Amazon Fire. Is it cool or not?

Yes. The amazon Fire is cool and inexpensive @ $199. I have been kicking one around for a week and I like it. For me it could be a nice device, especially with the price. However there are two pretty big drawbacks out of the box. They are:

1. No Android Market. All apps are downloaded via Amazon Market which is their own version of the main Android Market and community. The Amazon Market has but a small fraction of the apps available. I think this is so because of the tailored version of the Kindle OS. It seems more likely that an app on Android Market will not work correctly on a fire and that is why they excluded Android Market from the Fire. However, if you have some time and tech skills, you can root the device and install Android Market. For example, the Android version of WordPress is not compatible. Some will work – some will not. See below to root.

2. No corporate email. Amazon has excluded Activesync for Corporate Exchange Email Systems. While there are apps available for download, that poses a problem for corporate admins and that is lack of device management. When Activesync is tightly coupled into the device OS, IT administrators can remotely manage the device and even remotely “burn the B” with a remote wipe feature in case its lost. And devices are lost all the time.

So for right now, the Fire seems perfect for a consumer and could be a terrific opportunity to get in and duke it out with Apple. Based on the success this holiday season, it would not surprise me if a different version is available in the future that contains additional corporate features.

BAM! – Yes – You can root it and install Android Market and also install a corporate email app. I have done that with mine. It was kind of a pain. Amazon updated to v6.21 as I recived mine and the orginal set of instructions worked 80%. I was not able to move the Vendor.apk file (Market app) to the /system/app folder on the fire as outlined in the original instructions. then I found out I had downloaded the wrong version, it was a very old one, so I had two issues. I was able to get the latest v3.11 of the Vendor.apk and move the file to the /system/app directory. I messed around quite a bit so I am not sure exactly the order. But below find some helpful URL/tools to get you pointed in the right direction.

This is the original root instructions updated for v6.21.
This is another way. I use this to gain access via adb (dev tools) (its similar to above)
Working Vendor.apk (if you need it)

Now if you follow these instructions you should be good. If not, google around for errors and try different things. For me i gained root access and pushed the Vendor.apk to the /system/app directory. Trying to move any other way, gave me some crazy cross link error, even when I mounted the fs RW. So you need to just try a few things of the original instructions do not work.

Finally, try the app Moxier Mail for an Exchange compatible email app. Its free for 14 days then $20.

Good Luck. TS-Admin

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