Amazon Introduces 7" and 8.9" Kindle Fire HDX at $229 and $379, Kindle Fire HD Now Starts at $139

[OneMike]

Really?!

I bought the original KF and KF-HD. They offer nice hardware but the OS is absolutely the worse thing about their tablets. Their OS brings nice tablets to their knees. If you like the buttery smooth feel of iOS the KF will drive you nuts.

My KF-HD 7" has auto brightness which doesn't work because Amazon says it's not supported.

iOS and iPads are 100% better, maybe even more. Overkill though for me in what I use that type of device for.

Web browsing, couple youtube videos / other media, and most of all books. That's about it.

While iPads are great, to me it's a waste to spend $329 or $499 for my use.

My kids have iPad minis

 

[anubis72]

Where are all the pitch-fork-and-torch carrying "security experts" that warn everyone about the dangers of having a mayday button allowing anyone to access your tablet? Oh, look it's only $139?!?!?

 

[Bonte]

And the herd runs to Amazon.

This is a broadside across Apples bow, the average price of tables is falling.

I expect to see faster erosion of Apples market % of iPads

On the contrary, soon the 'old' iPad mini will be priced around $199 and Apple will rule the tablet segment.

Personally i'm waiting for a bigger iPad to read my comics on, i'll buy two of them instantly.

 

[macs4nw]

Millions of people look no further then the $ tag, and will tolerate slow OS.

And that's totally fine. Everybody decides their own priorities in life.

 

[cclloyd]

Good old AmazonRumors.com. Always timely information.

I'm getting tired of people complaining about things like that. It's Apple and competitors news that can be relative to the sales or direction of Apple products.

If Amazon releases a tablet with features or specs to compete with the iPad, it would be useful to know that than just assuming the iPad is the best.

 

[Gjwilly]

When the Fire came out last time everyone was expecting Apple to lower their iPad prices to compete.
Didn't happen then and it ain't gonna happen now.
I don't know of that's good or bad but I predict a lot of disappointed tech writers and iPad hopefuls.

 

[rosalindavenue]

The newsstand theme is no longer mandatory, if you cared to read the Verge's write-up. In terms of the price, you likely won't be able to find one with these specs also at the same or similar price.

Ah, but I didn't care to read the Verge's write-up. Also, tech specs do little to help the laggy android-in-a-wrapper interface. At least they didn't on the 2012 model.

http://goo.gl/bsMfL

 

[Ventilatedbrain]

Let the "Race to the Bottom" begin.

while i mostly agree with the race to the bottom...i dont think apple will adopt this strategy and the 5c is proof... this trend will soon blow over i hope just like the netbook phenomenon

 

[iGrip]

They look great! And if Cyanogenmod gets up and working on them, they seem to be a viable alternative.

 

[Syk]

On the contrary, soon the 'old' iPad mini will be priced around $199 and Apple will rule the tablet segment.

Personally i'm waiting for a bigger iPad to read my comics on, i'll buy two of them instantly.

I would be one happy camper if that was true but I'd be surprised. Probably more like $220-250 but if they mark them down like that I'll pick up a gen1 cellular version to put some apps on and toss in my patrol bag

 

[Jessica Lares]

People who buy Kindle Fires weren't interested in buying the iPad to begin with. When I say interested, I mean that they WANT an iPad, but can't justify the price.

These same people go on to spend $100+ foolishly anyway.

 

[WLS]

I've been a loyal Apple tablet user since the iPad1 but the ugliness of OS7 has me wanting a change. Safari in OS7 is just plain hideous and if I could go back to OS6 I would. I'm thinking the time has come to leave Apple and these new Amazon tablets are tempting me greatly. I'm getting the new Kindle paperwhite and now I'm seriously considering getting an amazon color tablet too. They have "no offer" versions too. I'm going to be checking them out closely.

 

[Count Blah]

And the herd runs to Amazon.

This is a broadside across Apples bow, the average price of tables is falling.

I expect to see faster erosion of Apples market % of iPads

Agreed. But as long as Apple sells a small % more, year over year, the head in the sand crowd here will continue to refuse to acknowledge how bad the situation is in long run, at this pace. It will be the 90s all over again.

 

[0098386]

I've always wondered how well these sell. I love my Kindle Paperwhite, couldn't imagine using any other e-Reader or iPad for books, but I don't see much point in these. Do they do anything above other tablets?

 

[MacGeek1987]

I love Amazon, but they, like Google, should stick to internet services. Last thing the world needs is another unoptimized OS running on generic hardware - that's Microsofts playbook.

 

[Count Blah]

On the contrary, soon the 'old' iPad mini will be priced around $199 and Apple will rule the tablet segment.

Personally i'm waiting for a bigger iPad to read my comics on, i'll buy two of them instantly.

Isn't that what everyone said about the iPhone 5c? Apple refuses to lower prices but by a small %, year over year. Apple can sell lesser tech, if it comes with the great supporting ecosystem. I hope for it to be true and for apple to go for the throat for once. But it is simply not going to happen.

 

[Count Blah]

The fantasy world of apple haters must really be interesting. They've had these fantasies for years and years, yet the real world doesn't match their fantasies.

So Apple's marketshare is increasing?

link?

You can be a fan, and still question's Apple's move in response to shrinking marketshare. Being a fan doesn't mean you have to check your critical thinking abilities at the door.

 

[Rodster]

I've always wondered how well these sell. I love my Kindle Paperwhite, couldn't imagine using any other e-Reader or iPad for books, but I don't see much point in these. Do they do anything above other tablets?

The Kindle Fire line are the top selling Android tablets. They have sold more than the Nexus 7 line. Not saying they are better than the N7 but the KF line sells in the millions.

 

[andy9l]

With infinite amount of lag to go with it.

Stop living in the past.

My S3 offers a considerably higher OS animation frame rate than my iPad 2, especially with iOS 7. I'm sure the 5s makes my S3 look like a stop motion interface, but Android, on high-end devices, is far from laggy nowadays.

 

[MRSucks]

Nice work amazon. Quality products, reasonable price. Timing is spot on too, just enough time to get some attention before the new iPads suck the air out of the room.

Bring it Samsung and CheapoAndroidTablets (and other wannabes fighting for #2 including MS). Competition is good for keeping you honest.

Fixed it for you.

 

[CausticPuppy]

Wow $139 thats pretty impressive I can see these being hot tickets for christmas but I have the feeling the old model will out sell the new one strictly based on price.

And don't forget it comes with "special offers."

 

[Rodster]

Stop living in the past.

My S3 offers a considerably higher OS animation frame rate than my iPad 2, especially with iOS 7. I'm sure the 5s makes my S3 look like a stop motion interface, but Android, on high-end devices, is far from laggy nowadays.

Yeah but this isn't stock Android you are dealing with. It's worse than Samsung's Touchwiz. I own Kindle Fire HD tablets as well as a Galaxy Tab running Touchwiz. I can assure you this isn't stock vanilla Android you'll find on the Nexus 7.

 

[satchmo]

For those who don't think the iPad Mini will sport a retina option, think again.

While these new offerings from Amazon may not have the same cachet, fit and finish as any iPad, they are extremely competitive.
The 7" Kindle HD is now only $169 vs an iPad mini for $329.

Sorry Apple, but that's roughly double the price. Seven inch tablets are quickly becoming a commodity that people just throw into their backpacks. They're no longer a status item.

Of course Apple plays by their own rules and will never race to the bottom. But can we perhaps see some flexibility? A non-retina iPad mini at $249 and a retina one at $329?

 

[John.B]

"both of the Android-based tablets feature a new quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM"

With infinite amount of lag to go with it.

Venturebeat ran a story this week about a new touch screen response metric named TouchMarks. It showed an iPhone 5 has, on average, 2.5 times faster screen response than the current crop of Androids. I'd be interested to see how the new Kindle HDX stacks up; in my brief experience with a friend's Kindle Fire HD I found the lag to be intolerable, to the point of being maddening.

After this, I just don't see how Apple could release a Mini without Retina.

Here's hoping. If Amazon has production of a 339 ppi device, by my math Apple ought to be able to put a 324 ppi display into an iPad mini (and I'd probably replace all my iPads with high res iPad minis if they did).

 

[centauratlas]

You might say they rekindled it.