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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?

By | September 23, 2011, 10:27am PDT

Summary: Is Amazon getting ready to unveil the long awaited Kindle tablet?

This just landed in my inbox from Amazon’s PR folks …

My guess … the long rumored Kindle tablet is making it’s debut appearance.

TechCrunch’s MG Siegler claims to have played with a prototype. According to him, here’s the deal:

  • 7-inch full-color screen, no eInk (10-inch coming in 2012)
  • Two-finger multitouch support
  • Runs a version of Android that’s older than 2.2 but it’s been heavily customized
  • No camera
  • UI looks and feels like Amazon’s iOS Kindle app
  • 6GB of storage
  • The killer - $250

Despite not having seen the hardware, I predicted a few weeks back that an Amazon Kindle Tablet could slaughter the Android tablet market not because the hardware is any better than that of the competition but because Amazon has the clout to put this tablet in front of a whole lotta eyeballs, and has an enormous content distribution network to make their money back on the subsidized hardware - ebooks, music service, a video service, an Android app store, a games and software downloads service, cloud services and audiobooks (Amazon owns Audible.com).

Amazon’s Kindle Tablet WILL be a game-changer!

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Topics

Amazon.com Inc., Public Relations, Tablets, Notebooks, Marketing, Corporate Communications, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?
allusernamestaken 25th Sep
@bannedfromzdnetagainandagain

Amazon aren't trading e-ink for LCD, they are going to sell both. Some people want LCD (more flexibility, touch, apps, etc.). I read on a tablet sometimes, and there are certain books I prefer to read on LCD. However, I much prefer the e-ink screen for my main reading.

An Amazon tablet offers something no other Android tablet currently does: an ecosystem comparable to iTunes.

7" is a good size - the primary purpose of this device will be reading, and 7" is perfect for that (I wish the Kindle had 7" instead of 6"). The smaller screen also will allow for the price to be cheaper. Most people with iPads and similar size devices complain of the weight when reading on it.

I would buy this in a heartbeat at $250 if I hadn't just got a HP Touchpad for $150...
View in thread
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RE: Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?
Peter Perry 23rd Sep
This is essentially the Kindle Color and not so much a tablet as it is an ereader.
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RE: Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?
pc boss 23rd Sep
they're all pale copies of the ipad2.
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RE: Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?
Peter Perry 23rd Sep
@pc boss Actually, several are what the iPad wished it could be!
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the nook killer!
bannedfromzdnetagainandagain 23rd Sep
or whatever killer. in any case the last hope of the wintel press for an ipad contender. and did you know that a 7" tablet (or better a big smartphone) is only 45% of the screen real estate of an ipad. do some pundits really believe people will spend $250 on such a device?

and by the way, what has happened to the the-kindle's-e-ink-screen-is-so-much-better-for-reading mantra of the tech press? wasn't that such a great idea and the lcd screen of the ipad so horrible? odd that everyone is so quiet of amazon going the apple route with their reading device.
0 Votes
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RE: Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?
allusernamestaken 25th Sep
@bannedfromzdnetagainandagain

Amazon aren't trading e-ink for LCD, they are going to sell both. Some people want LCD (more flexibility, touch, apps, etc.). I read on a tablet sometimes, and there are certain books I prefer to read on LCD. However, I much prefer the e-ink screen for my main reading.

An Amazon tablet offers something no other Android tablet currently does: an ecosystem comparable to iTunes.

7" is a good size - the primary purpose of this device will be reading, and 7" is perfect for that (I wish the Kindle had 7" instead of 6"). The smaller screen also will allow for the price to be cheaper. Most people with iPads and similar size devices complain of the weight when reading on it.

I would buy this in a heartbeat at $250 if I hadn't just got a HP Touchpad for $150...
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Nook Color clone
eco733 23rd Sep
Nook Color Android-based tablet/eReader from Barnes & Noble has been on the market for over a year and sold millions of units at $250. Gives Flash, apps, videos, color magazines and ebooks with video inserts, and the best anti-glare coated screen on the market. Technology "leader" Amazon is finally catching up with the book store company by copying their device.
Kindle only supports eBooks in its proprietary AZW format. Nook, on the other hand, supports both DRM-protected and DRM-free ebooks in ePub format thus it supports ebooks from B&N store, from any other DRM-free source on the web, and from public libraries.
If you walk in with the Nook to Barnes & Noble store, you???re allowed to read any available eBook for free while in the store via free provided in the store Wi-Fi.
Nook store has over 2 million of paid books and about the same number of free public domain books.
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RE: Amazon press event - Sept 28 ... Kindle tablet?
allusernamestaken 25th Sep
@eco733
The fact that the Nook Color is not available outside the US, and the fact that B&N don't have anything comparable to Amazon's ecosystem makes a Kindle tablet a far better choice for most people.

Kindle supports DRM-free .MOBI books, PDF, Word, and some libraries.

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