Tomas Chlebek Do you still remember the ad where the Kindle stood next to the iPad? Amazon seems to have wised up since then and decided to compete with the best-selling tablet a bit more seriously. Three new devices were introduced on Wednesday, two of which are classic e-book readers, while the third, named Kindle Fire, is a regular tablet.
The most interesting thing about the whole device is its price, which is only 199 dollars, which puts it in the category of nameless "tablets" from East Asia. In all other aspects, however, it seems to be competitive with a device with a significantly higher price. A fairly inconspicuous black rectangle hides a dual-core processor, a fine LCD IPS display (with 169 pixels per inch, iPad 2 has 132) and weighs only 414 grams. What is less pleasing is the display size of 7" (admittedly, an advantage for some), the ability to store less than 8 GB of data on the device and (of course) the battery life reaching about 3/5 compared to the iPad 2.
On the other hand, the storage space can be expanded using micro SD cards, Amazon also offers unlimited cloud space for the content that the user has from it. The performance of the Kindle Fire is a little behind, but the tablet still behaves very briskly. It lacks cameras, bluetooth, microphone and 3G connectivity.
The Kindle Fire hardware is controlled by Android version 2.1, but the user interface has been completely redesigned under the guidance of Amazon. The environment is unobtrusive and simple, leaving the user to focus mainly on the content, which can be watched in parallel on any device connected to Amazon. The company also boasts of the Amazon Silk web browser, but does not use the words "revolutionary" and "cloud". It is connected to powerful servers using the cloud, which provide the browser with much more performance than the tablet is able to offer.
As I said before, the familiar Android is heavily suppressed in the tablet, and the Android Market is also replaced by the Amazon App Store. This is where the initial enthusiasm completely ends, because the Amazon App Store is not available to Czech users, just like most of the other content services offered by Amazon. Kindle Fire will be officially available only to customers from the US, where it will offer them effective access to the entire Amazon portfolio at a very favorable price. It tries to compete with the iPad mainly in terms of user-friendliness, and I think that even if it doesn't surpass the sales of the iPad, it will have a strong position in the market, especially if it expands beyond the US.
source: Cultofmac
I was browsing the internet and came across a site where hopefully they will be offering the Kindle Fire soon ( http://www.kindle-fire.cz/ ) in Czech republic. It is possible to request a notification by e-mail or on FB when it is available. I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully it will be soon.
I just wonder why everyone has to compete with the iPad...
it's not personal. it's business. amazon has infrastructure, experience with kindle. he would be remiss if he didn't at least try.
I think he wisely waited and found out that he won't break through with the iPad clone, like other Android tablets. it must be different, i.e. something like ipad "nano" or "shuffle". tablet on the bone, provides only what people do most often and nothing more. very nice tactic.
if the ipad is trying to be "post pc", i.e. to replace the computer in the household, the kindle complements it. despite the ipad boom, most households have not gotten rid of computers and use the ipad as an accessory. fire goes to the extreme in this, and for many people the price may be the deciding factor, not the number of functions. what makes fire different from xy tablets is what apple also has - a functioning platform and a microworld. cloud, music and book store. plus the reputation of a well-established and "cool" company
What does the Amazon App Store, which does not work in the Czech Republic, mean? Will it ever be available here or is it just passé? And will it actually be a fundamental problem and limit the use of the Kindle Fire?