Using Kindle Fire for Facebook

Like most Facebook addicts, one of the first things that I did with my Kindle Fire was to log into my Facebook account and update my status to read, “I’m playing on Facebook with my new Kindle Fire!” 

Of course, that illicited many “Likes” and comments right off the bat, with lots of people wanting to know if I liked the Kindle Fire, how Facebook looked on the device, etc.  And, since several of the people on my Facebook friends list also own Kindle eReaders, I definitely understood the questions.  I was not really pleased with the way the Kindle eReader handled Facebook…but not so with Kindle Fire! 

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7Kindle Fire is the perfect device to use for accessing Facebook anywhere there’s WiFi.  In fact, Facebook is actually one of the preset apps that come up on the Kindle Fire’s main menu when you turn the device on.  All you have to do is tap the big blue Facebook icon, and it brings you right to the login screen. 

Then you simply tap the line for entering your email address, and the onscreen keyboard pops right up, allowing you to enter your email address.  Tap again, enter your password, and your Facebook account pops right up on screen.  Kindle Fire even offers to remember that you’re logged in, so you don’t have to login every time you want to access Facebook. 

I have to say, the Kindle Fire mobile app for Facebook is excellent, too.  The layout is familiar, with a few improvements…for example, the left side menu is hidden.  The first thing that you see is your “News Feed,” complete with the like buttons, comment buttons, etc.  To the right, there’s a little plus sign that, when tapped, brings up options for the post.  You can tap the word “Like” under the post to like someone’s post or status. 

Scrolling through the newsfeed is fun, too.  Instead of having to move your mouse, you simply swipe your index finger up or down, and your newsfeed scrolls…mine scrolled so fast it looked like it was spinning!  (Of course, you control the speed with your index finger…I was just having fun!)

If you want to update your own status, simply tap the blank line at the top, and the keyboard pops up.  There are lower case letters, tap the up arrow to capitalize, or tap the number/symbols key to get to the numbers and symbols.  Very easy!

If you want to see the left side menu, simply tap the icon at the top left of your newsfeed, and the full left side menu for your facebook page pops up.  You can look at your friends list, your apps, and any fan pages that you have. 

Want to see your pictures?  Simply tap the word at the top, and your photo albums are displayed in a grid across your screen.  Tap the album you want to see, and your photos pop up on the top half of the device, with the comments below.  Left and right arrows onscreen allow you to click through your photos.

All in all, using my Kindle Fire to update my Facebook status was definitely a positive experience…I can honestly tell you that there was not even a single feature that I did not like….Kindle Fire actually enhances my Facebook experience, and it will yours, too.

 

Playing with Fire!

I was so thrilled this evening to find my Kindle Fire waiting…not only did Amazon ship it early, but it arrived in ONE day instead of two days!

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7Straight out of the box, the Kindle Fire was charged and preloaded to my personal Amazon account.  No messy setup, registration, or anything.  Just turn it on and start playing with it!

First off, the graphics on the Kindle Fire are excellent – the screen has a crisp, clear picture and there’s no messy transitions of any kind.  The touch screen did take a little getting used to, but it didn’t take long to figure it out, and I didn’t have to read the manual to do it.

Like most people, I did a quick run through of the major points…the books, movies, music…it’s all there, just as promised.  Then, of course, I updated my Facebook status to let people know that I was on my Kindle Fire – again, easy and fun.  Not at all like the Kindle 3.  Then I decided to surf the net – again, easy and fun.  Just as promised.

As for the eReader function, I have to say, I like turning the pages with just a swipe.  And, the screen did provide a crisp, clear page for me to read.  It is backlit, like most tablets, but that will just make reading in bed in semi darkness that much easier.

Is it what I expected?  Yes  Is Kindle Fire a good value?  Another resounding YES.  Would I purchase it again?Absolutely…Kindle Fire was worth waiting for!

Stay tuned over the next few days as I expand on the features of Kindle Fire!

 

Christmas in Time

I love Christmas stories.  I also love the Titanic.  So, buying the eBook Christmas in Time was almost a no-brainer for me.  The moment I found it, I downloaded it, and started reading…

Christmas in TimeAlthough I cannot tell you that the book is new or unique, it did keep my attention…unfortunately, however, anyone who has seen the 1997 movie, Titanic, with Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, will recognize the take-off on the theme, the plot, and even the beginning and ending of the story. 

While Christmas in Time tries to be another Titanic tale, there were a couple of instances where the author took too much liberty with the actual events, leaving this Titanic fan thinking, “it didn’t happen that way.” 

Christmas in Time is worth reading for free (which it is), especially for diehard romance readers looking for a little light reading over the holidays, but it definitely wasn’t a book that held my rapt attention.

With the 100th year anniversary of the sinking of Titanic approaching, it’s inevitable that more and more Titanic stories will crop up over the next few months, and each of them will attempt to create a new story upon the ill-fated luxury liner…will any of them succeed?  I have no idea, but I will definitely be reading them all.

Kindle Fire Ships TODAY

Once again, Amazon.com has overdelivered…Kindle Fire, Amazon’s new tablet computer, is shipping early!  For those of us who ordered the Kindle Fire on the very day it was released, this is fantastic news. 

For those of you who haven’t ordered your Kindle Fire, this is also great news.  The chances are very good that if you order your Kindle Fire today, you will get it in time for Christmas!

And, at $199, Amazon’s Kindle Fire is one of the best values in a tablet pc. 

Look for more pictures and indepth reviews of features later this week.

Buy Your Kindle at Walmart or Direct From Amazon?

With yesterday’s announcement that Amazon.com will be selling the entire family of Kindle eReaders in retail stores throughout the country, you might be tempted to buy your Kindle at Walmart, Target, or Best Buy instead of direct from Amazon.com.  Is that necessarily the best choice?

Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6Although it may surprize you, Kindle has been available at Target stores for some time, however, there are real reasons why you may want to consider ordering your Kindle or Kindle Fire direct from Amazon.com, instead of just running to your local big box retailer to pick one up. 

First and foremost, when you order your Kindle direct from Amazon, you’re cutting out the middle man.  Although the pricing is the same, having your Kindle shipped direct from Amazon ensures that you are getting the most recent version of the software.  Models sold in stores may have been on the shelf for a few weeks or even months, and may not have the most current release preloaded.  While it’s no problem to update the software once you get it out of the box, and in fact, Kindle does it automatically, I would just prefer to have the lastest version when I open the box.

Secondly, if you order your Kindle online, depending on where you live, you may not have to pay a state or local sales tax on your Kindle.  Some states charge nearly 10% sales tax, which can add as much as 19.90 to the purchase of a Kindle Fire.  Ordering it online may actually save you money.

And finally, perhaps the biggest reason to order directly from Amazon is that, should you ever have a problem with your Kindle, Amazon will have a record of your order, date purchased, etc., and it will be far easier to get the support that you need to resolve a problem. 

Yes, you may have to wait a couple of days to get your Kindle when you order direct from Amazon, but in the long run, it may be well worth the wait.  Instant gratification is not always the best way to go, especially when shopping for eReaders.

Kindle Fire vs. Nook Tablet

Yesterday, Barnes & Noble announced a new $249.00 Nook tablet…it features a 7″ color touchscreen, comes preloaded with Netflix and Hulu, and is set to take on the Kindle Fire.  Will it be able to steal Kindle’s Fire?

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7Frankly, I just don’t see that happening.  Already the reviews on the new Nook tablet are lukewarm…no one’s really singing the praises.  No real innovation has been mentioned.  In short, the Nook tablet will likely appeal to current Nook owners,  and loyal Barnes & Noble shoppers, but it will not be able to compete with the Kindle Fire

Why?  Well, to be honest, at the price point of $249.00, compared to Kindle Fire‘s $199.00 price point, more people will choose Kindle Fire without even comparing the two.  And, once they do compare them, there will really be no question…Amazon’s offering one year’s membership to their Amazon Prime program with the $199.00 Kindle Fire, and this membership INCLUDES streaming video, music, and access to Amazon’s new lending library for Kindle books.  That alone means a huge savings for most tablet owners…with the price of the average book around $9.99, your Prime membership quickly saves you money on the latest books, movies, and more.

Frankly, with all that Amazon is offering with the Kindle Fire, I cannot even imagine that anyone would seriously consider buying any other comparable tablet over the Kindle Fire.

Identity Theft & Bargain eBooks

As if you didn’t need another reason to consider buying your eReader or tablet computer from a reputable source, the Better Business Bureau posted an article today with regard to eBook scams… and yet another way to steal our personal information!

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7Expect this scam to grow as fast as the popularity of e-readers and e-books grows, so keep this in mind when you are selecting your next eBook:

• Scammers often publish eBooks with useless, poorly written content, and sell it to you for a couple of dollars, or even give it away for free.  The catch is that the eBook has malware attached to steal your credit card information.

• Scammers often publish and republish the same book over and over using content spinners, and then putting each version under different titles, authors names, and on different venues.

• Scammers blatantly plagarize information from other sources, convert it into an ebook, and sell it in different eBook stores as original content.

• Scammers hold “Writing Competitions” and charge fees to entrants.  The “winner” has his/her book published digitally, and sold online.  The truth is, you can actually publish and sell your own book online for a few dollars.

• Look for an increase in spam directed towards eReaders and eBooks, with lots of advertising and links to both commercial and malware sites that will load viruses onto your eReader.

How can you avoid the coming wave of eReader scams?

• When buying eBooks, choose reputable online retailers to purchase your eBooks.  There are dozens of websites popping up every day selling eBooks.  Make sure your retailer has been online for a while.  If it’s an unfamiliar site, do a search to make sure that there are no complaints against the website.

Regardless of where you buy the eBook, try to stick with authors who have an established reputation, or that you already know.  If you do decide to buy from an unfamiliar author, see if you can download a free sample.  (Amazon lets you do this for free!)

• Remember that a great review doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the book is good or safe to purchase.  It’s very easy to write your own reviews, post them under different names, and influence sales dishonestly. When in doubt, do a little research on the author, the name of the book, etc., to see what may be online elsewhere about the book and the author.

• Never click on links inside eBooks.  Even if it’s an established, reputable author, the eBook could have been hacked, and the links put in after the author released the book for publication.  Visit the websites via your internet browser, instead of using the link.

• If you believe you’ve been scammed, seek a refund, or protest the charges with your credit card vendor.  Then, register your complaint with the seller’s customer service department to make sure the vendor who sold the book is aware of the problem. And, finally, write an honest review of the book and post it for others who may be tempted to buy the eBook.

As unbelievable as these new scams may seem, the fact that someone has already figured out how to exploit tablet computers and eReaders should be an even better argument for you to purchase your eReader or tablet computer from a reputable vendor with it’s own eBook store, and then stick with your vendor’s store.  Personally, I would never consider buying from any retailer other than Amazon.com.

Plus, with the release of the Amazon Library for Amazon Prime members, I won’t have to BUY every single eBook I want to read…I’ll simply borrow it from their library, read it, and return.  What could be better, easier, or cheaper???

Amazon’s Own Library!

Now THIS is innovation in customer service…and if it doesn’t convince you to buy a Kindle Fire Tablet or Kindle eReader, nothing will!

Direct from Amazon’s site:

“Dear Customers,
     Today we’re announcing a new benefit for Kindle owners with an Amazon Prime membership: the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
     Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free, including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers — as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates. No other e-reader or ebook store offers such a service.
     The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library features a wide array of popular titles, including Water for Elephants, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and Fast Food Nation – plus award-winning novels such as The Finkler Question, motivational books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, biographies and memoirs including Kitchen Confidential, and Pulitzer Prize-winning books like Guns, Germs, and Steel.
     We’re adding the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library to Prime membership at no extra cost — Amazon Prime remains just $79 a year, which gives you free two-day shipping on millions of products, plus unlimited instant streaming of almost 13,000 movies and TV shows. 
     If you’re a Kindle owner with Prime, you can start borrowing books today. If you don’t yet have a Kindle, our all-new Kindle family is available from just $79.
     We’re working hard to continuously drive even more value for Kindle owners. We hope you enjoy the new library — happy borrowing.

 

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO”
 

Now, this is a new development in the entire eReader experience!

Visit Amazon.com today to get your Kindle Fire or Kindle Touch eReader and start reading best sellers for just pennies a day.

 

 

The Mill River Recluse

One of the best things about owning a Kindle Fire is the selection of ebooks available for download…and some of the most interesting books aren’t necessarily those on the bestseller lists. 

When I downloaded The Mill River Recluse, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  The author, Darcie Chan, is not one of the most well known artists, still the description interested me, so I bought the book.

The Mill River RecluseThe Mill River Recluse is a different sort of book…it is an unusual combination of past, present, and even future events that is engaging, heartbreaking, and yet heartwarming all at the same time. 

The main character, of course, is Mary, an elderly recluse that lives in a marble mansion at the top of the hill overlooking a small town.  And, Mary’s story is actually the central plotline for the entire book.  It in itself is a heartwrenching tale of a young woman who is wooed by a handsome, wealthy young man whom she ultimately loves and loses in such a way that it sets her up to become the Mill River Recluse…but the subplots surrounding her story are equally engaging.  There’s a bit of romance, a bit of mystery, and a bit of suspense, all bound into one story that spans more than 60 years.

Although you would think a book with such a long timespan might drag in parts, the author does an excellent job of telling enough of the events that you’re drawn in and can get lost in the story, but not so much that you find yourself skimming unnecessary paragraphs to move on to the next part of the story. 

For one of the lower priced books in the Kindle Store, I definitely got my money’s worth from The Mill River Recluse.

Best eReader for Textbooks?

What’s the best eReader for Textbooks?  One of the best things about the introduction of eReaders and tablet computers over the past couple of years has been that they can be used to read electronic versions of textbooks!  So, instead of your high school or college student having to buy a bunch of books each semester, he or she might actually be able to buy the electronic version (or eBook) and download it to a laptop, tablet computer, or an eReader. 

Kindle Fire, Full Color 7In the past, the Apple iPad was actually the best eReader for textbooks, however, the cost ($400-$800) was prohibitive.  Now, with the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, your student can have an excellent eReader/tablet combination for under $200!   The price alone brings tablet computing and color eReaders financially within reach of literally any student.

Plus, the Kindle Fire comes with an excellent color PDF viewer, and it supports lots of file formats, so more than likely, your student’s textbook, if it is available electronically, will be supported by the Kindle FireRead our exclusive review of the Kindle Fire here!

Honestly, at this price, the possibilities for use in the classroom are endless!  And, we predict it won’t be long before electronic books replace textbooks at all grade levels…that heavy backpack your grade school child is lugging around may soon be gone forever.

Order your student a Kindle Fire today!