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We’ve heard plenty of rumors stating that Amazon will release a followup to last year’s Kindle Fire sometime this summer, but the speculation has come with few details of how the online retailer will improve on the previous model. It has long been assumed that the device would receive an upgraded display with a higher screen resolution, and now a source “familiar with Amazon’s plans” is confirming as much. The so-called Amazon Kindle Fire 2 is said to feature a 7-inch display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, the same as that of Google’s upcoming Nexus 7.
Aside from the higher resolution, a new aspect ratio is mentioned. The tablet is also said to be both lighter and thinner than its predecessor. The source also mentions a Q3 launch, which covers any of a number of rumored launch dates. Early rumors claimed Amazon would launch the device on July 31st, while newer reports say an August date is more likely. We could get both, with Amazon unveiling the device in July and shipping to customers the following month.
[via AllThingsD]
This is something you should be reporting on, but does anyone care? Not trying to sound like an ass (although my wife will explain I have a gift), just honestly curious if anyone cares about a new Kindle Fire.
Pretty sure a lot of people care. Not saying this is better than the nexus 7 but Google seemingly has a lot of work to do still.
I have a Prime and just tried to rent a movie from Google play, couldn’t output it over hdmi. Not sure if that is intentional or if it’s a bug but it was a waste of $2. Ended up having to rent it through Amazon and playing it through the browser. That was also quite a painful experience but I found it ironic that I was able to get something from amazon to work where Google play movies came up short. More over I’ve tried to contact Google support twice with no response, spent 20 mins on hold with support before giving up.
Point that I’m making is if this has expandable storage and video out that isn’t crippled, Amazon has another clear winner. Plus, you know it will be hacked to have Google apps on it.
I’d say that people definitely care because it represents a continual effort to develop new products; it’s a push toward bigger (and smaller) and better things.
Not sure if troll, but this is a blog dedicated to Android. Obviously we care, do we want to buy it is a different question.
Not trolling, apparently I didn’t word my question very well. I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in a new Kindle Fire with the release of the Nexus 7. I don’t think they will be able to go any lower than $200, but I’m not sure what features they would include that would make people go for this over the Nexus. The other responses gave me some ideas (streaming video that works, expandable storage). It’s Monday and I’ll go back to sleep now.
It is the number seller for 7″ tablet fool.
The Kindle Fire 2 and the Nexus 7 seem pretty similar. The main difference is that the Nexus 7 has access to the full Google Play store. If amazon can’t overcome this deficit, then there will be almost no reason to buy a Fire 2 over a Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 has access to the Play version of the Kindle app (though there may not be as much in the way of font sizes and some other options . . .) So, the Nexus 7 is a superset of the Kire 2.
On the other hand, if amazon includes MHL/HDMI-out and access to mass storage, then it will be a tougher call. I’m not sure if they could, but if they were to put the full Google Play on the device, with some incentives to continue using the amazon app store, then there would be no reason to buy the crippled Nexus 7 over the Fire 2 — a total reverse from the situation now.
The competition for subsidized, crippled devices seems easy to handicap, but most readers of phandroid, AllThingsD, androidpolice, etc., would do far better to just avoid the crippled tablets altogether. Spend zero to 50 to 100 dollars more and get all the above plus micro-SD with an acer A110 or one of the as yet unannounced ASUS or Samsung Kai-SOC-based tablets. They’ll be out this month or next.
Edit: ASUS and acer have both been pretty good about quickly getting android updates out too.
To call these devices “crippled” because of a lack of sd card is a stretch. I preordered the nexus 7 16gb version despite the lack of microsd mainly for the developer support and guarentee of updated source releases from Google.
I have several TB of data that I have access to in the cloud whenever I have access to WiFi which will be the majority of my use time, and when I don’t I have 16gb of local storage for movies, books, and music.
Now I’m not debating that I was pissed at the lack of micro SD in the N7, and it did force me to pay an extra $50 for the 16gb rather than the 8, but it was hardly enough for me to consider it crippling. I still consider them a great deal.
Is it me or does the phandroid app fail to load the news articles? It seems to happen a few days.
There’s a new Phandroid News app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.phandroid.droidpress
New version tomorrow :-) …much improved from the current version. It was going to be released last week but got delayed… But I’ll be posting an update by mid day.
Nice. ^.^
Not even out yet and they already scramble to keep up. NOICE!
The Kindle Fire 2 & the Nexus 7 are nowhere being similar despite any improved specs because the Nexus 7 has Jelly Bean and was built for Jelly Bean, has home screens and has the FULL Android ecosystem along with access to hundreds of thousands of apps.
tinyurl.com/cozaa3k