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

samcraig said:
It's going to sell very very well. And dare I say - as great as the iPad mini might be - unless it's also 299 - Apple will have missed the boat.
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There's no reason to believe the smaller iPad will be any more than $299, considering that the iPad 2 is $399.

Amazon will sell a lot of Kindle Fires, but I think it will steal sales more from the Nexus 7 than the iPad. The $499 model is interesting since it has LTE and can be had with the ultra-cheap $50/year data plan (albeit for only 250MB/month). However, I think what it says is that competitors need to give away products in order to compete with the iPad. Amazon is the anti-Apple. They consistently operate at almost no profit margin.
 
Adidas Addict said:
They didn't even bother to launch the old one in the UK :D
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jroadley said:
And yet again Amazon can't seem to sell these things outside of the US
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I am guessing they are still selling at a loss, and planning on making up for it on content purchases. They pretty much stated as such, they don't care about making money on hardware (one time purchase) but the content you put on it (theoretically, a never ending timeframe). Most of the Amazon digital content is US based, and I am assuming that is why. They won't get the subsidized cost back through purchases overseas. - Again, all guesses, but think I am close.

verniesgarden said:
I think amazon just stole the tablet market.
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There is Apple and Amazon, and maybe Microsoft in third. The Android OEMs will be the big losers here.

rhuber said:
Amazon is only closed with respect to its version of android, but the popular thing about amazon is the openness of their ecosystem compared to apple's. For example, I buy apps from the app store for my ipad, but I (personally) never purchase books, movies or music from itunes. I do that from amazon, because I know I can read, watch, listen, on any device (including just about tv)... even if I move away from the apple ecosystem.
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I may be nit-picking, but I think you are referring to Interoperability, not openness. You can only buy from Amazon for this device. You can not buy from the digital store of your choosing. That would be open. In that aspect, ironically, Apple/iOS is more open, as I can buy a book on amazon, iBooks, kobo, etc and read it on my iPad, but I can not read an iBook on my Kindle. And before you say that Apple wouldn't allow that, they do with iTunes music purchases. Not only that, amazon wouldn't want you to buy from a competitor, they want to lock you in to buying from them, hence the low price of hardware. They are interoperable - You can buy on amazon and read on just about anything you want.

This points out the focus of the three companies.

Apple - Hardware/software first, content second - This is where their business model is based.
Amazon - Retail, sales, content - Subscribe, buy, etc only from them, they get the renewable payments from the consumer.
Google - You are the product they are selling, the OS, etc is just a way to get your data.

All have their merits.

I am pretty impressed with this presentation today. It should force Apple to make some changes, specifically pricing. I can see the LTE versions of iPads now only being $100 more. And the iPad mini will be a sure thing now.

The biggest two things I want to see Apple take away from this today that they can, theoretically, introduce next week?

Device Profiles on the iPad - This is a MUST!!! (I actually think it will be announced as part of iOS 6.1 with the introduction of the iPad mini in October. The Facebook app used to have it but took it away in the new Facebook app. I could be wrong, but I think it is coming as part of the OS, and Facebook being closely integrated to iOS 6 may have known it, and decided not to focus on that for the revamped app).

8GB is dead - Bring on a 16 GB $99 iPhone 4S and a $199 iPhone 5!!!!
 
Kindle $69
Kindle PaperWhite $119
Kindle PaperWhite 3G $179
Kindle Fire $149
Kindle Fire HD 7" $199
Kindle Fire HD 9" $299
Kindle Fire HD 9" 3G $499

Ok, kinda crowded in the sub $200 market.

But the cards are on the table, and the ball is in Apple's court. If the iPad mini comes out at $199 or $249, even without a Retnia display and it will really shake up the market.

I look at it this way, iPad Mini @ $199. iPad Mini Retnia @ $299. iPad 2 @ $249 and this whole market is going to get really interesting, really fast.

Going to be a fun holiday season. I want to buy tablets for my kids, it's up in the air right now, Fire HD 7", Nexus 7", or iPad Mini. No decision has been made, I need reviews, and the final piece of the pie. I really do want the iPad Mini, but need to see the rest first.
 
divinox said:
The one being wrong is you: you cant compare Google and MSFT with Amazon.
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When it comes to the context of deriving profit/revenue from store services I can. People act like Amazon is somehow unique because they can sell you a toaster oven. They aren't.

dgree03 said:
So will you go on record to say Apple doesn't innovate? I mean based off your own criteria..
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Apple's patent portfolio says otherwise. Apple has a vast history of creating technology.

Amazon will NEVER be Apple folks. All they can do is gut their pricing in the hopes of grabbing share the Wal*Mart way.

Sorry...the intended customers are different
 
7" iPad Mini with a supposed 1024*768 screen :confused: VS. 8.9"Kindle Fire HD with 1980*1200 screen at 299$

FIGHT ( and bring the popcorn :D )

popcorn_gif_by_zombiejosette.gif
 
David Sharpe said:
iPad resolution is 2048-by-1536-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi). So close but iPad still on top.

Amazon didn't announce resolution of the 7" Kindle Fire.
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but the ipad is 9.7, this is 8.9

retina PPI is relative to screen size. i believe it's retina quality.
 
Bring it on!

Competition is good for consumers. Market domination led to users having to beg for MMS. Competition led to Apple pulling out the stops with the iPhone 4.

Too many people around here foolishly think that when Apple wins, 'they' win.
 
Very impressed with the hardware upgrades, wifi improvements, screen resolution and tech. Some really nice software features being introduced as well. Overall I think this is great for the tablet market and competition.

These HD devices peak my interest and I actually want to play with them.

But on the down side, if there is one, I would burn through 250MB a month on LTE in 5 minutes. But for 50$ a year and cloud storage, you can't beat that.
 
YouTube ad

Very Apple-like advertisement, and the voice over even sounds like Bob Mansfield! :p

Impressive work though, Amazon. Are these loss-leaders though? The prices seem very low.
 
appleguy123 said:
Why aren't there more comments about that incredible data plan? How on earth did they negotiate that? That's under $5 a month!
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Because most users can blow through 250 MB in a day or two. The devil is in the details and we have no idea what the overage is gonna be. If you go over in 1 month are they gong to charge you another $50?
 
KPOM said:
There's no reason to believe the smaller iPad will be any more than $299, considering that the iPad 2 is $399.

Amazon will sell a lot of Kindle Fires, but I think it will steal sales more from the Nexus 7 than the iPad. The $499 model is interesting since it has LTE and can be had with the ultra-cheap $50/year data plan (albeit for only 250MB/month). However, I think what it says is that competitors need to give away products in order to compete with the iPad. Amazon is the anti-Apple. They consistently operate at almost no profit margin.
Click to expand...

Amazon is not selling products, they are selling services. The Kindle is the means to the service. It is very similar to the cell phone subsidies. The carriers pay those so that they have you locked in. It works there, and works for amazon
 
I would actually get the 8.9" or 7" HD model, if Amazon sold it IN THE UK!!!! What is wrong with them? Seriously? They are the only name missing from the UK yet the Kindle readers have a HUGE reputation here. Really don't understand it.
But I do understand I'll be getting a Nexus 7 come Christmas day instead, as will many others I've no doubt.

Really don't get Amazon, we even have the cloud services from them here now?
 
divinox said:
I mustve read a gazillion posts on MR about how ****ing awesome Apple was when they did their dual antenna thing. But i know... speccs are only cool when Apple tout them.
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I agree that there were posts about that, but for me, the real innonvations from the 4s were more geared towards:

Bluetooth 4.0 in the phone (think iPod nano watch that I'm wearing and upcoming watches have become popular)

5-lens camera meant to really replace your point and shoot (Came as a reaction to the 4 and how many pics were taken with iPhone)

Siri (obvious reasons).

^^^^You can claim those are specs, but each brings something to the table that wasn't there previously. The original Fire had wifi, and no problems with its wifi, so I don't see why Amazon was making such a large deal about its antennas.
 
Anti-Lucifer said:
A RESOUNDING YES, lol. Apple will release a new ipad mini with the rehashed 1024x768 resolution. Why? Because it's the way apple does business. It's all about the $ nowadays.

The truth hurts, my friend!
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They dont have much of a choice, unless they switch ratio and start running phone applications. Putting a 2048x1536 screen in that small of a devices will be too costly to make the price point at a margin acceptable to Mr. Cook.
 
Anti-Lucifer said:
wow, just wow. 1920x1200; and apple is going to release the ipad mini with 1024x768???

LOL. Sad.:apple:
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The 24" iMac I'm sitting in front of has a 1920x1200 res. Hell, I have a 28" monitor with that res in the other room. And here they are cramming it into a 9" device. That's crazy. It wasn't too long ago we had to choose between color and black and white... and now we complain that we can see the pixels from an inch away :rolleyes:
 
Anti-Lucifer said:
A RESOUNDING YES, lol. Apple will release a new ipad mini with the rehashed 1024x768 resolution. Why? Because it's the way apple does business. It's all about the $ nowadays.

The truth hurts, my friend!
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Only thing that is going to hurt is your anus when you are proven wrong.

:p
 
larrybeo said:
I would pay $199 for an 8GB mini iPad! if it's any more than that I'm not buying!
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Well the iPod Touch is $199 so I wouldn't count on that. Or ..... perhaps this will help bring down the prices for all iOS devices!! That would be nice but I'm not going to hold my breath. :D
 
driceman said:
Think it'll have volume buttons?

Sorry, but I've tried a Kindle Fire and it seemed like the technology was pretty mediocre. Maybe this will be different, but I'm not convinced yet. In any case, I'm satisfied with my iPad. :apple:
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That was one of my biggest complaints about the fire. That, and the small amount of local storage.

I remember the first gen iPod touch and how frustrating that was. Second gen fixed that.

rickdollar said:
As happy as I am with the iPad, the speaker is pretty awful. Hopefully they're closer to implementing that "speakers behind glass" trick that was mentioned in a patent a few years back. I can't imagine how that would sound good.....but who knows.
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The speaker's seemed to be best on the first gen. Not sure why.
 
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