Quote:
Originally Posted by Lordvic
I'm not entirely sold on $199
I know that that the Kindle isn't available up here in Canada, and this is Kobo's primary Market, being they're canadian,
But the Kindle specs far outweigh those of the Vox, and priced identically. I'm not entirely sure that $199 is the right price.
unless the tech spec's that have been reported by tech sites are wrong, it's only a single core, 800mhz cpu with 512mb ram. While the Kindle is sporting a dual core CPU, a bit more ram, custom UI and a much larger "marketplace" with videos, music, and books.
I think this HAS to be $20-30 cheaper. if you put both on the same storefront shelf for $199, the Kindle is a far greater deal. the "soft" backing, and bare bones Android aren't enough to justify the same cost for significantly lower hardware.
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Based on Amazons BOM estimates for the Fire (which look like they will be sold at a loss - at least initially), I just can't see Kobo being able to compete on that front - spec for spec. Due to the ecosystem Amazon have a lot of ways to extract money from Fire owners, unlike Kobo who currently only sell digital text (ebooks/mags etc..). I actually think the $199 is very reasonable, even with its slower processor.
I'll personally reserve judgement until I see some reviews, but all up it looks like a neat device for what it is. I think the 7" size will appeal to many, and while there are other similar devices from Lenovo, Acer etc.. I think Kobo have a unique market and story to bring. I also don't see Gingerbread being a big issue. I still feel like the general audience/consumer won’t care as long it has enough of the apps they want, which it will. The real challenge to these devices will be if Apple decides upon releasing a ~7" ipad (or upsized touch) variant - which has seen some more rumour rumbling of late.