Amazon Pushes Out Huge Update For Lackluster Fire Phone

It goes without saying that Amazon's Fire Phone leaves a bit to be desired (check out our review for more on that). Ultimately, it's been a major flop for the company, something its sales figures back up, which is really quite unfortunate given that it was the company's first phone - and a promising one, at that. Given all that, it might not strike too many people as interesting that the device just received a huge update, but I am willing to bet that those who actually own the phone might be a little intrigued.

With this update, which comes in at an unknown size, Amazon has added a bunch of standard features that probably should have shipped with the device to begin with. Connecting to a VPN is one such feature, as well as the ability to change keyboard languages. And, as simple as it may be, the ability to block phone numbers is very nice - something you usually only figure out once a telemarketer decides to harass you.

Other interesting features include the ability to turn on or off the character count in SMS messages, identify over 2,000 famous artworks with Firefly, add custom ringtones, use continuous scrolling for Kindle books, and use a 'best shot' feature for the camera. Further, this update packs in 'hundreds' of bug fixes and UI enhancements.

This update isn't going to "save" the Fire Phone, but for those who already own the device, it's definitely a nice treat.