TechCrunch: Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Is Very Real

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by SCION

No mention about weight compared to the NOOKcolor. That's a biggie for me.

Maybe its time to look into that gym membership?

[SCION]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Maybe its time to look into that gym membership?

I just want something I can hold outside of its cover. The NOOKcolor is not comfortable holding in that manner. Other 7" devices are noticeably lighter. I can't say it enough: I should have never held the 10" Galaxy Tab.

[SCION]

Guess I'll hold off on renewing my Prime membership.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

At first I thought you wrote "Amazon treats Canadians like be-headed step children". Upon reflection, I'm not sure who is closer to the mark ....



Yes, well, there is this thing called the North American Free Trade Act and, last time I checked, Toronto is a 90 min drive to Buffalo ... we're a little closer than Brazil. True, we speak real English here ...

It is perfectly easy for Amazon to manage copyright and International support and "supply chain restrictions" with respect to Canada but it simply chooses not to. (Wal-mart and Apple manage ok.) Glasgow is somewhat further away from New York than Montreal but it gets treated to deeper product coverage. For that matter, Washington State -- where Amazon's head office resides and which is Bezo's stomping grounds -- like, touches Canada.

This is a source of some frustration.

Go, Kobo, go!

It seems that Penguin CA (perhaps other publishers?) have removed their books from Amazon, as noted in this article from the Vancouver Sun. In the picture, you'll notice the wording "This title has been removed from sale by Penguin Group, USA." There are rumors afoot that the Canadian government is offering incentives for publishers to only sell through Chapters/Indigo. I won't speculate as to the truthfulness of this rumor.

[OtterBooks]

"Second, the plan right now is to give buyers a free subscription to Amazon Prime."

Booyah. Who called it? I did.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by TimW

Has anyone used the Kobo app from the Amazon Appstore? Does it allow purchasing from the app?

Yes, it does. Not sure if it's exactly the same as the Android Market Kobo app. Mine's looking a bit funky and I don't remember it being like that.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

Yes, it does. Not sure if it's exactly the same as the Android Market Kobo app. Mine's looking a bit funky and I don't remember it being like that.

Funky? How so?

[joenunya]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I honestly don't understand why people insist in rooting devices ....

Why Netflix if you have Amazon Video On demand and Prime? Granted, I have both, but I think 7" is too small for that anyway, don't you think? I've used my wife's HTC Windows phone and Netlifx and it is too small for watching a 2 hr movie. 10" is probably better.

If I jump and buy one of these, will be for the software itself and Amazon's integration. Rooting will "kill" that.

But that's just me ...

Originally Posted by Barty

Yeah, I have iPad and Netflix and after a couple of weeks, I hardly use the iPad for Netflix.. Why? Because I have an actual TV! I guess if I'm stuck somewhere with nothing to do and wifi is available, then yeah, but otherwise...

The reason why NF is important is because NF has TONS more content in the memebership that Amazon Prime Video of that bast $7.99/mo vs the Amazon Prime Video + Pay-per-view on anything you want to watch outside the very limited current Prime Video selection. Now should Amazon choose to find a way to add more content to Prime then GREAT I am on board but sans NF the tablet is not going to be my ideal consumption device. And I only want a device like this one for consumption though if something with an active digitizer comes along I might actually find a value in adding a 3rd size tablet, or not if the 5" device someone pointed me to yesterday turns out to be pretty decent. I am still leaning toward Amazon as my travel entertainment solution though.

What I really would like is for Roku or anyone to develop a tablet that can run Roku software. That would be one spiffy deal for entertainment. Face it the tablet is moving toward being the modern cablebox.

Originally Posted by SCION

Guess I'll hold off on renewing my Prime membership.

I am doing the same thing and it's making me crazy as there are a ton of things I wanna, well NEED, to buy soon. So I have even more "I want it NOW" anxiety swelling in my loins.

But know you ain't alone. Maybe we need a support group.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by stonetools

You know, I'm kind of amazed that people expected that Amazon was going to launch some kind of Android Jesus tablet, as good as the Ipad but half the price and totally stock Android and open.

When did Bezos ever say that Amazon would do anything like that?
When has Amazon ever done anything like that?
Lastly , what's the business case for anything like that?

Amazon is building a device according to its corporate self-interest. Well, hoocouldanode?

Maybe I overlooked something, but I did not see anything in that article about it being locked down to anything. All it said was it came stock with the Amazon media apps, and worked with all the apps in the Appstore. It did not say anything about being limited to it. Or did it? Not that it won't be locked down. It may. Just sayin. Sorry if I misread.

[taming]

Originally Posted by stonetools

So, are you now rooting for a KoboColor?

Well, apparently Michael Serbinis, the Kobo CEO is thinking about one. See the Forbes article from July 12.

From page 2:

Kobo isn’t averse to adopting other ideas from its rivals, such as color screens. “The next big thing will be color,” said Serbinis. Publishers, he pointed out, are beginning to make more color content like cookbooks and children’s books available in digital form. (There have been technical upgrades, too. EPUB, the e-book standard that Kobo uses, now supports the kind of fixed layouts found in many cookbooks and reference books.)

When the number of available color books reaches the tens of thousands, companies like Kobo will want to offer a color-enabled e-reader, Serbinis hinted. It’s an idea Barnes & Noble implemented first with its Nook Color, which was introduced in October 2010.

I am hoping that Kobo does eInk or some other non-backlit technology when they go for it, but who knows.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by Daithi

I'm really not up on the ins-n-outs of Android, but from the article it looks like Amazon has customized Android to create their own version that will run their apps, but may not run all Android Apps. Am I interpreting that part of the article correctly?

The article seems unclear on this. Keep in mind that Amazon's Appstore does not sell "their" apps, though. The apps may very well have been scrutinized to work well with Amazon's device (hence the selection disparity between it and the Android Market), but the Amazon App store is accessible by any Android device (well most). I've bought and used plenty of apps from Amazon on several Android phones. edited for typoses and clarity

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Those are really two different markets with different expectations of what a tablet should do. For the most part, the average consumer would be quite happy with an inexpensive Nook Color-like tablet running Amazon's content. It'll never see enterprise use, nor will it need to do things like HDMI, PDF, navigation, shoot video, etc.

Looks like Amazon's strategy is to produce two tablets for two different markets: a 7" for the Nook Color crowd and a 10" for the iPad crowd. The main problem other makers have is thinking there's a one-size-fits-all tablet; and there isn't. Amazon realizes this and will exploit it just in time for the lucrative holiday season.

Amazon for the win this Christmas.

I realize there are different markets. However, given the stranglehold the iPad has on the high-end, tablet manufacturers need to do something drastic in order to get their products into people's hands - and if they want to turn a profit at the same time, HP's firesale isn't the way to do it.

If I were a consumer reluctant to spend $500 on a tablet but wouldn't mind paying less than $300 to see how I'll like using one, then Amazon has a product for me. Once I've already bought apps, ebooks and videos for the platform, if I ever decide to upgrade, it's probably going to be a tablet that already works with my purchases and comes from a brand I trust. Guess what, more likely than not, Amazon will be my first choice for that..

Manufacturers need to create a buzz around their tablets and make them attractive enough that people would opt for their product instead of the iPad. Unfortunately, the only way to do that right now is price. Once they're already more established, people are more likely to stick with what they're already familiar with and like instead of having to switch to a different ecosystem and needing to buy a whole new set of apps, games, etc.

[stonetools]

I don't see how this does anything for them. They've essentially ceded the fight against Apple. And it doesn't do much for them vs B&N, since it offers nothing a Nook Color doesn't (and I'm sure that will be much cheaper by the time this comes out).

Amazon was never in a fight with Apple. ANDROID FANS were in a fight with Apple .
As far as Amazon is concerned it will work with Apple when its in its self -interest to do so.
It will fight against Apple when its in its self-interest to do so.
It will ignore Apple when its in its self interest to do so (which is most of the time).
You' re right, though, that Amazon and Apple are on a collision course. Amazon is playing the long game here, though.

As B&N, the NC was eating Amazon's lunch when it came to magazines. According to all reports, women flocked in droves to the NC , not because they could root it, as per Android techies , but because it displayed magazines well and the price was right. The 7" Amazon tablet was intended to stop the rot.

As to Apple, this tablet was intended to get Amazon customers interested in getting movies, tv shows, video games, and apps from Amazon, so as to get them excited for when Amazon introduces its big brother next year. THAT's going to be Amazon's main weapon in it's attempt to break Apple's strangehold on the mobile video/games/ apps market

To use boxing parlance, the 7 incher is Amazon's left jab that sets things up for the big right cross aimed at Apple's chin next year

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

Maybe I overlooked something, but I did not see anything in that article about it being locked down to anything. All it said was it came stock with the Amazon media apps, and worked with all the apps in the Appstore. It did not say anything about being limited to it. Or did it? Not that it won't be locked down. It may. Just sayin. Sorry if I misread.

Well, it did say that the tablet OS will be an Android fork from a pre-2.2. version.

My understanding is that the Kindle OS was built on top of some version of Android prior to 2.2. And Amazon will keep building on top of that of that over time. In other words, this won’t be getting “Honeycomb” or “Ice Cream Sandwich” — or if it does, users will never know it because that will only be the underpinnings of the OS. Any visual changes will be all Amazon.

They are not working with Google on this. At all.

That doesn't sound to me like stock Android at all. Indeed, it sounds to me like there will be some incompatability at the beginning and it will grow over time. But then, I'm no techie and I could be wrong on this.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

I realize there are different markets. However, given the stranglehold the iPad has on the high-end, tablet manufacturers need to do something drastic in order to get their products into people's hands - and if they want to turn a profit at the same time, HP's firesale isn't the way to do it.

If I were a consumer reluctant to spend $500 on a tablet but wouldn't mind paying less than $300 to see how I'll like using one, then Amazon has a product for me. Once I've already bought apps, ebooks and videos for the platform, if I ever decide to upgrade, it's probably going to be a tablet that already works with my purchases and comes from a brand I trust. Guess what, more likely than not, Amazon will be my first choice for that..

Manufacturers need to create a buzz around their tablets and make them attractive enough that people would opt for their product instead of the iPad. Unfortunately, the only way to do that right now is price. Once they're already more established, people are more likely to stick with what they're already familiar with and like instead of having to switch to a different ecosystem and needing to buy a whole new set of apps, games, etc.

Spot on. Similar to:

Ipod touch> Iphone>Ipad. Jeff has learned from the master