Wouldn't want to
Brick it.
My wife's Fire died. I tried everything. Even unplugging the battery did nothing.
It's a brick in a drawer.

Last night I intentionally paused for a bit to see if Google was going to recognize my Fire installation and recommend any updates.    It did, and it asked for my Googly credentials this morning to make sure I was me (I provided them) so now we wait to see if we really get some real update actions.

-----------------------

First wave of updates rolled in -- since I have my Google OTA communications all verified I was encouraged enough to go install Weatherbug, Google Chrome and Google Maps.

The Google Apps loaded automatically using standard Fire Tablet defaults and I find much of what I really love about Chrome has to do with Chrome on a Google phone with all the various associated functions and modern app features all instantly available using voice commands.  

Remember, Fire OS is Chromium Open Source Project from 3-4 years ago -- so a lot of the things I love about Chrome "don't exist yet" in the Fire OS space-time world view.

Google Maps is similarly handicapped, it isn't able to be the current Google Maps because Fire OS is simply too primitive to support all the advanced features.    

Still, Google Maps is better than the Amazon Fire map app.    You can download local maps automatically at night and get turn by turn directions and road closings and such that are as current as of the latest OTA update you got from Google.

I am getting ready to do a local saved map test to see how well it does functionally driving around in town using WiFi and Cell Tower triangulation.

Dave, it gives me something to do.

Last impossible project I had was that $29 Moto E that had free "forever' service, and guess what, I have had free "forever" service for completely working for about 1.5 years now.

Issue with the moto E cell phone is the screens are jest too tiny to plot tomorrow's trip by pulling the pathway off the main drag superhighways so it runs the little roads that you would prefer to trek down.

So, I gots me this new impossible project to occupy my mind.

DAY #4

So, now I got me an investigation all finished up, a spare 8" Fire Tablet left over and a decision to make.  

Keep it, or send it back.

Net of an old store credit that I never would have chased down to use otherwise, the thing cost me a big $20 out of pocket.   And it now works (as good as it can work) on Google Play Store items and Amazon items both.

Amazon hired two of the ex-cyanogen mod crowd, the ones working on rooting the Fire Tablets to be specific.   So Amazon shut down the rooting efforts and picked up some skilled programmers in the process.   While at Amazon, they will pick up extra knowledge and if they get let go later, guess what they might decide to go finish up ......

I took my Fire 8" downstairs and put it on the side table next to my den chair to see if it had a home there.   It has Chrome Browser and runs quickly relative to any of my wife's portable Apple devices.   It has no keyboard, so I type any needed posts upstairs in my computer/gun room, but I can read posts and do net searches just fine sitting in my easy chair.   So, no it doesn't live in the living room.

I took out an old set of wired ear buds to keep by my bedside, to see it could be my late night Netflix in bed buddy.   This works out fine.

Plus, the third party programmers are currently building extensions for the thing (coming soon) and one of them is a moving location add-on based on custom "works better" WiFi and Cell Tower triangulation.    We shall see when it comes out if it is worth anything ......

One of the Amazon Maps add-on deals out now actually has a real GPS inside a little flush mount mini-usb dongle, supposedly it can add real GPS to its version of Maps, but I don't think I would pay the $$$ that they are currently asking for that little trick right now.  

Plus, when used on the bike the charger cable needs to be plugged into the mini-usb all the time as the big display and the GPS drain on the unit's battery is "kill it quick" heavy, just like it is on a cell phone.

Taking it to Grandma's for Christmas day might be nice, it could help me kill some of the couch dead time I currently use my cell phone to handle.


===================================================


My wife has made the decision for me, my old iPad will roll over to her cousin who has no device and "she needs to be able to see Acorn TV from last season".   Which is a good enough reason, as I don't really like the two year old iOS as it runs quite slowly on the very old iPad 2 and I like her cousin just fine.

Next, she realized her iPad 2 was actually glacially slow, and my little 8" Fire now lives by her couch spot because she realized it already had all her stuff on it (she owns the Amazon Prime account, so it IS her world, automatically).   It is much faster playing Words with Friends, and when she is doing 4 games at once that faster speed is important.

So my left-over experiment now has a good home, and my wife has a surprise present -- good on top of good on top of good.