“Robots in disguise!” Yeah. Like there would be confusion over a tablet and a toy robot. Well, Hasbro is concerned!

Hasbro Sues Asus Over ‘Transformer’ Name

“Toy maker Hasbro has filed suit against Asus for trademark infringement over the use of the “Transformer” name.

At CES earlier this year, Asus unveiled the Eee Pad Transformer, an Android-based tablet that can convert to a notebook via a docking station. Last month, it expanded the line with the Transformer Prime, a tablet-laptop hybrid that is the first to include Nvidia’s next-gen Tegra 3 mobile chip.

But as any child of the 80s is aware, a Transformer is more than just a fancy tablet. Hasbro unveiled the Transformers in 1984, a line of tiny robots that converted into other forms. In addition to plastic toys and various other paraphernalia, the Transformers were available via a cartoon, a comic book series, an animated film and, more recently, several live-action films. There was even a Transformer Camaro, according to court filings.

In a lawsuit filed last week, Hasbro said it contacted Asus about the Eee Pad Transformer earlier this year, asking the company not to use the name. ‘Asus refused to comply,’ according to the lawsuit, filed in a California district court.

Hasbro claims that ads for Asus’s Transformer Prime (below) use imagery that ‘closely resembles imagery used in Transformers movies and video games, in particular evoking the Transformers home planet of Cybertron.’”

Riiight! I am sure they were trying to invoke images of Cybertron! I guess I would protect my product name too, but this is a little silly guys!

Awesome! I LOVE my new Kindle Fire! And now, with the 6.2.1 software upgrade, it is faster, slicker, and has less restrictions, as this article in GigaOm, points out:

Kindle Fire no longer blocks Android Market website

“Earlier this week, I grilled Amazon for attempting to control web browsing activities on its Kindle Fire. Any attempts to browse Google’s Android Market website were redirected to Amazon’s own AppStore on the tablet. I understand why Amazon did so: It wants to have Android apps installed on the Fire directly from its own curated application store, and it doesn’t want to field support calls when users have issues with Android Market apps on the Kindle Fire. Still, I feel the browser is sacred, and no browsing activities should be hijacked like this.

The good news is that Amazon has rethought its approach. With the new Kindle Fire software update, made available on Wednesday, you can now browse to the Google Android Market website. After I installed the software update to the Fire – we have complete instructions on the five-minute process here — I verified the browsing block was gone. I did get a security certificate warning, but was able to continue in the Fire’s browser with no other issues.

Does this mean you can now install Android Market apps to the Kindle Fire over the web? Not exactly, because there’s no simple way to associate the Kindle Fire with a Google account, which is how Google’s web-based Android Market links to devices. Regardless, this step was the right one for Amazon to take because it allows people to see which Android apps Google does offer, and it no longer hijacks the web page a user wants to view.”

Here’s a video from the Verge on the new software, “before and after.”

Cross-posted from VirtZine:

VMware will soon release VMware View Clients (and updates) for Linux, the Mac, and the Kindle Fire!

VMware takes View to Kindle Fire, Mac and Linux

“New clients for the desktop virtual isation tech add to iPad, Android support

VMware announced new VMware View Clients for Kindle Fire, Mac and Linux, along with updates to its VMware View Clients for Android and iPad.

Offered as technology previews – in other words they’re not actually production ready yet but will be ‘soon’ – the VMware View Clients for- Mac and Linux enable IT organisations to empower more agile, productive and connected workforce or school communities according to the firm, by providing an easy-to-access, high-fidelity desktop virtualNew clients for the desktop virtualisation tech add to iPad, Android support.

‘More and more people want the freedom to choose the device that best fits their computing needs in school and into the workplace,’ said Pat Lee, director, end user clients, VMware. ‘With the new VMware View Clients, both IT and end users win with a complete, secure and easily accessible virtual desktop on the devices that best meet their needs.’

‘Fifty-one percent of our faculty computers are Macs and just over 29 percent of our student population uses Macs,’ said Steve Swartz, CIO and AVP of Technology at Fitchburg State University. ‘Having a Mac client running VMware View with PCoIP is critical to our ability to extend VDI to these users.’”

Check screen shots HERE.

Sources tell me that the Android (Kindle and other Android devices) version should be in the Amazon Android Store around December 23rd.

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Tegra 3 CPU is quad core! iOS phones battery issue, ‘Siri’-like voice recognition on the Kindle? Amazon Kindle Fire sales. HP is the number 2 tablet maker, Cyanogenmod 7 port coming to Kindle Fire, a ‘HowTo’ to install the Android Market on the Kindle!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:50 — 7.2MB) | Embed

Tegra 3 CPU is quad core! iOS phones battery issue, ‘Siri’-like voice recognition on the Kindle? Amazon Kindle Fire sales. HP is the number 2 tablet maker, Cyanogenmod 7 port coming to Kindle Fire, a ‘HowTo’ to install the Android Market on the Kindle!

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A “HowTo” to install the Android Market on your Kindle Fire! Courtesy of PC World!

How to Install the Android Market on Your Kindle Fire

“Want to install Google Maps on your brand-new, fresh-out-of-the-box Kindle Fire? You can’t, because the stock Kindle Fire is limited to downloading apps from the Amazon Appstore. If you love to tinker with devices and improve them, however, you can follow our separate guide to rooting your Kindle Fire. Afterward, you can use your newfound superuser powers to install the Google Android Market on your device. It isn’t a simple process, but it is pretty straightforward–and it’s worth the time if you wish to turn your $200 Kindle Fire into a robust Android tablet.

Step 1: Download the GoogleServicesFramework.apk to allow your rooted Kindle Fire to access Google Services. The easiest way to do this is to download the entire Google Apps .apk package directly and then extract the GoogleServicesFramework.apk file from the GApps.rar archive using a free archive tool such as WinRAR.

Step 2: Download the latest version of the Vending.apk file, which is version 3.3.11 as of this writing. This is basically the Android Market application.

Step 3: Download an Android file-management app that you can use to modify read-write permissions on a rooted Android device. The simplest method is to grab the free File Expert from the Amazon Appstore for Android.

Step 4: Connect your Kindle Fire to your PC using a Micro-USB cable (as if you were rooting your Kindle Fire again) and transfer the downloaded .apk files to the Fire. Install File Expert, and then give it superuser permission by opening the app, tapping the Menu key, and navigating to the Settings menu. From there, open File Explorer settings and enable the Root Explorer option, which will let you modify app read-write permissions and thus allow the Android Market app to download and install apps to your Kindle Fire.

Step 5: Open the File Expert app, select the GoogleserviceFramework.apk file, and tap Install. Once installation is complete, navigate back to the Vending.apk file and press and hold it to open the file menu. Select the Cut option, and then navigate to the App folder sequestered inside your System folder. Tap the Menu key, open the Mount menu, and mount the App folder as Read-Write. Finally, tap the Menu key again and press Paste to copy the Vending.apk file into the App folder.

Step 6: Now that you’ve moved Vending.apk into the App folder, tap and hold it to bring up the file-options menu, and select the Permissions option. Change it to match the permissions of the other apps in this folder, which should be: Owner – Read/Write, Group – Read, Others – Read. Once you’re done, tap Vending.apk and install it.

Step 7: Reboot your Kindle Fire. Even after the Android Market is installed, it won’t show up in the custom Kindle carousel launcher, so you’ll need to download and install a custom launcher such as GO Launcher EX. Alternatively, you can download and install MarketOpener.apk, a custom .apk file written by XDA Developers forum member munday that will put a shortcut to the Android Market in your Kindle Fire launcher.

Step 8: Congratulations, you’ve hacked the Android Market onto your Kindle Fire! All that remains is to open the Android Market app and log in with your Google account. Remember, the Kindle Fire was not intended to access the Android Market and thus you’ll have no guarantee that any app will work. If you have any trouble with the Android Market crashing or failing to download apps, rebooting your Kindle Fire will probably help. During our tests we experienced frequent crashes and slow download speeds, but rebooting our Kindle Fire always fixed the problem. If that doesn’t work for you, consult Android developers and find the latest hacks and fixes by following great threads such as this discussion on the XDA Developers forum.”

Cyanogenmod for the Kindle Fire? OK, now I REALLY want the Fire! Once I get one, it will be “play time!”

Cyanogenmod 7 port coming to Kindle Fire this weekend

“That didn’t take long: over two weeks after its release, the Kindle Fire will be running Cyanogenmod 7 this weekend. Official CM7 support will have to wait, but an independent developer, JackpotClavin, has nearly completed a fully functional CM7 ROM for the Kindle Fire. He has been running the (almost) bug-free firmware for several days, and expects a public release by this Sunday.

Cyanogenmod, from Cyanogen and Team Douche, is a popular Android custom firmware. Cyanogenmod ROMs are built straight from Google’s source code; the software lets owners of manufacturer-skinned devices run a more pure version of Android. It is among the most stable of custom Android ROMs, with extra performance-boosting and power-conserving options. Cyanogenmod 7 is the team’s version of Gingerbread.

Getting ClockworkMod Recovery working on the tablet is the biggest obstacle to the ROM’s release. The device’s multitouch display is disabled in recovery, so the hacking tool requires users to navigate with hardware buttons. Other devices use volume up, volume down, and power for navigating, but the Kindle Fire only has a power button.

The developer’s workaround is to modify the ClockworkMod tool so that install update.zip from SD card is the first menu item. This allows Fire hackers to install CM7 with one click. The only problem with this method is that other functions in ClockworkMod — including backing up a ROM – won’t be available. Other developers are developing additional workarounds, so the handicapped recovery tool could merely be a temporary solution.

The Android Market can be hacked to run on the Kindle Fire without flashing a new ROM, but many Fire owners are still anxious to have a vanilla Android experience. The prospect of running stock Android on a $200 dual-core tablet is enough to make a hacker salivate.”

I, officially, want a Kindle Fire! I am opening to save up some pennies during the Christmas season and order one! So, looks like a lot of other folks are as well!

3-4M Amazon Kindle’s Shipped, 5M Expected by 2012

“We knew that the Amazon Kindle was a popular tablet but just how popular is slowly becoming clear. Water cooler talk in Taipei points to Amazon shipping between 3-4M Kindle Fire’s and they are continuing to increase orders for the popular Android tablet. Suppliers expect that shipments will ram up to around 5 million units by the end of December or early January.

Wintek, who is a major supplier of touch panels for Kindle Fire, has recently raised its internal forecast of shipments to Amazon. Industry sources have estimated that Wintek will ship about 3-3.5 million touch panels for Kindle Fire before January.

Unlike the ASUS Transformer Prime who can’t keep up with initial demand, the Kindle Fire is taking care of their potential customers. Then again the Prime is a high end device and creating scarcity will only make the geeks want it more.”