New 7" Kindle Fire 2 (rumors)

[zhanzr]

The major function that I use on a tablet is reading and surfing web page. So I prefer a 10' one. I will wait for a bigger Kindle Fire 2. It it won't turn out in the next 2 months, I will buy an iPad3.

[drjpreston]

I love the size of the current KF. It will fit in suit coat side pocket if needed. It is same size as many text books or a Bible hence easy to carry around with them. The iPad is like caring around a clipboard in size. My iPad is always in the way. I have abandoned using it in favor of the KF. You can't leave the iPad on the table at lunch. You can't put it in your pocket. It won't fit in anything but extra large purses. It does not fit on the night stand.
I do hope there are improvements on the software in the future but I hope the KF stays just the same size as it is.

[tomsem]

I honestly can't see myself getting another Amazon tablet.

When it comes time to replace my Fire, I'll be looking for something that comes with Google Play (Android Market) access, and with a more mainstream Android experience and upgrade path, even if it costs a little more (and Amazon is already being pressured on that front). I like the form factor, but would prefer higher pixel densities and a little less cost cutting (volume buttons please).

I don't particularly like the Fire's interface, either, and it's annoying that they block compatible apps that would otherwise be available from their own app storefront (e.g. most reading apps, or anything that requires a microphone even though you can attach one).

I might be one of the few who bought the Fire primarily as a reader. I use the tablet features with a few apps, but honestly I never intended the Fire to be used as a tablet. I spend at least 90% of my Fire usage time reading--period. As such, it has been the absolute, all around best reader I've ever owned. Nothing comes close to it in terms of devices with an LCD display as far as reading books is concerned. The new iPad now has a high resolution screen which probably does an excellent job of rendering text, unlike the pathetic job done by the iPads 1 and 2, but it is still way too big, bulky, and heavy to read on for extended periods of time. Nor is the iPad designed as a reader--it is a tablet.

As far as tablets go, I've reluctantly reached the conclusion that the current form factors of nearly all available tablets in iOS or Android or totally insufficient for my uses and none of them have the slightest chance of ever superseding my desktop and/or laptop. They are toys compared to desktops and laptops. Perhaps when Win 8 is released tablets will START to become truly useful, but the touchscreen interfaces that currently exist are pathetically non-useful. I can accomplish a hundred times more in a fraction of the time using a desktop or laptop than I can on any tablet. Until that significantly changes, tablets might be fun, but they are still just toys.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by drjpreston

I love the size of the current KF. It will fit in suit coat side pocket if needed. It is same size as many text books or a Bible hence easy to carry around with them. .

This is one of the reasons I rather enjoy the Fire's current size. It's so much more practical for me. Any smaller, and I may as well use my phone. If it were bigger, I'd need to reconfigure my backpack for daily use (and that is no small task with what I carry).

If/when they release a new model, I wouldn't mind it being the same size, just beefier in the hardware department (plus an SD slot, but that's not a deal breaker, just a pipe-dream).

[geoffwood]

In my opinion the Fire was rushed to market in order to not miss the Holiday shopping season, that's why it is essentially a clone of the Blackberry Playbook rather than a clean sheet design.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see it replaced with a new design as well as a larger model in the relatively short term. I suspect the new model will be substantially revised to better reflect Amazon's design philosophy. I'd love to see it offer expandability vis SD Card which would make it a much better international travel companion, but given the removal of that from the newer Kindle's I'm not holding my breath

[Anabran]

The kindle Fire is an advanced version of the kindle that currently weighs as much as the 10 inch Ipad

I doubt Amazon will make a cumbersome 10 inch "kindle"which would defeat its greatest advantage ..reading comfortably for hours at a time.
As far as the Fire being a "rushed clone" of the playbook well I dont see the similarities beyond the 7 inch size.
The kindle can leverage the existing open market of android apps via side loading.

The RIM playbook had its own closed OS and a pathetic dearth of useful applications at its launch.
The playbook basically required you to be a blackberry phone owner as you needed to "pair" it to a blackberry phone to access you email contact & calenders.

I could go on& on about the playbook but overall the playbook was an unmitigated,epic failure for RIM.

unlike the KF which has been a rousing success for Amazon.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Anabran

The kindle Fire is an advanced version of the kindle that currently weighs as much as the 10 inch Ipad

As far as the Fire being a "rushed clone" of the playbook well I dont see the similarities beyond the 7 inch size.

The Kindle shares more than the screen size. It uses exactly the same screen, processor, motherboard and battery:

http://techland.time.com/2011/11/16/...re-a-playbook/

http://www.benzinga.com/analyst-rati...ok-in-disguise

As to weight, the latest Ipad is about 1.3 lbs, the Fire is about 14 ounces so I'm not sure any Kindle weighs as much as an iPad

[JSWolf]

When buying a tablet, one criteria that you should be on the lookout for is if it can run Skype. If it cannot make a Skype call, then the tablet is a waste of money.

[Anabran]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

The Kindle shares more than the screen size. It uses exactly the same screen, processor, motherboard and battery:

Intersting Yet despite that nice hardware combo RIM managed to put forth an over priced worthless device that none used ,except out for touch businessmen who still still consider the vestigial blackberry phone relevant .

Long live Android!!.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by Anabran

Intersting Yet despite that nice hardware combo RIM managed to put forth an over priced worthless device that none used ,except out for touch businessmen who still still consider the vestigial blackberry phone relevant .

Long live Android!!.

You can kill anything with bad software.

As to Android, I think the Fire is as much an Android device as a regular Kindle is a Linux device. As far as Amazon is concerned, they just want the world to see them as Amazon devices regardless of what OS they chose to use underneath. Check the Kindle Fire product page and see how ofen they use the word Android, I see two instances and one of those is a quote

[obsessed2]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

You can kill anything with bad software.

Or just poor marketing support. Case in point is the HP Touchpad. From what I have seen the HP Touchpad is absolutely gorgeous and a real powerhouse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1cbB47P6fw). Unfortunately they are still fetching over $200 on eBay.

[weatherman]

I don't know what to make of these rumors of a 7" KF. Rumors have been around for a long time about a larger Kindle "Hollywood" presumed to be close to a 10" iPad size, of course, which I still think will happen pretty soon rather than a 7" KF replacement.

That said there is just one thing that would make this rumor plausible; if Amazon had finally decided to use Pixel Qi screens in their color Kindles. Which would make a lot of sense (assuming PQ has the capacity) because at that point all Kindles would have the advantage that the e-ink models have had from the beginning, namely being sunlight readable. That is still Amazon's biggest market distinction between the Kindle and the iPad, and that's what had been synonymous with the Kindle brand before the introduction of the Fire.

Oh, and it just so happens that Pixel Qi has two new screen sizes; 7" and 10" which went in to mass production late last year (for the 7") and possibly sometime this quarter for the 10".

[ApK]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

You can kill anything with bad software.

As to Android, I think the Fire is as much an Android device as a regular Kindle is a Linux device. As far as Amazon is concerned, they just want the world to see them as Amazon devices regardless of what OS they chose to use underneath. Check the Kindle Fire product page and see how ofen they use the word Android, I see two instances and one of those is a quote

My stock, non-rooted Fire can connect to various Android marketplaces, download and run most Android apps, and can have it's file system and sensors accessed with Android utilities. Exactly what else does it have to do to be more of an Android device in your mind? What Linux apps and tools have you seen run like that on an un-modded eink Kindle?
With the fragmentation that Android has brought upon itself ("can't run on this phone, not compatible with that phone, not designed for tablets...") it's little wonder that Amazon wouldn't want to scare people off by blazing "Android" across the marketing materials.

[Anabran]

"My stock, non-rooted Fire can connect to various Android marketplaces, download and run most Android apps, and can have it's file system and sensors accessed with Android utilities. Exactly what else does it have to do to be more of an Android device in your mind?"

Well said Sir!
My non rooted Kindle even runs this amazing Video game

SHADOWGUN
A games that supposedly only runs on the "legitimate" official Tegra 2 android Devices.
With go Launcher Ex hiding the Look of the Amazon brand the Fire is still the highest quality "android" tablet you can get for less than $250 USD No matter what one wants to call it.