Amazon Introduces 8.9-Inch and 7-Inch Kindle Fire HD at $299 and $199, Updated Kindle Fire Drops to $159

[divinox]

Really? a 4GB plan over a month is roughly 133 MB a day. Lots of people use more than 4GB in a month, which equals more than 250 MB in two days. Why do you think so many people want unlimited data? Is it because they plan on using less than 4GB in month? If the "average" consumer uses 1GB in a month they'd go over that 250MB data plan multiple times.

Sorry for not using power users as benchmarks. I am truly sorry. I forgot that "most" nowadays equate "a few", and substantially less than "average and below". By your figures alone, we can easily conclude that i was right. Most people do not blow through 250MB in 1-2 days.

And if people want to use more - they can buy more. Whats the problem?

Plus, knowing Amazon - i am sure that you'll get free downloads from their site anyway. If you ever feel the need to stream video on the fly, that is (gainsharing that revenue would be more profitable for all parties involved).

 

[rjohnstone]

I was unaware that Apple was utilizing Amazon to run any portion of their "iCloud" or cloud/storage services. never heard that before; thought that is why they have (and have been building) data centers.

They use Amazon's EC3 service for the front end and the back end is handled at the data center in NC which is powered by Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I think the complete opposite, amazon knows how to market holiday sales, and NOV 20 puts them right inline to being the new thing for the holidays, the iphone 5 and the rumored ipad mini will already be a month or two old by then.

product age isn't when it's announced it's when it's released

Yes but how sexy is the Kindle HD gonna look when Apple has the iPad Mini available for just a bit more.

People aren't buying tablets on specs they're buying them on cost and iPads can and will command a premium.

 

[jrswizzle]

Actually, that's not how you measure surface area, which is what matters. It's height x width. If I had a 10" diagonal screen it could have a smaller surface area than than something an inch or two smaller.

They've already established that a 7.85" iPad mini would have 40% more surface area than the Kindle Fire (based on the rumored specs).

The debate was not whether it would have more than the 7 inch fire but whether it was closer to the 7 in fire or the 8.9 inch fire.

Which as has already been pointed out depends on the aspect ratio of the rumored iPad mini. If they are all 16:9, the mini's area is still closer to the smaller Fire. But there are rumors of a different ratio.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Agreed and they posted rare stats where they say the Kindle Fire has 22% of the tablet market.

saying that ISNT providing sales stats. its still widely debated... only providing actual units sold will answer any questions. they didnt do that.

 

[I WAS the one]

For new costumers this is a real game changer for Apple. For already iPad users, this is a no go for us. But at $300 people new to this technology will go Amazon instead of iPad guaranteed.

 

[divinox]

Streaming pandora to and from work 15 min drive every day kills a couple gigs a month.

Watching a couple Netflix episodes in an Airport. Most airports I've been to charge for wifi

Most porn streaming sites don't stream HD so doesn't impact data too bad

1) Why dont you use say, spotify, and have your playlists synced to your device?
2) If you know youre going to the airport (normally you do), why not set your device up before going to the airport? Free is cheaper than something cheaper than the expensive (and yes, airports are ****ing nasty when it comes to airports. Unless you have those carrier roaming hotspot deals... but not like they are free either).
3) Low quality porn?

 

[iMikeT]

Meh.

 

[Ryth]

Update 12:58 PM: Amazon's Kindle Fire HD press release clarifies that the resolution on the 7-inch model is 1280x800.

So there we have it. The 7" is not HD.

So basically their 8.9" tablet is in the same category as the iPad 3 while their 7" will not be HD and will compete with whatever Apple's iPad Mini comes out with.

For new costumers this is a real game changer for Apple. For already iPad users, this is a no go for us. But at $300 people new to this technology will go Amazon instead of iPad guaranteed.

At $300, people will be buying the iPad Mini.

 

[baleensavage]

What's interesting in this release is that the regular Kindle fire (7") isn't a drastic upgrade from the current model. It's primary competitor, the Nexus tablet is pretty much on par with it, the only difference is the Fire has an ad supported version for $50 less. If the Nexus (or rumored iPad Mini) is well received, it could take a chunk out of the Fire's market share of the low-end small-form tablets.

The 8.5" one is obviously a direct stab at the iPad. With the HD screen, better speakers and amazing data plan, it's going right for the iPad's market share. It's not going to be an iPad killer by any stretch of the imagination (it's ugly, clunky, and has way less apps available), but it may take a chunk out of the iPad market if Apple doesn't have anything earth-shattering coming out before the holiday season.

On the plus side, this and the Nexus may finally cause Apple to step up it's game and really start innovating again. They've been sitting on incremental upgrades for most of their projects for a couple years now and really need to push the envelope, otherwise they are going to see their market share slowly chipped away.

 

[the8thark]

Maybe you missed the NEWS AND RUMORS YOU CARE ABOUT under the name. It's right there on the logo

NEWS AND RUMORS MACRUMORS CARES ABOUT
That's the obvious typo. We all know it.

But I am totally not caring. If I hated MR that much I would not be here still.

Back on topic.

The kindles hardware wise look not too bad for the price. But it's the OS/UI that was the issue with their last offerings. Totally crap.

That's why I Agree with Steve when he said:
"You can see an iPad. But to really feel it you just have to use it".
And I think the same is for Amazon's new offerings. A keynote is one thing. Good for computers with OS's we know. But for tablets hands on feel is the only way to know if you're getting a great tablet or a pile of ****** garbage.

 

[tigres]

They use Amazon's EC3 service for the front end and the back end is handled at the data center in NC which is powered by Microsoft's Azure cloud platform.

Thank you.

 

[divinox]

Fair enough, a strong signal is a faster signal (until that's saturated). But that's a pretty weak selling point. Don't try and debate that please lol.

Depends. I really dont know how people use their devices, and what motivation Bezos et co had for including it. Obviously they didn't roll a dice, adding features at random just because. That would be the pseudo-equivalent to the broken window fallacy.

 

[throys]

250mb/month?? That won't last you a week, much less a month.....

Unfortunately I do this with 3-4 days, Just had to add more data on my tariff today, seems business will boom by selling DATA packages soon

 

[Chupa Chupa]

For new costumers this is a real game changer for Apple. For already iPad users, this is a no go for us. But at $300 people new to this technology will go Amazon instead of iPad guaranteed.

Well, I'm not all that familiar with the costumer market, but, for ordinary customers, this is no "game changer," it's just more of the same.

 

[samcraig]

Yes but how sexy is the Kindle HD gonna look when Apple has the iPad Mini available for just a bit more.

People aren't buying tablets on specs they're buying them on cost and iPads can and will command a premium.

Just like Apple - Amazon has a strong core customer base. Forget the techies. I'm talking average joe and janes.

 

[stuffradio]

doubt it. Care to share some numbers?

1234

 

[jagolden]

or profits.

Who cars about Amazons profits? Amazons not going away any time soon.

People use the term "game changer" all the time. I think we might be looking at one.

I love Apple products but let's face it, Amazon has just upstaged them. If the are introducing a mini, it better be great and competitively priced. Also, unless the price for going over the 250 megs/month (which granted, is small) is outrageous, that's a reason to buy right there. Who the hell needs the $30/month the other major carriers charge.

We'll have to wait and see, though.

 

[divinox]

NEWS AND RUMORS MACRUMORS CARES ABOUT
That's the obvious typo. We all know it.

But I am totally not caring. If I hated MR that much I would not be here still.

Back on topic.

The kindles hardware wise look not too bad for the price. But it's the OS/UI that was the issue with their last offerings. Totally crap.

That's why I Agree with Steve when he said:
"You can see an iPad. But to really feel it you just have to use it".
And I think the same is for Amazon's new offerings. A keynote is one thing. Good for computers with OS's we know. But for tablets hands on feel is the only way to know if you're getting a great tablet or a pile of ****** garbage.

Every time i use an iPad i feel awkward. Too bad it doesn't live up to its good looks. Hopefully the mini can turn things around. Otherwise im abandoning Apple for good (read: at least a couple of years). MSFT seems to be running a tight show nowadays.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Just like Apple - Amazon has a strong core customer base. Forget the techies. I'm talking average joe and janes.

They do. Hope they spend more time with some quality designers.

 

[TechieGeek]

I wish Apple had an LTE plan like that! I'd be all over it! There's WiFi almost everywhere, and I'd like to have a 250MB/month plan just to fill in the gaps

Way to go Amazon!

 

[samcraig]

What's interesting in this release is that the regular Kindle fire (7") isn't a drastic upgrade from the current model. It's primary competitor, the Nexus tablet is pretty much on par with it, the only difference is the Fire has an ad supported version for $50 less. If the Nexus (or rumored iPad Mini) is well received, it could take a chunk out of the Fire's market share of the low-end small-form tablets.

The 8.5" one is obviously a direct stab at the iPad. With the HD screen, better speakers and amazing data plan, it's going right for the iPad's market share. It's not going to be an iPad killer by any stretch of the imagination (it's ugly, clunky, and has way less apps available), but it may take a chunk out of the iPad market if Apple doesn't have anything earth-shattering coming out before the holiday season.

On the plus side, this and the Nexus may finally cause Apple to step up it's game and really start innovating again. They've been sitting on incremental upgrades for most of their projects for a couple years now and really need to push the envelope, otherwise they are going to see their market share slowly chipped away.

LOL - I love when people talk about how many apps the Apple App store has vs Amazon or Google. Fact is - # of apps matters as much as "specs" do. It's not quantity - it's quality. Throwing out a random # here - but so be it - there might be 100 popular and useful Apps that exist. As long as they exist or mostly exist on all platforms - the other thousand apps matter little.

Ugly and Clunky is subjective.

The new 7" fire has similar upgrades to it as the iPad 1 to 2.

 

[swingerofbirch]

I never thought of myself as a Kindle e-reader person, but I've read a few books on Kindle for Mac. The new price is very attractive, and they get to a low enough point, where I think, well that would be nice. How do they make these prices so low? I hope there's not a horrible back story about labor practices worse than Apple's. I do have to say I enjoy Amazon.com a lot and buy from them a lot, but there were stories a while back about bad conditions in their US warehouses. I hate to be a debbie-downer, but sometimes too good to be true is too good to be true, except we're not the ones paying the price.

On the other hand, Amazon could simply be taking very low margins compared to Apple. I have to say they are quite innovative and I am intrigued by Bezos. They've gone from shipping only tangible, physical products to following the puck where it was going to go into digital distribution. And there is no comparison to their site when it comes to shopping. They've made online shopping into both an art and science.

So, well done.

 

[ckurt25]

Sorry for not using power users as benchmarks. I am truly sorry. I forgot that "most" nowadays equate "a few", and substantially less than "average and below". By your figures alone, we can easily conclude that i was right. Most people do not blow through 250MB in 1-2 days.

And if people want to use more - they can buy more. Whats the problem?

Plus, knowing Amazon - i am sure that you'll get free downloads from their site anyway. If you ever feel the need to stream video on the fly, that is (gainsharing that revenue would be more profitable for all parties involved).

I bet you buy everything sugar coated at the grocery store and everything with bright bold advertising... I live in a place called reality and everyone I know that has a 250 MB plan on their iPad goes over it and most of those are housewives that are far from power users. The people that are power users don't bother with 250 MB plans. They also reside on planet sanity.

There is a reason Amazon is not telling you what the overages are or what the other data plans costs. It's something "most" people understand as marketing. They're marketing their service as cheaper than that of the iPad. If they showed overages and the other data plan prices smart consumers would see that the prices won't be so different.

 

[jrswizzle]

1234

Some pretty decent numbers....