Amazon has released the source code for its Kindle Fire tablet, and users have already figured out a way to install the Android Market and other Google apps successfully.
Since its early release on Monday, Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet has been brutally torn apart, rooted, and now according to reports, thrown wide open for the homebrew community to dissect.
On Thursday, Amazon released the Kindle Fire's source code for external developers as required by Google's Android licensing agreement. Available as an 809 MB file right here, developers can now create custom-built kernels, overclock the tablet's CPU and even optimize the current OS. The release is actually earlier than expected, as companies usually take their time releasing code to the public -- just look at Google and the recently-released source code for Android 3.x "Honeycomb."
According to reports, end-users can now install Google's official Android Market and other apps by following a long list of instructions as seen here. But be warned: as with any modification to system files, there is a chance you could cause damage to your device, so use at your own risk. The process begins by actually rooting the tablet which in itself is a whole another set of instructions, and requires additional apk files like GoogleServicesFramework.apk and Vending.apk. A Root Explorer app is also necessary.
Once the overall Android Market installation process is completed, consumers will need to install an alternative UI to actually see the Market app on the tablet, as it won't show up using the Amazon UI. After that, users will notice some familiar apps missing from the Market -- this is due to the device lacking certain hardware specifications. Naturally this limitation may change once custom ROMs begin appearing for the Kindle Fire which will likely happen sometime soon.
For more information on how to get Google's apps working on the Kindle Fire, head to the xda-developers forum here.
Two comments so far and they all have been voted down and theres nothing that they posted that would warrant that. Odd...
The Playbook and the Kindle Fire have the same form factor and look about the same but from what I've read, the Playbook has more storage,ram and a few more inputs and outputs than the Kindle Fire.
People are really retarded with the voting down thing - I gave you an up to account for the down you had.
The processor is a slower version as well (both dual core 1ghz, but the Playbook's packs more punch)
That would be fun.
But anyway I see the Asus Transformer going on sale for $249, thinking about getting that instead...good idea?
That's a great price for a Asus Transformer, it'll be much faster than a Kindle