Hasta La Gadget!

When you pick up that new Kindle Fire HD this fall, one of the first things you’ll notice is an updated version of Amazon’s Silk web browser with a Trending Now section. It’s a clever trick that takes advantage of Silk’s server-based caching to find out what sites are popular among owners. That sounds good on the surface, but it doesn’t take much effort to realize that there are privacy concerns already in the air — Amazon is sharing personal web habits with a wider audience, after all. While the section is unlikely to include any identifying information, there’s no immediate sign that tablet owners can keep their behavior private, and that could create some indignation among those who’d prefer to surf in isolation. We’ve asked Amazon if there will be an opt-out escape hatch and will let you know if there’s a definitive answer. In the meantime, we wouldn’t necessarily worry. Silk shouldn’t be caching your e-mail, and it’s only likely to ever show pages that have far more traffic than anything you’d be embarrassed to show to others. As far as we can tell, your secret knitting obsession should be safe.

Update: A spokesperson has confirmed that the option to disable Silk’s caching is still available, and that switching it off will cut you out of Trending Now; that’s a very all-or-nothing approach, but it’ll likely suit those put off by the browser’s predictive approach in the first place. Secure pages are still out of the picture as well, which should keep those private Twitter messages out of the equation.

Filed under: Tablets, Internet

Amazon Silk browser on Kindle Fire tracks page visits to generate trends, isn’t as spooky as it sounds (update: opt-out exists) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we saw the purported iPad mini’s aluminum backing, someone forgot to turn on a light. There’s no such murkiness with NetEase‘s fresh turn at pre-release photography. Its view of a WiFi model gives us both a much clearer look as well as some hints that Apple wants more than a basic slab at the iPad’s potential new entry level: there’s a conspicuous cutout for what’s likely a rear-facing camera, along with space in the top frame for a front camera. We’ve already seen the mini dock connector that fits in that hole at the bottom edge, of course. Nothing’s definite unless there’s either a smoking gun leak or an official event, but we may have just a month to wait to know whether or not the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch has some fresh competition.

Filed under: Tablets

Claimed iPad mini shell reappears, now with more rear camera and less Mr. Blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 22:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, check out this beaut. It’s the 8.9-inch version of Amazon’s new Fire HD tablet. The company trotted several of the 7-inch models, but the big daddy was a rare bird indeed — thankfully, however, we were able to get up close and personal with the thing. It’s almost a shame that this guy shares a name with last year’s model. This feels like a completely different bird — Amazon set out to make a slate that can compete with some of the top models out there, and from some passing impressions, this thing seems to stack up. Of course, we’re going to have to wait until we can actually spend some more time with it before passing judgement. Peep some more photos of the newer, bigger Kindle Fire in the gallery below.

Filed under: Tablets

Amazon’s 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony is clearly bent on getting the VAIO Duo 11 to market on time — just as we’re recovering from our post-IFA jet lag, the Windows 8 slider has popped up for approval at the FCC. The PC put through the wringer is very much like what we saw at the show, with 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC and that signature stylus on offer. There’s no sign of 3G or 4G for the road warrior crowd. We don’t have any clues as to the exact US release timing from the FCC’s sign-off, but it does clear a path for an American release side by side with the European model in late October, if Sony yearns for some international synchronicity.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets

Sony VAIO Duo 11 slides its way past the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There have been surprisingly few if any concrete leaks of Amazon’s future Kindle Fire plans, even with the follow-up’s appearance likely just hours away. Thankfully, we may have been given a last-minute peek into the company’s strategy after an Engadget reader tipped us to some unusual activity in an app’s hardware usage logs. At least a pair of hits have come from a new device identifying itself as “AmazonKFTT” instead of the much plainer “AmazonKindleFire” language attached to the original model. There’s also signs that Amazon has upgraded the OS underneath to Android 4.0.3. We wouldn’t anticipate this particular slate carrying a quad-core chip to tackle the Nexus 7 head-on, though — unless the KFTT variant is just a firmware-updated Kindle Fire with a name change, the next generation should still have at least one dual-core tablet in the range. Here’s hoping there are a few more surprises in store by the time Amazon takes the stage on Thursday.

[Thanks, Jared]

Filed under: Tablets

Amazon Kindle Fire sequel may have surfaced in logs, points to Android 4.0 and return to dual-core originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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