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

[Allenbf]

Come on people. Seriously.

Look at this as an average joe consumer, not as a person who hangs out on a geeky Mac rumors site. This is pretty impressive to say, my mom. A non techie person.

For me, I'll wait to see what the iPad mini has. I'm not in the market for another tablet but we'll see.

 

[nuckinfutz]

this is the first to have a competitive PPI screen at that price point

Some would say the Nexus 7 was that device

 

[damir00]

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.

What's the price on the iPod Touch in that scenario?

 

[verniesgarden]

So...199.00 price point for iPad mini?

sounds doable...

that cheaper than the iPod touch

 

[Rocketman]

I don't see what's wrong with a tablet optimized for reading, that happens to do other stuff moderately well, AND, a tablet that is optimized for apps and video for when that is proper.

I would like to see both include VoIP, all but free, and kill cell phones and free that bandwidth for data.

Rocketman

 

[verniesgarden]

What's the price on the iPod Touch in that scenario?

I'd say 99

 

[Lynn Belvedere]

They are not going to be charging $399 for the iPad Mini with Retina in the SFF market.

You sound like the same people that said the iPad was going to cost $1000.

If it has retina, it will be $399 minimum. It its a useless discussion, considering the ipad mino will NOT have retina anyway. It will be an ipad 2 in a smaller case, most likely sold for $299.

 

[MrCrowbar]

I wish people cheered me on like this when I introduce my 7-Inch

I'm quite confused by the product line here. I know about the original Kindle Fire. Now there's lots of them.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Come on people. Seriously.

Look at this as an average joe consumer, not as a person who hangs out on a geeky Mac rumors site. This is pretty impressive to say, my mom. A non techie person.

For me, I'll wait to see what the iPad mini has. I'm not in the market for another tablet but we'll see.

The problem really is that the iPad isn't popular solely because of the specs. It's popular because it marries just the right amount of hardware with finely tuned software.

I used a Kindle Fire and it sucked. Amazon isn't going to be able to deliver a fluid experience because they don't understand a good UI. What they've done with IMDB.com is a travesty.

 

[CylonGlitch]

that cheaper than the iPod touch

Same price as a cheap iPod Touch. Apple could drop the price by $50. Would be great across the board.

 

[divinox]

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYYr1cG8hEY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q8tlSDpVDI&feature=player_embedded


Will be hard for Apple to beat that. (No need to bring up faked commercials. Not like Apple are afraid of doing them either).

 

[rhuber]

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.

You're probably right, but I don't really care how they label it or where the money comes from. Media purchases are safer (longevity-wise) and vastly more flexible with Amazon than they are with iTunes. I think we can all agree on that.

 

[inspirations365]

The problem really is that the iPad isn't popular solely because of the specs. It's popular because it marries just the right amount of hardware with finely tuned software.
I used a Kindle Fire and it sucked. Amazon isn't going to be able to deliver a fluid experience because they don't understand a good UI. What they've done with IMDB.com is a travesty.

And THAT'S where the difference lies! It's not a spec game!

 

[tmhale13]

wow, just wow. 1920x1200; and apple is going to release the ipad mini with 1024x768???

LOL. Sad.

"Amazon is also introducing a 7-inch 16 GB Kindle Fire HD for $199 that begins shipping on September 14, but details on differences from the 8.9-inch model such as screen resolution are not yet clear"

The Kidle Fire that will compete with the iPad Mini is the 7-inch. They did not give resolution specs on the 7-inch (see my quote directly from the article). That 1920x1200 you quoted is for the 8.9-inch Fire HD. That one is competing against the "New" iPad (3), which has 2048x1536. Based on that number, my guess is that the iPad Mini will have a screen resolution of 1920x1200 or better. And if the latest and greatest 8.9-inch Fire HD has that 1920 rsolution, I would also bet that the 7-inch will have a lower resolution.

The Kidle Fire HD line has a lot to offer. It is a solid competitor in my opinion. But do not use screen resolution to annoint it an iPad "killer". It does not compete on that particular battlefield.

 

[416049]

Sweet some good old healthy competition

Amazon you rock, apple you better watch out!

 

[iScott428]

You can include pretty much any console in that list... as long as it wasnt made by nintendo.

Funny you mention that... Current and Legacy Nintendo's are the only system I still enjoy using. Interesting parallel between Nintendo systems and Apple products.

 

[mrscrouge]

Nexus7 > future ipad mini > anything else

Forget about the speakers, data plan etc., the OS is the most important thing about a tablet, and the fire has a "custom" android OS which = crap, and will only get worse as you update it.
Ipad mini prob won't even support all the features in the already stale current ipad iOS. I don't doubt it'll have a better screen than the nexus but it's also going to be more expensive.

 

[THEAnonymous]

Same price as a cheap iPod Touch. Apple could drop the price by $50. Would be great across the board.

Man, the iPod Touch sure seems expensive in comparison to all these tablets. I know it's not the same thing per se, but the value just isn't there for the touch anymore (IMO)...at least at its current prices.

 

[cherishzm]

The LTE version will be a big hit with $50 cost for 250MB/month data usage. No carrier can or will beat the price and it'll be more than sufficient for casual usage.

 

[damir00]

The Kidle Fire that will compete with the iPad Mini is the 7-inch.

No, sorry - the Mini is 8", so the one that competes with it is the larger Fire.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Sweet some good old healthy competition

Amazon you rock, apple you better watch out!

LOL

I'm an Amazon prime member. Love them for those items that I don't want to run errands to get but they suck at creating devices and acceptable user interfaces.

Apple has nothing to fear.

 

[rendevouspoo]

Amazon needs to get into the cellular phone business. They seem to push for innovation more than the others.

Others referring to whom? I hope Apple is included in that list because they haven't innovated in years. Nokia is doing some heavy innovating as well with the lumia.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Only thing that is going to hurt is your anus when you are proven wrong.

Do you really think Apple will create a different resolution screen for the ipad mini? If they are willing to do this, they would've made the iPhone 5 a lot better than just stretching it longer. Apple is no longer the apple it once was with jobs at the reigns.

It's going to be 1024x768 because apple says it's magical.

 

[divinox]

Actually,

8.9 - 7.85 = 1.05.
7.85 - 7 = 0.85.

It is in fact closer in size to the smaller Kindle than the HD.

1) There is a small HD.
2) You are missing that the rumored Apple device supposedly uses a different ratio (making the area of the screen substantially larger than a 16:9 with the same diagonal).

 

[Allenbf]

The problem really is that the iPad isn't popular solely because of the specs. It's popular because it marries just the right amount of hardware with finely tuned software.

I used a Kindle Fire and it sucked. Amazon isn't going to be able to deliver a fluid experience because they don't understand a good UI. What they've done with IMDB.com is a travesty.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I love my iPad(s). I've used the Kindle Fire and I hate it too. I'm just saying, for many, many people, it'll be "good enough." Just like Android phones.