Finally Kindle in color. November 15th is supposed to be the release date of Amazon’s (Nasdaq: AMZN) long-awaited color Kindle, Kindle Fire. Before you get too excited though, the device comes with only 8GB of storage, no expandable storage capability, nor 3G support, and a significantly shorter life battery. So, how is that a step-up from earlier Kindles?
Aside from the color display, three main new features make the Kindle Fire more appealing than Amazon’s earlier Kindle versions, the processing speed, the ability to play videos and the access to Android App Store, but isn’t that what Barnes & Noble Nook Color (NYSE: BKS) introduced about a year ago?
Looks to me like Amazon is seriously late in the game and they are only responding to Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color 2 rumor earlier this month. I cannot think of anything Kindle Fire can do that Nook Color can’t, let alone Nook Color 2 that is expected to have a 3G option and a higher processing power than its predecessor.
I believe that Kindle Fire is just another Nook in disguise!
Having said that, Kindle Fire is positioned more as a tablet rather than an e-reader, and with such an unbeatable (so far) low price of $199, you cannot go wrong. I would say it is a great deal for those who don’t own an e-reader already, or those who wish to buy an affordable Android tablet.
Shown below is a comparison between Kindle Fire, Nook and iPad 2,
(SOURCE: PC Magazine)
If you are wondering on what the differences are between the different Kindle products, I would recommend taking a quick look at the official Amazon’s Comparison here.
I am seriously considering one for my daughter, she keeps asking for an Android tablet, and as it looks so far, I may either pre-order now, or just wait for November 15 as my early Thanksgiving shopping day.
Article by Mohamed Osam
A network engineer and a security specialist with a BSc degree in Computer Engineering, MS in Computer Networks, MBA in International Business and MS in Global Management. A member of the National Political Science Honor Society and The International Honor Society for Collegiate Schools of Business. Seinfeld, That '70s Show, Monk and Lost are my favorite TV shows, and Back to the Future, 12 Monkeys and Crash are my favorite movies. I however enjoy activities like biking, golfing and reading, but I spend most of my time behind a computer screen.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I think,Kindle Fire will win sure.
The amazon kindle fire tablet is awesome, it shipped this week and very worth the 200 cost, nice comparison chart on your review Mohamed
Twitter: scripscan
October 11, 2011 at 10:59 am
I’d go with the Kindle Fire as it goes beyond an eReader.
Twitter: EBScribblings
October 10, 2011 at 6:13 pm
I think that Amazon has definitely gone after the Nook Color rather than the iPad with the Kindle Fire. However, given that all tablets are secondary devices for most people, a price point of $ 199 may make the Fire an attractive option even to those who were thinking about an iPad.
Not much doubt, in my opinion at least, that the iPad has the Fire beat – but the price difference will be just too much for many to ignore. If industry gossip is to be believed, we will see a 10″ (ish) Kindle tablet early next year. I would fully expect that to be also priced quite a bit lower than the iPad.
It’s going to be interesting.
Twitter: WritingReader
October 8, 2011 at 12:06 am
Let’s not forget that if you’re a prime member at Amazon, you get free streaming video from their library of TV and movies. There’s a lot more here than just an ereader. I’m excited to get my hands on one.
The Kindle Fire is the perfect for me. I am not much of a gamer, but rather an everyday task type user. I will mainly be using this tablet for e-mail, book reading and music. At $199 how can you go wrong?
Twitter: KavyaHari
October 4, 2011 at 2:25 am
In fact, this is one of the reasonable Android tablet on here. So, i would like to say thanks for given up here
Twitter: stressed_steve
October 2, 2011 at 9:39 pm
I prefer the Kindle fire personally. It’s less expensive and with almost the same feature as Nook. I am an e-book fan and I really appreciate these new technologies that we have. Some of it are just really expensive but offers the same features as the cheaper ones.
Twitter: techhogger
September 30, 2011 at 2:52 pm
At 200$ it is something we can look forward to. Added its an Android tablet so it will provide vast options.
Kunal Sharma recently posted..The Basics of A/B Testing
Twitter: addisonskanks
September 30, 2011 at 9:25 am
Between the two, I prefer the Fire not only because I’m a big Jimi Hendrix fan.
But the thing is, I’m not really into tablets nor e-readers…yet. I know that tablets have a long way to go to be really practical. I mean it is already practical but I would still take a netbook over it. More features, and not as expensive.
Noel Addison recently posted..Selling Ice Cubes to Eskimos
I have an iPad2 but I would by Amazon Fire for reading books, it’s price is great.
I’ve been seriously considering buying Kindle Keyboard but then I found out they’re releasing Fire. Hmm… I wanted something simple but Fire sure is attractive.
Twitter: shawn_Ozbun
September 30, 2011 at 7:59 am
I really hope this Kindle fire competes and drives down prices of the other tablets out there. Just wish the kindle fire came in 3g.
shawn ozbun recently posted..Kindle Fire Review: The new Kindle Tablet
Twitter: jvprime
September 30, 2011 at 5:24 am
It’s not available in my country yet
Personally i prefer Kindel Fire, in just $199 you will get amazing features with best quality. i purchased this recently and its awesome.
Nook is still not much effective for users choice
Bruker recently posted..Ore Assay
Twitter: Jajodia_Saket
September 29, 2011 at 4:41 pm
I really liked the new fire. Its good, I can’t read book on my computer and don’t have time to go and buy book every time so its btr to hv an e-reader and Jason said its “paper-like”. So why not stop firing the earth and buy an e-reader.
Saket Jajodia recently posted..Apple’s Ex CEO Steve Jobs’ “i”Cartoon
Twitter: dragonblogger
September 29, 2011 at 2:00 pm
Unlike the Nook the Fire comes with Amazon Cloud Storage so even though you have 8GB internal memory you have virtually unlimited storage on the cloud and with wi-fi you can just stream items from the cloud. This makes it unnecessary to require so much local storage as with other tablet devices and isn’t really a disadvantage here.
From my own investigation into the Fire, I really think it is a very strong service offering and with Amazon weight, store, media and offerings I don’t think the Nook stands a chance.
Justin Germino recently posted..New Trent iCruiser IMP1000: Carry Extra iPad Battery Life With You
Twitter: mohamedosam
September 29, 2011 at 2:29 pm
True Justin. The cloud storage Amazon offers is included with all Kindle products including the Fire of course, and helps a lot in saving space on your internal storage, Nook doesn’t have that cloud storage feature. On the other hand, Nook has a 32GB expandable SD that Kindle Fire doesn’t have, so, IMO those two features equal out each other.
Here is the catch now, earlier Kindles like Kindle Touch and Kindle keyboard come with a 3G option, which makes the cloud storage a phenomenal feature; the Kindle Fire however doesn’t have that option, at least not with the current foreseen version, which means that Fire will require a WiFi access to get to that cloud storage, that’s not a big deal if you have the WiFi access most of the time, but would be a real pain if you are constantly on the go.
Mohamed Osam recently posted..Get Massive Business Leads by Making Most of YouTube
Personally if I wanted an e-reader, I would rather have the original Kindle because of its “paper-like” screen. Reading on a bright screen is really no fun, as Amazon itself has pointed out. Now, if I wanted a tablet, the $199 price tag would probably get me at least carefully considering the Kindle Fire.