If you're one of the five million or more consumers who own Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, you know its audio output isn't the best. Not only are both speakers mounted at one end of the tablet (bye bye stereo), but there are no external volume buttons. Thus, even with headphones on, users must dig through the UI to manage the audio output. It's silly and utterly annoying when trying to watch a movie on Netflix or stream music via Slacker Radio.
Grace Digital understands the tablet's shortcomings and has released a speaker dock built especially for Amazon's Android-powered gadget. Called MatchStick, it accommodates the unique USB port, headphone jack and power button, all of which are located on the bottom of the tablet. The dock also charges the device while on AC power, but customers can purchase an optional lithium-ion battery pack (available in August) that turns the combo into a portable boombox.
"There are hundreds if not thousands of Apple and universal dock accessories on the market, but we felt that Kindle Fire users really needed a specified dock for Amazon’s unique tablet," said Greg Fadul, CEO of Grace Digital Audio. "This is the first quality speaker dock for Kindle Fire to be available to the millions of Fire users. Audio books, music, movies, everything just sounds stellar on the MatchStick and really allows users to benefit fully from the Fire’s capabilities."
The dock, which can be rotated 50 or 38 degrees, features a rotating cradle sized exclusively for the bulky 7-inch Amazon tablet that accommodates both horizontal and vertical viewing angles. Two 2x3-inch full range stereo speakers utilize a low distortion 16-watt class D digital amplifier. Top mounted buttons provide volume and audio source control (Kindle Fire or auxiliary audio input), and additional controls such as bass and treble are utilized via included remote control
Included in the MatchStick package is the dock itself, a remote control with battery, a UL approved wall power adapter (100-240v / 12V 2A), Aux-In cable (for optional secondary music source) and the dock's manual. The list price on Amazon is $129.99 USD, but currently it's selling for $101.97. Still, is it worth the price given that the tablet itself is only $199 USD?
For more information about the MatchStick speaker dock for Amazon's Kindle Fire, Grace Digital has a detailed product page here.
