

Amazon to Unveil the "Kindle Fire" - knappster
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/26/amazon-kindle-fire/

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blinkingled
"based on Android 2.1"

Ugh. Android is after all cursed on the Tablet and Amazon is just doing their
bit. Very disappointing - ridiculous in fact given there should be literally
no excuse to put 2.1 on modern hardware.

Oh and no Email client and no Google integration if that wasn't enough.

[Edit] Consider JIT (2.2+) and low pause GC (2.3+) that they will be missing.
Also consider Flash support which is also 2.2+. Then there is competition from
the likes of Archos and you can take their $299 Honeycomb 3.2 tablet and run
everything Amazon has to offer on it - Kindle, MP3, Instant video etc.

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stuartjmoore
I'm not an Android dev (yet), but does it matter much outside of the UI?
Honeycomb isn't open source, so 2.* is all they can use without talking to
Google.

Seeing as how Ice Cream Sandwich is meant to better unify the APIs, I don't
mind if they skip Honeycomb as long as they do get on track eventually.

~~~
stonemetal
When the nook went from 2.1 to 2.2 there wasn't a noticeable difference in
responsiveness. So my guess is it was a big benchmark win but not a big
usability win unless you were trying to do number crunching on a tablet.

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blinkingled
I had noticeably less UI stutter and freezes going from 2.1 to 2.2 on my Nexus
One. 2.3 made it a new phone - the low pause GC really makes a difference for
UI responsiveness.

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jessriedel
Still waiting for a device that will let me read PDF's and take hand-written
notes on them. I assume the only input here is touch, and maybe a few buttons?

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f7u12
After waiting for this for a long time, I'm disappointed to hear the specs of
the fire. I hope it really isn't android 2.1 with their own UI. I have faith
in cyanogen to fix it though :)

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dskhatri
Doesn't anyone else see how the Kindle Fire is very significant for Google,
despite the fact that Google may see no revenue from this product?

Google now has a strong partner in its Android patent war, unless Amazon has
paid license fees to the likes of Oracle, which would then undermine Google's
position.

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jarek
Because Samsung, who have been firing all patent/IP guns they can find at
Apple, aren't a strong partner? Because HTC aren't? I'm sure Google will
welcome an extra ally, but very significant seems like a bit of an
overstatement.

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joenathan
That mockup has enough bezel for a few tablets...

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danilocampos
The same was said about the iPad but it turns out you need a place to put your
thumbs.

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r00fus
Totally agreed, but on a 7" screen this width of bezel looks much worse than
an iPad.

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flocial
The next generation e-ink tablet hybrid is when the real battle begins. Not
sure they even needed to release this even to get their foot in the door.
What's their differentiation? It just makes the iPad look like it's better
value to me.

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Kaya
I'm a bit pessimistic; if the hardware is old and rushed, why would the
software or overall experience be any better?

I suspect Lab126 is cooking up something much better--but, unfortunately, it's
not yet ready for prime time.

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vl
They haven't leaked the most interesting facts: device price and data-plan
pricing model. Is it going to be carrier-price based or content subsidized
like on Kindle Ice?

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twodayslate
I want color e-ink.

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jodrellblank
and?

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ck2
I highly doubt they'd put 2.1 on a dual core.

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recoiledsnake
I like the play on the words, but wary of headlines like "Can the Kindle Fire
kindle fire in the tablet market?"

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7952
a better name would be "the kindle tablet"

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RustyM
Or "Kindle Prime". But who knows? I thought iPad was silly name at first. "Too
close to iPod." Seems to work now.

~~~
hackinthebochs
Exactly. I've come realized that names just don't matter. We associate our
feelings towards a product to the name. The name is simply an anchor to
connect all our disparate experiences. The name Google would have seemed silly
at first but now it commands respect around the world.

The only exception to this are names that carry a connotation to begin with.
Positive connotations to whatever product you're hawking is a huge boon.
Negative connotations can be a black cloud you may never get out from under.
Tablet these days seem to be the latter. Amazon was right to ditch the
straight-jacket and allow the device to define itself.

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wccrawford
Nothing but unsubstantiated rumors.

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jasongullickson
_"While that store doesn’t offer all the apps found in Google’s Android
Market..."_

With tablet hardware providing little differentiation, software is the main
value proposition. In light of this, providing a subset of the _second_
largest app selection is a questionable move.

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jarek
This is Amazon. Content is their value proposition.

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simplegeek
Slightly off topic, has anyone successfully sold any ebooks on Amazon? Would
love to ask few questions, if possible via email.

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nextparadigms
They out-sourced the design to Quanta, and it's similar to the Playbook. What
does this mean? It means RIM must've outsourced the design for the Playbook to
Quanta, too, otherwise they'd be all over Amazon with a lawsuit when they
launch. That's just sad. RIM is in a worse position in the tech world than we
think it is.

Regarding the Kindle Fire, I just hope it's not as heavy and thick as a
Playbook. It should be more like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which is very light (~330
grams) and very thin (7.9 mm)

