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Question of the Day: What's the most interesting small town you've visited in South Africa?
Kindle Fire
- Thread starter nadeem_k
- Start date
hashbrown99
Expert Member
If they ship it here it will work here. There is a international version of the Kindle as well as a US one
Don't know about content - every country is different due to licensing laws. Amazon themselves can answer that question for you - maybe mail Kindle support?
Don't know about content - every country is different due to licensing laws. Amazon themselves can answer that question for you - maybe mail Kindle support?
KleinBoontjie
Honorary Master
I would also like to get my hands on the Kindle Fire. I read a thread earlier about Viewsonic releasing a tablet to compete against the kindle fire. They say that its gonna be roughly the same price. Would like to compare the 2.
cerebus
Honorary Master
It's not even close.
Will the Kindle Fire work in South Africa: My thoughts
We all agree it looks to be an awesome piece of kit. Can you use the Kindle Fire in South Africa?
My thoughts are that it will work, however not all services from Amazon will be available. Amazon has a Appstore for cloud based media services in the US. This means that only people living in America can stream live video content and mp3’s through their device. With Amazon making a slight loss on every device they sell it is surely intended for Amazon’s streaming services as they’ll recoup their money through video and music downloads. I have heard a rumour that that the “US only” media services are even restricted when American Amazon customers travel abroad.
This does not mean that the Kindle Fire will be useless to Amazon customers in South Africa but it does seem that you’d need to own the content first, then you would need to upload it to your Kindle Fire before you can enjoy it. With only 5GB storage and without a way to add apps, it seems to be a Kindle in color and would only be worth it if and when Amazon opens their streaming media services to the rest of the world.
I’ve really been looking forward to getting my hands on the new Kindle fire. At this point in time there is no international release date for Kindle Fire. I think I will stick with my Kindle Keyboard until Amazon makes their cloud services, appstore and streaming media available to South Africa. Watch this space.
We all agree it looks to be an awesome piece of kit. Can you use the Kindle Fire in South Africa?
My thoughts are that it will work, however not all services from Amazon will be available. Amazon has a Appstore for cloud based media services in the US. This means that only people living in America can stream live video content and mp3’s through their device. With Amazon making a slight loss on every device they sell it is surely intended for Amazon’s streaming services as they’ll recoup their money through video and music downloads. I have heard a rumour that that the “US only” media services are even restricted when American Amazon customers travel abroad.
This does not mean that the Kindle Fire will be useless to Amazon customers in South Africa but it does seem that you’d need to own the content first, then you would need to upload it to your Kindle Fire before you can enjoy it. With only 5GB storage and without a way to add apps, it seems to be a Kindle in color and would only be worth it if and when Amazon opens their streaming media services to the rest of the world.
I’ve really been looking forward to getting my hands on the new Kindle fire. At this point in time there is no international release date for Kindle Fire. I think I will stick with my Kindle Keyboard until Amazon makes their cloud services, appstore and streaming media available to South Africa. Watch this space.
I think most users in this thread wants the device for its hardware and price, and will most likely load custom firmware. I am also waiting to see if there will be a cyanogenmod release for this device (there is one for the Nook color). In which case it really makes amazons cloud irrelevant.
You'll have access to Kindle books, the Cloud Drive and the Cloud Player. The only restrictions are in the Amazon Instant Video store, MP3 store and the Amazon App store - you won't be able to purchase anything.
I received the following correspondence from an SA importer who has 100 units on order for 3k ea:
"Certain features and functions of the new Kindle Fire are only available in the USA. Amazon cloud services will not be available in SA (Video and music streaming). What will on the unit: Amazon silk (web browser); free cloud storage; Whispersync, Read Your Documents; Email using the built-in email app that gets your webmail (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL etc.) into a single inbox."
I've purchased mine (plus a case and protective screen) directly from Amazon through MyUs.com for 2k excl. shipping costs and any import duties. Still over 1k less than what I would have pd in SA.
I received the following correspondence from an SA importer who has 100 units on order for 3k ea:
"Certain features and functions of the new Kindle Fire are only available in the USA. Amazon cloud services will not be available in SA (Video and music streaming). What will on the unit: Amazon silk (web browser); free cloud storage; Whispersync, Read Your Documents; Email using the built-in email app that gets your webmail (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL etc.) into a single inbox."
I've purchased mine (plus a case and protective screen) directly from Amazon through MyUs.com for 2k excl. shipping costs and any import duties. Still over 1k less than what I would have pd in SA.
lived666
Executive Member
I pre ordered mine from a local online store for R2350...so all depends where you shop I suppose.
lived666 which store is this and does this price also include all delivery charges? I've found about 4 places (and increasing so I see) and they are all between R2600 and R3000 - excluding delivery charges.
I may just decide to go that route if it works out to be the most cost effective as well as giving me the peripherals I have also got on order from Amazon. If the difference is less than R100 it's a no brainer. I somehow doubt this is going to be the case though.
Just bringing in the Kindle (minus peripherals) from the US will cost around 2k - R1700 plus delivery. At the end of the day I suppose it all depends on how important it is to save a few hundred rands.
I may just decide to go that route if it works out to be the most cost effective as well as giving me the peripherals I have also got on order from Amazon. If the difference is less than R100 it's a no brainer. I somehow doubt this is going to be the case though.
Just bringing in the Kindle (minus peripherals) from the US will cost around 2k - R1700 plus delivery. At the end of the day I suppose it all depends on how important it is to save a few hundred rands.
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cerebus
Honorary Master
My father ordered one of these for me from the US. Can you tell me then if I won't have access to the Amazon Appstore, how can I actually get apps on it? It won't run the normal Android market so what then?
Cerebrus you will be able to get apps onto it via a process called sideloading. You check a box in your device settings that allows you to install apps from unknown sources. That will let you download installer files from the internet or transfer them to your Kindle Fire via the USB slot and install them. Not all Android apps will work properly on the Kindle Fire, but many will.
GetJar.com and Box.net are good sources for android apps.
PS. I haven't tried myself but many sources attest to this. There's already a lot of info out there on issues like this.
GetJar.com and Box.net are good sources for android apps.
PS. I haven't tried myself but many sources attest to this. There's already a lot of info out there on issues like this.
Last edited:
Thinus@Refraud
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2011
- Messages
- 3
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- 0
How do you get Kindle Fire registered
Dear Forum
I recently received my Kindle Fire from US (through MyUS). Thought it would be simple to get going.
I registered it on Amazon's website by entering my 16 digit serial number. But still I could not access any books, seeing that Kindle Fire requires registration via Wi-Fi.
Any suggestions? I work with 3G mobile modem on my laptop. Could connecting to Wi-Fi of neighbour solve problem?
Regards
T
Dear Forum
I recently received my Kindle Fire from US (through MyUS). Thought it would be simple to get going.
I registered it on Amazon's website by entering my 16 digit serial number. But still I could not access any books, seeing that Kindle Fire requires registration via Wi-Fi.
Any suggestions? I work with 3G mobile modem on my laptop. Could connecting to Wi-Fi of neighbour solve problem?
Regards
T
A thread has been started at http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/383303-Kindle-Fire-Tips-Tricks-and-How-to-s which you may find useful.
Regarding your question the Fire is Wi-Fi only so you will need to connect to a Wi-Fi network to register and sync so that you can download your books..
It unfortunately does not have 3G..
I also got mine through MyUs. I must say I didn't expect the transport costs to be so high..
Rather create a wifi hotspot on your laptop using a program like connectify.
http://www.connectify.me/
Bobbin
Honorary Master
Yeah or if you happen to have an Android phone that can also wifi hotspot then just use that and carry it in your pocket 
Thinus@Refraud
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2011
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
My Kindle Fire is now registered
Thanks for all the advice. Setting up my laptop as a WiFi hotspot (using "Adhoc network" in Windows 7 did not work). And only Connectify Pro (at US$30) could possibly have helped, but this was not guaranteed.
Managed to sort it out as follows:
Went to the closest hotel in Cape Town where they offer WiFi in the lounge area. The Townhouse Hotel offer free WiFi access (even if you are not a guest). But be nice and spend some bucks on a few beers or juice and tip nicely. Get the username and password at the front desk. Other hotels charge approximately R1 per minute of WiFi use.
It was sorted in less than 20 minutes. (The connection was not the fastest, but it was free).
Hope someone else benefits from this post.
PS: Agree that it cost some bucks in delivery charges. Would probably be more beneficial to buy a couple and resell. This one was for my wife - I'm a bit more "old school" and prefer an actual book. There is something about the smell of real printed paper and feel of a book. Also a book won't hurt you that much if it falls on your face when dosing off.
Thanks for all the advice. Setting up my laptop as a WiFi hotspot (using "Adhoc network" in Windows 7 did not work). And only Connectify Pro (at US$30) could possibly have helped, but this was not guaranteed.
Managed to sort it out as follows:
Went to the closest hotel in Cape Town where they offer WiFi in the lounge area. The Townhouse Hotel offer free WiFi access (even if you are not a guest). But be nice and spend some bucks on a few beers or juice and tip nicely. Get the username and password at the front desk. Other hotels charge approximately R1 per minute of WiFi use.
It was sorted in less than 20 minutes. (The connection was not the fastest, but it was free).
Hope someone else benefits from this post.
PS: Agree that it cost some bucks in delivery charges. Would probably be more beneficial to buy a couple and resell. This one was for my wife - I'm a bit more "old school" and prefer an actual book. There is something about the smell of real printed paper and feel of a book. Also a book won't hurt you that much if it falls on your face when dosing off.
What were the total transport costs? I'm also registered with MyUS and would be curious to know.