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Lilbits: Amazon to drop Android (for Fire TVs), Fossil to drop smartwatches, Ubuntu Touch OTA-4 released, Lichee Console 4A reviewed

Seven years after Ubuntu developer Canonical stopped supporting a mobile version of the GNU/Linux distribution designed for smartphones, the folks at UBPorts continue to keep Ubuntu Touch alive and ticking. This week the team rolled out Ubuntu Touch OTA-4 with support for over two dozen smartphones and tablets. In other recent tech news, it looks […]

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Amazon’s Vega OS is already running on some Echo Show devices (goodbye Android?)

Amazon has been using a fork of Android called Fire OS to power its Fire tablets, Fire TV devices, and smart screens for years. But we recently learned that the company is developing its own operating system, code-named Vega, which could eventually replace Android on some or all of those devices. Well, surprise! It turns […]

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Amazon’s Fire OS for Smart TVs and tablets may drop Android for a new Linux-based OS

Amazon Fire TV and Fire tablet devices ship with an operating system called Fire OS. And for more than a decade, that operating system has been a fork of Android. But according to a report from Janko Roettgers, Amazon is looking to change that by developing its own operating system in-house. The new operating system […]

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Lilbits: Linux on (some) Amazon tablets, and is Lenovo making a Legion Go handheld gaming PC?

Amazon sells cheap tablets with decent screens and reasonably adequate specs because the company wants you to spend money on Amazon products and services. And that’s one of the reasons Amazon Fire tablets ship with a fork of Android called FireOS rather than stock Android software – because it allows Amazon to ship its own […]

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How to install Google Play on 12th-gen Amazon Fire tablets (2022 models running Fire OS 8)

The 12th-gen Amazon Fire tablet is the first device to ship with Fire OS 8, the latest version of Amazon’s tablet operating system, and it’s now available from Amazon for $60 and up. While Fire OS continues to put an emphasis on Amazon’s apps and services, making Fire tablets most useful for customers who stream […]

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Amazon Fire tablets: How to disable the Continue & Discover row on the home screen

The operating system for Amazon’s Fire tablets is a fork of Android called Fire OS that’s tightly integrated with Amazon’s apps and services including Kindle, Prime Video, Prime Music, and the Alexa voice assistant. And instead instead of the Google Play Store, the tablets ship with Amazon’s Appstore. It’s fairly easy to sideload third-party apps […]

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Google Play Store can be installed on 2022 Amazon Fire tablets again

Amazon’s Fire tablets ship with a modified version of Android called Fire OS. It’s tightly linked with Amazon’s apps and services including the Kindle, Prime Video, and Amazon Music apps. It also features Amazon’s Appstore instead of the Google Play Store. But folks have been installing the Play Store on Amazon’s tablets for years. Up […]

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Fire Toolbox v30 brings new features for hacking Amazon Fire tablets (including Fire OS 8 models)

Amazon’s Fire tablets are some of the cheapest tablets worth buying, with starting prices as low as $50 (or even lower during Amazon’s Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Prime Day sales). But they ship with a modified version of Android called FireOS that lacks some of the features you might find on other Android tablets. […]

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Lilbits: Nobody is playing Netflix games, Fibit is killing its desktop sync apps, Moto Razr 2 and Kobo Clara 2E on the way

Fitbit is pulling the plug on its desktop apps, which means you may soon no longer be able to sync your steps and other activities with a PC or Mac. If you have a Fitbit watch, that means you’ll also no longer be able to transfer music to your wearable unless you’re using the Deezer […]