Hasta La Gadget!

Video game retailer GameStop is now selling select Kindle Fire tablets in stores across the US, just in time for the holiday season. They’re offering the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet for $199.99 at all 4,400 stores, and the non-HD 7-inch version and the 8.9-inch HD for $159.99 and $299.99, respectively, “at select stores.”

However, if you’re still thinking about ordering one off of Amazon instead of driving to your local GameStop, the brick-and-mortar store will give you a $25 Amazon gift card if you buy a Kindle Fire tablet from them, which would essentially bring the price of the non-HD 7-inch Kindle Fire down to just a measly $135.

The deal will only last until January 31, so be sure not to putz around if you’re thinking about grabbing a Kindle Fire tablet anytime soon. If you already happen to have an original Kindle Fire and aren’t getting much use out of it, GameStop will also buy it from you and give you in-store credit for up to $100. You might be able to get a bit more cash out of it on Craigslist or eBay, but this is a great way if you need cash quickly.

GameStop has been growing its business for selling non-gaming devices for a while now. Last year, they started a pilot program to sell tablets in 200 stores, and expanded the program to over 1,600 locations later in May 2012. Back in March, GameStop also began selling refurbished iOS devices.

GameStop now selling Kindle Fire tablets, $25 Amazon gift card with purchase is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon is having a bang up year for its Appstore posting massive growth. The massive growth of the Amazon Appstore is attributed in part to the availability and popularity of the Kindle Fire Android tablets that have access to the Appstore. Amazon’s developer features are also helping spur growth.

Reports indicate that downloads from the Amazon Appstore are up 500% for the past year. Amazon said this week that, “[a]pp downloads in the Appstore have grown more than 500 percent over the previous year.” Amazon launched its own Appstore in March of 2011, but most of the growth in downloads is believed to have started in September of 2011 when Amazon launched its first Kindle Fire tablet.

Amazon has multiple devices in that Kindle Fire tablet line today. It’s not all about the tablets though; there are a few phones on the market that come with the Amazon Appstore preinstalled. Many Android users also get introduced originally to Amazon’s Appstore thanks to free premium app downloads offered from time to time.

Amazon did stack the deck in its favor when it comes to downloads though since Google Play isn’t available on the Kindle Fire or Fire HD tablets. Owners of those tablet to want to download apps for games or any other needs have no choice but to use the Amazon Appstore. Developer interest were certainly help to Amazon announced support for A/B testing recently allowing developers to test their apps and receive data about what works best and adjust their apps to take advantage of what’s worked best in the past.

[via Gigaom]

Kindle Fire tablets help Amazon Appstore boom is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Amazon has launched Kindle FreeTime Unlimited, the company’s new kid-friendly entertainment service for those times you wish your beloved offspring would just focus on their Kindle Fire tablet and stop bothering you. The subscription-based service pulls in books, games, educational apps, movies, and TV shows that Amazon guarantees are child-appropriate, with characters like Elmo, Dora, and Curious George; all of the apps have the adverts, social media integration, and in-app purchasing disabled.

That means no extortionate bills when you discover your beloved child has been stabbing the “buy extra gold!” button with their chubby, sausage-like fingers for the past hour. The “Unlimited” package also means there’s no restriction on how many times they watch individual episodes or movies.

Amazon has partnered with Common Sense Media for show, book, and app ratings, making sure that not only does no inappropriate content make it through into FreeTime, but that what the child does see is likely to be interesting for their particular age group. Parents can also add their own picks manually for inclusion, and place individual limits on how much video, app, and reading time is allowed, as well as whether browsing is blocked.

FreeTime content is accessed from a separate interface, and the system supports multiple profiles for each child which keeps their own position in books, TV shows, and movies; they’ll need a password to escape the app to the regular interface.  There’s also topic-based search.

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited is priced at $4.99 per child or $9.99 per family, per month; Prime subscribers get a discount, taking it down to $2.99 per child or $6.99 per family. It’ll be supported on the Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ with a software update “in the coming weeks” and a month’s free trial to get you started.

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited for Kindle Fire offers safe kid distraction is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Good news Nexus S owners, if you’re looking for a rather interesting port for your handset, it seems that thanks to XDA Senior Member, GalaxyUser, the Kindle Fire 8.9 port has made its way onto your device! This is a pretty interesting reversal as for the most port, Kindle Fire owners have turned to alternative ports, so having a tablet ROM ported onto a smartphone, well we expect that the experience should be an interesting one. We don’t have a Nexus S so we don’t know what the experience will be like, although it seems that at the moment, the port appears to be in its early stages which means that it probably isn’t a good idea for you to use it as a daily driver.

There are many features which aren’t working yet, such as the camera, Bluetooth, sound, SD card, calling and etc. However if you have an old Nexus S lying around and wouldn’t mind giving this port a spin, perhaps to help provide some feedback to the developer, you can check it out on the XDA forums, but keep in mind that you should probably proceed with caution and like its developer has stated, use it at your own risk!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Ericsson seeks a US import ban on Samsung products, Gmail For Android Brings Swiping & Resizing Capabilities,

Amazon has trimmed the price of its Kindle Fire tablet for Cyber Monday, bringing the 7-inch ereader slate down to $129. Available on both the “Special Offers” subsidized model or – for $144 – the non-subsidized versoin without adverts, the discount means Amazon’s tablet temporarily undercuts Barnes & Noble’s NOOK HD and Google’s Nexus 7 by $70.

The particular Kindle Fire in the promotion is the updated entry-level model. That features a 1.2GHz processor and 1GB RAM, which Amazon claims makes it 40-percent faster than its predecessor, along with 8GB of storage and a battery good for up to 9hrs of reading, browsing, video playback, or other uses.

Under the hood there’s Android, though Amazon comprehensively reskins Google’s platform for its own purposes, and redirects all shopping through its own app and media stores. The Nexus 7 remains the better generic Android tablet choice, while the Kindle Fire HD has a better display.

Before you get visions of outfitting the whole family with a cheap Kindle Fire, however, Amazon has limited the promotion to a single unit per shopper. You’ll need to use the “FIREDEAL” coupon code when you check out in order to score the $129 slate.

Kindle Fire slashed to $129 in Cyber Monday promo is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.