Try to use Amazon's new tablet terminal "Kindle Fire HD8.9" (1 beat 3 pages)

　On March 12, Amazon's new tablet terminal "Kindle Fire HD8.9" went on sale. The authors say the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, which was launched in December, was bought at home appliance stores and will be available on the successful launch date by booking in advance at Amazon. Even when writing manuscripts, Amazon's website is "in stock", so it won't be out of stock as it was when the Kindle Paperwhite went on sale, and it will take a long time to get it.

　In addition, with regard to the Kindle store, it is explained in detail in "so you don't get lost, a complete guide to e-bookstores-the Kindle Store," and this article reports on the sense of use of Kindle Fire HD8.9. Please refer to the Kindle Paperwhite report launched in November, as well as the Kindle Fire HD report.

　The introduced Kindle Fire HD8.9 costs $314 for the 16-gigabyte Without Special Offers (no advertising) model in the United States, while the same model costs 24, 800 yen in Japan. At the exchange rate at the time of writing the manuscript (US $96.6), it is sold in Japan at a price of about 5530 yen. Even if the yen has depreciated sharply recently, it is still this far. The price cut was announced in the United States on March 13, and the model sells for $284, but even so, it is still cheaper in Japan. Like Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HD, the terminal follows Amazon's business model of selling at the original price (or less) and making money from content.

The ceremony of opening a seal.

　Kindle Fire HD has an outer box, but not in Kindle Fire HD 8.9. Speaking of which, the Kindle Paperwhite, also purchased in Amazon mail order, does not have an outer box. Is it the difference between a hypermarket and a mail order?

　The bundled product is exactly the same as Kindle Fire HD. This is the impression that the box and shell have become bigger.

　Like the Kindle Fire HD, when the terminal is sideways, the front camera is arranged in the upper center and the speakers left and right. Horizontal is the basic design in 7 inches is rare, but the same size as the Kindle Fire HD8.9 Google Nexus10 and Sony Xperia Tablet Z are also based on the fact that one hand holding a difficult size of the tablet is the mainstream horizontal use. By the way, the iPad Retina is vertically equipped with the upper center of the front camera and the lower right side of the speaker (mono).

　The Kindle Fire HD's power and volume buttons are as high as their surroundings, but are slightly more prominent in Kindle Fire HD 8.9. If it is a Kindle Fire HD, it is difficult to press the switch if you do not look at the side, but in Kindle Fire HD8.9, you can know the switch position by the feeling of your fingertips.

Specification comparison.

　Google Nexus10, which resumed domestic sales in the same period as Kindle Fire HD8.9, and the recently launched Apple iPad Retina will be compared anyway. Their own companies to carry out e-bookstores, music distribution, app stores and online storage and other services are also common. First of all, the specifications of the terminal are used to compare the "black ship three brothers" from the United States.

　Kindle Fire HD8.9 and iPad Retina are about the same depth, but 21.7mm wide and narrow, 0.6mm thin and 85g light. Holding this size and weight with one hand for a long time is a bit strict, but it is usually held with both hands, and it is not so painful to let go of the weight of one hand when operating slightly. By the way, the thickness of the Kindle Fire HD is 10.3mm, so the size is larger, but 1.5mm thinner.

　No terminal supports external storage devices such as microSD/SDHC, but prepares online storage services. In the case of Kindle, the name is "personal document". Personal files other than those purchased by Amazon can be saved up to 5G bytes on the cloud through Send-to-Kindle email addresses. In addition, it can also be seen on other terminals logged in with the same account.

　As a reader of eBook USER, you will also notice whether existing e-bookstores can be used on their respective terminals. Centering on the e-bookstore commented in the complete Guide to e-Bookstores without hesitation, try to use the correspondence of the application as a list (at the time of this writing). Except when used through a browser).

　It is also mentioned in the Kindle Fire HD report that the launch of the eBookJapan app, which is "recognized by the Amazon App Store," has so far failed to show up in the search for the Kindle Fire App Store. The search in the Amazon Android App Store is not only for eBookJapan, but also for BOOK apps WALKER and Kobo, so even if it is approved in the Amazon App Store, it doesn't necessarily show up in the Kindle Fire series.

　もっとも、Amazonアプリは基本的にAndroidアプリと互換性があるので、アプリのapkファイルがあればインストールは可能だが、すべて自己責任となる。公式にはKindle Fireシリーズでは、他の電子書店は利用できないと考えた方がいいだろう。Kindle Fireシリーズは汎用的な部分も若干あるが、原則的にはAmazon専用端末だ。汎用度ではNexus 10 > iPad Retina > Kindle Fire HD 8.9という順になる。

Initial setting

　The author validates the device purchased at Amazon, so all the initial settings require are language settings, Wi-Fi settings, and time zone settings. It's very simple.

　Kindle Paperwhite supports WPS buttons, but Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD8.9 do not. Just in case, I reconfirmed the support and replied, "AOSS and WPS are not supported, the password is entered by hand only." However, because you can confirm the entered text, even if you make a mistake in the password, the correction is very simple.

　Click "start now" on the Facebook and Twitter settings screen, and the startup guide will begin. The basic operation on the main screen is explained here, which is very kind.

　When you reach the home screen, you can display it horizontally.

　なお、左上に表示されている端末の名称は、Amazon.co.jpのアカウントサービス >MyKindle の［端末の管理］から自由に変更できる。