Just in time for the holiday shopping season, Amazon has dropped a bomb, or “lit a fire” with their new Kindle Fire tablet computer offering priced at under $200… but is it an iPad Killer?
As expected, Amazon announced Wednesday that they would offering a revolutionary, price breaking tablet computer, called the Amazon Kindle Fire. Designed to appeal to the masses in much the same way as the Apple iPad, the Kindle Fire will be available at less than half the price of the Apple iPad.
Question remains : “Is it an iPad Killer?”
As for a consumer tablet, the Kindle Fire seems to have all the bells and whistles that would appeal to the average tablet computer user. The tablet combines the book reading power of Amazon Kindle with extended multi-media capabilities to browse the internet using the Amazon Silk Browser, watch movies, view pictures and listen to music, all from a single handheld device.
Amazon did their homework and this device is well-thought out in the external jack department. The Kindle Fire comes equipped with a USB 2.0 micro-B connector, a 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, and support for public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standard.
The Kindle Fire builds on Amazon’s existing product and services platforms which means Amazon is expecting Kindle Fire users to shell out more money for subscriptions. This is where the $199 entry price gap will be bridged by Amazon.
Some of the Amazon services the the Kindle Fire will be connected are Amazon’s Cloud Services for free cloud storage of Amazon content and Amazon Prime for unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows.
Android purists will more than likely remain unimpressed by the Kindle Fire as the tablet buries the Android operating system by using a heavily modified version that obfuscates the core functionality. Potential buyers expecting a full blown Android tablet experience may be in for a big disappointment. Many won’t even recognize the interface and it will definitely not be a tablet embraced by Android app developers.
Additional privacy concerns have been called into question as everything you do on the Kindle fire will be made part of your permanent Amazon record. However, to Amazon’s credit, you can opt out but many privacy pundits believe that option should be enabled by default.
The Amazon Kindle Fire is sure to be a best seller this holiday season for consumers who are seeking an entertainment device at a low entry price but despite the hype, it doesn’t look like Kindle Fire will threaten the Apple iPad’s dominance this holiday season.
