On Sept. 6, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stood in front of a packed house and fired his latest shot across the bow of Apple’s battleship. It was approximately one year to the day since Amazon surprised the industry with the announcement of the Kindle Fire, a low-cost tablet that had the benefit of Amazon’s vaunted collection of content and applications. With its $199 price tag, the Kindle Fire was an immediate hit, quickly establishing Amazon as a player in the consumer electronics space.
Fast forward one year, and Amazon is not only introducing a new version of the Kindle Fire, but three other tablets meant to further establish the company as a viable competitor to Apple’s iPad family and Google’s foray into the tablet space, Nexus 7.
The first announcement came in the form of a new Kindle Fire featuring a beefed-up processor but much the same in terms of quality and performance. What was more intriguing was Amazon’s next announcement: a new family of tablets called the Kindle Fire HD. With the creation of the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon is taking the Apple iPad head-on, not only with the introduction of a 7-inch tablet, but also an 8.9-inch model that will rival the 10.1-inch iPad.
The Kindle Fire HD features a 1,920 x 1,200 high-resolution display, dual speakers, a front-facing HD camera, and HDMI out capability. The Kindle Fire HD is also the first tablet to be released featuring MIMO technology. Amazon claims MIMO, with its dual-bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz) makes the tablet 41 percent more efficient at WiFi connectivity.
Amazon didn’t stop there, however. The company rolled out an LTE version of the Kindle Fire HD, a move that was not that surprising considering that many tablets have already made the move to the faster 4G network. The corresponding data plan from AT&T gives consumers 32GB of cloud storage and 250MB of data per month for $50… per year. Such an offering is unprecedented by any network carrier, and it remains to be seen what effect this will have on other manufacturers and the agreements they make with cellular providers in the US.
The LTE model will be released in November. So, for now, we’ll take a closer look inside the Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet.
Click on the image below to start the slideshow.
A look at the minimalist packaging that is the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.
The original Kindle Fire was pretty strong competition for the iPad and this next generation seems even better positioned and appointed to grab its fair share of the burgeoning market for tablet devices. The different price points and low-to-high end feature set give potential customers a nice palette of choices whereas as with any Apple product, there isn't that much variation between models and price points. Of course, there are many fan-boys and girls that will only consider an Apple product in this or any category. Still, it's pretty amazing to see what Amazon has accomplished as a competitor in this space considering that many other hardware-centric vendors have not been able to make a dent.
This is a strong looking competitor. The trick will be in the advertising. At this point, that is what separates the iPad from the rest. Apple has so much cash that they can afford to keep their brand in the public's eye. When the Motorola Xoom came out the reviewers, most of whom were iPad fans, said that it was the first serious competitor. On the other hand, Motorola was unable to mount the requisite campaign to compete. Amazon, on the other hand, has the resources. Let's see if they will put a serious push on.
It isn't that I have something against Apple besides high prices, but I am glad there are some legitimate competitors. I am looking for a system myself, but the $400 barrier is a bit much for my wife. She likes my toys to be much cheaper.
But, I think I need a bit more than the Fire had to offer. I hope they keep improving and give iPad a run for its money.
It is also sad in many ways to hear from the news this morning that they think the new iPhone will be a big boost to the economy- well, maybe China's economy, but that is where many of our politicians get their money, anyway...
I agree this is a very strong competitor, Beth. I've always been baffled at the loyalty of Apple-or-bust afficionados toward that company's high-priced products, especially when low-cost competitors like this make their way to the market.
The Apple products do have the seamless integration of all items in the App store as well as Itunes which give them a leg up on all competitors. People seem to be willing to pay a little more for the convenience of having the same apps loaded automatically on their ITouch, Ipad, and IPhone every time something is installed.
Brand loyalty amazes me at times - there must be some really amazing marketing people in the apple corner. A friend is going to Mexico and is taking online classes so I offered to loan him my Toshiba netbook which is great for internet cafes and is so much more portable than his Mac laptop. He refused and is lugging his big and bulky Mac laptop because in his words, "I am loyal to my brand!" I get that with sports teams but not with utility in technology...
Allan, 4G connectivity with 32 GB storage and 250 MB data per month for $50 is amazing. But what would be the price of Fire HD, if it starts something within $199, it's a revolutionary movement from Amazon, which may force Apple and other competitors to slash their pricing policy and to offer bundle of packages along with their Tablet.
I hear what you're saying, Chuck, but I have to put myself in the Apple fangirl camp. I've been using Apple products since 1999 when I left the corporate world and a dedicated IT group and I feel like they are worth every penny of their higher price tag. They are easy to use, especially for a techno-phobe like me, there are rarely any problems, you don't have to worry about hacking or breaches as much as you do with Windows. To top it off, the designs are elegant--beautiful really. It's akin to driving the nice car. I am not a gadget girl, but even I get excited bringing home my new laptop every four years or a new phone every three years.
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