Amazon Unveils New, Larger Kindle Fire Models

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Even if you aren't a big fan of the Kindle Fire, you have to admit that these new models are pretty schpanky. And that 4G deal for $50 a year (250mb a month) beats anything anyone else is offering. :eek:
 
Cross-posting my post from the original news thread posted an hour ago in Mobile Computing...

LINKS to pre-order each model:

7" 1024x600 screen, 8gb, 1.2ghz, $159: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083Q04IQ/ (faster cpu than original & more battery life)
7" 1280x800 screen, 16gb, 1.2ghz, $199: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083PWAPW/ (32gb available on the same page)
8.9" 1920x1200 screen, 16gb, 1.5ghz, $299: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GFRB9E/ (32gb option available on same page for $369)
8.9" 1920x1200 screen (4G LTE), 32gb, 1.5ghz, $499: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008GFRBBW/ (64gb available on the same page for $599)
 
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EEhhhh... I'll stick with my Nexus 7. A nice quad core processor with a good portable video card is better than what the new Fire models are offering.

Not to say that I wouldn't enjoy a mini-HDMI port, however.
 
ballistic90 said:
EEhhhh... I'll stick with my Nexus 7. A nice quad core processor with a good portable video card is better than what the new Fire models are offering.

Not to say that I wouldn't enjoy a mini-HDMI port, however.
Click to expand...

The dual-core CPU in this puppy is purportedly faster overall due to the clockspeed and efficiency, with a GPU that rivals the Tegra 3. The new Fire models are offering more than the Nexus 7 at a lower price, albeit no native google play store (just Amazon's market).
 
GoldenTiger said:
The dual-core CPU in this puppy is purportedly faster overall due to the clockspeed and efficiency, with a GPU that rivals the Tegra 3. The new Fire models are offering more than the Nexus 7 at a lower price, albeit no native google play store (just Amazon's market).
Click to expand...

Yeah, but there are actually games being designed around the Tegra 3 to take advantage of the specific video card and processor. My HTC One S has an S4 Snapdragon processor that scores higher than a Tegra 3 processor too, but that doesn't matter because there's no software to take advantage of it. In fact, there's plenty of standard games that won't run on the phone.
 
ballistic90 said:
Yeah, but there are actually games being designed around the Tegra 3 to take advantage of the specific video card and processor. My HTC One S has an S4 Snapdragon processor that scores higher than a Tegra 3 processor too, but that doesn't matter because there's no software to take advantage of it. In fact, there's plenty of standard games that won't run on the phone.
Click to expand...

I've yet to encounter a game that outright won't run on my original Kindle Fire that I had, or my Galaxy S3. Some have lower effects if they're coded to specifically use the Tegra's extensions but that's it.
 
Not sure how a device that is restricted to Amazon's walled garden will ever be successful...not when the Android and iOS Gophers can come in and have access to all of your flowers.

The only reason why the Fire was a huge success was because it was the first to hit the $200 price point. Well, Google caught up...and they are slaughtering the competition
 
Could be a good buy if you can root it but wtf is up with no sd card? This whole 16gb should be enough for anyone reminds me of the famous Bill Gates quote.
 
And now the Fine Print.....

It seems now all of the Kindle fire series no matter the price will be displaying "sponsored ads on the lock screen" and also display "special offers"

I was all set to pre-order one of the HD ones till I came across that little bit of greed.

I can understand maybe having that on the basic $149 model or $199 model but if they expect me to pay $399 and up and look at ads on my screen all the time they have to be smoking something?

Probably have to go to something from Samsung instead.
 
Seventyfive said:
Could be a good buy if you can root it but wtf is up with no sd card? This whole 16gb should be enough for anyone reminds me of the famous Bill Gates quote.
Click to expand...

It will be plenty for the next few years, sure, by which time you'll be looking to replace this anyway.

ComputerBox34 said:
Not sure how a device that is restricted to Amazon's walled garden will ever be successful...not when the Android and iOS Gophers can come in and have access to all of your flowers.

The only reason why the Fire was a huge success was because it was the first to hit the $200 price point. Well, Google caught up...and they are slaughtering the competition
Click to expand...

This thing out-specs it in a number of ways, *and* is $50 less than google's 16gb tablet. Not sure what you think they could have done better? Oh, and many people LIKE amazon's interface, judging by Fire reviews. Virtually everything of any worth is available on the amazon market instead of just the google play one, anyway.
 
James21 said:
And now the Fine Print.....

It seems now all of the Kindle fire series no matter the price will be displaying "sponsored ads on the lock screen" and also display "special offers"

I was all set to pre-order one of the HD ones till I came across that little bit of greed.

I can understand maybe having that on the basic $149 model or $199 model but if they expect me to pay $399 and up and look at ads on my screen all the time they have to be smoking something?

Probably have to go to something from Samsung instead.
Click to expand...

If it's like the Kindle 3G was, they're very unobtrusive and sometimes have freebie MP3 credits/etc. in them ;). On the lock screen, I don't care much...
 
From the looks and the emphasis on services in the presentation of the 8.9" model, they are aiming square at the iPad. Since they basically admitted they make no profit on devices sales, I'm sure they left off the SD card so like Apple they force you to stay connected more often and thus push toward their services which they sell.

The upside to this is Apple will now have real competition in the large tablet market and forced to drop prices.
 
Tweak42 said:
From the looks and the emphasis on services in the presentation of the 8.9" model, they are aiming square at the iPad. Since they basically admitted they make no profit on devices sales, I'm sure they left off the SD card so like Apple they force you to stay connected more often and thus push toward their services which they sell.

The upside to this is Apple will now have real competition in the large tablet market and forced to drop prices.
Click to expand...

Nah, Apple has stayed overpriced forever on laptops/desktops as well even when better/cheaper options are available. I forsee their marketing engine spinning up a bit harder than normal and that's about it :p .
 
There is one thing I don't understand, why do they want $200 more just for LTE? That's freaking ridiculous, it's even more expensive than the premium Apple puts on the iPad.

I'm brainstorming, maybe they are "subsidizing" the low cost of the data plan by charging extra upfront for the LTE?
 
XacTactX said:
There is one thing I don't understand, why do they want $200 more just for LTE? That's freaking ridiculous, it's even more expensive than the premium Apple puts on the iPad.

I'm brainstorming, maybe they are "subsidizing" the low cost of the data plan by charging extra upfront for the LTE?
Click to expand...

It is also a 16GB upgrade in storage capacity, from the base HD 8.9" to the LTE.
 
diesavagenation said:
Why is Professor-X holding them?
Click to expand...

the professor is in a wheelchair, it's actually a real life Warner Borhters character.

http://looneytunes.wikia.com/wiki/Beaky_Buzzard

Strifebeaky.jpg
 
GoldenTiger said:
It is also a 16GB upgrade in storage capacity, from the base HD 8.9" to the LTE.
Click to expand...

You can get the 16/32 GB in Wi-Fi model or 32/64 GB LTE model. The 32 GB Wi-Fi model is $369 compared to the 32 GB LTE model for $499. Still no way worth it being worth $130 more, esp. since the LTE version is restricted to only 250 MBs/month (with a one time payment of $50). Most likely you already have a smart phone you can tether it to (in my case with unlimited data) and if you're smart you have free tethering on it.
 
GoldenTiger said:
It will be plenty for the next few years, sure, by which time you'll be looking to replace this anyway.



This thing out-specs it in a number of ways, *and* is $50 less than google's 16gb tablet. Not sure what you think they could have done better? Oh, and many people LIKE amazon's interface, judging by Fire reviews. Virtually everything of any worth is available on the amazon market instead of just the google play one, anyway.
Click to expand...
Did you even look at the specs?

http://gizmodo.com/5941092/how-the-kindle-fire-2-stacks-up-to-the-competition

So for $40 more, I can get the following with the Nexus 7
-More PPI
-Double the Ram
-Much faster Tegra3 architecture
-Pure vanilla android, that has access to the SAME exact Amazon services that the kindle fire does but has the Google Apps suite included
-No ads on my lock screen

Can you please explain to me what makes this more attractive then the nexus 7?
 
Seventyfive said:
Could be a good buy if you can root it but wtf is up with no sd card? This whole 16gb should be enough for anyone reminds me of the famous Bill Gates quote.
Click to expand...

Exactly!

The main reason I haven't bought the Google tablet is the lack SD card expansion. 8GB is not enough, and $50 more for 16GB is way too much $ (and 16GB will also not be enough in the long run)

Even my old Blackberry phone had an SD expansion slot!

I'm still waiting for reasonably priced 7" tablet, with the CPU & resolution like the Google, but with an SD expansion slot.
 
James21 said:
And now the Fine Print.....

It seems now all of the Kindle fire series no matter the price will be displaying "sponsored ads on the lock screen" and also display "special offers"

I was all set to pre-order one of the HD ones till I came across that little bit of greed.

I can understand maybe having that on the basic $149 model or $199 model but if they expect me to pay $399 and up and look at ads on my screen all the time they have to be smoking something?

Probably have to go to something from Samsung instead.
Click to expand...

Ummm you are aware that most if not all of your tablet apps will have ads in them so seeing them on your home screen should not shock you for a subsidized tablet.
 
Hrmm I just made up my mind to buy the Nexus 7 and now this comes out. Right now I am torn between having a legit Android 4.1 tab, or Amazon's "Android" tab with HDMI out and twice the storage for the same price... I wonder how much I would actually use the HDMI out..
 
This is going to make for a tough market for Microsoft when they hit later in the Fall ... I think the battle lines are now forming up quite nicely:

Apple = sells software to sell hardware
Google = sells hardware to sell advertising
Amazon = sells hardware to sell software
Microsoft = sells hardware to leverage existing infrastructure (a smart play when around 90% of the market is locked into MS infrastructure)

The specific user segments now seem to be shaping up as well:

Apple/Amazon is all about media consumption (music, movies, games, books, and magazines)
Google is all about google services (mail, search, maps, youtube, etc)
MS appears to be targeting the productivity segment ... but it is too early to be certain until it actually launches

I am not in the market for a table right now but if I were the Amazon tablet would be tempting. I am tied to some of the Amazon services currently (Prime, Audible) where the only Google services I use a lot are search and youtube. I think the new Fire is pretty competitive and will definitely shake up the tablet market. Apple will really need to step up their game for the next iPad in both hardware, software, and services or next year will likely be much more competitive for them.
 
No thanks.

If I spend $500 on a tablet, I damn well better be able to install whatever I want on it from whatever source I want.

I'll stick to my Transformer Infinity.
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Did you even look at the specs?

http://gizmodo.com/5941092/how-the-kindle-fire-2-stacks-up-to-the-competition

So for $40 more, I can get the following with the Nexus 7
-More PPI
-Double the Ram
-Much faster Tegra3 architecture
-Pure vanilla android, that has access to the SAME exact Amazon services that the kindle fire does but has the Google Apps suite included
-No ads on my lock screen

Can you please explain to me what makes this more attractive then the nexus 7?
Click to expand...
Huh? They have the same screen resolution and ram. The t fire has more battery life. The cpu is arguably faster though it isn't certain yet. Even your own article says all of that.
 
Someone please explain to me why 16GB more memory costs $50 on one and $70 on the other.
 
Velocity said:
Someone please explain to me why 16GB more memory costs $50 on one and $70 on the other.
Click to expand...

Higher tier products are regularly used to subsidize lower tier products. You don't have to agree with the practice, but that's what they do. The cost is different because companies don't choose the same amount to subsidize :p
 
That 4G deal doesn't seem that good, TBH. 250mb a month? You'll knock that out in email syncs and very miscellaneous browsing. I guess it is better than nothing.
 
Spidey329 said:
That 4G deal doesn't seem that good, TBH. 250mb a month? You'll knock that out in email syncs and very miscellaneous browsing. I guess it is better than nothing.
Click to expand...

I want a $100 and $200 a year version for 500mb and 1gb option.
 
Meh.

Honestly, the thing that caught my interest the most is the new Paperwhite E-reader. I have a Nook Color, and I hate it now. I thought I'd root it and use it as a super-basic tablet a few years ago, but it turns out I basically solely use it for books. The screen isn't horrible to read on or anything, but the battery life is garbage. I swear half the time I pick it up to read something the battery is dead, and I need to charge it. I was considering picking up the updated Nook w/ Glowlight, but the Paperwhite announcement will have me doing some more research into the two options.
 
Even though I have an iPad, that $119 PaperWhite is sounding like something I'll buy strictly for Kindle. I've been buying more tech and firearm service books on Kindle lately simply because they are more convenient to have on the tablet at the workbench.
 
GoldenTiger said:
I've yet to encounter a game that outright won't run on my original Kindle Fire that I had, or my Galaxy S3. Some have lower effects if they're coded to specifically use the Tegra's extensions but that's it.
Click to expand...

I know of several that look quite different on Tegra 3, like Dark Meadows, Horn, N.O.V.A. 3 and Galaxy on Fire. Hell, GTA 3 plays much better on a Tegra 3 processor.

You do know that if your phone or tablet isn't compatible with a game, it won't show up in the Play Market at all, right?
 
Jutsu said:
Hrmm I just made up my mind to buy the Nexus 7 and now this comes out. Right now I am torn between having a legit Android 4.1 tab, or Amazon's "Android" tab with HDMI out and twice the storage for the same price... I wonder how much I would actually use the HDMI out..
Click to expand...

I'd recommend the Nexus 7. Android 4.1 is very nice, and the Tegra 3 architecture has a lot of support behind it. None of the Kindles will ever get Android 4.1, and the Nexus 7 has access to the Play store, Amazon's Kindle store and app store, and Barnes and Noble's Nook store.
 
ballistic90 said:
I know of several that look quite different on Tegra 3, like Dark Meadows, Horn, N.O.V.A. 3 and Galaxy on Fire. Hell, GTA 3 plays much better on a Tegra 3 processor.

You do know that if your phone or tablet isn't compatible with a game, it won't show up in the Play Market at all, right?
Click to expand...

Yes, I owned a Nexus 7 and sold it off for a profit awhile back to see what was coming. I have seen the games on Tegra 3 and 99 percent of them are the same, while the tiny number that have differences are very minor changes to the visuals.
 
If you really want 7" for small size, I would probably stick with the Nexus just for the extra portability.

In Portrait mode the Nexus is 4.7" wide, the 7" Fire HD is 5.4" wide. That will make a difference in how many pockets it fits into (if you are one of the people that thinks these are pocket-able devices).

To me, 7" tablets are not pocket-able, I would spend the extra $50 over the Nexus 16GB and get the 8.9" Fire with that amazing 1920x1200 resolution and OMAP 4470.
 
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