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Kindle Fire: Amazon Jumps into the Tablet Fray with iPad Competitor

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September 29, 2011
  • Amazon has unveiled the Kindle Fire — a 7-inch touch-screen, color, and Wi-Fi tablet with dual-core processor that will sell for $199. The new tablet was announced by chief exec Jeff Bezos at a press event yesterday in New York City.
  • The Android-based device will offer access to Amazon’s app store, books, streaming movies and TV shows. Moreover, the expectation is that it will increase sales for Amazon’s other merchandise. Fire is available for pre-ordering and will be available November 15.
  • “The online retailer is gambling it can succeed with its tablet where several other giants, including Hewlett-Packard Co. and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., have so far failed,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “Unlike those companies, Amazon already has a vast library of digital content to sell and tens of millions of credit-card numbers.”
  • The article suggests that the Kindle Fire may have an advantage over other tablets that have attempted to take on the iPad: “Amazon’s library of digital content, which its tablet users can access. Customers can pay $79 a year for a service known as Amazon Prime, which gives them access to 11,000 movies and TV shows, as well as unlimited two-day shipping for physical goods purchased on Amazon.com. Amazon also sells single movies, TV shows and music songs, with a catalog that competes with that of Apple’s iTunes store.”
  • Amazon also introduced three new Kindle e-readers — a touch-screen 3G version for $149, a touch-screen Wi-Fi version for $99, and a non-touch-screen model for $79.

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8 Comments

  1. David Wertheimer September 28, 2011 at 09:38am

    Under the heading, “Competition is Good”, I’m excited about this product. It’s a win for the content world to have another serious player that will deliver consumers access to top-quality (paid) content.

  2. David Wertheimer September 28, 2011 at 09:38am

    Under the heading, “Competition is Good”, I’m excited about this product. It’s a win for the content world to have another serious player that will deliver consumers access to top-quality (paid) content.

  3. Bryan Gonzalez September 28, 2011 at 10:51am

    I’m glad to see a tablet device, other than the ipad, backed by a well known content reseller.

  4. Bryan Gonzalez September 28, 2011 at 10:51am

    I’m glad to see a tablet device, other than the ipad, backed by a well known content reseller.

  5. Rob Scott September 29, 2011 at 06:29am

    I wonder if the introduction of a Barnes & Noble tablet (expected next month) will have any impact in this space?

  6. Rob Scott September 29, 2011 at 06:29am

    I wonder if the introduction of a Barnes & Noble tablet (expected next month) will have any impact in this space?

  7. Rob Scott September 29, 2011 at 06:44am

    Dennis Kuba suggests the following related videos:
    Take a look at the Kindle Fire’s browser performance in this Engadget video.
    http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/28/amazon-kindle-fire-impressions/
    Jeff Bezos Demos the Kindle Fire: Jeff does a commendable job of channeling Steve!
    http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/28/video-jeff-bezos-kindle-fire/

  8. Rob Scott September 29, 2011 at 06:44am

    Dennis Kuba suggests the following related videos:
    Take a look at the Kindle Fire’s browser performance in this Engadget video.
    http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/28/amazon-kindle-fire-impressions/
    Jeff Bezos Demos the Kindle Fire: Jeff does a commendable job of channeling Steve!
    http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/28/video-jeff-bezos-kindle-fire/

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