Kindle Tablet Set To Fire Up The Portable PC Game

(Photo via eurodroid.com)

Amazon put on a press conference today announcing their foray into the tablet market. The Kindle Fire will be available to the masses in mid to late November. If you're really excited (you might be after reading this), you can sign up to pre-order the device in the US. The measuring stick for success is gauged by the size of the bite that can be taken out of the Apple. Is this finally the iPad killer?

The Kindle Fire has some nice components under the hood. It's rocking a dual core 1 GHZ processor, a multi touch screen and Gorilla Glass, which is a nice addition. It's a highly damage and scratch resistant glass cover that is tough to smash (good for the kids). Surprisingly, the Kindle Fire has a higher pixel per inch than the iPad: 169 vs 132. The screen size is 7 inches with no visible buttons on the touchscreen, without a camera and an 8 gig hard drive. It comes wifi ready, but no word if 3G will become available (note: the basic Kindle comes equipped with free 3G connectivity which is pretty awesome). There's no details about the navigation (I read that journalists did not get permission to use the device during the demos); whether it's touch or swipe based like the Playbook.

Speaking of the Playbook, the Fire looks strikingly similar to RIM's 7 incher. Word is that both devices were made by the same manufacturer. The similarities continue as the specs are basically the same. I have a Playbook and I love it. I use it every day. Don't know what I would do without it. I believe that the Kindle Fire will be a smash hit (add: embarrass the Playbook along the way) for one simple reason.

Content. Cliche warning: Content is King. Amazon is a worldwide, recognized brand that pumps out products like a boss. The Kindle is a popular ebook reader and will be available as an app on the Fire. The Amazon Prime service will provide access to thousands of TV show and movies for 79 bucks per annum. Want more? You will also get free Amazon cloud storage with your Fire. Everything that you purchase will automatically sync to your cloud locker, including music that you buy from the Amazon MP3 store. The Fire sports a modified Android tablet OS so you can get your fave marketplace apps like Angry Birds and Plants Vs Zombie.

Amazon developed its own web browser called the Amazon Silk. They are claiming that it will be lightning quick since it's a "cloud-accelerated browser that uses a "splitbrowser" architecture to leverage the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud." They also tossed in Adobe Flash support to boot.

This is a bold move by Amazon that I believe will pay off. The Kindle Fire will change the tablet landscape almost overnight once it's released. Selling at a $200 price point, expect to see this fly off the virtual shelves. Look at the Fire as a handheld storefront for Amazon. They might lose money on each device sold, but will make it up with all of the digital purchases by Fire owners. Amazon will even set up your new Fire before shipping with your Amazon account details including all of your purchased content! That level of customer service is on the next. Everything that RIM erred on with the Playbook release, Amazon played right. Don't expect the Fire to take out Apple's iPad. You can count on it to comfortably take the #2 spot with great delight, while challenging for the top of the tablet covered hill.

-Paqman