I think the Fire will give the iPad a run for the money. Up til this point there hasn't been a really serious contender out there (maybe the Galaxy Tab to a certain extend). But Amazon has both shown that they get consumers and are able to create products that work as well as that they are willing to pay tons of money to get into a market. The $199 price point is a huge selling point alone.
I will still stick with my iPad .. but if I had to choose one of the contenders .. the Fire would be top on my list (only real big downer is the 7" screen .. not cool).
T.
The fire does what the iPad does.... it lets the user jump right into their content without several steps or confusing screens to navigate through, and it's a content laden device with nice integration that regular Android tablets lack. Oh, and that $199 price tag sure is a kick in everyone's pants.
Everyone keeps saying that the Fire isn't an iPad killer/contender, but it really is the tablet that has the potential to compete. Amazon's forcast for sales through the end of the year is larger than the number of Android tablets this report claims were sold in the first 10 months. Not that you can call this a true Android tablet... Amazon did a great job of customizing the interface/user experience. (They threw out all the crap that makes Android a drag. Good show Amazon!)
And we all know Amazon is readying it's 10" tablet for early next year... That's what I'm holding out for. The Fire doesn't lack anything I'd ever use (I'm so not using a tablet as a camera, video calling has always been a goofy nitch that the masses try once and forget about.) except maybe blue tooth for a keyboard accessory, which is something I could see them bothering with on a 10". Who wants to use a 7" tablet with a physical keyboard????
If they can roll a 10" at say... $299.... that's where this will get really interesting. And dare I say, I think that's exactly that sweet spot they'd go for. There are tons of $399 10" Android tablets out there, and they seem happy to cut the fat and leave no comparison in price.
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As an iOS developer and an iPhone and iPad owner, and for the last 2 months, a TouchPad owner, I must say that Palm/HP had a good thing going with WebOS on a tablet. It didn't quite work well on their smartphones, but on the tablet, it gives iOS a real competitor.
While the TouchPad might be dead [you can still buy them at TigerDirect and other places though], they are continuing to release OS updates and make it more stable and quicker.
Some of the design/UI features of the TouchPad's OS really compare favorably to the iPad - you can see Apple's influence, but instead of making a cheap knock off [like Android], Palm/HP thought outside the box and did some things differently and they really work. Apple UI folks could certainly benefit from a few hours with a TouchPad.
I harken the TouchPad to the Amiga - back when it was a PC/Mac world, the Amiga was the "dark horse" that did some things better than both PCs and Macs, but never caught on like PCs and Macs did. The TouchPad really reminds me of that, and I hope the community and the developers [they are still plenty of WebOS devs and 3rd party WebOS devs around] continue to make the platform survive and get better.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there only a few hundred apps for the touch pad? And mobile Web OS never crossed 5,000 apps (over 1400 of those were web, home brew, and beta apps to be generous).
While I think WebOS is great and agree with your comments, to say there is still developer support for the platform is a bid absurd, considering it never had much developer support to begin with.
Next to cheap hardware builds, the lack of apps and developer interest is what killed Palm and then HP with WebOS. "Hmm, this phone is this companies last breath of life before they die and offers almost no content.... this Andoid and IOS stuff has tons of content and support and isn't going anyway, and the phones don't feel like a dollar store kids toy."
Developers might even like the platform, but with 3 other platforms (not you RIM, sorry) to keep them occupied that can make them money, it's no wonder.
And you say you're an IOS developer? So why didn't you develop for WebOS? I'm guessing because you might as well have set your time and money on fire.