Amazon unveils new hi-def Kindle iPad-killers Amazon has announced a refresh of its entire Kindle line, including updated models of its basic e-readers and fondleslabs, plus a new family of upscale tablets designed for viewing high-definition content. The new devices, which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled on Thursday at a press event in Los Angeles, include a new e-ink …
Is that data plan for real? It's better than most ADSL packages in the UK. It's that kind of deal that is required to make cloud computing work.
Also, if it's possible to make a tablet with decent battery life and a 1920x1200 screen, can I please have a laptop with a 12 or 13" screen with a similar resolution. How hard can it be?
There's a good reason why Amazon have 20% of the US market and it's because the released a tablet for $200. The new models beat the nexus on spec and/or price so the question is just whether you want Google play on your device, or if you're happy with the Amazon app store.
HD model notwithstanding, I suspect that most people who wanted a Kindle Fire in the UK either got one shipped from the US and/or bought a Nexus 7 and installed the Kindle app on it.
Hell, some of them might have bought an iPad and entered Zombie Steve's Walled Garden.
Too little, too late, especially if the rumours of a 3G Nexus 7 and forthcoming 'Nexus 10' have any truth to them.
"Amazon is offering Kindle Fire HD customers 250GB per month of high-speed LTE wireless data"
Nope, sorry to say but you got it wrong El Reg. It's actually 250MB - that means the month's allowance can be gone in about 30 seconds on a decent LTE network.
Plus Amazon is pushing ads to the tablets to get those prices, so those 250MB allowance get eaten even more.
"the month's allowance can be gone in about 30 seconds on a decent LTE network"
Lucky then that there's not going to be a decent LTE network in the UK until about 2017. YMMV if you happen to live in the same parish as one of EE's directors, but for the rest of up plebs LTE remains a pipe dream.
"that is, he said, with the exception of the Kindle Fire, which Bezos said now accounts for 22 per cent of tablet sales in the US."
The first Fire did pretty well because it was new, hyped by a trusted brand name, and done so right before Christmas. A large percentage of the sales were gifts for other people. What he's not telling you is the shockingly high return rate of Kindle Fires right after Christmas once people started using them, and the surprisingly persistent sales of the basic Kindle e-reader (which is why Amazon is refusing to share specific Kindle sales and return numbers publicly, like Apple does). Jeff thinks that if he can just offer all the Kindles cheaply enough, it won't matter that the Fire user experience is weak. Maybe he's right.
Oh, and the new Paperwhite is frontlit, not backlit.
If you are going to come in here and slag anything off, have the decency to do it under your handle.
Let's see, you say Jeff thinks that if something can be sold cheaply enough it will find buyers. Well, that makes YOU the outlier for thinking that something won't sell regardless of how low its price is.
I'm not a fan of the fire, never have been but petty people bug me even more.
"that makes YOU the outlier for thinking that something won't sell regardless of how low its price is."
Sorry, how much of the desktop market does GNU / Linux have again? Last time I checked, Ubuntu, Mint, etc. were all being offered for free.
Clearly price isn't the only factor, as you appear to be implying.
<blockquote>You hate petty people yet complain about anonymous posters. Good one - a handle is much more informative. What losers started these trends of crying about anonymous posts and downvotes anyway?</blockquote>
Wankers the lot of them, I presume that people realise that comments are searchable from outside the hallowed hall of El Reg land and A/C is sometimes the only option to comment without it being held against you in a job interview plod-search scenario.
"Let's see, you say Jeff thinks that if something can be sold cheaply enough it will find buyers. Well, that makes YOU the outlier for thinking that something won't sell regardless of how low its price is."
Right - that's why I said he might be right. Why in the world would anyone take such an extreme stance as "something won't sell regardless of how low its price is."? And I'm not trying to be petty--I'm simply quoting Jeff.
Regarding sales: IHS iSuppli said Kindle Fire market-share fell to 4.2% by Q2-2012, and IDC said Kindle Fire market-share was 5.0% in Q2-2012. Hardly anything like 22%. (www.bgr.com/2012/08/02/ipad-market-share-q2-2012-tablets-idc)
It's good, and at these prices I can have one in addition to my Nexus 7 but I suspect I won't bother. The 7" model is big for a 7" model. HDMI output is going to be a big advantage for some. Where Google sell more or less at the cost, Amazon can clearly afford to sell below cost so however you look at it, the new Kindles are going to be remarkable value for money. These are good times for mobile computing.
it's not lacking the "pure Google" ethos as the Kindles are not, and have never been, "Android" devices.
They are their own devices that use the Amazon ecosystem.
They may use the OS under the hood, but from a punter's POV it's nowhere to be seen.
(And by punter I mean non-geek punter)
IMHO This is worth a read...
http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/4/3291249/the-end-of-android-tablets-google-amazon-kindle-fire-microsoft-windows-8
It does look like Amazon have given up on the "proper" Kindle product line. No larger format device. No colour device. No software upgrades for existing devices. Odd really. Having established e-Readers as a mainstream product they seem content to walk away and let others take over. Meanwhile they are trying to compete with Apple, like they are ever going to have more success than a giant like Samsung.
Got me an iPad, and I'll look seriously at at an iPad Mini (or Mini iPad) when and if it arrives as I find a 10" tab a bit unwieldy on a crowded train.
Competition like this is just what the market needs to keep healthy, with Amazon playing the risky razor-blade ticket of selling below cost in order to get additional revenue with content. Add in the lack of full Android goodness and you have some clear blue water between Amazon's Kindle's and Google's Nexus models.
Should be interesting, and lazy journalists will also make money doing "why the XXX model is better than the YYY model" ad nauseam.
Things are finally looking up in the Tablet/eReader world. Strong competition will help to drive prices down & features up. With luck we'll see the Android Tablet/Smartphone vendors ship the latest version of the OS. Wide choice equals confusion for many consumers. Amazon will sell tons (no Paperwhite in UK ?). Let's see Google respond with a Nexus 7+ shipping with a minimum of 16GB, plus price drop.
Of course, we wait with bated breath for "you know who" to announce shiny new toys in Sept/Oct.
Plenty of bargains for Xmas & New Year but caveat emptor.
Meh as its only 250MD a month data http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/09/06/amazon-kindle-fire-hd-8-9-with-4g-lte-and-50-a-year-data-plan-coming-november-20th-for-499/
But it comes with Lovefilm, does that mean Amazon finally have an app for Lovefilm on Android ?
If so I know a lot of people who will want it on their Nexus etc. Just hope they release it generally or it can be grabbed for side loading, Would make a subscription to Lovefilm worth thinking about.....
There is already an Android Lovefilm app.
However it is limited to just managing your rental list, browsing the library and watching trailers.
I would love for this release to mean they are producing a new version of the app and I can look forward to watching streamed films on my phone some time soon but I'm not holding out too much hope.
Having read every word at Amazon UK there's something for everyone.
Own requirements are for a really fast, colour, eBook & PDF reader, own movies, plus wide range of file formats.
Especially like the Browser "Reader View" & Wi-Fi Dual Channel.
Knocks the Nexus 7 out of the park which up until yesterday was the "bees knees".
Google need to get all their Content to the UK, ASAP.
Samsung line looks very dated (have the original 7" with no updates).
My Motorola Xoom is also dated & slow, even with ICS.
HTC Flyer 2 is doomed before launch.
So it's now between the big boys for the consumer:
Amazon v Apple v Google (with Microsoft in the wings: lacking product & content).
Kindle Fire HD 32GB now on pre-order using Oct's "morale budget".
PC World/Currys Android Tablet "fire sale" post Xmas ?
Bargains for all.
Having read every word at Amazon UK there's something for everyone.
Only if "everyone" doesn't include people who don't want a tablet. I have zero interest in something like the Fire, or any other touchscreen device. (I am slightly interested in the original-style Kindles, with e-ink screens and physical keyboards. Not interested enough to have purchased one, though.)
I just hate ads, full stop. My understanding is that they appear only on the Home Screen or Screensaver.
I guess the jury is out until they ship. If enough customers moan then there may be a change of heart.
Always possible to turn WiFi off, as a last resort. Or just don't buy the product.
I wonder if it'll be allowed to be touted as 4G when it comes to the UK? I thought Apple got into trouble with the new iPad for their claims that it was a 4G device in a country that at the time had no 4G network? Perhaps EE's awarding of the 4G spectrum will be considered enough of an intent to get 4G off the ground in the UK so as to permit Amazon to use the '4G' tag in their marketing and naming language.
Wonder if Apple will re-add the 4G bit to the iPad at that point too.
Apple were given a slap on the wrist for promoting the iPad with Cellular connectivity and stuck the 4G in advertising even though there were never going to be an networks that could support the frequency. Although EE have the 4G green light, their frequency is 1800MHz (not 2100MHz/700MHz that is supported by the iPad with 4G).
Reading the tech-specs of the Fire HD 4G, their device only supports one of the US supported bands (2100Mhz). That's probably why it won't be available in Europe for a long while. If they release it with EE supported bands as an exclusive product to EE themselves, that's probably the only way they could do it in the next 6 months.
... something to replace my battered Kindle DX (10" screen). Still going strong, but after numerous falls on the floor it's starting to look scruffy. Also it's always been slow and I'd like to be able to upgrade it - retaining e-ink screen and ability read PDFs on larger screen.
I pre-ordered the Kindle FIre HD earlier, before I saw this article. I went for the 200 quid 32GB version.
Now I've seen the 8.9" version with larger CPU, better resolution and such like, I'm gonna go for one of those. I travel a lot so it's not that difficult for me to grab a US version.
Most 4G dongles seem to fall back to 3G networks just fine. Does anyone know if that be the same for the 4G kindle?
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Having had a Fire since it came out, and a nexus since it came out, there is no comparison.
And HW wise the new Fire HD looks a step up from the old, but still no GPS or gyros and in a 7" factor I use them all the time - it makes a great satnav for example having just used it on a touring trip around scotland.
Hell the old fire didn't even have a mic in it!
But the main thing that made the old fire an absolute DOG was the amazon version of android - it was absolutely hellish. It looks like it still has a version of it which makes it completely unusable imho.
Quite apart form the fact the fire HD is the size of a whale.
stu
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