Kindle Fire Vs Other Tablets

==== ====For Kindle Fire and Kindle Accessories Click Herehttp://astore.amazon.com/newelectronic2012-20==== ====The Amazon Kindle Fire has already become a tablet to be reckoned with since its introduction onSept. 28. In just one month (Sept. 28-Oct. 28) Amazon is rumored to have collected 500,000 pre-orders for the new tablet, with possibly another million or more pre-sales made through retailpartners such as Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.What makes the Kindle Fire so popular? How does it compare with other tablets on the market?Heres the low-down.The 5 Best FeaturesPrice-- Price is undoubtedly the most attractive feature. At $199, the Kindle Fire is less than halfthe price of most other tablets; its nearest cost competitor is the Nook Tablet from Barnes & Nobleat $249.To achieve this cost advantage, Amazon has likely adopted a loss-leader strategy and priced itstablet below cost, anticipating that it will create more sales for Amazon down the line. In addition,the device forgoes many of the frills offered by other tablets. For example, it has no camera/video,no GPS, no microphone, and no Bluetooth or 3G wireless connectivity. (More on that below.)Portability -- The 7-in. touchscreen makes the Kindle Fire more portable than larger tablets suchas Apples iPad2 and HPs TouchPad. The whole tablet is less than half an inch thick and slightlysmaller than a mid-sized paperback book in width and height. It weighs just 14.6 oz.Of course, size is a classic Goldilocks dilemma when it comes to tablets. Too big, too small, andjust right depend on how you use it. If you do mostly Web browsing, then a 7-in. screen is usuallytoo small for the typical Web page. Youd be doing a lot of scrolling around. But if you like to watchstreaming video or movies, play games, listen to music, or read an e-book, then a 7-in. screen isusually just right.The device is clearly designed as a portable content-delivery device, particularly for Amazoncontent (but not exclusively). The 7-in., 1024 x 600-pixel display works well for streamed ordownloaded visual media and delivers crisp, bright, vibrant images.Seamless Access to Amazon Portal -- When you order the Kindle Fire from Amazons online store,it will be delivered with pre-links to all your favorite Amazon accounts, such as Apps, Games,Kindle eBooks, Cloud Player and Kindle Prime. The media can be bought or rented and thenstreamed or downloaded to the tablet from the vast server farms of Amazon Web Services (AWS).If you have other devices for streaming media, Amazons Whispersync technology keeps them all

synchronized with the tablet. For example, if you stop watching a movie on the Kindle Fire, andlater you want to start watching it again on your MacBook, Whispersync saves your place so youcan pick up where you left off whenever you reconnect to the Web.Amazon also provides 5 GB of free Cloud storage, which helps compensate for the meager 8-GBof onboard storage. (More on that below.)In addition to Amazons ginormous library of more than 18 million movies, TV shows, songs,books, and magazines, the Kindle Fire also provides seamless access to many other sources ofcontent such as Netflix, Rhapsody, Pandora, Twitter, Comics by comiXology, Facebook, TheWeather Channel and games from Zynga, EA, Gameloft, PopCap and Rovio.Simplicity -- Amazon has done a great job with the user interface (UI). The home screen isintuitively graphical, consisting of two virtual bookshelves with media icons arrayed on them. Theupper, larger bookshelf, called the "carousel," contains icons that are stacked chronologically withthe last-used item on top. The lower, smaller shelf is designed to hold your favorites.In one stroke, Amazons bookshelf UI pays homage to its bookstore roots while alsodemonstrating a flair for form and function once found only in Apple products.Innovative Silk Web Browser-- Perhaps the most innovative feature is the Web browser. Unlikestandard browsers, Amazons "Silk" browser does not compose a requested page locally. Instead,the high-speed AWS Cloud server caches the page first, then sends it to the tablet in one streamof code.The result is a split browser system that resides both on the tablet and in the server cloud. Thedivision of labor enables web pages to download faster than with typical Android devices.According to Amazon, the servers also adapt to your browsing habits, so the process gets fasterover time.Kindle Fire vs. Other TabletsMuch has been said about the Kindle Fire vs. the Apple iPad2. Lets be clear: Apple has nothing toworry about. The two tablets are not really comparable in any meaningful way. In fact, Amazonhas created its own genre of tablet, which makes it a little awkward to draw straight comparisonswith other devices. Amazon has also created its own closed-platform version of Googles AndroidOS, so even comparing the Kindle Fire with other Android tablets is tricky. Nevertheless, it isuseful to list the specs of other popular tablets just to see how the Amazon Kindle Fire stacks upagainst them.Kindle Fire:Operating System: Android (custom)Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4RAM: 512 MBStorage: 8 GBDisplay: 7-in. IPS LCDResolution: 1024 x 600

Cameras: NoneVideo: NoneBattery Life: 8 hrs. (reading only)WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n3G/4G: NoBluetooth: NoGPS: NoDimensions: 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 in.Weight: 14.6 oz.Price: $199Apple iPad2:Operating System: iOS 4Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core Apple A5RAM: 512 MBStorage: 16 GBDisplay: 9.7-in. IPS LCDResolution: 1024 x 768Cameras: TwoVideo: 720pBattery Life: 10 hrs. (browsing, video, etc.)WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n3G/4G: 3G (+$130)Bluetooth: YesGPS: YesDimensions: 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.35 in.Weight: 1.33 lb.Price: $499BlackBerry Playbook:Operating System: QNXProcessor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4430RAM: 1 GBStorage: 16 GBDisplay: 7-in. IPS LCDResolution: 1024 x 600Cameras: TwoVideo: 1080pBattery Life: 7 hrs. (playing video)WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n3G/4G: 3G/4GBluetooth: YesGPS: YesDimensions: 5.1 x 7.6 x 0.4 in.

Weight: 0.9 lb.Price: $499Nook Tablet:Operating System: Android (custom)Processor: 1-GHz Dual-Core TI OMAP 4RAM: 1 GBStorage: 16 GBDisplay: 7-in. IPS LCDResolution: 1024 x 600Cameras: NoneVideo: NoneBattery Life: 11.5 hrs. (reading only)WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n3G/4G: NoBluetooth: NoGPS: NoDimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 0.48 in.Weight: 14.1 oz.Price: $249HP TouchPad:Operating System: WebOS 3.0Processor: 1.2-GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm SnapdragonRAM: 1 GBStorage: 16 GBDisplay: 10.1-in. IPS LCDResolution: 1024 x 768Cameras: NoneVideo: NoneBattery Life: 9 hrs. (playing video)WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n3G/4G: 3GBluetooth: YesGPS: YesDimensions: 9.4 x 7.5 0.54 in.Weight: 1.6 lb.Price: $499The list makes it pretty clear how Amazon can offer its tablet for only $199. Its no-frills all the way.The tablet has 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of storage memory (half the storage of other devices), nocamera, no video, no microphone, no 3G/4G, no Bluetooth, and no GPS. It also lacks anexpandable memory slot.

If the Amazon Kindle Fire were competing head-to-head with other more-established tablets, itwould lose. Instead, Amazon has shrewdly recognized that content is king, so it has created a low-cost, no-frills tablet that taps into what is arguably the largest online repository of content on theplanet. Who needs a GPS for that? Do I really need to know my exact coordinates while streamingmy favorite episode of "Mad Men?"Of all the other tablets in the above list, Barnes & Nobles newly announced Nook is the closestcompetitor. The Nook also runs a custom Android OS and taps into Barnes & Nobles content. TheNook has twice the RAM (1 GB), twice the storage (16 GB), and a longer-lasting battery. It alsohas an expandable memory slot and a microphone. Based on hardware specs alone, the Nookoffers more, but it also costs $50 more. Moreover, when it comes to content Barnes & Noble is stillmostly an online bookstore. Not even Apple can compete across the board with Amazons vastarray of media, products, software, etc. When it comes to overall content, Amazon is king.The 3 Worst Features7-in. Display-- Although the 7-in. display is an asset when it comes to portability, it is anannoyance when viewing certain content. Web browsing and magazine reading, for example, arefrustrating on a 7-in. screen. Screen size, therefore, cuts both ways.There is no obvious way to avoid this "Goldilocks dilemma" for all types of content without atechnological breakthrough such as a flexible, roll-up tablet (which is probably just around thecorner). For now, the trade-off is between the full viewing experience of larger displays vs. themore limited experience of smaller, cheaper, more portable screens.No Expandable Memory Slot-- When designing a bare-bones tablet, it makes sense to skimp onmemory to lower your cost. But how much more, if anything, does it cost to include an expandablememory slot in your design? Including a memory slot not only keeps your manufacturing costs low,it also adds value for your customers, who now have the option of adding more memory.One can only assume that Amazon wants its users to store their media in the Amazon Cloud.Amazon provides free, unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon-acquired content, but non-Amazoncontent over 5 GB costs money to store. When combined with the onboard storage of 8 GB, thetotal free storage for generic content is just 13 GB. Thats still less capacity than the onboardstorage of other tablets, and not very much capacity for digital media.Also, the only access to the Amazon Cloud is through the Wi-Fi modem. There is no 3G or 4Gconnectivity. If youre traveling, for example, and have no Wi-Fi connection to the Cloud, all of thecontent you want to access must be pre-loaded. It would be better for Amazon and its customers ifthe Kindle Fire came with a memory slot.Mediocre Battery Life-- When compared to its closest competitor, Barnes & Nobles Nook, thestated battery life of the Kindle Fire comes up short by about 3 1/2 hours. An 8-hr. battery life forjust reading is nothing to write home about. Besides, most people would be doing a lot more thanjust reading.Unfortunately, the rechargeable battery is sealed inside and cant be upgraded.

VerdictKudos to Amazon for recognizing the value of a low-cost tablet specifically designed for deliveringcontent. The beauty of this tablet is that it plays to Amazons indisputable strength as a contentprovider while also extending the Kindle legacy. Its ironic to think back to November of 2007 whenthe Kindle First Generation was introduced for $399. It sold out in 5 1/2 hours. It was the onlyKindle to have an expandable memory slot, too. (Hint, hint.)If pre-sales are any indication, the Kindle Fire is going to be another raging success. Despite thedismal economy, or perhaps because of it, people were lining up to buy this low-cost no-frills tableteven before it started to ship.The Kindle Fire is no iPad2, but it has the potential to become an important new media andinformation platform. Only time will tell if this is just another Kindle or something else altogether.Who knows, the Kindle Fire could do for Amazon what the Walkman did for Sony.==== ====For Kindle Fire and Kindle Accessories Click Herehttp://astore.amazon.com/newelectronic2012-20==== ====

Kindle Fire Vs Other Tablets

by melabuster on Jan 08, 2012

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

Kindle Fire Vs Other Tablets — Document Transcript