Amazon debuts Kindle Fire HDX 7- and 8.9-inch tablets
The new “Mayday” tech-support feature is interesting. You tap an icon and your sprung into a video chat with a technician that helps with whatever you need:
On his end, Dylan (or whoever among the thousands of support reps you should happen to be paired up with) can see your display, but not you. Ask him for some help (or something as inane as recommending a new game) and he’ll walk you through the steps, drawing circles and arrows along the way, like some Monday Night Football commentator. Or, if you choose, he can just do it for you. You can also move the box around or he can do that for you, as well. If you have to enter a password, meanwhile, he can shut off screen-sharing.
I can’t see myself using such a feature. But for the average user, it’s a compelling idea. I just wonder how many people actually need it, and how many iPad users would actually need a solution like this. I would presume they either don’t need the help, or a friend or family member can step in to help out.
It also appears Amazon is sticking to its margin-less model for selling devices in order to lock users in to its services. Prices run $279 to $479 across two hi-res screen sizes.