The Kindle Fire is on fire

[twilyth]

This isn't going to affect the hardcore Apple fags, but for people who don't just look for the shiny, it's definitely going to cut into apple's sales. Maybe that's why they've been cutting back on orders to their suppliers.

An anal-yst from Ernst and Young though thinks this will have more of an impact on the android market. IDK. At only $200, he might have a point.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...e-fire-tablet/

The tablet wars are finally heating up! Putting to rest the endless speculation, Amazon on Wednesday officially introduced not one, not two, but four new Kindle devices. The company aims to lock up the e-reader market with an entry-level $79 Kindle, and to do what countless tech companies have failed at: building a color tablet device at a reasonable price that can compete with Apple's wildly successful iPad.

The Kindle Fire is that gadget.
It's designed mainly as a media consumption device rather than a touch computer and it undercuts Apple's iPad by hundreds of dollars—$199 compared to $500 for an iPad. It will go on sale November 15.

The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch color display, weighs just 14.6 ounces, and has a color touch screen. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos emphasized the device's ability to play video from Amazon's streaming Prime service, play MP3's from the Amazon store, and load Web pages more quickly by leveraging Amazon's cloud services.

Online storage for movies, books, and music will be free for Kindle Fire owners, extending storage beyond the device's built-in 8GB of memory. Like current Kindle books, movies will also sync between devices wirelessly so that user can pick up watching a movie from where they left off on another device, such a set-top box like the Roku.

Amazon makes several devices that include 3G cellular connections, but the initial version of the Fire will be Wi-Fi only.

[de.das.dude]

Originally Posted by twilyth

This isn't going to affect the hardcore Apple fags, but for people who don't just look for the shiny, it's definitely going to cut into apple's sales. Maybe that's why they've been cutting back on orders to their suppliers.

An anal-yst from Ernst and Young though thinks this will have more of an impact on the android market. IDK. At only $200, he might have a point.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...e-fire-tablet/

i c wat u did dar

[DannibusX]

I love my Kindle and I'm definitely going to check this out. Mind you, it uses a propietary version of Android with no Android Market. It'll have an Amazon Market for apps, but honestly, it's no different than iOS and Apple's Market. Amazon is going to lose so much money on the hardware that I can't really blame them for locking it down.

The OTHER new Kindles look equally as sexy and the base model is only $75! What a fuggin' deal!

[Frick]

Will check it out when/if it comes to europe. Looks like a bit of an upgrade to the Nook Colour, also not avaliable here afaik.

[Wile E]

If they find a way to flash custom roms, it's a great deal. Otherwise, I'd rather buy the Nook Color for the extra $50, and have a 7" tablet I know can use custom Android roms.

[Frick]

Originally Posted by Wile E

If they find a way to flash custom roms, it's a great deal. Otherwise, I'd rather buy the Nook Color for the extra $50, and have a 7" tablet I know can use custom Android roms.

I coldly assume this will happen. I can't imagine it NOT happening.

[Wile E]

Yeah, but it takes quite a while for some locked devices. My Atrix, for example, took months to be unlocked, and that was only thru a leaked Motorola firmware.

[Tigger]

There is a section on Xda developers for the fire, so the proprietary version of android might not be so proprietary.

[WhiteNoise]

I love my ipad but i use my ipad for reading more than anything else. I will buy this Kindle Fire on release day. If it turns out to be awesome I'll just give my wife my ipad. If it turns out to be not as good then my wife with have a new Kindle Fire to replace her standard Kindle. Win Win for all.


I take that back. This would be an awesome gift for my Wife at Xmas. I'll buy one in December for her.

[chauhoang48]

The price is attractive. I want to buy one for my son.

Originally Posted by twilyth

This isn't going to affect the hardcore Apple fags, but for people who don't just look for the shiny, it's definitely going to cut into apple's sales. Maybe that's why they've been cutting back on orders to their suppliers.

An anal-yst from Ernst and Young though thinks this will have more of an impact on the android market. IDK. At only $200, he might have a point.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...e-fire-tablet/kindle fire casekindle fire covers

[ninkobei]

Anyone know how its processor speed/performance compares to the iPad? I need benchmarks!!! Both run dual core processors at similar speeds, so in theory they should be similar.

[theJesus]

Originally Posted by chauhoang48

The price is attractive. I want to buy one for my son.

Welcome to GN.

[JC316]

Maybe I am old school, but I like to read a paper book. I like the smell, I like the feel, I like that there is no glare and most importantly, I like that it has no batteries.

[entropy13]

Originally Posted by JC316

Maybe I am old school, but I like to read a paper book. I like the smell, I like the feel, I like that there is no glare and most importantly, I like that it has no batteries.

You like the smell of books on fire?

[twilyth]

Originally Posted by JC316

Maybe I am old school, but I like to read a paper book. I like the smell, I like the feel, I like that there is no glare and most importantly, I like that it has no batteries.

I read mainly magazines and there really isn't any substitute. I like being able to dog ear pages or tear pages out so I can file them or scan them later. Also, you never get lost reading a physical magazine. You can remember about where in which issue you saw an article and it just generally doesn't feel as overwhelming. Even reading something like New Scientist or SciAm seems manageable, despite the fact that it might take several hours to get through a single issue.

edit: there's also a sense of accomplishment you get. When I'm caught up on my reading and have a stack of magazine a foot tall by my desk, it reminds me that I've actually accomplished something. I could spend the same amount of time online, read just as much and it would feel like I'd wasted my timed.

[ninkobei]

Originally Posted by JC316

Maybe I am old school, but I like to read a paper book. I like the smell, I like the feel, I like that there is no glare and most importantly, I like that it has no batteries.

Well if you want to read then go with the ordinary Kindle. It uses E-Ink which is enormously easier on the eyes and is basically like having a book in your hand. Also multi-month batteries. The Fire is more of an iPad competitor than an E-Reader.

[JC316]

Originally Posted by ninkobei

Well if you want to read then go with the ordinary Kindle. It uses E-Ink which is enormously easier on the eyes and is basically like having a book in your hand. Also multi-month batteries. The Fire is more of an iPad competitor than an E-Reader.

Yes, but if a world wide disaster breaks out, that kindle is going to run out of batteries. My trusty books are still going to work fine.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by JC316

Yes, but if a world wide disaster breaks out, that kindle is going to run out of batteries. My trusty books are still going to work fine.

And take up a shitload more space than ebooks on a reader. I have 4000 ebooks. I couldn't fit that many books in my house.

[JC316]

Originally Posted by Wile E

And take up a shitload more space than ebooks on a reader. I have 4000 ebooks. I couldn't fit that many books in my house.

Somehow, I doubt that you are ever going to read that many books. Kinda like my steam game folder. I buy games because they are cheap, so I have 80 or so and of those 80, I have beaten maybe 25. Some of them, I haven't even played yet.

[Wile E]

Maybe in my entire lifetime. lol. I read about 50 a year. My reading has dropped off in the past couple months tho. Just can't get into it with the situation the way it is in my life right now.

[ninkobei]

Originally Posted by JC316

Yes, but if a world wide disaster breaks out, that kindle is going to run out of batteries. My trusty books are still going to work fine.

So you cant find one of those solar chargers or hand-cranks to plug it in? And you also assume that you will survive the world disaster, which I argue would be very unlikely or else it wouldnt be called a 'world disaster.'

[Brandenburg]

Originally Posted by JC316

Maybe I am old school, but I like to read a paper book. I like the smell, I like the feel, I like that there is no glare and most importantly, I like that it has no batteries.

same here.. i love the feel of paper

[Frick]

Ebooks are a substitute.

I have been thinking about getting a reader though as it would be a lot cheaper to get the books I want that way.

[theJesus]

The ability to "ctrl+f" outweighs all cons for ebooks.

[twilyth]

Originally Posted by theJesus

The ability to "ctrl+f" outweighs all cons for ebooks.

For periodicals, that's why I use ReadItLater (firefox plugin). Every magazine has an online version. Many times you can only see all articles if you subscribe. So if I want to remember a particular article, I go to the web site and add it to my RIL list. Then I can dl every article I've ever marked for off-line reading and searching. It's a very cool plugin.