Amazons Kindle Fire update brings the best of both worlds to the Fire HD and HDX

Amazon doesnt want to just be known as your entertainment portal--it wants to be your everything portal. The company hopes to continue to instill that vibe with the latest software update for its Android-based tablet line. Fire OS 3.1 begins rolling out Monday to Kindle Fire HD and Fire HDX devices, bringing with it a few new features, like enterprise support and wireless printing to turn your existing Kindle into more than just a destination for ebooks and video. The update also beefs up the last-generation Kindle Fire HD with some of the HDXs marquee features.

Amazon unveils Fire OS 3.1 update for Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX tablets

BYOD, finally

For Amazon to make its tablets a be-all, end-all device for consumers, it needed to cater to the business crowd, too. The device now includes better enterprise support with features like the ability to connect to secure Wi-Fi networks and log on to a corporate network via VPN. Fire OS 3.1 also supports Kerberos authentication for more secure browsing of your companys internal Intranet through the Silk browser, as well as a Kindle-specific device management API to make life easier on your IT department.

See what your friends are reading

Amazon aims to be more friendly with the integrated Goodreads social network for book lovers. The service lets you connect with friends to share things like your favorite quotes, what youre currently reading, and what you thought of the books youve read. You can also import every book youve ever bought or read through Amazon into your Goodreads account and sign up for a daily or weekly newsletter that offers suggestions on whats new to read in your favorite genres.

Share your screen with your TV
As if the Amazon Video app on almost every set-top box out there wasnt enough, the bundled Second Screen feature is now supported for the older Kindle Fire HD. Second Screen lets you "fling" movies from your Kindle to your television set through supported third-party devices. Amazon writes that the feature is meant to free up your device so that you can use it for apps like X-Ray or browsing the Web--a definite ploy to get you to always use the device when youre thinking of entertainment in your living room. The feature is currently limited to the PlayStation 3 and compatible Samsung TVs, though Amazon writes that it will be available later this year for the just-released PlayStation 4.

Other miscellaneous features in Fire OS 3.1 include things like wireless printing and voice dictation to convert your speech into text. Voice dictation is available in all languages when youre connected to a network, though only English is available offline.

If many of the new features sound familiar, thats because Amazon is taking a page out of the iOS/Android playbook to make its tablet lineup more attractive to those who want something more than just a content consumption device. You can pick up the update by heading into the Settings panel, Device, and then checking to see if there is a System update available, or by visiting Amazons official software updates page.

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Instagram Update Boosts Camera Features Adds New Filter

Attention all Instagram fans. The popular photo-sharing app you know and love is about to get even better.

Thats because Instagram on Monday updated its iOS and Android apps, and among the many improvements is a brand-new photo filter dubbed Willow. Instagram said the new filter (pictured left) is best suited for portraits, still life, and architecture photographs with contrast.

"Youve asked for more filters, and were excited to announce a brand new filter," Instagram said in a blog post. "Willow is a monochrome filter with subtle purple tones and a translucent glowing white border."

The update also brings major improvements to the camera section of the iOS app. The all-new camera includes an optional grid guide for live photos and a permanent grid for the scale and crop screen. iOS users will also now be able to preview the most recent photo in their camera roll right from the app.

Instagram also revamped the look of its camera to bring it up to speed with the rest of the app, adding a new Instagram-themed shutter and shutter release button.

"The camera has been the core part of the Instagram experience since the day we launched and as a result, weve made significant improvements to its look and speed," Instagram wrote in a blog post.

The latest version also improves the tilt-shift functionality for a "vastly more realistic rendering of depth of field."

"In the past, there had been vast differences in the effective strength of the blur between the preview screen and the output in your feed and camera roll," Instagram said. "With this update the blur you see is now the blur youll get!"

Other improvements include: a redesigned news feed with larger images, a new welcome screen, and infinite scroll on user profiles. In addition, filtered photos are now saved in a separate album called "Instagram" in the iOS camera roll. Plus, users will now find a Foursquare button on location pages that opens the Fourquare app or mobile website with details about the venue.

The latest versions are available for download in Apples App Store and Google Play.

The update comes as Instagram is embroiled in a spat with Twitter. The Facebook-owned photo site recently pulled its support for Twitter Cards, which resulted in some Instagram photos showing up cropped on peoples Twitter feeds. Then, over the weekend, Instagram photos seemingly disappeared from peoples Twitter feeds altogether, though the links remained. Twitter is reportedly working on its own photo-filter feature, however, which might be released in time for the holidays.

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