soon SolarFocus will be able to manufacture more cases for the other Kindle models such as the Kindle Touch.

Starting January 15 the SolarKindle will be available at $79.99. It’s a little pricey, so if you think you can live without having to siphon energy from the sun, there’s a panel-less version that will cost $59.99.

The latest Amazon Kindle is good for reading tons of ebooks on the go because of its e-ink display and low-power consumption. The problem, however, is the lack of backlighting which could hamper your night time reading habits. Amazon introduced the Lighted Leather Cover equipped with a glossy leather exterior and built-in reading lamp powered by the Kindle. However, it is quite expensive at $60 and doesn’t have a kickstand for hands-free reading.

The Kapsule Lightstand for Kindle solves these issues. With just a $40 pledge, you can secure a unit for yourself or $75 to get 2 sets. The accessory clips on the rear of the Kindle and has a top and bottom goosenecks. The top houses the light that can be pulled to turn the LED light on while the bottom provides the adjustable stand. The light is provided by a power efficient LED that consumes 25%-50% less power than Amazon’s Light cover.

Watch this video for more details:

The accessory is designed exclusively for the Amazon Kindle 3 (a.k.a. Kindle Keyboard) and not compatible with Kindle 4 and Kindle Touch. The group is planning to release a compatible version for the latter devices if the project will roll successfully. The project requires $40,000 goal (already at $1,300) to kick start production after 34 days.

A huge part of Kindle’s software is a group of pseudo HTML5 as well as JavaScript webpages. This is what separates Kindle Touch from its predecessors. These new software variants made it easy for some geniuses to spot certain blind spots within the browser. A function called nativeBridge,dbgCmd() was located. This serves as the key for running and old shell commands as root.

With this new discovery, a jailbreak was immediately created by merely cramming a load of HTML5 and JavaScript into an MP3 file’s ID3 tags. Of course, the MP3 files needs to be easily downloadable. At present, there is still nothing much that can be gained from hitting the “play” button of that MP3 file. However, the genius behind this breakthrough is expecting today’s developers to use a certain set of tools necessary for writing programs that will work with this new contraption.

Yifan Lu, the genius behind this discovery, has made it possible for Kindle Touch, or K5 as others would like to call it, users to jailbreak their units by merely playing a file that is in its MP3 format. With a jailbreak-ed Kindle unit, one of the many advantages is now much easier to get started with adding your most favoured applications. For instance, the jailbreak allows you to install an Epub reader if you like reading EBooks.

First of all, the .zip file needs to be downloaded. Copy the MP3 file over to your Kindle’s music folder. Once fully saved, you can now “play” the MP3 from your unit’s experimental menu. If you see a screenshot that suddenly pops out, then you have now successfully hacked your new Kindle Touch. See the video below for more details.

Remember, the Kindle Fire is a web tablet. It has a 7-inch display that is capable of 1024×600 pixel resolution. It’s touchscreen of course and has Custom Android for its operating system (OS). Processor is TI OMAP 4 dual core and there’s an 8GB flash memory. Moreover, it utilizes Amazon Silk for its web browsing functionality. It also WiFi and support for both video (MP4) and audio (AAC, WAV, OGG, MP3, MIDI). Let us not forget that it’s also an E-book reader which has support for these formats – AZW, PRC, PDF, DOC, TXT, DOCX. In terms of user connectivity, it has a 3.5mm jack and support for one high-speed USB/5-pin micro USB type B. Battery life is a good 8 hours.

According to a close source, Amazon is keen on bringing the Kindle Fire to Europe but the company hasn’t really been that generous in terms of details specifically on the if and when’s. The word though is that it will be in January when our British friends get to lay their eyes on the Kindle Fire. Hopefully, we do get to have some more details on the pricing and availability. This information needs to be confirmed though. Until then we’re putting this under our rumor’s bin.

The Droid RAZR has a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED advanced screen (540×960 pixels). It runs on Android 2.3.5 and has a dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4430 chipset (with 1024 MB of RAM). Internal storage is 16GB (can be expanded to 32GB thru card). Primary camera is 8MP while secondary is 1.3MP. Has support for CDMA, LTE, Bluetooth and WiFi.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S II Skyrocket sports a 4.52-inch 16M-color Super AMOLED plus capacitive touchscreen (480×800). Runs on Android 2.3.5 and has the 1.5GHz Scorpion dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 (with 1GB of RAM). Cameras are 8-MP wide angle lens with LED flash and 2-MP respectively. It’s a quad-band GSM, has dual-band 3G support and LTE network connectivity.

Lastly, the HTC Rezound boasts a 4.3-inch S-LCD capacitive, multi-touch display and runs on Android 2.3.4. Processor is the 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660. There’s Storage is at 16 GB for storage expandable to 32GB. Cameras are also 8-MP and 2-MP respectively.

Starting November 21 to 28, these phones can be bought for $0.01 but it does entail a new line of service. This is arguably the cheapest deals ever made for these smartphones as they are a bit costly – $799.99 (Droid RAZR), $599.99 (Galaxy S II) and $799.99 (Rezound) – when purchased as a unit (lesser on contract with price ranging at roughly $219).

Check out our Black Friday 2011 hub for all the latest deals

The new Kindle Fire is the tablet version of Amazon’s e-book reader previously announced in September and featuring 7-inch IPS display (1024 x 600 resolution), dual-core TI OMAP4 processor and running Android Gingerbread. As for rooting, it is the ability and the privilege to access the Android’s Linux subsystem in order to change the limitations and restrictions fitted by the carriers and manufacturers on the device. For the Apple’s iOS, it is popularly called jailbreaking.

Rooting the Kindle Fire was done with SuperOneClick 2.2 and was a bit complicated but straightforward with a tutorial already provided by the hacker himself online. Initially, the sdk needs to be installed on the PC and that might be the Android SDK. The second part deals with editing important files and allowing the apps installation from unknown sources.

This will be followed by running a command that kills the Android Debug Bridge server. Downloading SuperOneClick v2.2 and running it will be the last of the rooting steps. If successfully rooted, the device opens up to reveal a world of opportunities for hackers affecting customization and idle capabilities.

The tablet was released in the U.S. a day earlier than the scheduled date which is November 15, 2011 and offered at a relatively affordable price tag of just $199.

(source)

Obviously, the external features of the Amazon Kindle Fire are not exactly similar to the Playbook, but it is pretty close. Basically, we can say that this new tablet is revolutionary as it is the first easy-to-use small tablet that ever hit the market. This new tablet aims to target the very popular Apple iPad, but as some experts see, this new tablet is not that overwhelming as far as its overall looks and performance are concerned.

For its specs, would-be Kindle Fire owners receive a 7-inch multitouch IPS display (1024 x 600 resolution), dual-core TI OMAP4 1GHz CPU, 8GB built-in storage, Free Cloud storage for Amazon Content, WiFi, USB 2.0, Audio jack, . The Gingerbread powered Kindle Fire measures 190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm and weighs 413 grams.

Check out its pros and cons to give you a better understanding of what this new device can do.

PROS

• affordable price
• solidly built
• provides easy access to lots of premium media

CONS

• does not have Android market access
• user interface can be awkward sometimes

Additionally, some consumers may want to know that the Kindle Fire lacks camera, cellular radio and Bluetooth features. If you’re looking for such on the Kindle Fire, you’re better off with another product. On the positive side, its battery runs longer than the more expensive Acer Iconia Tab A100; Amazon had rated the Fire’s battery up to 7.5 hours video playback (WiFi off).

Well, as compared with other high-end Android tablets in the market, we can say that the Amazon Kindle Fire may be no match at all considering the tough competition in the tablet market nowadays. But Amazon does not really have to get pressured about it considering that the price of this new device is only $ 199. Well, this is enough for a tablet that has been solidly built and powered by a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP processor. It may have some limited features, but we can say that this tablet is good enough for its price.

So what can you say about the Amazon Kindle Fire? Would you be interested to buy this one?

A lot of people have been waiting for such a long time for Amazon to come up with a more affordable e-book reader and it seems that Amazon has finally heed their call. And it is quite interesting to know how Amazon has managed to bring us this new device at a very affordable price. Did the company make some sacrifices as far as performance and quality is concerned? Let us check its specs and features.

Looking closely at the Amazon Kindle 2011, you will surely notice that it is really small as compared to its previous versions (30% lighter and 18% smaller, if you’re asking for numbers). This becomes possible because of the company’s decision to abandon its keyboard and shave inches from its height and width. Instead, you can see 4 dedicated buttons and a 5-way pad, for navigation and selecting items, at the lower portion of the device. The 4 buttons are quick-access keys corresponding to “back”, “keyboard”, “menu” and “home”, respectively. Meanwhile, the power button can be found at the bottom edge of the device sitting along the microUSB slot.

Its dimensions now are pretty much similar to that of the latest Kobo reader, but the difference is that it does not have any infrared touchscreen, but only uses physical buttons to control it. The device’s lack of touchscreen can be annoying to most users especially when you want to type something. Hitting the “keyboard” button will open a virtual keyboard but you have to use the navigational pad to use it. This could be irritating when you’re surfing for an item at Kindle Store or searching for a word at Wikipedia. In addition, the device does not have an audio support and all accessories come with an extra charge.

However, the good thing about this device aside from its price is that even if this new e-book reader is pretty much small in size, it can access massive catalog of books, magazines and newspapers via Amazon.com and other online loaners from your local library. It’s 6-inch display supports Pearl E-Ink screen (600 x 800 resolution) and 16-level gray scale giving more visual clarity and contrast to texts and good legibility even under sunlight.

In addition, it supports various file formats such as txt and PDF files, which can be ported via its micro USB slot. It can also hold hundreds of books as well and its battery can last for weeks, so you can enjoy reading your favorite books and other reading materials as long as you want.

Overall, the Amazon Kindle 2011 seems to be a good choice for those people looking for an ultraportable and affordable e-book reader. So what can you say about this new Amazon Kindle 2011?