Tag: how-to - Part 5

Upgrading To A New Kindle Fire: How To Copy Content From An Old Fire To A New One

In my previous post, Surviving A Kindle Fire Factory Reset – With (Most) Of Your Stuff Intact, I outlined a step-by-step process for backing up your Kindle Fire before performing a factory reset, then restoring that content after the reset. Now that the new Kindle Fire models are upon us, I’m getting this question pretty frequently: can the same method be used to transfer content from an old/pre-existing Kindle Fire to a new one? The answer is: yes, but with some tweaks to the process. When I got new Fire I was able to test this out for myself, so I can confirm that it works. A Step-By-Step Process For Relocating To A New Kindle Fire The steps below, and screenshot, are from going through this process with a Kindle Fire HD model. The process is essentially the same for all Fire models, but folder names and locations on different generations…

Audible Tip: How To Avoid Using Member Credits When Buying Sale Audiobooks

I recently picked up some deeply-discounted Kindle books on Amazon, and noticed that the companion Audible audiobooks were also being offered as add-on purchases at ridiculously low prices. I’m talking a couple of bucks for the Kindle books and another buck to two bucks for the Audible audiobook. Normally, I don’t pay much attention to the prices listed for Audible audiobooks because I’m an Audible member and I’m usually “buying” audiobooks with my Audible member credits anyway. I currently pay about $23/mo to get two Member Credits per month, which is a great deal if the audiobooks I’m “buying” with my credits are normally priced at $12 or more. And they usually are priced higher; in fact, they’re usually priced anywhere from about $17 – 25 each. Sometimes I’d like to get one of these deeply-discounted add-ons, but I don’t want to spend my Member Credits on them because then I’m not…

What Happens If You Get Your Lost Or Stolen Kindle / Fire Back?

Regular readers may recall my son lost his Kindle Fire when we were visiting family out of state this past June, and the incident inspired my post, What To Do If Your Kindle Or Kindle Fire Is Lost Or Stolen. Since that post quickly became, and continues to be, among the most popular posts of all time on this site, I’m assuming many of you have dealt with a lost or stolen Kindle or Kindle Fire so I’m back with an update: my son’s Fire was turned in to the airport lost and found, and my parents were able to pick it up and mail it back to me. This post is about what happens next: how to get your formerly lost or stolen device back into your Amazon account’s good graces.

How To Turn Off Amber Alerts On Your Cell Phone

Last week many Californians were jolted awake, or were at least startled, by a totally unfamiliar, high-pitched tone coming from their cell phones. Looking at their phones, they found they’d received an AMBER alert, per a new emergency broadcast notification system that went into effect January 1 of this year. Because they have no control over the timing of these messages (nor in some cases, the earsplitting ring tone that announces them), and because the messages themselves are somewhat cryptic and therefore somewhat useless, most recipients reacted with 1) irritation that they’d been subjected to an alert they never opted in to receive and 2) an immediate desire to disable this feature so they’d never receive another cell phone AMBER alert. Click here to learn more about the wireless AMBER alert system and the changes that went into effect 1/1/13. Yeah, But How Do I Turn It Off?! On an…

Ebooks Settlement Refunds: How To Get Your Share of the Ebooks Price Fixing Settlement Fund

Today Publisher’s Weekly reports: According to a recent filing, publishers have paid a total of $166,158,426 to settle state and consumer e-book price fixing charges, including an additional $3,909,000 to settle consumer claims in Minnesota. In all, the total damages assessed to the publishers came in at $218,883,000…And that figure could jump considerably now that Apple has been found liable at trial. Pending a reversal on appeal, Apple will eventually have to pay to settle the state and consumer claims as well. I wrote an article about this for Kindle Fire on Kindle Nation Daily, Apple Loses in Ebook Price Fixing Case. The article provides more information about the basis of the government’s case against the big publishers who were involved as well as Apple, so if you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about here that may be a good place for you to start. Don’t worry – the link…

How To Delete Items From Your Fire Or Your Amazon Cloud Account

This is a cross-posting of an article I originally wrote for the Kindle Fire on Kindle Nation Daily site, and it’s reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission. Many people reading this will already know how to remove items from their Kindle Fire’s carousel, and many will also know how to remove them from the Device screens (e.g., Apps > Device, Books > Device, etc.), but very few know how to prune apps, audiobooks, videos, music and Kindle ebooks from the Fire’s Cloud screens (e.g., Apps > Cloud, Books > Cloud, etc.). Here’s the scoop! Removing Items From The Carousel This is the easiest one. Simply long-tap the item you want to remove, and select “Remove From Carousel” from the pop-up menu. By the way, “long-tap” means tap and hold your fingertip or stylus on the screen until the pop-up menu appears.

What To Do When Your Kindle Or Kindle Fire Is Lost Or Stolen

Hey, Thief Who Took My Son’s Kindle Fire: Think you just got a free tablet you can use to order all kinds of stuff on MY Amazon account? Not so fast. When you lose your Kindle or Kindle Fire, believe it or not the loss of the device is not the worst part. No, that would be the fact that your Amazon account is now vulnerable to wrongful charges from anyone who finds your missing gadget. There is a tiny bit of good news, though: as always, Amazon’s exceptional Kindle customer service reps stand at the ready to prevent this from happening. Note: if you’ve already gotten your lost or stolen device back, see this follow-up post: What Happens If You Get Your Lost Or Stolen Kindle / Fire Back? The Thief Not Only Gets A Nifty E-reader Or Tablet, But Full Access To Charge Stuff To Your Amazon Account, Too Remember when…

Amazon Instant Video Myths and Facts

I originally wrote this post, dated 5/27/13, for the Kindle Fire on Kindle Nation Daily site, and it’s reprinted here in full with that site’s permission. Amazon’s policies and processes described here are accurate as of that date, but subject to change at any time in the future. The comment thread on Amazon’s page dedicated to yesterday’s $5 Instant Video sale Gold Box deal was very lively, and filled with many myths and signs of confusion. An earlier KF on KND post on Managing Your Instant Video Library addressed a lot of the confusion surrounding Instant Video licensing and usage, but it seems more information is still needed. MYTH: You don’t really “own” the Instant Videos you purchase, because Amazon or the studios can make them unavailable at any time. FACT: You most definitely DO own the Instant Videos you purchase, though not in the form of physical copies. Licensing restrictions placed on digital…

Rechargeable Battery Problems: Overcharging, Leaving It Plugged In

Does it seem like your thingie isn’t holding its charge as long as it used to, or like a full charge doesn’t give you as many hours of use as it used to? Does it seem like your last thingie died a lot sooner than you expected? It’s recently come to my attention that many folks don’t know two crucial things about charging their devices with rechargeable batteries, and that’s where the trouble begins. DON’T OVERCHARGE Rechargeable batteries lose a little bit of their holding capacity every time they’re overcharged. By “overcharged”, I mean when they’re plugged into an outlet for charging beyond the time it takes to fully recharge the battery. **UPDATE 1/23/14** To anyone who’s thinking it’s not possible to damage a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery by leaving it plugged in too long, see this DMM post, where I discuss the difference between what’s technically correct about Li-ion batteries…

Kindle Fire / Android Tips & Tricks: Where’s My App? Revisited, Where’s My Music? And Where’s My Audiobook?

In my last Kindle Fire Tips & Tricks post I included information on how to force a newly-purchased app to show up on your Fire when you don’t want to wait for it. I’ll just reprint that tip here, then go on to elaborate a bit more on how to force other types of content to show up. Note that some of these same methods will work on ANY Android device, so if your thingie is something other than a Kindle Fire, it still may be worth giving these tips a try. Where’s My App? If you are in the habit of downloading a new app and then immediately wanting to try it out, you’ve discovered that purchased apps don’t immediately, automatically show up on your Fire’s carousel. And you may have resigned yourself to waiting a few hours, or until the next day, for that app to show up….