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Kindle Fire: Amazon’s $199 Tablet With no Camera, no 3G, no Nothing

28 Sep, 2011 by
Android, Gadgets, News

kindle-fire

Amazon has unveiled the much awaited Android based tablet – the Kindle Fire which might not fire up the tablet market as many were expecting. Well, the price (at $199) might be a killer, considering that we hardly have any decent quality Android tablets at sub-$200 range. But then, not everything is hunky dory with this new device.

The tablet looks tiny at just 7 inches and runs on a forked out version of Android, and doesn’t look anything like Android really. Amazon has completely revamped the user interface and has closely tied the device with its content library, which includes the Amazon app store with more than 10,000 applications.


Kindle Fire Specs – Depressing

The Kindle Fire comes with Wi-Fi and a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which normally costs $79 per year with additional benefits of free two-day shipping and access to Amazon’s video-streaming service.

It’s not clear what’s the version of Android that Amazon has forked out, but some reports say that it’s actually the age old Android 2.1 Eclair! It does support thousands of apps from the Android app store in addition to it’s own App store.

The list of feature it lacks seem to be more than what it possess. There is no 3G, no camera, no microphone, no mail client, no nothing. I’m not surprised why they have retained the name “Kindle” and why it is priced below $200.

Update:

And it comes with IPS display with Gorilla glass and is powered by a dual core processor. It weight 14.6 ounces. As for the web browser, they call it Amazon Silk and it’s supposedly very fast and runs on Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing engine. Now it’s not looking as bad, isn’t it?

Kindle Fire is no iPad Killer, but a threat for Low cost tablets

Over the past few weeks, there were so many claims that this Amazon tablet will be the real competitor to Apple’s iPad 2. But now, it doesn’t even come close to it. To be fair to Amazon, they don’t seem to be competing with iPad at all, definitely not with such specs. There are rumors about a 10 inch version with better specs and features to be announced in 2012, may be (just may be) it will be able to scare iPad a bit.

As tech writer Nimish Dubey says, Kindle Fire would represent a bigger threat to the budget tab market than the iPad. There have been so many Android based tablets getting released in recent times, most of them having low price as their USP, a $199 tab from the leading online store company should definitely hurt their sales.

We will update the post as and when we have more details on the specs and availability.

Update: Kindle Fire will be available from November 15th, but pre-orders start today. Pre-order here.
Update 2: Kindle Fire is US only. Ouch!

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Raju is the founder-editor of Technically Personal. A proud geek and an Internet freak, who is also a social networking enthusiast. You can follow him on Facebook and on Twitter. Mail Raju PP.
  • http://www.droolable.com Prabal

    It is definitely not an iPad killer, but yes decent product for a good price.

  • http://www.emoticonscrap.com Guria

    Its stupid doesnt not bring a webcam and microfone.. Skype is necessary. by the way if the point is read.. may its not a problem

  • http://twitter.com/samueldarwin Samuel Darwin

    Rightly said. The message from Jeff Bezos clearly attacked iPad. But there is no way this is ipad killer. Who in the world will buy something that doesnt have camera and 3G. And I dont think amazon app market will evolve as competitive as Apple app market.
    But definitely this is a good move for customers who are loyal fan of Kindle. These people might purchase this for sure. This product may not be a failure, but in my opinion they should have positioned it differently.

  • http://www.techeverytime.com Ankur @ TechEveryTime.com

    Its price is way less than ipad , so dont compare with such expensive tablet

    • http://techpp.com Raju PP

      am not the one comparing, it was the Amazon CEO was directly hinting at the iPad!

  • Andy

    Thank you Amazon for not including a camera! So sick of everything having a camera to the point that I can’t take any tech to work. And no, an apple product is not a solution.

    • leena

      thats right

  • http://mykindlefirereview.com/3-reasons-to-buy-the-kindle-fire Eddy

    The Kindle Fire will surely eat a chunk out of Ipad’s market share. Amazon did what Sun Tzu said, “attack on weakness”. Ipad’s weakness apparently is its steep price. That said, I do think the Fire will have a hard time beating Ipad for the number 1 spot.

  • JoJo

    Just thought you should know that your article and possibly a number of articles, need to be proofread before going out. You spelled maybe “may be”. I’m just a stickler for that kind of thing, especially when it comes to public press.

  • JoJo

    I will say though I love my Kindle Fire. I don’t mind that it has no camera, I actually agree with Andy above. I love the speed, can’t complain there, the apps run great, I have tens of thousands of books and documents I want and need to keep on the go with me. Between being able to do that AND check my email, AND listen to the radio and so on, this is a hot item for the avid reader on the go.

    I did get screen protectors, but honestly I noticed you really don’t need them unless you travel a lot and/or are a little clumsy and have butterfingers from time to time, or you never wash your hands. If you can at least keep your hands relatively clean and “dry” while using the device, the screen holds up damn well. If not, it cleans even easier. Almost hassle-free!

    The built-in speakers are nice, also. Again, don’t mind the lack of microphone. I bought this for my books, not to video chat or take photos all day. This is far more valuable to me than an iPad 2 or a Droid Xoom for example. I don’t need all that extra crap, thats what my Droid Charge, MacBook Pro, Canon 7D, and iMac are for; phone w/ camera, laptop w/ camera, pro HD-SLR camera with video & audio (and stills of course), and a powerhouse desktop w/ a camera. So, my kindle really doesn’t need to be an iPad, cell phone, camera, laptop or any of those things in one. It just needs to be a Kindle, an awesome device for enjoying all your favorites in exquisite color, interactivity, control and ease.

    Not to mention the fantastic substitute to DigiInk; the ability to change the background to black and text to white for low light conditions, and two shades of tan for the off-reader. So many options, a child would and could read every children’s book in his school and never realize her just plowed through 50 books. It makes you feel like a 1,000 page book (for those easily intimidated) could be a breeze.

    I have nothing but praise for this device. Size is not an issue, it looks great and the text can fill the screen easily, so screen size really makes no difference for the actual customer (buying for the books). Kindle Fire all the way!

  • LEENA

    but remember you just cant upload your own ebooks which are in pdf format

  • Mistah

    ^Actually you can upload your own ebooks, Hell you can upload whatever filetype you want.

    I am sick of all of these modern tech newbies coming into the geek world and complaining about technology.

    You know why the kindle fire doesn’t have a lens on it?
    BECAUSE ITS NOT A CAMERA!

    Do you know why the kindle fire doesn’t have a mic on it?
    BECAUSE ITS NOT A PHONE!

    Seriously….If people are honestly stupid enough to overlook simple things like this, They may as well get a tablet PC instead of a tablet.

    If you want to use skype or webcam so bad, Then go buy one and plug it in like a normal person. I plugged in a headset directly into it, Works just fine with voice to text and for recording audio

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