Amazon Finally Releases OTA Kindle Fire Update To Address Performance And Touchscreen Issues

Matt Burns

Matt is a Senior Editor at TechCrunch. Matt Burns is a family man first and attempts to be a writer second. Born and raised in the heart of the automotive world, only cars eclipse his love of gadgets. He previously wrote for Engadget and EngadgetHD before moving into the party house that is TechCrunch. He learned the retail side of... → Learn More

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
amazon-kindle-fire-tablet

Great news, Kindle Fire owners. Amazon just announced the long overdue Kindle Fire update that’s said to resolve many of the issues with the budget tablet. Most of the common complaints are addressed: owners can now select and remove items from the carousel, the WiFi system is more robust and supports passwords, but most importantly, update 6.2.1 reportledly improves overall performance and the touchscreen response.

This update has been needed from the moment the Fire hit the scene. The first round of reviews praised the Fire for its overall value but pointed to sluggish performance as the device’s major downfall. Amazon maintained a system update would resolve many of the problems. Hopefully this is the update Fire owners have been waiting for.

Update 6.2.1 should start hitting Kindle Fires soon but owners can force an update using the files and instructions here. As with any system update, make sure the Kindle has ample battery life. You’ll also need a USB cable if you’re going to update the tablet manually. The bad news is that the update breaks current jailbreaking utilities including SuperOneClick. Whether done OTA or manually, the update should make Fires burn bright with a renewed vigor. The Kindle Fire isn’t going to die out anytime soon.


Product: Kindle Fire
Company Amazon

Kindle Fire brings you Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon’s cloud-accelerated web browser Product features: 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books Amazon Appstore - thousands of popular apps and games Ultra-fast web browsing - Amazon Silk Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle Fast, powerful dual-core processor Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows

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