Amazon Kindle Fire

Article written by Raul D., contributing writer.

   The all new Amazon Kindle Fire made its debut on Wednesday, September 28th. Amazon’s tablet will retail for $199, which makes it $50 less than the Nook Color and about $300 dollars cheaper than the iPad 2. Why do I mention these other tablets? Well, the Kindle Fire has some pretty impressive specs. Running the popular Android software, the Fire sports a dual-core processor, a 7" multi-touch display (1024x600), and weighs in at 14.6 ounces. Here is where things get very different from “real” tablets, the Fire does not include a camera or microphone and will only be available with Wi-Fi, not 3G.

    Is it fair to say that the Fire will not be able to compete with what is available now? No, it isn’t. The reason is that the Nook Color, after being rooted, is still a very neat device and it also does not include a camera or microphone. Amazon did the right thing by including the Android software in the device because it will give the Fire the feel of a tablet. Even the upcoming commercials don’t make mention of this being an E-reader, focusing on all the other things it does such as games, music, movies, and browsing. 

    Amazon is going to make it difficult not to want to own a Kindle somehow. Along with the news of the Fire, Amazon announced their basic E-reader would be $79 and is about 30% lighter than other Kindles. There will also be a $99 touch navigation version and a $149 Kindle Touch 3G that gives free 3G access.

  Note: there is only 8GB but no memory card slot to add more memory.  

   So the question is, come November 15^th, who’s going to get one?