Amazon Set to Unveil $199 'Kindle Fire' Tablet

[hcho3]

This thing supports adobe Flash? It only has 256GB ram. Obviously, specs don't matter to me as long as it's fast.

Wonder how well it will run the flash...

 

[samcraig]

A lot of the noise on here is exactly what happened with the iPad. It doesn't do this - it doesn't have that.

All silly. But since the conversation is the same - I'll reiterate what people said then. If you don't like it - don't buy one. LOL

 

[KnightWRX]

Great post. Exactly why they failed to get the trademark and exactly why they still have a slightly better chance with "App Store". Apple has gone to great efforts to make the "App Store" a distinctively "Apple" term even though it clearly has a generic meaning.

Steve Jobs himself ruined it in less than 2 seconds :

http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-steve-jobs-referred-to-app-stores-2011-4

In that call, Jobs said, "In addition to Google's own app marketplace, Amazon, Verizon and Vodafone have all announced that they are creating their own app stores for Android. So there will be at least four app stores on Android, which customers must search among to find the app they want and developers will need to work with to distribute their apps and get paid."

Oops moment right there.

 

[rmwebs]

No 3G seriously limits the usefulness of such a device for me. However, it still looks somewhat exciting, and the price is right if this article is true. I'll await their official unveiling...

Cant see the need for 3G on this TBH, its not being sold as an iPad replacement, its being sold as a Kindle, aka a book reader...not a mobile computer.

It also helps keep the cost down. 3G alone would bump the price up a lot.

 

[Kebabselector]

You're not serious about suggesting to use zooming.

An A4 iPad would be better for PDF, but for the time being one can make do with the current size.

Well I have to zoom on the iPad, so it's not really much different to be honest. I suppose it does really depend on how much you use PDFs for. I don't have a lot of use for them. And as I said the iPad resolution isn't great for PDF reading either.

 

[ucantgetridofme]

The ipad just became ridiculously overpriced. this could really hurt ipad sales during the holiday season. Steve Jobs is crying like a bitch right about now lol. Ten bucks says Apple sues Amazon tommorrow.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

So many people are dismissing the Kindle Fire already.

Did you forget about the success of the Nook Color? It's also 7" and missing things like a camera and mic, but Barnes & Noble still sold millions of them to very happy customers.

B&N's financials show that the Nook isn't a run away success on their bottom line.

 

[TallManNY]

Man, you people can't grab a concept if it had velcro on it. I never said the Fire was not a great product or that Amazon would not sell tons of them. I said the Fire is not a direct competitor to the iPad anymore than, say a Chevy is to a BMW. Both companies sell tons of product but they don't share demographics.

Lost me on that one Chupa. I agree that Fire and iPad aren't great competitors, but Kindle Fire and iPad will share overlapping demographics in a way that Chevy and BMW will never do.

 

[Jett0516]

thank you amazon!

this is actually what we want...a good tablet with a good price.

I hope samsung and motorola and rim take note for their overpriced tablets.

 

[ChrisTX]

Man, you people can't grab a concept if it had velcro on it. I never said the Fire was not a great product or that Amazon would not sell tons of them. I said the Fire is not a direct competitor to the iPad anymore than, say a Chevy is to a BMW. Both companies sell tons of product but they don't share demographics.

It's quite likely that the Fire and iPad will coexist just fine.

Prime example, when I was in line to buy a firesale touch pad the lady in front of me asked "Well what is it?" "I'm not sure but it's $99!". The point is some people are attracted to a cheaper price but couldn't be bothered with a better product at a higher price.

 

[*LTD*]

Like it was said before:

A 7-inch Nook-killer.

 

[Funkymonk]

holy crap. glad I sold my ipad 2 last week to buy the air. I'll be getting me some Fire once they become available.

btw, I am LOVING my air, I'm convinced this is the best laptop ever invented in the history of laptops.

 

[DigMe]

I'm glad to see that Verizon's "Can you hear me now?" guy has secured a stable job at Amazon:

 

[junkster]

Here's how I see it:

Apple is undercutting everyone on the premium tablet experience. The iPad is beautifully crafted with no corners cut.

Amazon is attempting to own the bottom-end market by using budget parts, cutting lots of corners, and likely by losing money on each tablet sold.

Both are valid. But to me, there really isn't a wide gap in pricing. We're already talking about non-essential purchases, and at $500 the iPad is aggressively priced for something dripping with quality and perfection. Use it side by side with any $800 or less full-on notebook, and the iPad feels like it should be twice the price. Is it worth $300 to go with a sub-par experience? Only if the additional $300 is completely out of reach for you.

 

[TheMarc]

I don't mind it not having a camera, but no mic? You're sure? Ipad1 had no cam but still a mic.
You could still use it to chat/talk/skype.
I guess it's the only thing missing that I would want (if it really is absent).

On another note, Samsung was not allowed to sell the Galaxy tab because of similar design to the Ipad2 (when it's actually different size/ratio, and Samsung actually nailed it better than Apple with the different "orientation" of the tablet and placement of the dock (and camera)), and this will be sold?!?

 

[NebulaClash]

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The Fire is made for people who need a good e-reader that uses a non e-ink screen.

An e-reader is only good if it uses e-ink. Anything else is a compromise.

E-ink screens are horrible for reading. For a good screen you need an iPad.

See what I did there? I expressed my honest opinion as if it were true for everyone. It isn't, any more than your opinion is universal.

People should read the screens that work for them. It varies.

 

[BC2009]

I just checked out this video from Amazon talking about Amazon Silk browser. While I think Silk is cool and probably similar to some of things that Opera Mini is doing on mobile, they lose all credibility when they open with "browsers have been built more or less the same way for 15 or 20 years".

I'm sure the guys at Mozilla, Opera, and WebKit all take exception to that. Browser architecture has changed drastically since its inception 15 to 20 years ago. Heck, the first browsers I used in college in 1992/1993 (about 19 to 20 years ago) were radically different than what we have today. And the Opera guys are probably a bit miffed at Amazon for trying to lay claim to the innovation of using the cloud to offload tasks from the device (heck even the Skyfire and iSwifter guys should be upset at them).

 

[Winter Charm]

I hope it's good. At that price, it really stops being a question of which one but rather: BOTH!

How can you NOT! It's competing against it for chrissakes. All of the Android tablets have been and they've all crashed/burned. This is the new kid on the block. People can't help but compare. Yes they have different strengths and weaknesses -- time to sort it out.

The Fire is not competing against the iPad. AT ALL. The iPad is meant as a computer replacement device. The Fire is just a content consumption device at this point. And it's not designed to replace anything, just serve as a nice and affordable tablet.

 

[1239689]

What a rip off from Apple

-

 

[KnightWRX]

that the iPad is going to lose market share b/c the Fire is relatively inexpensive.

Well, since market share is a % of sales of across the entire market, the iPad surely will lose market share in terms of a percentage of overall units moved in the market.

However, that doesn't mean that suddenly the iPad is going to be shifting less units than it did before or that it won't grow sales on a unit basis. It might just mean that introducing a low-end segment into the market results in said market growing faster than the iPad unit sales growth.

So there's nothing wrong in saying that this will shrink the iPad's market share, it most probably will, but it will be because of a greater breadth of price point in the market thus introducing new buyers to it.

 

[Savor]

If only RIM can wake up now.

"Like, wait a minute. That tablet looks exactly like ours!"

Then market the hell out of the PlayBook right BEFORE the Kindle Fire is released to avoid looking like copycats and keep the price competitive enough. I always said had TouchPad sold at $199, it would have still sold.

To me, while the QNX UI copied webOS alot, I still feel the PlayBook is superior to the TouchPad. You need to overclock the TouchPad just to match stock PlayBook's speed in web browsing. Only reason why people defend the TouchPad now is because they bought one and want to justify their purchases. Prior to that fire sale, nobody had anything nice to say about the TP. The Kindle Fire looks to have inferior in specs than PB or TP but Amazon rushed it and was too late with the processor, but the price is so cheap, the ecosystem is there, and the timing is right that you can overlook its flaws. There isn't much out there other than Apple products that look intriguing, so the Kindle Fire will still sell anyway this Holiday season because of price, timing, and lack of competition (sans Apple). Not hard getting to #2 in the tablet wars when the rest of the competition can be so inept. Kindle Fire should be a HOT-seller by Cyber Monday since most people by Black Friday are looking for great bargains on gifts.

 

[Winter Charm]

Well, the Kindle uses e-Ink which is excellent for reading (lighting issue not withstanding), but I'm assuming this new Kindle Fire is using an LCD panel of some sort, so I don't know that it will be better/worse for reading vs. an iPad [in terms of display tech].

Plus the Kindle app for the iPad is pretty outstanding.

That being said, I still think this is going to be a big seller for Amazon, been following the presentation all morning.

It uses the same type of IPS LCD display with LED backlighting. Pretty much standard in tablets right now.

 

[DigMe]

The Fire is not competing against the iPad. AT ALL. .

It is delusional to say it is not competing against the iPad at all. Many people use their iPads solely as a consumption device. In fact I'd venture to say the majority do.

brad

 

[cube]

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E-ink screens are horrible for reading. For a good screen you need an iPad.

See what I did there? I expressed my honest opinion as if it were true for everyone. It isn't, any more than your opinion is universal.

People should read the screens that work for them. It varies.

Try to read the iPad in the sun.

 

[MacinDoc]

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Nice specs, nice price. Free Prime for 1 month = easy way to add subscribers because once they sign up, the service continues unless they opt out.

Seems like a tablet version of the iPhone Cloud concept