Things I like:

1. I can thumb type without it being too awkward. I always felt the iPad was an awkward size to type on.
2. It’s small enough that I can fit it in even my smallest purses (a qualifier – I have a penchant for larger purses; none of those tiny clutches or wristlets here).
3. Evernote! The Evernote app on the Fire is awesome. To be fair, most of the Evernote apps are awesome, but the fact that I can just hit return when creating a list and a checkbox will automatically appear is amazing. I’ve been writing shopping lists and checklists all morning.
4. Pulse – This is a neat app. I’m still customizing my pages, but I like the look of the app and the fact that I can send articles right to Twitter, Facebook, or my beloved Evernote.
5. Long-form typing is a lot easier than on an iPhone (my usual mobile device of choice). In fact, I’m writing this article on the Fire right now on a train on my way to work.

 Things I don’t like:

1. It’s alternately not sensitive enough or too sensitive. I find myself accidentally double tapping the space bar and finding random periods in my sentences. On the other hand, I feel like I had to hit the Save button three times in an Evernote note before it saved and took me back to the main page.
2. It’s heavier than I expected. Granted, I probably should have looked at the specs first, but due to its size, I had expected a lighter device.

I’m sure I’ll have more feedback after spending an extensive amount of time with it. Stay tuned.

• Tap Apps in your homescreen.
• Then select Email to open the Email app.
• From there, it’ll prompt you to add your first account, select your provider – the popular ones (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL are provided, as well as other) [For this example, I'm using Gmail]
• Once you tap Gmail, it’ll ask for your username and password.  The Fire will utilize this information to try to figure out your mail server’s settings.  (That sounds overly complicated, but it’s just how the device connects to your email.
• The next screen asks if you’re using POP3 or  IMAP - if you’re not sure which you’re using, check with your IT friendly folks.  IMAP is the way to go these days.
• Once you’ve selected which connection you want, the next screen will ask you for your server information, which it’s determined from the username/password connection you just gave it.  Chances are, this information is correct, however you may need to add your full email address as your username, depending on your email provider.
• Click Next once you’ve filled in all of the settings.
• If everything works correctly, you’ll then be asked for your outgoing settings, which should also be correct.
• The last step asks for your Name and Account Name, the name is what will show on your outgoing messages, and the Account Name is how you’ll identify mail on the Fire.

However, let’s tackle how to use Amazon Video.

• First off, if you don’t have an Amazon Prime account, you should get one. (You get free Amazon video, as well as free two day shipping on all your purchases.
• On your Fire’s home screen, just tap “Video” near the top.
• If you’re a Prime member, right at the top, you’ll get Prime Instant Videos $0.00 for Prime members.
• Below that you’ll find movies for pay.  All movies can be sorted by Popular, Recently Added, Editor’s Picks, All Genres, For The Kids and Holiday
• Tap the movie you want to watch.  If it’s a Prime movie (and thus free), you’ll just click “Watch Now”  If you are required to pay for it, you can select which option you want to buy just by tapping.

You’ve got two options, and we’ll walk you through both:

1. Use Amazon’s Cloud
2. Use your computer

Once you’ve registered, you can upload your music directly from the website.

Upload Screen

Simply select the files (as many as you want at once) to upload.  The system will process each of them in order. And then they’ll become available through the “Cloud” section of your Music folder on the Fire.  You don’t even have to put the files on the Fire.  They’ll play right from the cloud.

Use Your Computer - Using your computer, you can put music files directly onto the Fire. When you plug your Fire into your computer, your PC or Mac will treat it as a new hard drive.

Just open that drive, and locate the Music folder.  Drop your music in, and voila.

Keep in mind that the Fire can only play certain types of Non-DRM protected files.  Specifically MP3s.  So if your entire music library is encoded for iTunes, you’ll need to utilize a software application to convert those files to MP3, so your Fire can play them.

• Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner of your Fire, by the Wifi signal and battery bar.
• This will bring up your Wireless Networking screen – also where you’ll turn Wireless off for airplane flight.
• Your available networks will be displayed there.
• Simply tap on the one you want, and enter the wireless password, if applicable.

That’s the reaction everyone’s been saying since I made it public that I preordered it.  If you’re curious and don’t know anyone that has a Fire, head to Best Buy tomorrow.  They’re putting a display model out tonight for playing tomorrow.

Getting Started:

Once you take your Fire out of the box and turn it on, it’s smart enough to ask you for some information.  Right away, when you unlock it, it asks you if you want to connect to a wifi network.  Mine popped right up at the top as it’s the strongest, and I connected almost immediately.

It then asked for my time zone, which it set. And then proceeded to do a software update.  Concerning, but not out of the ordinary. Many times a device is packed and shipped with a particular version of software and the developers continue working on making it better while units are already ready to go.

Apps:

By default the Fire comes with IMDb (an Amazon company), Facebook, Pulse, and an Amazon Store app.  Along with the Fire specific apps for Newsstand, Books, Music, Video, Docs, Apps and Web.

Look:

It looks like what I thought it would. It’s not like its design was a surprise.  It’s sleek, mostly black, and stylish.  It’s a bit heavier than thought it would be for some reason, but no heavier than my iPad.

The glass appears to be of better quality than my iPad, too.  I’ve been playing with the Fire for half an hour now, and there’s very little smudging of fingerprints anywhere on it.  Whereas if I even look at my iPad or iPhone, it’s smudged.

UI:

The user interface feels different.  As never having used an Android device before, I’m lost on how to do certain things, but have no doubt that I’ll get there.  The “shelf” method of displaying content is quite nice, and I imagine when I fill my device in, it will be quite nice to have everything be able to be organized.

Overall:

I’m just getting started, but so far I really like what I see.  My next mission will be to try to get some content onto the device and see how it handles things.

It’s not clear if they’re doing that because I also ordered a Fire or not and they wanted to save on shipping.  Have you received notice that your Kindle Touch would ship early?

Expected delivery date is November 16th or 17th, a full week early.

Coming in at $249, the Barnes & Noble “nook tablet” (clever name there Barnes & Noble…) seems like a decent table.  Certainly cheaper than an iPad, but a bit more expensive than a Fire.

Specs: 

• Height: 8.1 inches
• Width: 5.0 inches
• Depth: 0.48 inches
• Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Screen: 7 inch touchscreen, color, 1024×600, 16 million colors.
• Flash: Yes.
• Wi-fi: B/G/N
• Processor: 1GHz TI OMAP4 (dual-core) processor with 1GB RAM
• Battery life: 11.5 hours of reading or 9 hours of video without recharging with wireless off (supposedly)
• Memory: 16GB (10,000 books)
• Built-in apps: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora® internet radio, Chess, Crossword, Sudoku, Media Gallery, NOOK Friends™, Email

Check out the gallery below.  Are you at all interested in a tablet version of the nook?

The Amazon Kindle Library contains around 5,000 books currently, with plans to add more over the next few months.

To borrow a book from the Kindle Library for free, you have to have a Kindle or Fire device – you can’t borrow books using one of the Kindle apps for your computer or mobile device; just another reason to get a Kindle or pre-order a Fire and an active Amazon Prime membership ($79 per year, but also includes free two-day shipping and unlimited video streaming.)

It’s available today, so just head to the Amazon Store on your device and look for the new link for “Kindle Owner’s Lending Library” to see what books are available.  You can borrow up to one per month.

• Millions of songs, apps, millions of books, thousands of movies/TV shows
• No cable syncing required
• Free Amazon Cloud storage
• Delete content and restore it at any time.
• Start a movie on your Kindle Fire, and resume watching on your TV.
• Whispersync will work with TV and Movies as well as books.
• Listen to music while reading (just thinking about this makes my brain distracted)
• Has a dedicated browser (Amazon Silk) which will use cloud computing power, taking some of the strain off the hardware itself

The Amazon Fire is a 7″ display, full color, will weigh 14.6 ounces, multi-touch, with a Gorilla Glass screen at 169dpi, and 16 million colors.

The Amazon Fire will cost $199 is available for pre-order today, shipping on November 15th.  Be sure to pre-order yours for the holiday season today!

There was no mention of 3G, onboard storage space or resolution.  Stay tuned for those details as they become available.