A good kind of burn
The long-awaited Amazon Tablet is here, and it was outed by Bloomberg a good five minutes before the actual event started. At just 7″, the Android-based dual core tablet lacks cameras and 3G connectivity (there’s Wi-fi though).
The Fire resembles RIM’s Playbook (there’s allegedly a reason for that) and is a smart looking piece of hardware. I’m waiting on firmer spec details and a chance to go hands-on, but for the meantime my first thought is that this is absolutely not an iPad killer. The 7″ tablet market segment has been showing itself to be a completely different animal than the 10″ market, with people willing to”settle” more with the 7″ models. The Fire does, however, have a good chance of kicking Samsung’s Tab line to the curb and killing Toshiba’s new 7″ Thrive in the crib. Why do we say that?
Amazon has a major advantage over non-Apple tablet makers in that they already have widely popular content models available for TV, movies, magazines, books, and music. There’s no waiting for third parties to grant rights or hoping Hulu doesn’t block the tablet here. Boot up, and odds are pretty good that the entertainment medium you desire is ready to go.
Then there are apps. Amazon’s Android App store, complete with free app of the day, is already one of the first things an Android user adds, so it’s not like you “lose out” by not having direct access to the Google Market.
Amazon’s “Whispersync” tech is in place with the tablet, meaning you can watch/read on one platform and then move to another (smartTV to tablet to computer etc) without losing your place. It’s an impressive feature that you simply couldn’t have without the existing ecosystem, and Amazon’s long-time embracing of the cloud — something Apple is still getting around to utilizing to the fullest. Heck, Amazon even plans to use their cloud know-how to speed up the browser. They call it “Silk”, but it’s basically a proxy server, optimizing what comes down.
The main sell here, though, is price. At just $199, the Fire is the best priced, major label tablet in it’s class. The TouchPad showed how quickly an unwanted tablet with an uncertain future can sell when the price was right. Considering that people have been willing to pay $250 for the privilege of voiding the warranty on their Nook Color by modding into an actual tablet, I think that $199 for a supported tablet that works out of the box is actually a better deal all-around. There’s no word on if you’ll be able to get past Amazon’s heavy customizations (before the modders get to it anyway), but the average user isn’t going to care.
As a side note, Amazon also introduced three new readers — a $79 Kindle, a $99 Kindle Touch, and a $150 Kindle Touch 3G. All good deals for someone who just wants an e-reader, or in the case of the 3G, a dedicated Wikipedia device too. That’s a good variety of prices and devices. Although, I can’t help but think “For $50 more I could get a tablet.”
Which I suspect is exactly what Amazon wants.
I’m not much in the market for a tablet as of today but I’m for a eReader, and those new Kindle prices definitely look yummy!
As for the tablet itself, it might not be an iPad killer (I don’t see that coming any time soon), but it certainly looks like a sound alternative for those looking for a smaller, cheaper option. I think there’s many people out there who haven’t bought an iPad because it’s price and size is overkill, and this new 7” baby from Amazon might well be the answer to them if it truly comes out of the box as well equipped as it claims. Looks like a future winner to me.
doesn’t that look like a camera in the top right corner?
Although ‘killer’ is a crass term, the iPad is history. iPad is not a business machine, but merely a very fun yet expensive toy. With that, a $300 savings and smaller package for travel, everyone will certainly purchase the Amazon fire. In fact, one could have the basic Kindle for $79 + the Fire and still save $220… iPad is way overpriced with no keyboard…use a Macbook Pro
That’s a good point, in fact, you could buy a Kindle Touch 3G and a Kindle Fire and still save a lot of money. Still, I don’t think the iPad is history, if you’re not interested in the ultimate portability (many people use it just at home), the bigger screen is definitively a plus. Besides, it’s not nearly as powerful in term of storage, processing and graphical capabilities, they’re just aimed at different markets IMHO. Still, some people who might be considering buying an iPad even if its overkill for them, might now be well served with what the Fire offers, thus “stealing” a few sales from Apple.
What it’s definitively true, is that the Fire is the first tablet to really challenge Apple in terms of available digital content, at least in the US (and, perhaps, the UK, sadly, in the rest of Europe Amazon doesn’t offer so much digital content as in the US, in fact, the Fire as of today can only be ordered in the US), I really hope it succeeds there, I’d definitely like to see it available here in the EU. Global presence in terms of digital content is what Amazon lacks when compared to Apple, the Fire could be a great starting point to put a remedy to that.
The Kindle is hardly a business machine either, though. That doesn’t enter the equation here.