Introduction

The Kindle Fire HD is a very affordable way to obtain and enjoy all kinds of media, from music and videos to books and colorful magazines. It’s also a device that allows you to browse the Internet, connect to your Facebook account, make video calls via Skype, check your e-mail, and read documents. Its portability makes it incredibly useful for people on the go in today’s fast-paced world.

In this book, we introduce you to all the cool features of the Fire HD, providing tips and advice for getting the most out of this ingenious little tablet. We help you find your way around its attractive and easy-to-use interface, provide advice about getting the most out of the Amazon Cloud feature for storing and using content, and even recommend some neat apps that make your device more functional and fun.

Why Buy This Book?

“If the Kindle Fire HD is so easy to use, why do I need a book?” you may be asking yourself. When we first sat down with the Kindle Fire, it took about three or four days of poking around to find settings, features, and ways to buy and locate content and apps. When was the last time you had four days to spare? We’ve spent the time so that you can quickly and easily get the hang of all the Kindle Fire HD features and discover a few tricks that we bet your friends won’t uncover for quite a while.

tip_4c.eps This book covers many of the features in the original Kindle Fire released in 2011 as well as the features that are new with the Kindle Fire HD. In September 2012, Amazon also released a new version of the non-HD Fire (sometimes referred to as the Kindle Fire SD) that costs $159 and has only 8GB of storage along with the somewhat clunkier hardware design of the original Kindle Fire. Though this book is focused on the Kindle Fire HD, whichever Kindle Fire model you own, you should find lots of advice and answers in this book.

Foolish Assumptions

You may have opted for a tablet to watch movies and read books on the run. You might think it’s a good way to browse business documents and check e-mail on your next plane trip. Perhaps you have one or more computers and are very computer savvy, or you hate computers and figure that the Kindle Fire HD gives you all the computing power you need to browse the Internet and read e-books.

Kindle Fire HD users come in all types. We don’t assume in this book that you’re a computer whiz, but we do assume that you have a passing understanding of how to copy a file and plug in a USB cable. We’re guessing that you’ve browsed the Internet at least a few times and heard of Wi-Fi, which is what you use to go online with a Kindle Fire HD (unless you purchase the 8.9 inch LTE version). Other than our assumptions mentioned here, you don’t need a lot of technical background to get the most out of this book.

How This Book Is Organized

For Dummies books don’t require a linear read, meaning that you can jump in anywhere and find out what you need to know about a particular feature. However, if you’re opening the box and starting from square one with your Kindle Fire HD, consider working through the first couple of chapters first. They provide information about setting up your Kindle Fire HD and navigating your way around its interface.

Subsequent chapters help you go online and set up your e-mail account and Wi-Fi connection. Then we begin to explore the wealth of multimedia and written content that the Kindle Fire HD makes available to you. We even include two chapters at the end of the book that recommend apps for adding basic functionality to the Kindle Fire HD, such as a calculator and notes, along with ten games to turn your Kindle Fire HD into a great gaming machine.

Icons Used in This Book

Icons are little pictures in the margin of this book that alert you to special types of advice or information, including

tip_4c.eps check.png These short paragraphs of advice draw your attention to faster, easier, or alternative ways of getting something done with the Kindle Fire HD.

remember_4c.eps check.png When you see this icon, you know that we’re emphasizing important information for you to keep in mind as you use a feature.

warning_4c.eps check.png You don’t have many ways to get in trouble with the Kindle Fire HD, but in those few situations in which some action might be irreversible, we include warnings so that you avoid any pitfalls.

Get Going!

Time to get that Kindle Fire HD out of its box, set it up, and get going with all the fun, productive, and entertaining activities it makes available to you. Have fun!