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

Count Blah said:
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.
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Oh my gosh, are people still so ignorant of Apple's strategy after all these years? Apple cares about profit not market share. Always has, always will. Look at what share of the profits they own in each market.

If Apple could sell only one device and make billions off of it, they would be more than happy to do it. Conversely, if they could own 100% of the market and just barely be profitable, they would walk away in a second.
 
The price of the 8.9' version is a little high really. It should have been $349 or less. Ideally, the same price as the iPad Mini would have been the smartest price point. The first version of the larger Kindle Fire HD was $100 more than the smaller version when first released. That's what this one should have been. Part of that is they apparently now include the powerfast charger with the device instead of a separate purchase if you want it.
 
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FelixAng said:
the virtual genius bar is very cool, especially because all it takes is clicking a Mayday button and you'll have support in 15 seconds. This is a real consumer-oriented product---With this price point and that kind of service structure, this could really get the old-age tablet latecomers.
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I agree that the Mayday button is great -- but just wait until the hundreds of thousands of people click on that button at the same time during the holidays.

I highly doubt you'll be able to get support in 15 seconds.
 
Nunyabinez said:
Oh my gosh, are people still so ignorant of Apple's strategy after all these years? Apple cares about profit not market share. Always has, always will. Look at what share of the profits they own in each market.

If Apple could sell only one device and make billions off of it, they would be more than happy to do it. Conversely, if they could own 100% of the market and just barely be profitable, they would walk away in a second.
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OF COURSE WE KNOW APPLE'S STRATEGY!!! That is why we are saying that a different path should be taken. We're also not ignorant with respect to where this approach led Apple in the 90s.

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
 
John.B said:
Innovative? Before we declare victory and go home, let's see how it works in the real world.
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You mean like Siri? Or Apple Maps? Or the fingerprint reader?

I think the tech support feature would be extremely handy. Apple has had Facetime for years but does nothing with it themselves. Amazon has no retail stores so this feature should be well received. Apple, on the other hand, forces you to drive to a store after 90 days of ownership of any product to get help...heaven forbid they offer longer telephone tech support for free.
 
Why would you promote "Mayday" as a feature? I am I the only one that thinks there's something fundamentally wrong with the fact that your device needs one-touch access to 24/7 Tech Support? Shouldn't this thing just work?

Amazon proving once again that you get what you pay for with cheap tablets.
 
ArtOfWarfare said:
And still running Gingerbread, you know, that version of Android that's now 3 years old.

And if you try bringing up the fact that technically they've branched away from Android, that makes it even less appealing to Android developers. Essentially you need to make a Kindle specific version of your app - I can't say I've once ran into a person who said they're a Kindle developer (although I've run into many Android and iOS developers, and even a few Palm, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile developers, so that gives you an idea of just how few Kindle developers exist.)
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I'm pretty sure all the the Kindle devices after the 1st gen are based on 4.0 and later. Also, not that I've developed a wide range of Android apps, but the ones I did did not require significant changes for Kindle... mainly the IAP was different.
 
Nunyabinez said:
Oh my gosh, are people still so ignorant of Apple's strategy after all these years? Apple cares about profit not market share. Always has, always will. Look at what share of the profits they own in each market.
Click to expand...

Maybe this will help all of the ignorant haters:

If Apple was in the real estate business, it would buy and develop all of the beach-front property while Android takes all of the landfill/dustbowl property -- while screaming "we have more land than you!"

It's that simple.
 
ericinboston said:
You mean like Siri? Or Apple Maps? Or the fingerprint reader?
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I agree re: Siri.

Apple Maps is definitely a work in progress, but works most of the time. Google Maps isn't perfect either.

So, the fingerprint reader isn't working? :confused:
 
How can Amazon use the same processor to power both the small and large versions? Wouldn't the larger one need a different, faster processor to handle the higher resolution?
 
Rodster said:
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.
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I own 4 and I have no lag experiences to share. Biggest fault with them is they made the bad decision to try to emulate Apple's walled garden approach-- hence the app store is a downer. Not even sure anyone would care if they just opened it up to the full Google Play store. They would get cheers.
 
ericinboston said:
I think the tech support feature would be extremely handy.
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So you've used their tech support feature? It was staffed appropriately (number of support personnel, technical skill level, language skills, etc.)? This could be a good thing, or it could be a PR nightmare. If it's anything like their current Amazon.com website support, I won't hold my breath.
 
levitynyc said:
The cheapest iPod touch is still 229 and a Fire HD is 139.

not the same category, but thats huge for parents who want to buy their kid a small tablet.
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Exactly what I'm thinking. I'm much more willing to hand this to my kids than an iPad. At 139, I could get both of my kids a KF for Christmas instead of having them fight over a single iPad.
 
Bonte said:
Yeah, but they will feel cheap and dirty every time they use a crap tablet. :cool:
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I got my Kindle Fire HD for the eReader part (I love the fact that it will read books to me, I use it as I am driving down the road, makes my commute much more enjoyable) and I have to say that it is also the best tablet that I have ever used or owned and yes, I have owned the iPad, I don't think it is nearly as good.

And yes, I love Apple products, but the problem with the iPhone and the iPad both is that Apple hasn't had any truly innovative features for a while now AND they changed the connectors, but changed them to a proprietary format instead of the standard MicroUSB that virtually EVERYTHING else uses.

And Amazon's tech support blows Apple's away. I have never had to wait more than 30 seconds for Amazon's tech support and even when the problem wasn't their fault, they have either flat out replaced the device or offered one heck of a discount ($150 or so off in the most recent case) to replace it.
 
andy9l said:
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.
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Really?

My friend's S3 plays temple run 2 so choppily I can't even play it. It's slower than my iPhone4 by far.
 
These look like great updates. The previous kindles were definitely laggy. (Mainly when navigating around. They seemed fine when viewing content, at least for what I looked at.)

Seems like these updates will probably address that, both because of the hardware and because I assume they'll use a later version of Android than the previous ones.

And the prices are just great. I wonder if Apple will respond to this price pressure?

I love my iPad -- a 1st gen that I'm looking to upgrade soon -- but woah: I'm looking at $594 for a Kindle HDX vs. $829 for an iPad (both 64GB, Cellular, no ads)... hm... then again, I'd probably have to root the Kindle to do what I want with it, and that's a hassle I don't really want. Tempting, tempting...
 
PracticalMac said:
Millions of people look no further then then $ tag, and will tolerate slow OS.

(that's why Windows is still the #1 OS in the world)
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A cheaper price has a huge advantage in share, especially in emerging markets where people simply can't afford anything else. However, Apple has BY FAR the best tablet apps out there, which is another way that Windows built their market share. Even now, I find apps that I need to use that only run on Windows, so Microsoft still gets my money for a license to virtualize it on my MacBook Pro.

Amazon is selling a cheaper product, but iOS has by far the best apps, and Amazon's tablet is inferior to Samsung and other Android tablets. In addition, the Kindle is heavily optimized to sell Amazon content. Basically, you're getting a subsidized way to buy Amazon content. It fits well with Amazon's mission, but it's not going to be a huge marketshare builder.
 
CausticPuppy said:
And don't forget it comes with "special offers."
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Does it? Thats awesome! There was a special offer on the kindle a couple of years ago that was $200 off any laptop over a certain price and so people were getting kindles, and using the special offer to buy a macbook and still saving money. Not sure if they still have such sweet special offers or not

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iSee said:
These look like great updates. The previous kindles were definitely laggy. (Mainly when navigating around. They seemed fine when viewing content, at least for what I looked at.)

Seems like these updates will probably address that, both because of the hardware and because I assume they'll use a later version of Android than the previous ones.

And the prices are just great. I wonder if Apple will respond to this price pressure?

I love my iPad -- a 1st gen that I'm looking to upgrade soon -- but woah: I'm looking at $594 for a Kindle HDX vs. $829 for an iPad (both 64GB, Cellular, no ads)... hm... then again, I'd probably have to root the Kindle to do what I want with it, and that's a hassle I don't really want. Tempting, tempting...
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If it was laggy it was due to the software not the hardware. And it likely had nothing to do with the android version but the amazon UI software. I am sure if you installed a custom rom on it it would fly
 
Count Blah said:
OF COURSE WE KNOW APPLE'S STRATEGY!!! That is why we are saying that a different path should be taken. We're also not ignorant with respect to where this approach led Apple in the 90s.

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
Click to expand...

Apple's situation in the 90's was completely different. Android is not Windows.
 
Would be so down if it had stock android preloaded with the option of using their OS versus being stuck with it
 
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