The original Amazon Kindle Fire tablet is still kind of hot, since it’s apparently able to run Android 4.2 without too much hassle. A full build of Android 4.2.1 has been made available for the device, if you’re willing to do a bit of tweaking. You can download it, install it and turn your older Kindle Fire into a Nexus 7… sort of.
We have video proof of that below, in case you’re wondering. As usual, the XDA Developers folks are all over that and it’s recommended that you perform a full backup of your Kindle Fire in advance. When you install the new software you will totally remove the Amazon Kindle Fire software, that uses a custom version of Android. You won’t be able to watch Amazon Instant Video anymore, but at least you’ll have access to Google Play Store, a ton of apps and a decent web browser.
Just like the people who were jubilating at the thought of owning a HP TouchPad for $100 and tweaking it last year, now you can be happy with a $159 Kindle Fire and tweak it to your liking. The device supports HD video playback and there are some glitches you should know about, when taking the plunge: deep sleep is broken, so the battery runs down faster, Swype style gestures don’t work and the microphone is dead too. At least you can play games, as shown in the video below.
