As promised, Amazon has begun rolling out a new update for Kindle Fire owners, but there are some things you should know before you dive in. If you're a modder, be aware that the 
Time is running out if you still haven't slid any presents underneath the Christmas tree (for those of you who celebrate the holiday), and you have even less time if you prefer to shop online. But it's not too late to snag a Kindle online, not yet anyway. Amazon is offering free two-day shipping -- a deal normally reserved for Prime members -- to customers who order any Kindle device, including the Kindle Fire, by 8PM PT on December 21 (tomorrow).
Amazon is promising an over-the-air update for its recently launched Kindle Fire device will cure many of the ills early adopters have been complaining about. A company spokesman said the firmware revision will improve performance, smooth out navigation, and give users the option of editing recent activity, which will mean no more having to hide the device when you don't want other family members knowing what you've been up to.
Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire isn't really supposed to be an iPad killer, and in fact the mega online retailer rarely compares the two devices, at least publicly. However, if Amazon's new tablet can spread like a wildfire and make up half of the Android tablet market by 2012, as one analysts predicts it will, then the Kindle Fire will be well on its way to dethroning the iPad (in terms of shipments).
Build a low cost tablet (that doesn't suck) and the buyers will come. Amazon's Kindle Fire is proof that there's a significant market out there for non-iPad tablets, and folks, we're just getting started. The Fire has only been burning for two weeks, yet is already on pace to grab the No. 2 spot in the global media tablet market, with shipments expected to reach 3.9 million units by the end of the year.
Amazon's only begun lighting up the tablet market with its recently introduced Kindle Fire, a $199 tablet built around a heavily customized version of Android and powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor, but it's never too early to look ahead. Especially if you're Nvidia, which reportedly scored a deal to supply the application processor in the next Kindle Fire device.
Amazon is almost certainly losing money on each Kindle Fire tablet it sells, but the dollar amount might not be as high as some analysts originally thought. According to preliminary findings from IHS iSuppli's teardown analysis, the Kindle Fire carries a BOM (build of materials) cost of $185.60 for the hardware, and $201.70 overall when factoring in manufacturing services expenses.
It’s good policy to take analyst predictions with a big lump of salt, but a new projection from Citi Research jives with the seeming direction of the mobile market. According to the report, Amazon is actively preparing to design a sell an Android phone. However, the report goes on to state that it isn’t expected to arrive until late 2012. 
The Kindle Fire is likely to be a hot item this holiday season, but you don’t want to take yours apart just to see how it works. Luckily, iFixit has a Kindle Fire that was destined for such a fate. They report that the Fire is quite easy to take apart, not unlike the very similar BlackBerry PlayBook. 
The Kindle Fire is already the best selling item on Amazon.com, and it's going to arrive on customers' doorsteps one day early, the e-tailer announced today. Kindle Fire shipments were supposed to go out tomorrow, but the $199 tablets are already loaded up on trucks and headed out to the their destinations, and it's anyone's guess as to why.
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