Online retail giant Amazon has been generating a lot of news today with the launch of its new line-up of Kindle tablets, titled Fire HDX. The new range, apart from a reworked 7-inch and 8.9-inch tablet variant, comes with an upgraded software that warrants a quick look through.
Amazon, in the past, has always limited itself to calling its operating system “Fire OS”. This time around, the new tablets will come with version 3.0 of the OS and has been given the codename Mojito. The OS, as before, is based on the Android platform, though the company is now making use of the Jelly Bean version of the same.
The new system will come with all new HDX and HD devices. While there is not much word about the same being pushed out for older devices, sources have told the Verge that there is a good chance of that happening, keeping in mind Amazon’s track record of pumping out updates. The new OS, like its predecessors, does not come with Google Play access. Looking at the competition between app stores, though, this is not unexpected.
The new Kindle Fire HDX comes with a new OS called Version 3.0 aka Mojito.
The user interface, from images seen so far, looks similar to earlier editions. The tablet’s home screen seems to revolve around a ton of apps, games, movies, music and so on. Amazon, however, had taken heed of some of the complaints its users had in the past by adding a grid-style layout that can be accessed with a swipe up action. With the majority of users out in the market hailing from an Android background, this familiarity is sure to be welcome. If users were to swipe in from the right, they would be able to access “Quick Switch”, a feature that allows you to switch between different pieces of content that was recently accessed.
The biggest feature that is the talk of the Amazon town is Mayday. The button is based in the Quick Settings folder that can also be accessed with a swipe. The button is basically a live, human help module built directly into the OS. This, unfortunately, is only applicable for the new HDX models as you need a mic port to support the feature. Mayday, once activated, will pop up a little video chat box with a real Amazon employee waiting on the other end. The feature is active throughout the year, according to the company.
While users can see them, the person on the company’s end will only be able to see the users' screen. And the company has also taken into consideration users who are afraid of revealing their passwords. If the user asks, the “helper” will pause the live video feed while things like passwords are being entered. The company is making use of the substantial number of technicians it has on its pay roll for this feature and will probably rope in more personnel for holiday seasons.
Users can go ahead and ask for any kind of technical tablet-related support needed, ranging from settings adjustment to app recommendations. The Amazon employee can either walk you through the process by drawing circles or arrows highlighting and pointing to the menu you want, or they can directly do it for you. This feature is particularly nifty for children and technically-challenged adults who may struggle with the new tablet.
Another feature that the new tablets come with is Second Screen. This basically sends content through your tablet to your TV sets. Second Screen uses your PlayStation 3 or 4 console as well as Samsung smart TV units as a relay point to do this. The content is not actually streamed through the tablet, though. It is instead pulled down from the Cloud, but the tablet can still be used to control it. Once sent out, users will get relevant information by way of X-Ray, which comes with the names of songs being played, character names and trivia from the company’s IMDb service. The new OS also comes with X-Ray Music, featuring lyrics licensed by Amazon. The best part about this is that users can access the same whether they are on the online grid or not.
Goodreads, too, seems to be in-built now, or should be when the next update from Amazon 3.1, starts doing the rounds in November. Users will now be able to share quotes, review titles and get recommendations while reading a book. And Reading Mode in the tablet will now turn off all unnecessary processes while you are in the middle of an engrossing chapter, basically giving users up to 17 hours of battery life for HDX tablets. And Mojito is good for users who want to take their tablets to work as well.
The new line-up comes with wireless printing support for documents, email with threaded messaging as well as support for VPN and other such enterprise services. And the company has been stressing on how easy it is to develop apps for the OS, thanks to the support built in for Native Android App Compatibility. While the new tablets will be rolled out in markets from next month onwards, there is still no word on when an international release will take place.
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