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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook

By | September 27, 2011, 5:29am PDT

Summary: The regular Joe buying an Amazon tablet won’t know and won’t care that the tablet is based on RIM’s PlayBook.

A lot of buzz on the blogosphere today about Amazon’s Kindle tablet - which will allegedly be called ‘Fire’ - actually being a revamped RIM PlayBook. As interesting as it is that Amazon’s long-rumored, long-awaited tablet will essentially be a clone of the irrelevant PlayBook, the truth is that the buying masses won’t care.

Why is the Kindle tablet a clone of the PlayBook? Because it is been designed and built by original device manufacturer (ODM) Quanta, the same company that built the PlayBook, rather than by Amazon’s Kindle design and dev team Lab 126.

The Kindle tablet/Fire won’t be an exact clone of the PlayBook. For one thing, it has to be cheaper as it’s expected to sell for $250. So it’s will feature a slower processor, two-finger multitouch screen and have no cameras. But the PlayBook didn’t fail because of the hardware, the PlayBook failed because it didn’t have the ecosystem to support it … and Amazon’s not going to make the same mistake.

First, Amazon is going with Android as the OS. Well, not exactly Android, but a custom version believed to be based on Android 2.1 (no, not the 2.3 version specifically aimed at tablets). And it’s with this custom OS that will be Amazon’s strong point. Amazon will turn its tablet (wherever it ends up being called) into a one-stop-shop for all things Amazon. The company doesn’t have to make a killing on the hardware because it can sit back and make money each time a customer uses the tablet to buy something from Amazon. Amazon’s power is that it has so much content - ebooks, music, video, an Android app store, a games and software downloads service, cloud services and audiobooks - that it can pipe to the tablet, it can’t help but make money from this endeavor. Problem is, other makers will have to slash their wrists in order to be able to compete.

The Kindle tablet ain’t no iPad killer - it’s not meant to be - but the $250 tablet could very well slaughter the Android tablet market. Watch out, after Amazon drops this bombshell I expect that there will be a lot of changes ahead. Expect price drops and for some makers to reduce, if not even pull out completely, from the Android tablet market.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Amazon press event, when we’ll likely learn a lot more about the tablet.

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Topics

Research In Motion Ltd., Amazon.com Inc., Amazon Kindle, Tablets, E-books & E-Readers, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Personal Technology, 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:
iwdy23 2nd Nov
When it comes to shoes, cheap uggs are the most popular kinds in uk,that's true..
View in thread
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
kstagg 27th Sep
Finally - some market sense in the Android tablet market. Hopefully we will see some more of these $250 options come into the market. Getting kind of sick of the $500 entry point.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
winux_sap 27th Sep
@kstagg

This appears to be image of amazon Kindle Fire. I came across this in amazon.com website.
http://www.amazon.com/Screen-Protector-Amazon-Kindle-Android/dp/B005LZSWO0/ref=sr_1_20?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1317135692&sr=1-20
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Let The Reviews Begin...
mseyf 27th Sep
Time to post your pre-release reviews
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
bdmarsh 27th Sep
@kstagg there is a reason for the $500 entry... minimum quality for a reasonable tablet... like the screen being $80-100 for an approx 10" screen, battery likely being somewhat close to that. total parts is typically about $300 not including OS development/customization marketing and profit.
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Did you read the article?
johnmckay 27th Sep
@kstagg

Stop talking rubbish please.... You get what you pay for in this life. If you ant an iPad it sets you back ??500; if you want a playbook its a little cheaper; if you want a decent Android its ??430 (Asus transformer and keyboard). If you want a cut down version with a slower processor and whatever else it'll be cheaper (so the guy writes).

So cut the crazy talk. If you aint got the cash don't bleat that it's too dear. There are plenty of ??150 Android devices out there that will suit your pocket. Go save some money and buy one at your 'entry point'.

Going by your logic we'll see Ferraris costing less than a Ford next week.... an we know that's a manufacturing impossibility
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
ConstableOdo 27th Sep
@kstagg

Yeah, I'm sure consumers are just waiting for more cheap, forked-Android craptablets because iPads are "too expensive" for the average Joe. Those average Joes already threw away their $250 Windows netbooks to buy iPads. So unless these people are selling burgers or cleaning toilets I think most of them can well afford $500 iPads.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
mb209 16th Oct
I agree. The Amazon tablet will be no ipad killer but it will definitely be a good ipad alternative. For more ipad alternatives see: http://ipadalternatives.net
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re:
iwdy23 2nd Nov
When it comes to shoes, cheap uggs are the most popular kinds in uk,that's true..
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
regsrini 27th Sep
Hit the nail there, AKH. Amazon has an ecosystem around the Kindle already waiting around it. Android is trying to get there. Apple can bring in a new device any day and you know there will be an ecosystem around it within a week. This is why Amazon and Apple will no doubt dominate the tablet market. Maybe Amazon won't sell as many as Apple, but it will do enough to sell services around Kindle Fire profitability. I don't know about Windows Tablets, although personally they would be my No.1 choice. RIM can't come up with a great device with an ecosystem and can't sell itself to any major player currently in the market. I don't know where it is going to go as far as the mainstream market is concerned.
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Playbook runs QNX
The Star King 27th Sep
Assuming the Kindle device runs Android, I don't see any comparison.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
happyharry_z 27th Sep
@The Star King Exactly. This is not a Playbook. QNX makes the Playbook.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Peter Perry 27th Sep
@happyharry_z Yep, QNX is a beast but those Bozos at RIM are trying to leverage it to sell more Smart phones and they're crippling the device.
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Ah.... but
johnmckay 27th Sep
@The Star King

If you look closely it's a similar flat shape and black, with a screen. Now... In Apples eyes thats an exact copy and given the track record of some of the slaves writing these reports I can see where the guy is coming from. True, to you and I they are two totally different beasts but lets not let facts get in the way of a good story happy
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
dsf3g 27th Sep
I am concerned about the effect this tablet could have on the Android ecosystem as a whole. Amazon is aiming squarely at the consumer market, leaving only the enterprise market to other tablet manufacturers. That's an unhealthy split, IMHO, that could doom Android. iOS, meanwhile, is making huge inroads into both the consumer and the Enterprise market. If I'm Apple, I'm not worried about Amazon...to the contrary, I'm caustiously optimistic.
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Possibly a bit early to say that....
johnmckay 27th Sep
@dsf3g

As far as I'm concerned the iPad is a consumer device YET it is firmly in the enterprise. The fact it needs to be updated on iTunes and on 1 consistent PC means it really has to be the users own (home PC). All ours are well recognised as being user device running corporate apps BUT any problem means the user HAS to restore/synch on their own kit.

Android needs to get a consistent level of maintenance and functionality as far as I'm concerned (I love mine but can see it would cause headaches in the office). Until we see the Amazon effort, and see what it can do, and see if it is reasonably stable and recoverable unit... it's way too early to see where it will fit in. Maybe folk will just want to run a corporate email app and that'll be sufficient for thousands of users, maybe millions.
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another nail in the M$ coffin
The Linux Geek 27th Sep
android wins against windoze hands down!
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Bates_ 27th Sep
@The Linux Geek Do you Linux trolls ever come up with something new to say? What Microsoft Coffin are you speaking about? Oh I know, that coffin that all Linux fanboys claim is there but in reality it isn't.

I think someone is scared that Windows 8 is going to blow up the mobile world and start putting a hurt on Android (I like Android mind you and have a Honeycomb tablet).

And nothing ever wins against Windows "hands down". Cause that's like calling Windows a high school football team going up against Android who are the Green Bay Packers. Get a clue and grow up.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
yu119995 27th Sep
@Bates_ Umm Bates...I think you were baited and you fell for it. Tsk! Tsk!
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Rama.NET Updated - 27th Sep
@The Linux Geek
Microsoft is already making money by licensing to Amazon. At the same time Google may not be able to make single dime out this Tablet. Get the facts straight before trolling, then at least you would be an intelligent troll.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
non-biased 3rd Oct
@Rama.NET ...then at least you would be an intelligent troll.
I think those are myths and don't really exist wink
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We'll still be reading your inane comments in 10 years time
johnmckay 27th Sep
@The Linux Geek

96.2% of respondents are using MS OS. Those nails must be poor quality.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Rama.NET 27th Sep
I think Amazon is squarely aiming at B&N Nook Color with this. Amazon has much much better ecosystem than B&N and I think they could potentially drive the B&N Nook Color buyers towards this tablet.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
LoverockDavidson_-24231404894599612871915491754222 27th Sep
Proving the point that tablets are grossly overpriced for what they do.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
zaghy2zy 27th Sep
@LoverockDavidson_ aaahhh, thanks I just realized that... I felt like something wasn't right about the price of the tablets... then BOOM! You just made me realize why I'm hesitating to buy one...
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
palavering 27th Sep
Adrian: Your review and opinion is thoughtful and intelligent--a welcome relief from the diatribes of most journies.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Peter Perry 27th Sep
Those who know, aren't going to buy it as a Tablet and those who don't are likely to buy it as an eReader...

Yes, you're right, in this situation they know that those buying the device don't care what it is so much as what it does.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
zd baron 27th Sep
Help me understand what is the actual purpose of this tablet? a remote POS? and I just wanted to play angry birds.
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Missing some key features for me
Common+Sense 27th Sep
Linux, "Windoze;" the one-trick ponies can't stick to the subject matter. Those OS's are irrelevant to the topic. What IS relevant is Amazon's design choices: I already have Amazon & Kindle on my smartphone and will get a tablet, but not this one because if I'm lugging something this big around I want it to be more versatile, and that includes cameras. I do agree with Amazon's plan to use the device as a lever for more orders, and I bet they succeed; just not with my household.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
john-whorfin 27th Sep
@Common+Sense
Since I already have a camera in my smart phone, common sense dictates that I don't need to pay for another one in my tablet.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
orea 27th Sep
A RIM playbook is a state-of-the-art device due to QNX.

http://www.qnx.com/developers/docs/6.3.0SP3/neutrino/sys_arch/intro.html

Just because hardware is made by the same company means nothing and the best hardware/software doesn't always win, unfortunately.
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ZDNet: Please don't use such a bogus headline
wkyrouz 27th Sep
If the headline we're accurate (that it was a clone) this would have been interesting, but the same OEM does not a clone make when it's a different operating system. If it WERE a clone it might not matter to non-techie end users but it would matter to developers and investors. If there was an "Abuse" tag on this article I'd click it.
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Looks like kind of a fail in the overall scheme
Fletchguy 27th Sep
Hmm modeled after the failed playbook. Runs an old non upgradeble version of Android os, has no camers, no 2 finger actions, and has slower processor and lower specs. i see them getting a good $250 price but why would you buy it? i mean whats the point? You can get a new Archos 10.1 tablet for around $50 more which has triple the specs. I got my original 7inch Tab for $225 new and my 10.1 galaxy tabe for $300 new. If you shop around you can find great prices with no contracts.I guess since it basically will replace the kindle/nook readers as for the price it makes more sense then buy either of those but for what it does it makes no sense to buy it as a full fledged tablet at that price. Ebay and Craigslist offer great deals on new full tablets the only place you don't find good electronics prices is Amazon as for some reason they are also 25%-50% higher. Even my walmart has lower prices on same items then amazon.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Scrabbler 27th Sep
Why are you saying it is a clone of PlayBook if it is not even running the same OS? Because it looks similar? Show me a tablet which doesn't.
I could say that all tablets are clones of each other as they are rectangular in shape, have a touch screen and have the same ARM/PowerVR hardware inside.
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Just in time for Black Friday sales
john-whorfin 27th Sep
Amazon releases the tablet to the market now at $250 and sells it to the people who just have to have it first. Then a week before Black Friday they can cut the price to $99 - or maybe $200 with a $100 Amazon gift card - just in time to put it in customer's hands to do their Black Friday shopping on Amazon. That should effectively squash any tablet competition for the holiday season, as long as they get enough tablets built to make sure they can fill all the orders.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
boomchuck1 27th Sep
@john-whorfin Ahh! I like this idea!
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Free 3 or 4G?
dachba 27th Sep
What I haven't seen mentioned in any of the articles on the new Kindle Tablet (Fire) is if it will be available in a 3/4G version like the current Kindle. If it is, will the feature be subscription free as it currently is? If so, that would make this one heck of a product no matter what its technical features are!
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Stix2002 27th Sep
This is a stupid article with an even more ridiculous title. Different hardware with a different OS made by the same manufacturer makes it a PlayBook? Wow, what are you even talking about!
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
ebernet 27th Sep
"First, Amazon is going with Android as the OS. Well, not exactly Android, but a custom version believed to be based on Android 2.1 (no, not the 2.3 version specifically aimed at tablets)."

I thought 3.0 was the 1st version of Android specifically aimed at tablets?
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Why buy Android when you can buy Kindle for cheap???
jameskatt 27th Sep
The Kindle Fire is the Android Killer. Google gets no money and no ad-space on the Kindle Fire. Yay!

It kills the other Android tablets.

And, it is not mutually exclusive with the iPad. You can have both the iPad and the Kindle Fire, unlike Android tablets.
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Patents?
dowlingm 27th Sep
Hope Amazon are lawyered up because it doesn't matter how good your device is these days, it's how many patents you've hoarded.
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The Amazon Kindle is nothing more than a POS being marketed as a tablet
adornoe@... Updated - 27th Sep
and, not even a good one at that, because, the only "store" connected to the device will be Amazon. The specs on the "tablet" leave a lot to be desired, and it wouldn't be competitive if it were marketed as a "real" tablet; but, since it's mostly a POS device, it would be adequate for its purpose.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
ConstableOdo 27th Sep
Yes, the average Joe won't care that the Amazon tablet is a refried PlayBook. The thing is, no one bought the PlayBook, either.

Why are pundits hyping a tablet they've never seen or touched? For example, how many of you would bet on a boxing contender you've never seen throw a punch in the ring, against a champ that's had an overwhelming amount of serial knockouts with no losses. You people that are pushing this unseen and untouched Amazon tablet as some Android wonder tablet honestly don't make any sense at all. It could be a piece of crap and for $250 how good could it possibly be. Can't you at least wait until it gets into consumers' hands before making such outlandish statements of how successful the Amazon tablet is going to be. It's not even in the same class as the iPad, so it's not iPad competition, or iPad challenger or iPad rival. It's just a cheap, color version of the Kindle. Nothing more, nothing less.
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RE: No one will care that Amazon's Kindle tablet is a RIM PlayBook
Graham Ellison 28th Sep
@Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, you say: "But the PlayBook didn???t fail because of the hardware, the PlayBook failed because it didn???t have the ecosystem to support it ??? and Amazon???s not going to make the same mistake."

I have to disagree with you on both counts. The Playbook failed because RIM fundamentally does not understand the business they are in and where it's going. They think they are substantially a smartphone manufacturer that appeals to the enterprise. They are not. They are in the mobile device and communication business in which humans, not corporations decide to buy or not buy.

So they employed the mercenary tactic of attempting to leverage the Playbook to sell more Blackberries - totally ignoring the direction the industry is obviously heading. Sure the lack of an ecosystem was a factor, but it was a symptom of the first failing.

And now to your assertion that Amazon is "not going to make the same mistake." They already have. When the Kindle was first released, Bezos was talking about doing deals with education departments in California to supply Kindles to schools, colleges and universities, and making all text books available on the Kindle.

Once again the former city trader greedily saw Dollar signs, imagining two revenue streams from an entire market that didn't even exist, managing to completely miss the fact that 99% of all text books contain an element of colour, but the Kindle did not, yet went with the mercenary policy anyway.

Remember, mercenaries believe their own hype and are 100% convinced they can sell anything to anyone - if they push hard enough, and are incapable of changing their style. So, now we have the same company finally [nearly FOUR years later] realising tablet devices need colour screens. Nothing else as really changed.

So why do you think anyone will buy an Amazon tablet with a colour screen AND a Kindle, when for four years Amazon has been telling us the reading experience is better with a black & white E ink screen?

What the market has shown us so far is that there IS a market for book readers, but it's not the same market as the tablet market [though it has been cannibalized very easily by the iPad]. And we have no idea how big Kindle volumes really are because Amazon refuses to release sales figures, even though Bezos is happy to quote percentages of Kindle sales compared with paper book sales. What we should learn from this is that the number is obviously not worth shouting about - probably something like 20% of iPad sales in half that time, representing maybe 10% in real terms.

There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the typical Kindle buyer, or indeed ANYONE, is now waiting for an Amazon tablet, or that Bezos finally understands that he's in the online retail business, not the mobile device and communication business. Amazon is not and never will be, a consumer electronic device brand, and fundamentally, No-one needs an Amazon device to shop at Amazon. So this thing is actually cursed by at least two maladies it shares with RIM.

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