Amazon Ordered Color Kindle Tablets, Expected Before Holidays

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by stonetools

If the focus is on visual media, then you need the biggest high quality screen that you can comfortably carry around-which means 10" . Seven inches is OK for most ebooks, but not for other visual media.

I can't comfortably carry around a 10" tablet. If someone gave me a 10" one, I'd refuse it. All it would do is stay home; and if it's staying home, why have it? I have a 10" netbook which is far more functional.

As for 3G- I think Amazon will offer a 3G model.After almost 6 months of Ipad usage, my biggest regret is that I didn't get the 3G model. It would have been worth it, with the deal Apple was offering. If Amazon offers a 3G model, with a bargain price data plan, I would recommend
that option.

I don't want 3G and most of my friends feel the same way. 3G means another monthly bill.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by stonetools

While Amazon may offer something like this, I think it is VERY LIKELY that Amazon may offer a high performing 10" tablet.

B&N is hoping for that also. Then they'd continue to go unchallenged in the 7" tablet market.

[stonetools]

I can't comfortably carry around a 10" tablet. If someone gave me a 10" one, I'd refuse it. All it would do is stay home; and if it's staying home, why have it? I have a 10" netbook which is far more functional.

Well, I don't have a 10" netbook, and I carry my Ipad with me in a messenger bag every day to go to work. I think you are assuming that everyone has the same hardware needs as you do. My understanding is that Amazon is thinking of offering all three sizes (4,7 and 10") plus a smartphone. My guess is that it will end up offering just the 4 and 10" tablets, but I could be wrong

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by stonetools

Well, I don't have a 10" netbook, and I carry my Ipad with me in a messenger bag every day to go to work. I think you are assuming that everyone has the same hardware needs as you do. My understanding is that Amazon is thinking of offering all three sizes (4,7 and 10") plus a smartphone. My guess is that it will end up offering just the 4 and 10" tablets, but I could be wrong

I don't carry a messenger bag to work and my netbook stays home.

I'm not assuming hardware needs any more than you are. I'll buy a 7" Amazon tablet priced under $250. If they only produce a 10" tablet, then I'll buy more Nook Colors. I have several friends who feel the same way.

[carld]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Very few of my friends want a 10" tablet; most want 7" for portability. If I'm going to watch video on a 10" screen, then I'll do so on my netbook.

I see Amazon producing a $225-239 7" tablet like I described for the average consumer. I also see them doing a $500+ 10" tablet tricked out with all the bells and whistles found on a smartphone for the not-average consumer. They may even do a smartphone and an Android touch.

I think you may be right on both counts, though I'm hoping the big brother comes in a bit cheaper. Personally, I'm very interested in a larger tablet, and not so much in the smaller. To me the smaller tablet would basically be just a reader, and too small for magazines and PDFs. At 10-inch I can see actually using it as a computer. I've typed on an iPad, and it's doable, not really too bad. I can't see doing that on a 7-incher.

[DMB]

Having had a pretty positive experience with the K3, I'd be interested in a 10-inch Amazon tablet. I'd like something for reading newspapers and magazines plus general browsing. For me 7-inch would be too small to bother with.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by carld

No, it's not really much like that, I don't think. It's much more like Amazon selling Kindles, so you'll buy more Kindle ebooks. That seems to have worked out well.

I disagree with this and think that the Bose analogy is dead on. Amazon sold Kindles because it could not sell its books to any other e-ink reader. Bose doesn't need to sell cars because it can install its speakers in any car.

Originally Posted by stonetools

While Amazon may offer something like this, I think it is VERY LIKELY that Amazon may offer a high performing 10" tablet. Three of the things consumers most like to do with tablets are:

*surfing the web
*playing games
*watching videos.

Those things are all best done on a 10" screen with a high performing processor.Speaking for myself, I've watched a bunch of Netflix on my Ipad-something that I wouldn't have done with a smaller screen. What is one of the businesses that Amazon is in? Selling movies and TV shows-including VOD.
Personally, I think Apple hit it the first time. If the focus of the device is audio, then a pocket-sized device is fine, with a great screen being a nice add on but not crucial. If the focus is on visual media, then you need the biggest high quality screen that you can comfortably carry around-which means 10" . Seven inches is OK for most ebooks, but not for other visual media.

I agree that 10" is better than 7 for media. However, offering a 7" tablet means that you do not have to compete against the iPad. And I think that's the best reason to make a 7" tablet right there - competing against B&N is not something Amazon has ever shied away from.

[stonetools]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I disagree with this and think that the Bose analogy is dead on. Amazon sold Kindles because it could not sell its books to any other e-ink reader. Bose doesn't need to sell cars because it can install its speakers in any car.





I agree that 10" is better than 7 for media. However, offering a 7" tablet means that you do not have to compete against the iPad. And I think that's the best reason to make a 7" tablet right there - competing against B&N is not something Amazon has ever shied away from.

Well , maybe they think they can take on the champ
From what you and others are saying, they should just cede the movies/TV shows market to Apple and Netflix and just content themselves with ebooks and whatever crumbs fall from the Itunes' musical table. Oh ye of little faith!.
You're also forgetting electronic games. That's right up there with movies and video and may become the biggest market of all.

The iPhone 4 has been named as the fastest-selling portable gaming system, after an estimated 1.5 million iPhone 4 handsets were sold on the first day of release back on June 24, 2010. In comparison, the PSP only sol 200,000 units on its launch date in 2005, and the DS took two weeks to move 500,000 units after its launch in 2004. However, neither of those devices functioned also as a smartphone, those this award’s a bit of a stretch.

Nonetheless, the Guinness guys move on to award Apple’s App Store with more than one title including being the most popular application marketplace, the largest downloadable video game store, and having had the largest launch lineup of any gaming system. The App Store has had over 6.5 billion downloads since its launch in July 2008. It also had about 37,362 games available since last September.

APP STORE RECORDS


I think Amazon definitely wants some of THAT.
Apple has shown with Ios, Itunes and the App Store, what can be done with a platform where hardware, software and merchandising are all tightly integrated.
Google has challenged Apple but has not done so in a focused, systemic way. Amazon thinks it has the focus and the resources to do the job right. I say more power to them. Competition is a good thing.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

They don't need to lock anyone out. They only need to lock in their tablet.

If B&N had an app store the size and price of Amazon's Appstore when they launched the Nook Color, there would've been no need for me to jailbreak my Color.

Amazon tablet owners will have a large, friendly content environment and won't feel the need to stray. Other tablet owners have already strayed and may or may not get Amazon content.

Now price that tablet under $250, give it name recognition and you'll ensure far more content sales, because consumers will eagerly snap it up.

Maybe I'm just not seeing it, but the Amazon App Store is nowhere even close to the size of the Android Market, is it? History has shown us (with the iPhone and the iPad, at least) that if people need to root/jailbreak their device to get the full experience, that's what they'll do. And if they can't get the full Android Market from the Amazon tablet, they're going to compare the price of it and any other device they have to root, and go with the cheaper one. That's why I think they'd have to undercut the Nook Color for their tablet to gain traction: Any tablet w/ a capacitive screen is going to be a threat. That means that cheap $100 knockoffs won't be comparable to the Android tablet, but the Nook Color and any similar devices that arise will be. Also, don't forget, the Amazon App Store (and the other things people list) isn't exclusive to Amazon's tablet. Any Android-based tablet can use them.

To make it worth buying an Amazon tablet over a Nook, I would expect the Amazon tablet to be priced ~ $199. With the limitations of the current Amazon App Store, I don't see any way around that.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

Maybe I'm just not seeing it, but the Amazon App Store is nowhere even close to the size of the Android Market, is it?

It isn't very big right now, but there's more than enough content on it to keep me happy.

I don't need the latest high end tablet running a quantum-core Rubidium processor at 3.7 Gazillon Hertz with a super-charged plasma-ion display at a resolution of 7680x4800.

The Nook Color is in the right ballpark to satisfy most users. All Amazon needs to do to a tablet to have a bestseller on their hands is up the specs a bit, lower the price a tad and lock it into their ecosystem.

Remember, most people aren't tech oriented and they want an inexpensive tablet that will allow them to surf the web, do their email and Facebook, watch videos, play games, and listen to music. They don't care about jailbreaking the device, syncing calendars, displaying PDF's, accessing corporate email accounts, business presentations, 24/7 internet access, etc.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I don't need the latest high end tablet running a quantum-core Rubidium processor at 3.7 Gazillon Hertz with a super-charged plasma-ion display at a resolution of 7680x4800.

Now that sounds like something I couldn't wait to get my hands on...

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It isn't very big right now, but there's more than enough content on it to keep me happy.

What tends to happen to people is that they're satisfied for a while, until they see their friends doing things with their tablets that they would like to do, also. Like play specific games, run specific apps, etc. That's the lesson that Palm (and then HP) learned with WebOS: The size of your app store matters - a lot. It's not enough to have 50,000 good apps if your competition has 300,000 apps, some of which are good.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I don't need the latest high end tablet running a quantum-core Rubidium processor at 3.7 Gazillon Hertz with a super-charged plasma-ion display at a resolution of 7680x4800.

The Nook Color is in the right ballpark to satisfy most users. All Amazon needs to do to a tablet to have a bestseller on their hands is up the specs a bit, lower the price a tad and lock it into their ecosystem.

I think upping the specs will put them in competition with the unlocked/unimpeded tablets. That's not a great place for them to be.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Remember, most people aren't tech oriented and they want an inexpensive tablet that will allow them to surf the web, do their email and Facebook, watch videos, play games, and listen to music. They don't care about jailbreaking the device, syncing calendars, displaying PDF's, accessing corporate email accounts, business presentations, 24/7 internet access, etc.

I can do all that now with a tablet I paid $100 for, and I wouldn't have even had to root it to do it. If Amazon is going for that basic a market, they don't need better specs than the Nook Color. They don't even have to match the specs for the Nook Color, at that point.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

I can do all that now with a tablet I paid $100 for, and I wouldn't have even had to root it to do it. If Amazon is going for that basic a market, they don't need better specs than the Nook Color. They don't even have to match the specs for the Nook Color, at that point.

The problems with the cheap tablets are the screen, the speed, and the service. So high end media is out, reading probably not optimal. Browsing, e-mail, chat, etc should be fine, except for flash. Everyone has to answer the question himself if it is worth spending a little bit more.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

That wouldn't bother me or the majority of other consumers who want a simple tablet at a reasonable price for entertainment.

If Amazon produced a tablet with the following specs

How about just a tablet that works well irrespective of the specs?

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

How about just a tablet that works well irrespective of the specs?

Lol, the specs are just part of what is necessary to work well, but an important part that people should be made aware of. Flying a plane in manual mode, blindfolded at night without radar usually is not a very good idea.

But here is a thought --- next time they have an ad for a tablet the specs just appear at the very bottom. That way you don't have to read them, if you don't want to.