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Kindle Paperwhite and two Fires up for pre-order in Japan, Kindle Store opens there tomorrow
Amazon's just announced that it's bringing the entire Kindle family to Japan. The basic Paperwhite is now available to pre-order for 8,480 yen (around $106) from the online retailer, with the 3G version arriving at a slightly pricier 12,980 yen (approximately $162) -- both will start shipping November 19th. Obviously you're going to need stuff to read, so the Kindle Store is opening its doors tomorrow and shelves are stocked with over 50,000 Japanese language books (including 10,000 for free) and more than 15,000 manga titles. Amazon's tablet range is heading to Japan as well, with the Fire costing 12,800 yen (approximately $160) and the 7-inch Fire HD setting wallets back 15,800 yen (almost $200). You'll have to wait a bit longer for these two, however, as shipping is slated to begin December 19th -- hopefully arriving in time to fill those stockings.
Amazon Kindle Fire HD update brings Kindle FreeTime to tablet-craving tykes
One of Amazon's subtler but potentially valuable promises for the Kindle Fire HD was its Kindle FreeTime mode -- a fenced-off world that would give kids a simple place to play and their parents the confidence to step away for a few precious minutes. It wasn't part of the initial launch, but a new update to the 7-inch model is rolling FreeTime into Amazon's latest tablet. The upgrade gives as much flexibility as Amazon promised, letting adults introduce filters as well as cap the time their children spend with different kinds of content. Most of the remaining updates pertain to general fixes; that said, we imagine that most parents won't mind the narrow focus once they know Junior can't watch Kill Bill.
Kindle Fire HD 7-inch rooted in spite of Amazon, unstoppable force meets the unhackable object (video)
We were worried there, for a minute. After code explorers found that Amazon's Kindle Fire HD 7-inch had both a locked bootloader and extra security measures, there was a brief concern that the pseudo-Android tablet might be very tough to hack. As it turns out, there was no reason to lose faith. Hashcode, Justin Case, Reverend Kyle and Sparklym3 from the XDA and RootzWiki forums have successfully rooted the smaller Kindle Fire HD in a repeatable form, giving anyone courageous enough to load ADB the control they want over the tablet they bought. Just remember the usual caveats if you choose to dive in: while the root isn't a lengthy process, as you'll see in the video after the break, there's still the ever-present risk of bricking the device should something go wrong. Having seen what can be done with the original Kindle Fire after a little tinkering, we're intrigued as to what happens with its more capable sequel.
Amazon Kindle Fire HD torn down, proves an easy fix
Interested in what makes your new Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tick? The crew at iFixit certainly is. As is the repair shop's custom, it just tore down Amazon's new reader tablet to gauge its repairability as well as look for any surprises. In the case of the revamped Kindle Fire, the fixable design is the main surprise -- despite being skinnier than its ancestor, the tablet is easy to open and its components (usually) easy to replace. We're not as shocked by the choice of hardware makers, which include an LG Display LCD, the expected 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4460 processor and Samsung flash memory. Head on over to the source if you'd like to see the nitty gritty of Amazon's Android slab and possibly save the trouble of a replacement unit down the road.
