Mobile News

James Kendrick

Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

By James Kendrick | September 26, 2011, 5:13am PDT

Summary: It appears Amazon is getting ready to unleash the Kindle Tablet on the world this week. Here’s what it means to consumers like you.

The Amazon tablet has been the topic of rumors for months, including a hands-on look by TechCrunch. Amazon is expected to release the Kindle Tablet into the world this week at a press event to be held on Wednesday. The tech world is understandably buzzing about how this tablet from Amazon will compete with the top selling iPad, but the reality is Amazon doesn’t care about competing with any tablet on the market.

What we think we know about the Kindle Tablet

It will be a 7-inch multitouch tablet, running a special Amazon-produced interface that sits on an Android kernel. This interface will not look like Android, nor will it run like Android tablets. It will be an Amazon effort through and through, with the kernel the only thing in common with Android.

The Kindle Tablet will be deeply integrated with Amazon’s content sales, with ebooks, music, and videos easily purchased and consumed on the tablet. It will be focused on this objective, not on becoming yet another Android tablet. Techies may not like this locked-down system, but they are not the intended audience.

The Kindle Tablet will sell for $250, much cheaper than competing tablets. It will come with an Amazon Prime membership which provides free shipping on some Amazon purchases, a $79 value. Amazon will likely tie other purchase incentives to the Tablet, and will likely integrate Amazon’s Kindle library book service.

What this means

While those of us involved in the tech space understandably look to the Kindle Tablet to compete with Android tablets and the iPad, Amazon has no intention to do so. The Kindle Tablet is designed by Amazon to appeal to mainstream consumers, the Kindle market, and to facilitate selling that market goods from the Amazon store.

While the initial objective of the Kindle Tablet will be to sell consumers digital goods from the Amazon store, it will quickly branch out from that to include all retail goods. Incentives will make this easy for Amazon, with discounts offered for purchases made from the Kindle Tablet, to free shipping on such purchases.

Make no mistake, Amazon doesn’t want to sell you a tablet, it wants to sell you more stuff. The Kindle Tablet will make this easy to do, and easy to enjoy the digital goods purchased on the tablet. Competing with Apple and Android tablets will be a natural side effect of the Kindle Tablet, but it’s not Amazon’s objective.

It wants to expose millions of buyers to the benefits of buying stuff from the Amazon store. Don’t overlook the fact that the bulk of Amazon’s digital content for sale can already be used on both the iPad and Android tablets. They are in fact vehicles driving Amazon sales, not strictly tablet competitors.

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Rumor, Tablets, Notebooks, Hardware, Amazon Kindle, Notebooks & Tablets, James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

regsrini 26th Sep

It's like Apple and Amazon are friends. They are selling the same thing, but still largely not competing and they'll both make billions while others stutter.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Hasam1991 26th Sep

@regsrini OK Great but shows us the tablet first! Nook has been around for a while with no damage to Apple..

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

regsrini Updated - 26th Sep

@Hasam1991
I never said Apple is in trouble. Read again. I stress that Apple and Amazon will both win in this case, because they are targeting somewhat different audiences. One group wants to simply enjoy the Apple experience with whatever perks you get. The other wants to just consume content in the cheapest and easiest possible manner, which Amazon can provide. It is the others including Google (as opposed to Amazon) Android and Windows that are threatened here.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

StanislavF 26th Sep

@Hasam1991 Excuse me? Barnes and Noble sells only BOOKS. Amazon sells the world. The damage to Apple is NOT going to be in iPad sales, but the fact that billions of dollars in Apple's revenue comes from sales ON the iPad and iPhone. Amazon will bite into THAT, not on device sales. That is the point of the article and a correct one.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

StanislavF 26th Sep

@regsrini
Well, you need to look at Amazon's balance sheet for one thing. They SELL billions, but make about a billion in profit. They are a store...margins on a store are about 3-7%.

To call Amazon and Apple friends is interesting given how vitriolic the relationship is and how Amazon pulled any direct selling on the iPad off the app because Apple charges 30% of any sale as a fee! Given those fore mentioned 7% margins, it is not worth it for Amazon to sell via an iPad app...thus you have to use the browser on the iPad. On the Amazon tablet, it will be a custom shopping experience...similar to what you COULD have gotten on the iPad, if Apple did not want to get so greedy. So, Apple and Amazon are HARDLY friends.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

camcost@... 26th Sep

@regsrini
Perhaps Amazon is the only company to actually learn why the iPad sells well. If they offered just another Android tablet, it would garner just as many 'yawns and ho-hums' as what Android tablets are known for.

Without seeing the Amazon tablet, I'm giving them a pat on the back for it's promised potential.

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Your have a problem.....

johnmckay 26th Sep

@camcost@...

The 1st problem, as we know, is that there are too many poor pieces of kit running various flavours of Android. And there is no 'single Android' experience unlike the iPad.

The 2nd problem is folk like you who can't see the good ones OR appreciate that even a poor one might only be poor compared to the iPad. a) My personal Asus Transformer is used daily unlike my work ipad. b) I dont have specifics but there must be some decent ??150 Androids out there that will do a job in my car and the occasional holiday. ??150 compared to ??500.... who in their right mind expects it to be as good? Of course it wont be BUT it can still be value for whatever job you plan to use it. I wont be buying two expensive solutions.... I might buy one plus two cheap ones though!

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

JulesLt3 26th Sep

It's a really interesting move - unlike Android tablets aimed directly at the iPad like the Galaxy, there is no need for this to be any more powerful than required to serve content, or have significant local storage - so they can presumably keep costs down, along with being able to sell at near cost. That???s still going to be powerful enough for casual browsing and Angry Birds / Farmville style casual gaming too.

I can easily see it selling to the same households that already have an iPad ??? family households have room for more than one personal screen. I???m already weighing it up as an option for my father-in-law ??? who would benefit from some kind of media oriented tablet. Just depends how locked down it is to Amazon-only content.

The other interesting thing is how much the market is aligning into verticals - i.e. Amazon is also becoming a rival to Google and Microsoft in the cloud services side. We tend to still think of them as a retailer, but they???re becoming a huge IT player. But unlike Google/Motorola, and Microsoft/Nokia they have (like Apple) a successful relationship with content firms.

By successful I don???t mean happy ??? retailers and publishers by definition will not agree - but they are at least on the same page, the arguments are about percentages and details, not fundamental principles.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

x I'm tc 26th Sep

@JulesLt3 They can sell *below* cost. This is critical.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Matthew Mackenzie 27th Sep

@JulesLt3 did you really ???? And in the wrong places need so many question marks ??????????? Made trying to read your post a little irritating!

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Makes Sense.

UrNotPayingAttention 26th Sep

but any word on if the new Kindle will keep or be able to replicate the same display (at least for reading)?

To abandon it would be careless, i think; especially after marketing it for as long as they have.

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It's a different market niche.

RationalGuy 26th Sep

@chmod 777

Just like the iPod line wasn't replaced, rather augmented by iPod Touch, Kindle Tablet will sit beside the e-ink display Kindle Reader as a separate product built for a different audience. Amazon are being really smart with this move.

First, it cements their place in the e-reader market and keeps their product line up to date. Second, it builds an incentive for app developers to build for the Amazon app store. It's an ingenious way to build the ecosystem. Once the Kindle Tablet becomes a "thing" in its own right, they will build a larger version that might compete more directly with iPad but with much more powerful ammunition than the me-too approach all of the current Android tablets have failed with so miserably.

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Kindle Tablet Display(s)

jerswing@... 26th Sep

Couldn't agree more!

I'm eagerly awaiting development of 'flip-pad': LCD touch-screen on one side & e-paper on opposite. It's obvious the already-installed "guts" could drive both screens.

Next 'obvious' development - given media-centric focus - will be a dedicated video-goggle port (fullsize HD, with surround sound, anyone?).

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

RyeCatcher 26th Sep

@chmod 777 I think the place where Kindle is hurting is jumping in to the magazine and newspaper market. I love my kindle and try to read New York Times online but some of the links in the NYT want to open up a seperate browser and Kindle can't handle it and you of course are missing nice color images. Would greatly welcome a Kindle for magazines and newspapers. Still want a Kindle of old, and would buy a new one if my current one broke.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

dksmidtx Updated - 26th Sep

This is almost as much about the Nook as it is about the iPad. The Kindle e-ink reader is great for the paperback experience, but magazines, video, and audio all suck. On the other hand, NatGeo and other magazines are entertaining on the Nook; so the "Color Kindle" will be the media device of choice for Kindle fans. The fact that it trespasses into the iTunes space as well is gravy.

I read a commentator today who claims the Kindle tablet and iPad are two totally different functions - Kindle fuels content sales while iTunes content sales fuel Apple hardware sales - I think that's just two sides of the same coin...the coin they are both lifting from your pocket via your credit card. Perhaps that is a new metaphor for the success of Amazon and Apple - they are merely pickpockets.

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Its a defensive move.

antijingoist 26th Sep

Its a defensive move: keep people buying from amazon, make it harder for anyone to compete with amazon.
Similar to Google's android/etc. strategy: Get more people using google, keep people away from other searches.

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Vendor lock-in works.

MSFTWorshipper 26th Sep

@antijingoist Microsoft & Apple prove it, why shouldn't Amazon?

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Something wrong somewhere?

johnfenjackson@... 26th Sep

Nah, can't be true ... a company wanting to REDUCE the cost of purchases in general ... instead of adding 30% on like Apple and M$.

AMAZON have got something wrong somewhere ... I think we should give it a miss, it doesn't sound right wink

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

kevinf@... 26th Sep

The strategy as described is amazingly similar to the highly successful Barnes and Noble Nook Color. I anticipate a very controlled and limited app market, and a focus, as you have indicated, on getting customers to buy content. Not so much an iPad killer as carving out a niche to facilitate content sales, hence the $250 price tag which is the same as the NC ($249).

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

amywohl 26th Sep

Love it. I've had a Kindle since the first week they were out --I'm on my 6th -- the road is hard on Kindles and I've lost a few, too. I have a Xoom but it's not exciting. Can't wait to try the Kindle Tablet -- I buy half of my on-line purchases through Amazon. If it's easier this way that will be great.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

hkb25 26th Sep

What do you mean by "an Android kernel"? 'Didn't know Android was a kernel....

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Means nothing to me.

dddd44@... 26th Sep

I have my Amazon Kindle for reading. And that is fine for me. Don;t need all the other stuff.

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Root it like a Nook

mberry@... 26th Sep

If the specs are good I and the price is right I might get one to root it like my Nook Color. Great way to get a decent cheap tablet.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

docpark 26th Sep

The concept of competing and damaging Apple is what is retarding the growth of non-iOS competitors. I fully expect my iPad2, iPhone, HTC Flyer, and computers everywhere to work with the Amazon Prime based multimedia app that will have you shopping, listening to music, watching videos, and yes reading books.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Willnott Updated - 27th Sep

@docpark : Heh - listening to music and watching videos anywhere but at home is incredibly distracting, not only to the listener, but to others who may need the attention of the listener. And, watching videos on such small screens, no matter where you are can damage your eyesight. But some folks seem so self centered as to either overlook or ignore those issues.

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Kindle

rmacleod@... 26th Sep

So anything to do with Kindle is a pain. The tablet market is in a slump and will not come out until the prices drop. This is just poor marketing strategy as usual....

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Willnott 27th Sep

@rmacleod@... : I submit this has nothing to do with the "tablet market", but is a move to take advantage of synergy by using already developed tablet hardware configuration. As the author clearly stated, their goal is not to compete, but to increase sales, and they hope this will offer some advantage to accomplishing that.

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So anything to do with Kindle is a pain.

cdhanks 12th Oct

@rmacleod@... Really? Several million Kindle users would disagree. I have an iPad 2 and found myself mostly reading books, so decided to go back to a Kindle = much better. BTW the fire is selling for $199.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

tomwnichols 26th Sep

I don't find a need for an i-pad and I don't think I'd find a need for this device. I shop from my laptop or pc, I use my Kindle and Android phone to read, I use the phone for tunes...also can shop from the phone for tunes and other stuff if I need to do it while remote. What's the point? Maybe if someone just drops the laptop or pc...

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

dave95. 26th Sep

@tomwnichols

Because we are all just like you, clones of each other. With the same needs and wants.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

tomwnichols 28th Sep

@dave95.

Was interested in what people who are not clones of me might find useful that I might have missed.

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TRADE IN KINDLE 3G

dougn6885 26th Sep

SO, I ASK, CAN I TRADE IN MY KINDLE 3G FOR A NEW KINDLE TABLET??

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Willnott 27th Sep

@dougn6885 : You really want to throw away the 3G aspect??? Not me - that could be the most useful item, which is a big reason why I think this will not sell well. Oh, and one might also ask whether currrent Prime members can get their annual membership extended if they do buy one.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

willyampz Updated - 26th Sep

I can't get a decent 7" android tablet for $250 already? I don't understand what the Amazon part is getting me. Since its very customized, they can tie it tightly to amazon and then they should sell it much cheaper at cost, like $99, since you are likely to buy more stuff from them.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Willnott 27th Sep

@willyampz : Heh - they *could have* also done the same for Kindle, but they haven't. Gold still rules.

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Nook Color Clone

eco733 Updated - 26th Sep

Amazon tablet is Nook Color clone from "innovator" Amazon that can only copy others lately.
Nook Color tablet/ereader from Barnes & Noble has been on the market for a year and sold millions of units at $250. Gives Flash, apps, videos, web, eBooks and magazines subscriptions with video inserts, and the best anti-glare coated screen on the market. Technology "leader" Amazon finally decided to catch up with the book store company by copying it's 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, youre allowed to read ANY available eBook for free while in the store via free provided in the store Wi-Fi.
There's over 2 million of paid books and about the same number of free public domain books in Nook eBook store.
E-Ink Nook Simpletouch from Barnes & Noble has the latest generation touch screen display, no page turn lag, it weights less, its battery lasts twice as long (two months on one charge), and it doesn't blink on each page turn - much better than current Kindle 3 for the same price. Consumer Reports ranked Nook higher than Kindle while all major electronics reviews web sites like CNET, etc. declared Nook the best eReader on the market.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Redhooker 26th Sep

@eco733
Read a lot of Nook ads do you? The 2 months put out when the touch was launched was quickly found to be marketing hype. B&N changed the spec from 1 hour reading a day to 30 min reading a day. If you look on Amazon's site they now quote the same numbers but give you the reasoning behind in, unlike the B&N press release.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

eco733 26th Sep

@Redhooker
Incorrect, 2 months confirmed 1 hour a day with Wi-Fi off which is the same testing conditions as Amazon used for Kindle 3. Also, it was confirmed again is side by side testing of Kindle 3 vs. Nook Simpletouch that Noo's battery lasts twice as long as Kindle's. Learn the facts.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Willnott 27th Sep

@Redhooker : I might add the color Nook is not nearly as easy or intuitive to use because of leaving everything to touch, but at times hiding the touch menu in favor of increased reading room. I experimented with one in the store, and managed to get it to a point where it would not go home - even the sales ass. was stumped...

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

Mosblest 26th Sep

I'm sure Apple see's it as a Trojan Horse and will try to broaden it's iPad appeal. iTunes/iCloud can do some of what Amazon does and is jockeying for #1 store online. Google is far behind in this respect. iBooks may need to go to PC, Mac and Android when the dust settles. Buying or partnering with EBay might be a smart move as well.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

gilesrm 26th Sep

I'll stick to my Kindle 3 with its liquid ink technology. Nothing compares in terms of legibility, in particular when you want to read many pages consecutively without eyestrain. Let's see of the new table looks like, however.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

eco733 26th Sep

@gilesrm
Only ??E-Ink Nook Simpletouch from Barnes & Noble has the latest generation touch screen display, no page turn lag, it weights less, its battery lasts twice as long (two months on one charge), and it doesn't blink on each page turn - much better than current Kindle 3 for the same price. Consumer Reports ranked Nook higher than Kindle while all major electronics reviews web sites like CNET, etc. declared Nook the best eReader on the market. Case closed.

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"Case closed"

itpro_z 27th Sep

@eco733 Ever notice when someone finishes an argument with "case closed" that they really have no argument to begin with? You have been posting this same comment on numerous sites whenever an article discusses Amazon's new tablet. I would assume that you work for B&N.

I have looked at both ereaders, and my preference is for the Kindle, both for its user interface and marketplace. Why would I want touch on an ereader? It does not make it easier to use, results in a dirty, smudged screen, and increases the cost of the unit. Consumer Reports and Cnet may like the B&N, but since Amazon currently has over 70% of the market I would argue that consumers do not agree.

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Isn't that the whole purpose of IT? To server other ends?

daboochmeister 26th Sep

To disappear into the woodwork of useful functionality? To be an appliance that just gets a job done for a user?

Much as I enjoy socializing on sites like this, I've always thought that we're chronically myopic here wrt/ where IT ultimately should go.

Isn't the whole POINT of IT to disappear in and of itself, and just enable and serve other ends? All of the directed focus on IT tech that we wrangle about on these boards kind of misses the point ... the point is for EVERY computer, whatever its form factor, to be an appliance.

Imho, that's one of the minor tragedies of the way MS and Apple and Oracle and other IT companies work the system - that they're delaying an inevitable evolution toward where such companies just don't matter, in and of themselves ... where they deliver what is properly and rightly understood as virtually a commodity (and are monetized appropriately). The FOSS movement heads us more in that direction (again, imho).

In any case, hoo-ah to Amazon for creating a tablet appliance, if it works the way they want it to. And hoo-ah to Android for having the licensing and business model to support that.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

nbkz81f 26th Sep

I love my Kindle for reading but I have been considering a tablet for PDF's with color photos and cookbooks that I want to see to the color photos. This may be my answer. I would love an iPad but too rich for me right now.

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Still Don't Want!

Jerome.Thomas 26th Sep

When will these vendors get it that these devices are ONLY failing because of vendor lock in. Why would I spend $250 on a device that can ONLY do what I can already do on ALL my other devices?

I want a low cost tablet.

First vendor to make one that's not locked in to their sales chanel or wireless plan gets my money! Why is this so hard to figure out?

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Basically, it sounds like an Amazon POS device, disguized as a tablet.

adornoe@... Updated - 26th Sep

Somebody needs to take that Kindle Table and turn it into a regular Android device which won't be "answerable" to only the Amazon ecosystem. However, a 7 inch tablet is still too expensive at $250. Something like Amazon is offering should be given away for free since it's intended to be a POS device for use at Amazon's "store", but, it it were to be a general use device, like other Android tablets, the price would still have to come down to below $200 because of the "tiny" screen that it sports.

(BTW, for those who don't know, POS is "point of sale" and not that other POS that's used to demean and slander).

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Will it handle email?

Bebelin 26th Sep

Can one retrieve their email with the new Kindle tablet?

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

oskar401 26th Sep

I believe the focus is on building an ecosystem under the Apple radar, when that develops, which it should, its a game changer for Amazon and the consumer.

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RE: Kindle Tablet is coming, what it means to consumers

dave95. Updated - 26th Sep

I think this Amazon Kindle/tablet will wipe the floor of the alternative tablet market, simply because of the Amazon's branding and ecosystem. It will be more a competition to other Android competitors and Nook than iPad. Similar to the way Microsoft entering the mp3 space were more a competitor and threat to the iPod competitors, not really the iPod. Apple is in their own space with the iPad, not only catering to the consumer markets but education, government, enterprise etc.