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On Friday, we told you guys about the press invites Amazon was sending out for their big event being held this Wednesday. Right away we knew what coming — their much hyped Android-based Kindle tablet. While they didn’t exactly reveal anything in the invite, TechCrunch was able to get some of the deets from a tipster who is revealing everything from the design of the tabbie (spoiler: it’s a rectangle) down to the nitty gritty specs of the device. Oh- and let’s not forget the name: Kindle Fire.
Amazon wants to make sure consumers know this isn’t the same ‘ol Kindle e-reader but something completely new and different. The 7-inch device is prepped for a mid-November launch and will feature Amazon’s very own customized version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread and will make the OS look largely unrecognizable as far as traditional Android skins go. Make no mistake, this is all about Amazon and their AppStore. Powering the device is a Texas Instruments dual-core OMAP processor (no word on clock speed but most likely 1GHz). Looks wise, it will feature a 7-inch screen and have a form factor that most closely resembles the BlackBerry Playbook. Clean and simple (and boring?). As far as pricing goes, the device is expected to launch at an affordable $250 and $300.
That’s pretty much all we have for now. More will be revealed come this Wednesday during Amazon’s press conference. The mixture of fun, productivity and pricing seems like this could another hit for Amazon. What do you guys think? Will this be a hit for consumers this holiday season? More importantly, will you buy one?
[Via TechCrunch]
Oh, if only it were launching with Honeycomb or even a promise of ICS.
But, if the price is right, this could be the hit tech item of the holiday season. Heck it could just be the hit “item” of the holiday season.
For me this needed to be around 10 inches. just look at the bezel around the screen. WAY TOO MUCH…
It’s a mockup. We have no idea how much bezel it will really have =p
Darn. Now I can’t make a mocking criticism about someone commenting on bezel size before it happens.
That aside, I prefer a larger bezel. I have big ol grubby man-paws that tend to inconveniently touch screens and screw up taps. Moar bezel pla. Kthxbai.
I would want MOAR bezel but I definitely don’t mind it. Just like you said, I’m always accidentally tapping the screen on my Tab and phone =/
It looks like its a perfect fit with Amazon,and Android. I would buy one.
I agree with Sam on this. It would sell like crazy with hc and ics on the way.
Uh oh it looks like an ipad. Apple will sue them
I am pretty meh on this, unless they show some ungodly cool feature, i can get the features on just about any device. and honestly i wouldn’t even think about getting it till it is rooted and i can get the android market place ( among many other things) on it, since i am sure it won’t come with it. (Just never liked the idea of the separate market places and am perfectly happy with googles).
It’s more about the price with this device. Remember how well the TouchPad did when it dropped to $100 despite the fact it was running an unsupported OS..
I find $250-$300 to be very different then $100 though. I know i am not everyone, but at a 100 bucks i was willing to take the risk on the touchpad that had a lot of potential, but for 300 i am just left cold by this. Not to mention the touchpad at 100 bucks wasn’t really a 100 dollar tablet, it was worth more then that. So you had the SALE!!! mentality helping drive that. These are $300 dollar tablets with most likely just 300 dollar specs. Don’t get me wrong i am sure they will sell well to the right group of people. I just don’t think it will be the same people as the touchpad craze sold too.
It might be worth it when and if CyanogenMod is ported to it.
Sounds a lot like a Nook Color to me. Same specs (maybe a faster processor), same price, same Android-but-not Android. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I think the Nook Color is pretty cool for the money and a nice size. But I don’t see Amazon breaking new ground here. In fact, I think B&N has beaten Amazon to the punch with both of their readers.
One thing they don’t mention which could make a difference is the thickness and weight. The NC is a little heavy to hold for long … I think a thinner/lighter device would be a good advantage.
There had better be some serious differentiation from the Nook. As it stands, the only thing I see better is the Proc.
You had me at dual-core.
Ill keep my original Nook Color with CM7, thanks.
Then again, the NC2 and Galaxy 7.7 are just around the corner as well. :)
With its rumored underwhelming specs, the Fire will be a total bust for anyone looking for more than name recognition in their next tablet…
Make sure the pricing really is around $200 to $300 mark, with a similar pricing level in Euros and Pounds and this will be a massive hit.
The killer feature they could add is whispernet. If they have free unlimited 3g or 4g access to amazon movies, prime movies, music and books like the kindle, they would have a killer content consuming tablet.
Not sure why you people are dissing this before it is even out. Give the little guy a chance. Also it is not an E-reader, it is a complete tablet. If I am not mistaken (I probably am.) isnt the Nook Color just an E-Reader and to open it up, you have to root it? So for people like myself who want Android and something big, but not way big and decently priced, this should be a hit to many people. I will probably pick one up, due to the price and size. Not feeling big tabs such as 10″. I was a hair away from the WebOS tab when on fire sale, but ended up passing it up. This should fit the bill perfect. Still considering a PB, but they are half baked and still dont do certain things that it should out of the box…..