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Amazon Set to Unveil $199 'Kindle Fire' Tablet

andiwm2003 said:
The iPad is not a computer replacement at all. It's way too limited in every respect. It could be a computer replacement but the lack of a file system, the lack of printing capabilities, the lack of USB access (or any other open interface to connect devices) and many other limtations mean it is not a computer replacement. This is not about CPU power. It's about general usability for average productivity tasks that I could do on my Mac IIsi 15 years ago. The entire concept of the iPad is to be different than a classic computer.

iPad's are great for consuming media. The kindle is in that sense a more radical version of the iPad because it's cheap enough for the mass market and even more limtied as a computer.

I'm seriously considering to replace my planned upgrade to the iPad3 with a Kindle (plus a 11"MBA) unless the iPad 3/iOS5 becomes a lot more like a computer.
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Agreed on all points. The iPad is geared towards content consumption, not creation. Sure there are lots of iFanboys who have bent over backwards to *prove* that you *can* create content, but get real that's not for 99% of the people.

Drawbacks from the iPad as a full PC:

* no USB ports
* printing capability limited
* lack of a large screen(I have dual-wides for my desktop)
* poor typing ergonomics
* underpowered for serious tasks(like video encoding or doing parallel tasks)

So please iFanboys - stop with the myth about how the iPad is a content-creation device and get REAL.
 
Peace said:
It has 512MB. Also it doesn't seem to have anything else but a power button.

From Engadget :

What it won't have, though, is the number of physical inputs. It'll make do with just a power button and nothing more -- if you want to turn down the volume you'll need to dive into the status bar. Whether or not that proves to be an annoyance in the long-run remains to be seen, but we're thinking it will be.

Software performance seems quite smart at this point, switching tasks and apps in rapid fire during the demo we were given. We were only shown a brief glimpse of the new Silk browser, but we must say the thing appears to deliver on its promises. The dual-core 1GHz, TI OMAP processor certainly seems adequate, too, even if it is only paired with 512MB of memory. It also has 8GB of storage on tap -- a bit light these days, but with all your content synced online, in theory there's no need for more. In theory.
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A volume rocker would have been very nice. :(
 
half the memory as the low-end iPad and no camera or mic.

it is priced fairly...just as Apple's iPad is.
I can see this being pushed everyday during the holiday season and even discounted drastically to get sales.

That said when they up the specs next year, it'll probably still be behind the iPad. a nice option for cheapies. thought 7" is a tad not the right size. just a tad larger than a smartphone. at least iPad is the "good" size.


but looks promising for some people.
 
I like the Kindle Fire alot.

But am I the only one that thinks that the new Kindles look awful??

They look like Sony's crappy attempts at e-readers.
 
Houses burn down as children wish to have a Fire under the Christmas Tree this season.
 
BJMRamage said:
half the memory as the low-end iPad and no camera or mic.

it is priced fairly...just as Apple's iPad is.
I can see this being pushed everyday during the holiday season and even discounted drastically to get sales.

That said when they up the specs next year, it'll probably still be behind the iPad. a nice option for cheapies. thought 7" is a tad not the right size. just a tad larger than a smartphone. at least iPad is the "good" size.


but looks promising for some people.
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Agreed. I have an iPad 1, and I just pre-ordered the Kindle Fire.

I already develop iPad apps, and this is a perfect price-point for me to use to learn to develop Android Apps on.
 
Don't care about the Fire

But very excited about the e-ink Kindle Touch reader. Already pre-ordered the one with 3G.
 
BJMRamage said:
half the memory as the low-end iPad and no camera or mic.

it is priced fairly...just as Apple's iPad is.
I can see this being pushed everyday during the holiday season and even discounted drastically to get sales.

That said when they up the specs next year, it'll probably still be behind the iPad. a nice option for cheapies. thought 7" is a tad not the right size. just a tad larger than a smartphone. at least iPad is the "good" size.


but looks promising for some people.
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I agree. They are already losing money on it, this is just a portal for all things amazon and thats fine. I doubt this takes any sales from the iPad.
 
FunkyChicken said:
These new offerings from Amazon will hurt RIM more than they will hurt Apple.
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True, but I suspect it will still have some impact on iPad sales as well as any other tablet on the market.
It has a lot to offer in the way of rich content and the price is damn good for what it offers.
 
newyorksole said:
I wanna play with 1 before making judgement.

There's definitely a market though for it. A lot of people have Kindles and those customers will be like "Oh wow now I don't have to buy an iPad!".
Click to expand...

But that is the point. The price is less but will it suffice? A motorcycle costs less than a car but doesn't provide the same functionality.
 
Maybe this will light a "Fire" under Apple to lower the iPad price? That'd be a nice side effect wouldn't it?

Tablet wars, go!
 
Hey Amazon (i'll take 1 Kindle Touch, and 1 Kindle Touch 3G)

1726009-shut_up_and_take_my_money_super.jpg
 
I also don't care about the Fire. If it doesn't have electronic ink, one can just go for an iPad.
 
dingclancy said:
As an owner of the iPad 2, the availability of apps for the Kindle will depend on the user base.

At this low a price, it will surely hit critical mass to sway developers. Amazon already has the cloud storage, books, movies, and music. It has enough on offer to make the tablet interesting. Plus, Amazon is running an ecosystem here - the app store is using the same paywall that allows us to buy books. These apps are merely additional purchase from a trusted store that it will be seamless.

The lack of app will be taken care off by time. Critical Mass is what is needed.
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Amazon has a problem though. They have upset quite a lot of developers who tried to make some money with Android phone apps and found that they hadn't read their contracts with Amazon properly, and Amazon basically gave their apps away for free.
 
At $199, that is a gamechanger for what most tablets should cost in the future. I know TouchPad sold for $99-$149, but that was HP just getting out of the business. TP was being sold for far under its market value even when it cost about $300 to make. A fire sale (liquidation) is totally different than a company still wanting to be in the business and selling it at a competitive price. Let's get this out of our heads. TouchPads for $99 is long gone and you now will see $200-$250. You can't expect $99 anymore. And even if you are lucky to get one later in October with the additional 200K being made, they will be gone by the time the website finishes to load. Expect hoarder prices in most cases. It is a DEAD platform. Even in a year, webOS will be gone. Whatever the webOS dev community will say, it is only a matter of time. And who knows if RIM will cease to exist at all in a few years since they are sinking too.

What Amazon is doing here is selling it at a loss in hardware and recouping it all in software and content similar to what Sony and Microsoft did with PlayStation and Xbox. They are doing us a favor at first bat by losing money if you buy one of these. This first gen isn't for tech geeks who need the latest specs or hundred thousand apps. This is for budget-conscious people who doesn't need all the complications and apps that geeks want. The timing is right and the price is right, so why not go for it? Other than iDevices, what is out there for people to get that looks very enticing this Holiday season? 3DS is for $180? Nah. Apple has already taken a bite on casual portable gaming. Vita is only out in Japan this Dec. Another Android tablet like the Xoom or Jetstream? LOL at the prices. This is why tablets can be so overpriced. And Apple looks to discontinue to iPod classic and shuffle. The iPod touch doesn't look to get a major refresh this year. It is either iDevices or Amazon. And we know Black Friday is going to be brutal for some of their discount prices on video game systems, HDTV's, and whatnot. Shopping at the comfort of your own home sounds better.

My plan -

-Wait for RIM to drop prices to $199 on the 16GB PlayBook WITHOUT rebates and get it. I always preferred a 7-inch screen tablet. Anything bigger is just bulky for me.

-Sell my Mom's Kindle 3 at $100 and then buy the Kindle Fire for her. Put the $100 on an Amazon giftcard and then just pay about $120 with my credit card.

Hopefully, $340 for total cost with taxes.

Two tablets that look exactly the same for two happy customers and it still saved me over $200 if I got the cheapest iPad 2 for $499 with taxes included. I already have an iPhone so an iPad 2 becomes redundant.
 
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