Final Tablet Verdict - Nook, Fire or Streak - Tech Tuesday

Right up front, I will tell you that my mood is low. We have entered the gloomy season in New Hampshire and it is scheduled to rain for the next five days. So, take everything that follows with that in mind. I have my Happy Lite on, but it doesn't work immediately and certainly not in time to stop this rant. 


Is anyone else as annoyed as I am at the hype surrounding tablets this year? There are hundreds of new posts each day touting the pros and cons of the Kindle Fire, the Color Nook and Nook Tablet and of course the IPad. Enough already. I never should have set up that Google Alert for Nook Color and Kindle Fire. I. Am. Tired. Of. The. Noise. Let's just stop. Who cares if the Kindle Fire owns the world, or that the IPad groupies are building a moat. There are lots of good tablets, each of which will be happily used by some consumer somewhere. 


I have been promising you my 'final' decision on which device I prefer; the Nook, the Fire or the Dell Streak. Well, guess what, I like them all. Yes, you heard me right. They all work great, and I think you will be happy with any of them for reading, checking email and social media and surfing the web. Done. Go buy one and live happily ever after, but first if you need to read just a little bit more about this subject, below are my last few cents on why you shouldn't buy each device. Then figure out if you can live with the limitations and whip out your credit card (or better yet log in to Pay Pal) and click Buy Now. 


My Last Few Cents:

• Kindle Fire power button is in a dumb place. Really dumb. Or I am. I hit it constantly.
• Getting the home icon to appear on the Kindle Fire is a challenge for me, not so much for my twelve year old son. Go figure. 
• Kindle Fire has no camera, forward or rear. So you can watch, but you can't participate. So don't try. 
• Daughter bought text books through Barnes and Noble and they will not work on the Nook. That makes sense! 
• How does B&N think they will ever keep up in the app department. Yes, the Nooks are nice and everything, but they have 1500 apps. Compare that to Amazon's 19000 apps. Does Google or Apple even know how many apps they have now? Why would anyone buy the Nook Color or Tablet? 
• The Dell Streak has terrible battery life. Actually really, really bad. You will need to get the car charger and keep this baby plugged in all of the time. It lasts a few hours, tops. Other than that it is perfect. Does everything I want.
• *Update 2:54 PM 6 Dec 2011 Dell Kills 7" Streak.  

So that's it. I hope Santa or Captain Chanukah brings you a tablet this year. Make sure you behave yourself!


The End.


Scrappy Gen
Let's Remember!

   

Dell Streak 7 Black Friday Deal

The turkey is waiting to be stuffed, but I happened to notice this amazing black Friday deal on the Dell Streak 7. Today and tomorrow it is only 159.99 at Best Buy. The offer is limited to one per household. I am not an affiliate at Best Buy and will not benefit from your purchase.

With forward and rear facing cameras, a microphone and speakers, this tablet works better for Skype and webinars than the Kindle Fire. The only negative I have for this tablet is that the battery life isn't the best. I charge it frequently and it works for me, but it is something to keep in mind. 

Have a great turkey day! 

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!

Android Apps for Kindle Fire Versus Android Phones and Tablets

Will the Kindle Firebe my new favorite tablet for on the go genealogy, social media and reading? It's a bit (read smidgeon) lighter weight than the Dell Streak and I have been able to add many apps that I was not able to add to the Nook Color. Plus, and this is a biggie, there will be a lot of cute accessories for the Kindle Fire, like the Verso Kindle Fire Cover. If you ignore the bling, what matters in the long run is whether the apps I am accustomed to using on the Dell Streak tablet and my Android phone can be used on the Kindle Fire.

My top apps & how I added them to the Kindle Fire:

Adobe Reader - Amazon download 

Ancestry - Beta version, sideload*

*29 Sep 2012 Update: Ancestry now available in the Amazon app store.

ColorNote Notepad Notes - Amazon download 

Documents to Go - Amazon download

Dropbox - Sideload*
*29 Sep 2012 Update: Dropbox now available in the Amazon app store.

Easy Installer - Amazon download and needed to install sideloaded apps

Evernote - Amazon download 

The Genealogy Gems Podcast: Bought it, again. I've now bought it multiple times, but I love it and want it available no matter which device is at hand. 

Hootsuite - Amazon download

Nook -  Sideload

Roboform - Sideload

Zinio - Downloaded from the Zinio.com website. 

Apps on my Android phone and/or Dell Streak that I will not or cannot download to the Kindle Fire:

Blogger - Unavailable on Amazon. It seems that most Google apps are not available. This could be a deal breaker for the Kindle Fire.

Skype - Not compatible with Kindle Fire. Kindle Fire does not have a camera, so this app would not be useful as I only use Skype for video chat.

Facebook - Unavailable on Amazon except as a doorway app to the Facebook mobile site. I use Hootsuite to follow my Facebook friends.

GedStar - Unavailable on Amazon. Not installing yet, as I do not use this that often.

Gmail - Google apps with sign in unavailable. 

Google+ and Google Huddle - Google+ installed, but did not work on the Kindle Fire. It got stuck connecting. Currently Google+ is available to superior (paying megabucks) customers on Hootsuite. It is unavailable in the Amazon store, but available in the Android market. I was not able to side load it. Guess I will wait for Hootsuite to make it available for the lesser paying customers.

Google Reader - Unavailable. This is a big one for me. I can go onto the web to read directly from Google Reader, but everyone loves an app, don't they?

Google Translate - Unvailable. 

Time Recording - Timesheet App - Unavailable in Amazon. It's on the Dell Streak, so I will have to learn to sideload from this device too.
*Update 29 Sep 2012 Timesheet now available in the Amazon App store.

Twitter - Available on Amazon but incompatible with Kindle Fire. The Twitter Mobile Web app gives you access to the Twitter mobile web page, but is not a user app. Plus I use Hootsuite to interact on Twitter.*
*29 Sep 2012 Update: Available for Kindle Fire, but I still use Hootsuite.

YouTube: Unvavailable

What's the verdict; tablet or Kindle Fire?
Looking at the long list of apps, which I use regularly that are not currently available for the Fire, makes me think that the Dell Streak will stay my tablet of choice. Over the next week or so I am going to keep researching what is and what becomes available. The Dell Streak tablet includes a camera, microphone and blue tooth, all items not included in the Kindle Fire. 

Would the Kindle Fire make a good gift?
This is an emphatic yes! My kids and my husband are all interested in one. I am thinking too that my Dad would really like one for traveling. 

Tablet or IPad? 
Do you have an Ipad? Are you able to use all of the Google apps on it? What about YouTube and Skype? 

Hope this was helpful. Not sure which way I am going with this, but I will keep you updated! 

Scrappy Gen
Let's Remember!

Update: 21 Nov 2011 Many magazines from Amazon are suddenly unavailable for download through the Kindle app (on my Android phone and Dell Streak) and will only be available on the Kindle Fire. Barnes & Noble continues to make magazines available for both the Color Nook and the Nook Android app.

How to Sideload Apps onto the Kindle Fire - Dropbox

Are you thinking of getting the new Kindle Fire? Are you wondering if you can run all of your apps on it? Follow along as I learn how to side load Android apps from my phone to the Kindle Fire, no rooting or jail-breaking required!

Several apps I want are either unavailable from Amazon or incompatible with the new Kindle Fire. One incompatible app is Zinio.com, which you can download directly from the Zinio site. One app unavailable in the Amazon store is Dropbox. Today I am going to follow directions given by Sascha Segan in "How to run almost any android app on the Kindle Fire" to copy these apps to the Kindle Fire. He is very techie, but me, not so much. Because I am a visual learner, I have added pictures.

Step 1: Back up apps to Android phone SD Card

1. Download, install and open the free ASTRO File Manager for your Android phone.

  

2. Click on File Manager.

3. From the menu button, click on preferences.

Preferences is bottom left

4. Click on Backup Directory and choose your SD card. My backup for the SD card is /mnt/sdcard/backups. See Sascha Segan's instructions for more technical details.

5. Go back to the main ASTRO screen and click on Application Backup.

6.  Click on the app you want to download and choose backup.

I clicked on Dropbox

Step 2: Copy apps from Android phone SD card to PC

Step 3: Copy apps from PC to Kindle Fire

Step 4: Download Easy Installer to Kindle Fire, open and use to install apps. The nice thing about Easy Installer is it's easy! When you open the program, the apps available for install appear immediately. No need to search for where you might have put the app. Not that that ever happens to me. 


If I can sideload an app, you can too. Next up: Nook


Let me know if you have any questions or comments. 


2:10 PM Update: No Sideloading Google Apps - Do you know how many Google apps there are? Why doesn't Google offer apps for either the Color Nook or the Kindle Fire? I am betting it is because both use proprietary software, but to me it seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Does Google prefer me to buy a non proprietary device? What's in it for them? Why don't I go to www.google.com to find out. Or, will they filter the results to only show me what they want me to know. Do you know? 


Greg Knieriemen writes in Kindle Fire, An Open Letter to Jeff Bezos that Amazon is blocking Google. Really? So is Amazon blocking or Google not sharing? Could everyone just play nice please so that I can have my cake and eat it too?

Scrappy Gen
Let's Remember!

Zinio for Kindle Fire - It works!

The UPS man brought my new Kindle Fire yesterday. One of the key apps I want to be able to use on it is Zinio. Zinio is available in the Amazon app store, but there is a notification stating it is incompatible with the Kindle Fire. Huh?

Zinio is already on top of this issue. Watch this video I made with Screencast-O-Matic to learn how to put the Zinio app on your Kindle Fire: 

Thank you to for Bloggers by Bloggers for the tip about using Screencast-O-Matic. It is super easy, fun to use and could be used for sharing family history. 

 

Happy Thursday!

Scrappy Gen

Let's Remember!