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Topic: Hardware

Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

Summary: At just $199, Amazon's 7-inch "Kindle Fire" may prove Steve Jobs wrong that people don't want a "tweener" tablet.

Gloria Sin

By Gloria Sin for The ToyBox |

Before Amazon's press conference to unveil its first tablet is even underway, Bloomberg has already released details on the new tablet. As rumored, the Amazon device is called the Kindle Fire and has a 7-inch display, runs its own customized version of Android and most importantly, will sell at a consumer-friendly price of $199.

To keep costs down, the Kindle Fire does not have any embedded cameras or a microphone for web conferencing or photos, is Wi-Fi only, but will come with a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime to sweeten the deal. Pre-orders start today on Amazon's website, and it will ship in time for this holiday season on November 15.

Here are some of the tech specs and features based on Engadget's live blogging of the event:

  • Display: IPS, 7"
  • Processor: dual-core
  • Weight: 14.6 ounces
  • Stores content on Amazon Cloud Storage
  • Whispersync can bookmark where you left off in your movie or TV show so you can continue watching on your television at home
  • Can multitask
  • Plays Android games
  • Features the Amazon Silk web browser, which uses Amazon's cloud computing prowess to speed up your web surfing experience.

Amazon actually has a number of announcements up its sleeves this morning, with the much talked about Kindle Fire tablet diverting our attention from a couple of new e-readers (Kindle Touch) that are coming your way this holiday. Stay tuned for updates.

[Source: Bloomberg via Engadget, Engadget's event live blog]

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Topics: Hardware, Amazon

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13 comments
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  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    Only issue with Amazon is the cloud your stuff can expired at content maker wishes.
    Randalllind
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

      @Randalllind

      The other problems is its and Android device. I'll pass. At least its not IOS. That leaves me waiting for Windows 8!
      Rob.sharp
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    A stripped down Kindle Fire is no match for the Playbook, which you can now get at Staples B&M for $250.

    Playbook specs:

    Starts at 16GB ($250 at Staples B&M stores)
    Front camera, 3 Mega Pixels
    Rear camera, 5 Mega Pixels
    HD video recording
    Built-in Video Chat
    Full Flash playback so you can watch videos on Amazon.com, Crackle.com and Youtube.com/shows, etc.
    HDMI out and can play full 1080p standard profile on high-end flat panels

    Also, the CPU/GPU combo in the playbook is the best of the field right now, see the Anandtech.com review.

    Within weeks we'll have QNX OS 2.0, which will have an Android virtual machine to run android apps, quite possibly including Netflix, which just opened up its app to almost all Android devices in the last week or so.
    sagec
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

      @jacec

      It hasn't opened it to Android 3.x tablets yet, so performance and resolution will be lacking considerably.
      Michael Kelly
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    And you guys thought this would kill other Android Tablets! I guess you were wrong there.
    slickjim
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    As others have noted it is not a tablet, it is an Amazon content consumption device. That appears to be tethered to Amazons umbilical more tightly than the iPad is to Apple`s.
    jbin@...
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    Sorry............I can find more important things to spend $200 on.
    rocketman67
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    You can put a SD card in it though right?
    Jimster480
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

      @Jimster480 There is no SD card slot according to the Amazon web site. That was a big dissappointment especially since the devices is limited to 8GB for apps and content. However, purchased Amazon content is free with Amazon cloud service and can be streamed whenever. Unfortunately, I have a lot of non-Amazon content that will cost to put in the Amazon cloud service and will not fit on the device. Really wish they put a 32GB SD slot in there, it would be an easier buy for me.
      Andrew Houghton
      Reply Vote

  • USB Port

    I am guessing you can read additional content off of a USB stick if more storage is needed. At least I would hope so.
    joelheck@...
    Reply Vote

  • A lot of negativity here

    To tell you the honest truth, I think this thing will be exactly what the majority of Android Tablet users are looking for--a media consumption device that's not an Apple product. I expect sales of this thing will be through the roof compared to any other Android tablet.

    However, it obviously won't compete with the iPad's other capabilities which too many techies refuse to accept. The Kindle Fire is almost exclusively a media toy--books, movies, music, etc.--with probably very little functional capability beyond that.

    Android lovers, start the wailing and gnashing of teeth, for now an Android tablet will have to be significantly better not only by specs but by perceived capability to compete against this and the iPad.
    Vulpinemac
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Amazon prices 'Kindle Fire' at $199

    I like it, I feel it is a good fit for the lower price minded people who have been waiting for a tablet device. As for the playbook it is a dead horse.
    azieser
    Reply Vote

  • cqmimfc 12 oik

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    dmakrekwe15-24379069862299297579270596593622
    Reply Vote
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