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The Amazon Kindle Fire has already grow to be a pill to be reckoned with since its introduction on Sept. 28. In only one month (Sept. 28-Oct. 28) Amazon is rumored to have collected 500,000 pre-orders for the brand new pill, with probably one other million or extra pre-sales made by means of retail companions resembling Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
What makes the Kindle Fire so standard? How does it examine with different tablets available on the market? Here's the low-down.
The 5 Best Features
Price – Price is unduly essentially the most engaging characteristic. At $ 199, the Kindle Fire is lower than half the value of most different tablets; its close to price competitor is the Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble at $ 249.
To obtain this price benefit, Amazon has fairly adopted a loss-leader technique and priced its pill beneath price, anticipating that it's going to create extra gross sales for Amazon down the road. In addition, the system forgoes most of the frills supplied by different tablets. For instance, it has no digicam / video, no GPS, no microphone, and no Bluetooth or 3G wi-fi connectivity. (More on that beneath.)
Portability – The 7-in. touchscreen makes the Kindle Fire extra transportable than bigger tablets resembling Apple's iPad2 and HP's TouchPad. The entire pill is lower than half an inch thick and barely smaller than a mid-sized paperback guide in width and peak. It weighs simply 14.6 oz.
Of course, dimension is a basic Goldilocks dilemma on the subject of tablets. Too large, too small, and good depend upon how you utilize it. If you do principally Web searching, then a 7-in. display screen is normally too small for the standard Web web page. You'd be doing a number of scrolling round. But for those who like to look at streaming video or motion pictures, play video games, hearken to music, or learn an e-book, then a 7-in. display screen is normally good.
The system is clearly designed as a conveyable content-delivery system, significantly for Amazon content material (however not completely). The 7-in., 1024 x 600-pixel show works effectively for streamed or downloaded visible media and deliveries crisp, vibrant, vibrant pictures.
Seamless Access to Amazon Portal – When you order the Kindle Fire from Amazon's on-line retailer, it will likely be delivered with pre-links to all of your favourite Amazon accounts, resembling Apps, Games, Kindle eBooks, Cloud Player and Kindle Prime. The media could be purchased or rented after which streamed or downloaded to the pill from the huge server farms of Amazon Web Services (AWS).
If you've got different gadgets for streaming media, Amazon's Whispersync expertise retains all of them synchronized with the pill. For instance, for those who cease watching a film on the Kindle Fire, and later you need to begin watching it once more in your MacBook, Whispersync saves your house so you'll be able to choose up the place you left off everytime you reconnect to the Web.
Amazon additionally offers 5 GB of free Cloud storage, which helps compensate for the meager 8-GB of onboard storage. (More on that beneath.)
In addition to Amazon's ginormous library of greater than 18 million motion pictures, TV reveals, songs, books, and magazines, the Kindle Fire additionally offers seamless entry to many different sources of content material resembling Netflix, Rhapsody, Pandora, Twitter, Comics by comiXology, Facebook, The Weather Channel and video games from Zynga, EA, Gameloft, PopCap and Rovio.
Simplicity – Amazon has finished an excellent job with the person interface (UI). The residence display screen is intuitively graphical, consisting of two digital bookshelves with media icons arrayed on them. The higher, bigger bookshelf, known as the "carousel," comprises icons which can be stacked chronologically with the last-used merchandise on high. The decrease, smaller shelf is designed to carry your favorites.
In one stroke, Amazon's bookshelf UI pays homage to its bookstore roots whereas additionally demonstrating a aptitude for kind and performance as soon as discovered solely in Apple merchandise.
Innovative 'Silk' Web Browser – Perhaps essentially the most progressive characteristic is the Web browser. Unlike normal browsers, Amazon's "Silk" browser doesn't compose a requested web page regionally. Instead, the high-speed AWS Cloud server caches the web page first, then sends it to the pill in a single stream of code.
The result's a break up browser system that resides each on the pill and within the server cloud. The division of labor allows internet pages to obtain sooner than typical Android gadgets. According to Amazon, the servers additionally adapt to your searching habits, so the method will get sooner over time.
Kindle Fire vs. Other Tablets
Much has been mentioned concerning the Kindle Fire vs. the Apple iPad2. Let's be clear: Apple has nothing to fret about. The two tablets usually are not actually comparable in any significant method. In reality, Amazon has created its personal style of pill, which makes it a bit awkward to attract straight comparisons with different gadgets. Amazon has additionally created its personal closed-platform model of Google's Android OS, so even evaluating the Kindle Fire with different Android tablets is hard. Neverheless, it's helpful to record the specs of different standard tablets simply to see how the Amazon Kindle Fire stacks up in opposition to them.
Kindle Fire:
- Operating System: Android (customized)
- Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4
- RAM: 512 MB
- Storage: Eight GB
- Display: 7-in. IPS LCD
- Resolution: 1024 x 600
- Cameras: None
- Video: None
- Battery Life: Eight hrs. (studying solely)
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n
- 3G / 4G: No
- Bluetooth: No
- GPS: No
- Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 in.
- Weight: 14.6 oz.
- Price: $ 199
Apple iPad2:
- Operating System: iOS 4
- Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core Apple A5
- RAM: 512 MB
- Storage: 16 GB
- Display: 9.7-in. IPS LCD
- Resolution: 1024 x 768
- Cameras: Two
- Video: 720p
- Battery Life: 10 hrs. (searching, video, and so on.)
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n
- 3G / 4G: 3G (+ $ 130)
- Bluetooth: Yes
- GPS: Yes
- Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.Three x 0.35 in.
- Weight: 1.33 lb.
- Price: $ 499
BlackBerry Playbook:
- Operating System: QNX
- Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4430
- RAM: 1 GB
- Storage: 16 GB
- Display: 7-in. IPS LCD
- Resolution: 1024 x 600
- Cameras: Two
- Video: 1080p
- Battery Life: 7 hrs. (enjoying video)
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n
- 3G / 4G: 3G / 4G
- Bluetooth: Yes
- GPS: Yes
- Dimensions: 5.1 x 7.6 x 0.Four in.
- Weight: 0.9 lb.
- Price: $ 499
Nook Tablet:
- Operating System: Android (customized)
- Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4
- RAM: 1 GB
- Storage: 16 GB
- Display: 7-in. IPS LCD
- Resolution: 1024 x 600
- Cameras: None
- Video: None
- Battery Life: 11.5 hrs. (studying solely)
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n
- 3G / 4G: No
- Bluetooth: No
- GPS: No
- Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 0.48 in.
- Weight: 14.1 oz.
- Price: $ 249
HP TouchPad:
- Operating System: WebOS 3.0
- Processor: 1.2-GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon
- RAM: 1 GB
- Storage: 16 GB
- Display: 10.1-in. IPS LCD
- Resolution: 1024 x 768
- Cameras: None
- Video: None
- Battery Life: 9 hrs. (enjoying video)
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n
- 3G / 4G: 3G
- Bluetooth: Yes
- GPS: Yes
- Dimensions: 9.Four x 7.5 0.54 in.
- Weight: 1.6 lb.
- Price: $ 499
The record makes it fairly clear how Amazon can supply its pill for less than $ 199. It's no-frills all the way in which. The pill has 512 MB of RAM, Eight GB of storage reminiscence (no storage, no digicam, no video, no microphone, no 3G / 4G, no Bluetooth, and no GPS. It additionally lacks an expandable reminiscence slot.
If the Amazon Kindle Fire had been aggressive head-to-head with different more-established tablets, it could lose. Instead, Amazon has shrewdly acknowledged that content material is king, so it has created a low-cost, no-frills pill that faucets into what's arguably the most important on-line repository of content material on the planet. Who wants a GPS for that? Do I really want to know my precise coordinates whereas streaming my favourite episode of "Mad Men?"
Of all the opposite tablets within the above record, Barnes & Noble's just lately introduced Nook is the closest competitor. The Nook additionally runs a customized Android OS and faucets into Barnes & Noble's content material. The Nook has twice the RAM (1 GB), twice the storage (16 GB), and a longer-lasting battery. It additionally has an expandable reminiscence slot and a microphone. Based on {hardware} specs alone, the Nook affords extra, however it additionally prices $ 50 extra. Moreover, on the subject of content material Barnes & Noble continues to be principally an internet bookstore. Not even Apple can compete throughout the board with Amazon's huge array of media, merchandise, software program, and so on. When it involves total content material, Amazon is king.
The 3 Worst Features
7-in. Display – Although the 7-in. show is an asset on the subject of portability, it's an annoyance when viewing sure content material. Web searching and journal studying, for instance, are irritating on a 7-in. display screen. Screen dimension, due to this fact, cuts each methods.
There is not any apparent solution to keep away from this "Goldilocks dilemma" for every type of content material and not using a technological breakthrough resembling a versatile, roll-up pill (which might be simply across the nook). For now, the trade-off is between the complete viewing expertise of bigger shows vs. the extra restricted expertise of smaller, cheaper, extra transportable screens.
No Expandable Memory Slot – When designing a bare-bones pill, it is sensible to stint on reminiscence to decrease your price. But how far more, if something, does it price to incorporate an expandable reminiscence slot in your design? Including a reminiscence slot not solely retains your manufacturing prices low, it additionally provides worth to your clients, who now have the choice of including extra reminiscence.
One can solely assume that Amazon desires its customers to retailer their media within the Amazon Cloud. Amazon offers free, limitless cloud storage for all Amazon-acquired content material, however non-Amazon content material over 5 GB prices cash to retailer. When mixed with the onboard storage of Eight GB, the full free storage for generic content material is simply 13 GB. That's nonetheless much less capability than the onboard storage of different tablets, and never very a lot capability for digital media.
Also, the one entry to the Amazon Cloud is thru the Wi-Fi modem. There is not any 3G or 4G connectivity. If you're touring, for instance, and haven't any Wi-Fi connection to the Cloud, the entire content material you need to entry have to be pre-loaded. It could be higher for Amazon and its clients if the Kindle Fire got here with a reminiscence slot.
Mediocre Battery Life – When in comparison with its closest competitor, Barnes & Noble's Nook, the acknowledged battery lifetime of the Kindle Fire comes up quick by about Three half of hours. An 8-hr. battery life for simply studying is nothing to jot down residence about. Beside, most individuals could be doing much more than simply studying.
Unfortunately, the rechargeable battery is sealed inside and cannot be upgraded.
Verdict
Kudos to Amazon for recognizing the worth of a low-cost pill particularly designed for delivering content material. The fantastic thing about this pill is that it performs to Amazon's indeniable power as a content material supplier whereas additionally extending the Kindle legacy. It's ironic to assume again to November of 2007 when the Kindle First Generation was launched for $ 399. It offered out in 5 half of hours. It was the one Kindle to have an expandable reminiscence slot, too. (Hint, trace.)
If pre-sales are any indication, the Kindle Fire goes to be one other raging success. Despite the dismount economic system, or due to it, individuals had been lining as much as purchase this low-cost no-frills pill even earlier than it began to ship.
The Kindle Fire is not any iPad2, however it has the potential to grow to be an essential new media and data platform. Only time will inform if that is simply one other Kindle or one thing else altogether. Who is aware of, the Kindle Fire may do for Amazon what the Walkman did for Sony.
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