Kindle Fire

The Kindle Fire is a tablet version of Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS technology and running a custom version of Google's Android operating system called Fire OS. The Kindle Fire HD followed in September 2012, and the Kindle Fire HDX in September 2013.

History

The device—which includes access to the Amazon Appstore, streaming movies and TV shows, and Kindle's e-books—was released to consumers in the United States on November 15, 2011, after being announced on September 28.

On September 7, 2012, upgrades to the device were announced with consumer availability to those European countries with a localized version of Amazon's website (United Kingdom,France, Germany, Italy and Spain).

The original Kindle Fire retailed for US$199 in 2011. Estimates of the device's initial bill of materials cost ranged from $150 to $202. Amazon's business strategy was stated in 2011 as making money through sales of digital content on the Fire, rather than through sales of the device itself.

Amazon Fire TV

Amazon Fire TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed by Amazon.com. It is a small network appliance and entertainment device designed to stream digital audio/video content to a high-definition television. The device also allows users to play video games with the included remote, via a mobile app, or with an optional game controller. The device features 2 GB of RAM, MIMO dual-band Wi-Fi, and a Bluetooth remote control with a microphone for voice search. It supports 1080p streaming and Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 surround sound but is dependent on internet bandwidth of the user. Unveiled on April 2, 2014, the Amazon Fire TV was made available for purchase in the US the same day for US$99 and was launched with a video game called Sev Zero. Amazon Fire TV is also available in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.

Design

The developmental code name of the Fire TV was Bueller, named after the eponymous character from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Hardware

The Fire TV offers HDMI and optical audio, with support for Dolby Digital Plus and 7.1 surround sound pass-through, along with an Ethernet port and a USB 2.0 port. According to Amazon, the Fire TV is designed to outpace competitors like the Apple TV and Roku in performance: The 0.7-inch-thick box features a 1.7 GHz quad-core CPU, 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage, along with a dual-band wireless radio for 1080p streaming over 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. The Fire TV now supports 4K Ultra High Definition streaming quality when used with compatible 4K Ultra HD TVs. The company said that it does not intend the Fire TV to compete with gaming consoles; instead, its gaming capabilities are geared toward people who don't already own a console but may play games on a smartphone or tablet. It has a dedicated controller accessory.

Amazon

The Amazons are a nation of female warriors in Greek myth.

Amazon or Amazone may also refer to:

Geography

People

Commerce

Amazon.com

Fire Phone

The Fire Phone is a 3D-enabled smartphone designed and developed by Amazon.com. It was announced on June 18, 2014, and marks Amazon's first foray into the smartphone market, following the success of the Kindle Fire tablets running the Fire OS operating system. It was available for pre-order on the day it was announced. In the United States, it launched as an AT&T exclusive on July 25, 2014.

The phone is notable for its hallmark feature "Dynamic Perspective": using four front-facing cameras and the gyroscope to track the user's movements, the OS adjusts the UI so that it gives the impression of depth and 3D. Other notable Amazon services on the phone include X-Ray, used for identifying and finding information about media; Mayday, the 24-hour customer service tool; and Firefly, a tool that automatically recognizes text, sounds, and objects, then offering a way to buy recognized items through Amazon's online store.

Amazon has not released sales figures for any of its devices, but based in part on its quickly declining prices and the announced $170 million write-down of costs associated with the phone, analysts have judged that it has not been commercially successful. Amazon stopped selling the phone in August 2015, and, as of September 2015, has not announced a followup model, leading to media speculations that the device has been cancelled.

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition.

Fire is hot because conversion of the weak double bond in molecular oxygen, O₂, to the stronger bonds in the combustion products carbon dioxide and water releases energy (418 kJ per 32 g of O₂); the bond energies of the fuel play only a minor role here. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are produced. The flame is the visible portion of the fire. Flames consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity will be different.

Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to cause physical damage through burning. Fire is an important process that affects ecological systems around the globe. The positive effects of fire include stimulating growth and maintaining various ecological systems. Fire has been used by humans for cooking, generating heat, light, signaling, and propulsion purposes. The negative effects of fire include hazard to life and property, atmospheric pollution, and water contamination. If fire removes protective vegetation, heavy rainfall may lead to an increase in soil erosion by water. Also, when vegetation is burned, the nitrogen it contains is released into the atmosphere, unlike elements such as potassium and phosphorus which remain in the ash and are quickly recycled into the soil. This loss of nitrogen caused by a fire produces a long-term reduction in the fertility of the soil, which only slowly recovers as nitrogen is "fixed" from the atmosphere by lightning and by leguminous plants such as clover.