Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet - 7" Full Color Android Tablet - Polidicks

[img]http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/otter/dp/KO-aag-spin._V166735073_.jpg[/img] [img]http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/otter/dp/KO-aag-apps._V166939197_.jpg[/img] Source: [url]http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Multi-touch-Display-Wi-Fi/dp/B0051VVOB2[/url] [quote] Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), the world’s largest online retailer, unveiled its Kindle Fire tablet computer, taking aim at Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s bestselling iPad with a device that’s smaller and less than half the price. The Kindle Fire will have a 7-inch display and sell for $199, compared with $499 for Apple’s cheapest iPad, Amazon executives said in interviews with Bloomberg Businessweek. The device, a souped-up version of the Kindle electronic-book reader, will run on Google Inc.’s Android software, the Seattle- based company said. Amazon also introduced a touch-screen version of its e-reader, to be called Kindle Touch. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos is betting he can harness Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce to pose a real challenge to Apple’s iPad, after tablets from rivals such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Research In Motion Ltd. have fallen short. Sales of Amazon’s electronic books, movies and music on the device may help make up for the narrower profit margins that are likely to result from the low price, said Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners Corp. in New York. “Amazon is really the only other guy, the only other potential tablet player, that has a similar offering to what Apple has,” Blair said in an interview last week. “If you look across their product offerings, they have content that none of the other tablet makers currently have because they have content on the media side.” IPad Appeal While the Kindle Fire can vie with the iPad in access to media content, it lacks a camera, microphone or a connection to a 3G wireless network. It may not appeal to consumers who are drawn to the iPad’s larger screen and willing to pay a premium for added features such as video chat. “The Amazon tablet is not necessarily a direct competitor to the iPad,” said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in San Francisco, in a telephone interview. Another version of the Kindle may debut next year with more features to directly compete with Apple, he said. Right now, “the price point is the headline rather than the functionality.” Starting today, customers can order the new tablet, as well as a basic version of the Kindle e-reader for $79 and two new touch-screen readers, one for $99 and another for $149 that has 3G wireless access. The lowest-priced Kindle can ship today, the tablet will go out Nov. 15, and touch-screen readers will be released Nov. 21, Amazon said. Shares Rise Amazon’s shares rose $9.52, or 4.3 percent, to $233.73 at 12:06 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock had increased 25 percent this year before today. Apple rose $2.25 to $401.51. Shares of Barnes & Noble Inc., maker of the Nook e-reader, fell $1.16, or 8.8 percent, to $12.05, on the New York Stock Exchange. The Kindle Fire offers Wi-Fi connectivity and comes with a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, the company’s $79-a-year membership service that includes streaming video and free two- day shipping. A web browser called Amazon Silk will use so- called cloud computing to speed access to content over the Internet. The tablet will be available on Amazon’s website and at retailers that already sell the Kindle e-readers. Amazon has painted over the rough surfaces of Google’s Android operating system with a fresh and easy-to-use interface and tied the device closely to its own large and growing content library of movies, magazines and music. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Forrester Research Inc. predicts the tablet market will grow 51 percent a year through 2015. Sales Potential While the new Kindle will add to Amazon’s sales, estimated by analysts to rise 32 percent to $64.6 billion in 2012, the company may disappoint if the tablet doesn’t bring in revenue quickly, Steve Weinstein, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Oregon, said in a note this week. Consumer reaction to the device will play a “critical” role in the company’s growth, he said. Analysts on average predict Amazon’s gross margin, a measure of profitability, will fall to 22.17 percent in 2012 from 22.35 percent last year, according to a Bloomberg survey. Gross margin is the percentage of sales left after subtracting production costs. “Without success in tablets, investor growth expectations for 2012 could prove too aggressive,” Weinstein said Sept. 26. Apple started selling the original iPad in April 2010, and introduced the iPad 2 in March of this year. The touch-screen device, which has a 9.7-inch diagonal display, is already Apple’s biggest source of revenue after the iPhone. The company shipped 9.25 million iPads in the quarter that ended June 25. Mobile Applications Apple also leads the market for mobile applications, with more than 425,000. Over 100,000 of those apps are custom- designed for the iPad. Two other tablets have failed to make a dent in Apple’s dominance so far. Research In Motion Ltd.’s PlayBook, introduced in the second quarter, shipped 200,000 units, less than half of what analysts predicted. Analysts had already cut estimates for full-year PlayBook shipments to an average of 2.2 million, according to a Bloomberg survey. Hewlett-Packard Co., meanwhile, discontinued its TouchPad in August -- only about a month after its debut. And Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the world’s largest software maker, may not have its Windows operating system for tablets ready until next year. The iPad accounted for 68 percent of all tablets shipped worldwide in the second quarter, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based research firm IDC. Other Android-based tablets, including models from Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., accounted for 27 percent. While Amazon has the clout and the content to take on Apple, the company will have to go beyond the tablet released today to be a serious competitor, Blair said. “I don’t actually believe 7-inch is going to be a viable tablet for anybody,” he said. “It’s a ‘tweener. A real tablet offering has got to be a 10-inch screen.” [/quote] Source: [URL]http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-28/amazon-unveils-199-kindle-fire-tablet.html[/URL]

[quote] “I don’t actually believe 7-inch is going to be a viable tablet for anybody,” he said. “It’s a ‘tweener. A real tablet offering has got to be a 10-inch screen.”[/quote] Fuck that, I can easily see someone using a 7" screen. Someone's Apple biased.

apple is going to sue them for something, I fucking know it. I might pick one of these up, actually. I really want an Android tablet... No camera/usb? Nope.

Amazon has the right idea with the price. No one wants to spend 500 bucks on a tablet unless it's the iPad. Face it, Apple is brand recognition, and they actually have a solid device. What competitors need to realize is that no one is going to spend 800 bucks on a comparable Motorola tablet. Hopefully this thing takes-off.

$199, nice and compact, and essentially as good if not better than the cheapest iPad? Yes please!

The "Kindle Touch"? Isn't that just asking for trouble from apple? Other than that, this sounds like quite a neat little device

[QUOTE=Javascript;32522911]apple is going to sue them for something, I fucking know it.[/QUOTE] They haven't sued them for the Kindle, [b][i]yet[/i][/b]. So I doubt they'll give them any trouble.

Holy shit, IPS, likely Tegra 2 processor, not shitty touchscreen and polished UI for $199?

Are there pictures? I really want to see what this thing looks like.

[QUOTE=Master Kief-117;32523046]Are there pictures? I really want to see what this thing looks like.[/QUOTE] Pictures added to OP.

[url]http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-Multi-touch-Display-Wi-Fi/dp/B0051VVOB2[/url]

Good thing this came out right after I bought my mom her Kindle.

I seem to have came.

U.S only? What. Anyone want to ship one over?

[QUOTE=Pr0vologne;32523092]Good thing this came out right after I bought my mom her Kindle.[/QUOTE] It won't be sold for 2 months though.

Pre-ordered one. [editline]28th September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Flon22;32523139]U.S only? What. Anyone want to ship one over?[/QUOTE] Yes, because random people would spend $200 on you.

How much will this be in the UK? this is the only tablet that has me interested.

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;32522934]Amazon has the right idea with the price. No one wants to spend 500 bucks on a tablet unless it's the iPad. Face it, Apple is brand recognition, and they actually have a solid device. What competitors need to realize is that no one is going to spend 800 bucks on a comparable Motorola tablet. [/QUOTE] People said the same thing when the first Android smartphones launched, and guess what happened? Android now has a bigger marketshare than iOS. Give it time.

It looks like a pumped up smart phone.

[QUOTE=Van-man;32523300]People said the same thing when the first Android smartphones launched, and guess what happened? Android now has a bigger marketshare than iOS. Give it time.[/QUOTE] Because Android phones are offered in so many shapes and sizes, and at many different price-points and all carriers. But the fact still remains, why the hell would I (as an average consumer), want to purchase an android tablet from some regular brand for the same price as [I]the[/I] iPad? I wouldn't. It's what tablet makers have fucked up with still. The market still hasn't adopted Android tablets, which means they need to offer something over the iPad that the average consumer wants. Hint: it's price.

I do not like tablets at all. If the battery life was anywhere near kindles and the screens were as easy on the eyes I would like them a lot more I think.

While the Fire sounds decent I'm more interested in the Kindle 4. [editline]28th September 2011[/editline] Never mind, the Kindle 4 (NOT THE KINDLE TOUCH) isn't really an improvement over the Kindle 3, they just took out the keyboard and made it slightly smaller overall, gave it only 2 GB of memory (about half of the Kindle 3), less battery life, and a smaller screen. [img]http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/tequila/dp/KT-slate-02-lg._V166940136_.jpg[/img]

The screen is IPS, that has me interested because it won't be a strain on the eyes for reading like standard LCD's. [editline]28th September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Javascript;32522911]apple is going to sue them for something, I fucking know it. I might pick one of these up, actually. I really want an Android tablet... No camera/usb? Nope.[/QUOTE] It has USB 2.0.

[QUOTE=Edthefirst;32522934]Amazon has the right idea with the price. No one wants to spend 500 bucks on a tablet unless it's the iPad. Face it, Apple is brand recognition, and they actually have a solid device. What competitors need to realize is that no one is going to spend 800 bucks on a comparable Motorola tablet. Hopefully this thing takes-off.[/QUOTE] Also, unlike what Jobs thinks, most people don't want to replace their PC's with a tablet, so an ipad 2 is an overpriced device to them, even if the features and hardware backs up the price, people want tablets for more simple tasks and not a full on desktop or laptop replacement.

I called my original kindle "Kindle fire"

[QUOTE=Pr0vologne;32523092]Good thing this came out right after I bought my mom her Kindle.[/QUOTE] It's been rumored for over a month by now.

I'd be more interested in the Kindle if the ebooks didn't cost just as much as printed versions, and in some cases even more.

Apple vs Amazon I fucking smell it, it's just around the damn corner! I never really liked the original Kindle. eBooks seem like such an...unneccessary thing. It'd be awesome if you could subscribe to magazines, automatically download new issues and keep an archive of all issues that were bought so you can always access your favourite ones.

Looks rather nice actually. Wouldn't really use it to play games on it tho.

[QUOTE=CakeMaster7;32524732]While the Fire sounds decent I'm more interested in the Kindle 4. [editline]28th September 2011[/editline] Never mind, the Kindle 4 (NOT THE KINDLE TOUCH) isn't really an improvement over the Kindle 3, they just took out the keyboard and made it slightly smaller overall, gave it only 2 GB of memory (about half of the Kindle 3), less battery life, and a smaller screen. [img]http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/kindle/tequila/dp/KT-slate-02-lg._V166940136_.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] You have to try really damn hard to fill a Kindle with 2GB worth of books! [editline]28th September 2011[/editline] Also, the Kindle Fire only has 8GB, so it is inferior in that aspect