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Amazon Kindle Fire Surfaces
MrCrassic was the first of several submitters to write in about the Kindle Fire: "It looks like another competitor has joined the fight for tablet market share. Amazon released specs and pics of its newest offering, the Kindle Fire, which is bound to turn heads at $199. However, I wouldn't sell your Nook Color or iPad just yet. From the article: 'The Kindle Fire doesn't have an embedded camera or a microphone. The device offers Wi-Fi connectivity, though not 3G access, 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.'"
Don't forget Kindle touch wifi for $99, about $30 less than nook touch wifi.
Einmal ist Keinmal. What happens but once might as well not have happened at all.
I'm already sick of hearing people bitch about how it doesn't have a camera and how you can't make Skype calls with it. It's not intended to do that. Amazon is selling it purely as a media consumption device to get you to use all their media services (video, audio, books, etc).
Links:
Kindle Fire porn via SlashGear: http://androidcommunity.com/amazon-kindle-fire-hands-on-gallery-20110928/
Enjoy!
If you buy one of everything (wifi models only) that Amazon announced today, it is cheaper than the low end iPad.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
I'm really curious why nobody has brought another 9" tablet to the market. AFAIK, Apple is the only name-brand manufacturer to bring out a 9" 1024x768 tablet. Everyone else is pushing 5/6/7" tablets. Surely screen size is something most people consider when comparison shopping? It's not like screens are terribly expensive any more. I read somewhere that the iPad screen is less than $50 in bulk.
moox. for a new generation.
Can I root it and put the Android App store on it? I know not yet but hopefully someday.
The Silk browser sounds very Opera like from the mobile days.
OMAP 4! That is a pretty hot CPU folks.
Lack of a front facing camera is a negative. Come on this is pure skype candy folks.
My wife as a rooted viewsonic Gtab and it is really nice but it is too big for for an ereader.
The iPad2 is too pricey and too big.
Even if it isn't hackable at $199 I may still get it just because it would be so handy.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Here's the link to the product page on Amazon if anyone is interested.
Perhaps they're bitching that it's yet another device that can act as a roadblock for people who want to climb from consumption to creation. Some people will end up owning only devices for consumption; if they want to create, they'll have to either pony up for something else or just do without creating. And if the market for devices capable of creation shrinks, prices for such devices will likely rise due to loss of economies of scale.
You can get 30 days of Prime free without buying anything anyway. Note the "Start Your One Month Free Trial" button on the right side of the page.
One interesting differentiator with respect to other Android devices is the Silk browser. I'd like to get one in my hands to verify that allegedly reduced page loading time. That's what's killing me when I use my mobile devices.
To do list for Windows
This device lacks a camera and a microphone. As far as I know it still has access to an app store, so if you want to create on it you can use any app that allows you to do so (that doesn't require a camera or a microphone). If you desperately want to create photo based or audio based content there are plenty of cheap options to do so.
Jherico
What can the average user can do to ensure his security? "Nothing, you're screwed"
No Skype, Fring or anything (no mic, no camera). No Google apps, so no navigation, no email (without third-party apps) and calendaring. No mobile internet at all.
Surely not a bad media-tablet and surely cheap, but a tablet computer this is not.
Looks to me as if it would require some major tinkering to turn it into something fun and useful and you'll still have no 3G, no camera and no microphone.
I mean really. Who's buying the iPad for the high quality camera and microphone.
And for the extra $300, you can buy a digital tape recorder and a digital camera, and have enough left over for dinner. I'm sure there's a site that can help you find those (except for dinner).
=================
Unix is very user friendly, it's just picky about who its friends are.
No, it's a full blown android tablet. Without a camera or mike, which I myself never use anyway on a tablet.
It could run on small insects fed on sugar drops and users wouldn't care - so touting it as an Android-powered device seems to be something Amazon is trying to avoid
Average user off the street, like my android phone using sister in law:
Android = expensive little smart phone = have to sign a two year contract = minimum extra $100/month bill to own a "Android Kindle Amazon thing", right?
Two year contract at over $100 plus a couple hundred to buy means its gonna cost around $2000 to have one of these things before loading anything on to it; is it worth two grand?
Also Android = smart phone = battery only lasts a couple hours = gotta charge it every day. Its enough of a PITA to charge my phone every day, now I gotta charge my e-reader every day too?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Exactly the same aside from the screen, processor, OS, UI, ability to browse the web, play video, run games and Android apps... Jackass.
Perhaps they're bitching that it's yet another device that can act as a roadblock for people who want to climb from consumption to creation.
I have a hack saw and its getting in my way from cutting through a 6x6 </sarcasm>.
People aspiring to climb from consumption to creation should be savvy enough to get equipment that enables them to do so instead of getting equipment such as this which is not intended for that purpose. Fascinating idea, I know!
There are some 10" tablets like the Xoom but haven't sold well. I suspect the problem with the screen isn't demand but supply. There are rumors Apple cornered the market by being first and locking down their supply. Every manufacturer after had to either spend more money or get less supply. Or make 7" tablets until more manufacturers were ready.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Ok, I understand the price point is very good, but this device doesn't even compete with the iPad 1. It basically just competes against the Kindle and the color Nook.
* No video output that I can see (vs the ipad's composite output)
* No TV box streaming solution (vs airplay)
* Is there even any blue tooth for wireless audio?
* No 3G, it is wifi only
* Only 8G of storage (vs max of 64G for iPad 1/2)
* GPS? Accelerometers? Compass? Microphone?
* Short battery life when wifi is enabled. 8 hours is only with wifi turned off. The kindle is made for off-line reading and is great with wifi turned off, but this device is worthless with wifi turned off.
Let alone compete with the iPad 2 with it's front and rear facing cameras for video calls. And both the iPad 1 and 2 have cheap ($25/mo for 2G) 3G data plans for when you aren't in wifi range. I usually don't use more than ~200MB outside of wifi range but it's damned convenient. Even with just my android phone I run Pandora and Google maps in the car all the time, and on longer trips with passengers having the iPad with google maps and internet surfing is great fun.
I use my iPad every day and I guarantee you that while the video might be nice on these devices, you really really want video output solution like Apple's AirPlay and Apple's composite outputs when you want to sit down and stream a show from your pad to your home TV.
Amazon has a ways to go.
-Matt
On second thought, the Prime that comes with this device is not so much about people experiencing shipping aspects, as it is enjoying the free video Prime offers. In that sense 30 days seems like a long enough period of time to decide if you want to pay for Prime to continue getting some free video content.
And more than 30 days might lead you to run up against the limited video content of Prime...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I've a Nook Color and considering its behavior after rooting, I have to think that B&N went out of their way to make their software jive well with rooting. I rooted mine as soon as I could and it's worked well but for a few app compatibility snags with random crap from the Android market....whaddyagonnado?
If Amazon has half a brain they'll play nice with rooting. I'm sure they'll lock down their own apps and cloud access, but why not let their apps run on someone else's Android build? They have to know that as soon as this thing has an easy root, plenty of folks will buy Kindle Fires so they can have a brilliant Android tablet for $200...and they'll still buy Amazon products, because it'll be easy as all get out....just like rooting the Nook Color...unless they're stupid, which doesn't fit their track record.
Those devices were far overpriced. They tried to compete with the iPad at the iPad's price point with an inferior device. To the average consumer, they look at these smaller devices they've never heard of for the same price as an iPad and they say, "Well for that price, why wouldn't I just get an iPad?"
This actually fits the bill. It is a reasonable competitor for the way most people use the iPad. Does it have limitations, sure. But it's $200. Most people to this point have thought that you had to spend $500 and up for one of these little tablet internet surfing thingys. For that price, they could have a nice full-featured laptop (which they probably already have).
This gives you the core tablet computing functions at an affordable price. I know /. neckbeards will complain that this is not a full replacement for every electronic device in the world, but for most people, this works.
Show me a better value 9.7" tablet than the iPad at $499 please.
http://www.amazon.com/ARCHOS-101-Internet-Tablet-8GB/dp/B00422W5QO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317228887&sr=8-1
And Archos 10.1 tablet for $259. Now it's just a matter of nitpicking if it's a better value or not. I can do all the things most people with an iPad do and I could almost buy 2 of them for the cost of 1 iPad.
It brings us all sorts of great stuff and it keeps getting cheaper.
In other news health "insurance" has gone up 9% in the past year.
That's because the web tablet market is heavily regulated, ensuring low prices, and the insurance industry isn't.
Sheesh, where did you go to school?
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Get the basics right (UI, wifi, app store, media store) first.
Next year it gets the camera/microphone, tempting people to upgrade.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Sounds like same specs as the B&N nook color. The stock price on that is $250....but can be found on craigslist or ebay for like $150. Easy to root and put cyanogen mod7 on it, and have a full blown Android tablet.
I'm gonna be VERY interested to see this amazon kindle get rooted, how long it will take and a comparison.
I'm also wondering, if on future Amazon kindle releases, if they'll offer the lifetime 3G on the unit...and also if 3G and wireless on a larger unit about the size of an iPad.
It would be sweet to get one of those with lifetime 3G...and then root it, and have a lifetime connected android tablet, at a nice price!!!
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
That's because if a solution handles more edge cases, it probably handles the common case more robustly as well.
That is the classic definition of "feature creep", and usually means it is too complex for most people to use or simply does nothing well.
Handling more edge cases means you spent less time worrying about core functionality.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Desktops and Laptops are for creating.
And so are tablets. Get used to it; this is the very definition of "post pc" and is already upon us to some degree. I already prefer drawing on a tablet over a computer.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Am I the only one that half-wishes the Kindle Fire has overheating problems?
Complaining about the apps and Android version preinstalled on an Android device is like complaining that a PC comes with Internet Explorer. Just load something else.
I fully expect a Cyanogenmod port for this within the coming weeks. I'll buy one as soon as a stable release is out.
From the product page:
"System Requirements None, because it's wireless and doesn't require a computer."
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
What about handling secure (https) connections?
We will establish a secure connection from the cloud to the site owner on your behalf for page requests of sites using SSL (e.g. https://siteaddress.com/ ).
So essentially, they become the man-in-the-middle so they can better cache your HTTPS content? And their browser is programmed to show this is acceptable/secure... What kind of privacy implications does this introduce? Even if their privacy policy says they won't use the data maliciously, cloud computing isn't a bullet-proof system (i.e., leaks, hacking incidents, etc.). Call me paranoid, but if I read this right, this sounds like a frightening idea.
I get that a lot of people are leery about the terms you described, and I'm not saying they don't have a potentially valid point. But look at it from Amazon's perspective for a second.
They get a flat 30% of whatever the app sells for, down to roughly 30% (actually 28.57%) of the list price. Between that and 20% of list price, their take shrinks to 0 while yours remains constant at 20%, and after that they pay YOU to give your app away.
If they discount the price, they make less money too. So in the ideal situation, they would only decrease the price when they predict that they can make up the loss in increased volume and actually come out ahead. In theory, their incentive is to maximize profits on their 30% cut, which would also maximize profits on the developer's 70%.
Where this breaks down is if they decide that your app is the perfect loss leader, and they discount it steeply without expecting returns, in order to bring more people to the store. Presumably anything popular enough to have an impact as a loss leader would still see relatively elevated sales, although possibly not enough to make up the difference depending on what price is chosen. At the same time, no single app can be the loss leader for the entire store. More likely, the worst case is you'd be a loss leader along with 30 or 50 other apps, and you'd each gain some elevated sales from people brought to the platform by other loss leaders.
I guess my point is, pricing is hard. Yes, giving up control to the marketplace algorithms is scary, but the plus side is, they have a lot of investment in helping you make money. In most cases, it seems you're likely to end up ahead of where you'd be if you tried to price it yourself. Sure, it'd be nice if they gave you access to tools to help you run your own pricing experiments, but this seems like the next best thing. And so far it hasn't been enough of a hurdle to prevent a lot of apps from cross-listing.
And by the way, the alternative is the Google Marketplace, which distributes 30% to the wireless carriers, and has to play nice because of their position with the software... so they happily ban tethering apps and other things the carriers don't like. On the other hand, EasyTether has been available on the Amazon App Store without interruption.
Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
The Urban Hippie