Wow. How's Google going to beat new HD Kindle Fire at $159?

[6tr6tr]

They have both a 7-inch and 8.9-inch and the 7-inch is only $159. Plus it has an HD screen, double the RAM of before, longer battery, 16GB hard drive (for the $159 version!), dolby digital plus dual stereo speakers, 1.4GHZ dual core CPU, TWO wifi antennaes for faster wifi (first ever tablet to have this), HDMI-out. WOW.

(And add Amazon Prime to that and for $79/year you can stream movies - some that Netflix doesn't even have - and take out thousands of books for free on the device)

 

[seriyb]

Competition - a beautiful thing.
They are most likely going to sell it at a loss and make up the money on subscriptions. Which is fine.

I don't think Google will lower the price for Nexus 7 but it surely will make them work harder on the next Nexus tablet. Also, I'm still waiting for much improved Google Books app/framework.

Whatever eats into scammy Apple market share is my hero.

 

[greatgoogly]

To be honest unless the HD Kindle Fire has some horrible unforseen problems it is going to kill the Nexus 7. I may even dump my Nexus 7 and pick this up since Google can't seem to fix the issues with JellyBean devices connecting to WPA Enterprise Wireless Networks. If the Kindle will work on my work network then the Nexus 7 may be ditched. One other note, you can pretty much bet Amazon won't botch the pre-orders like Google did with the Nexus 7.

 

[Jaingo5150]

Per the press release thus far, the Fire HD is not listed at $159. Only the new Kindle Fire version is $159. That is still smoking hot, and definitely a tablet for the kids, but even at $249 a 9" version would be very nice unless hamstrung with OEM software like the original Fire.

 

[6tr6tr]

Per the press release thus far, the Fire HD is not listed at $159. Only the new Kindle Fire version is $159. That is still smoking hot, and definitely a tablet for the kids, but even at$249, a 9" version would be very nice unless hamstrung with OEM software like the original Fire.

The software looks amazing and is buttery smooth (maybe backed by JellyBean?). Also, they really improved the UI and added some amazing features:

movie x-ray: If you pause the movie in ANY scene, it'll show "movie x-ray" which tells you which actors are in that scene and gives you their IMDB info!

Also x-ray for books with wikipedia and youtube videos with info on book, characters, etc.

 

[6tr6tr]

7-inch non-HD: $159.
7-inch HD: $199 (but has 16GB)
8.9-inch, wifi: $299
Kindle fire hd, 8.9 4G LTE, 32GB, $499 ($50 data plan - ANNUALLY!!, that's $4/month!!) Comes with 20GB cloud storage, $10 appstore credit

 

[bawboh86]

You can bet that the new Kindles will have Amazon's OEM software. They don't want people to have the ability to read Barnes And Noble books on their stuff, and the easiest way to do that is to put your own software on it.

Still $159 is amazing, but I'm quite happy with my Tegra 3 device. Although, that OMAP processor should be good enough for anyone that doesn't have a tablet yet to play games and what not. Yup, this is good competition and I can't wait to see how Google responds.

 

[HisSvt2]

its still only uses the Amazon App Store and it's only a dual core processor big deal it has a higher resolution screen it's still a slower tablet storage is the same and I'd still take this tablet with Unaltered jelly bean on it any day of the week the specs on that new tablet are not much better than my Xoom tablet which i got new for 199 (best buy last one)now runs jelly bean as well

 

[6tr6tr]

And he's now announcing a new tablet: Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE

 

[6tr6tr]

Kindle fire hd, 8.9 4G LTE, 32GB, $499 ($50 data plan - ANNUALLY!!, that's $4/month!!) Comes with 20GB cloud storage, $10 appstore credit

 

[Insp_Gadget]

Competition is a beautiful thing. This will motivate Google to continue to up their game for both content and hardware.

 

[josh6113]

I expect Google to have a substantial update soon for the 7 with hopefully some new and supriseing features...the new kindle looks great but Google isn't stupid and knew this was coming.... our 7's are great on the hardware front but the software is what's going to keep the nexus 7 alive...

 

[Jaingo5150]

Good god, at $299 for a 9" tablet that isn't an iPad is simply ludicrous. Especially when its software will be heavily limited. Then add 4g for $499....wow you have to be an amazon groupie for that.

I will just wait for the inevitable android app to enjoy amazon content.

 

[6tr6tr]

I expect Google to have a substantial update soon for the 7 with hopefully some new and supriseing features...the new kindle looks great but Google isn't stupid and knew this was coming.... our 7's are great on the hardware front but the software is what's going to keep the nexus 7 alive...

Competition is a great thing but Google did NOT know this was coming. Amazon stepped it up far beyond what anyone could have guessed. No one thought they'd offer an 8.9in, HD tablet with 4G LTE for only $4/month!

 

[Jaingo5150]

Competition is a beautiful thing. This will motivate Google to continue to up their game for both content and hardware.

Best part about the announcements.

 

[natehoy]

Competition. It's a beautiful thing.

Everyone benefits from this announcement, and I mean EVERYONE, because you know that Apple is watching and someone from Apple marketing is probably soiling his trousers right about now with how they are going to respond with pricing on their supposedly-upcoming iPad Mini. It sure won't lead to a higher price!

Samsung, Asus, et al have just had the bar reset again.

Yes, this will be a locked-down subsidized device. No, you'll never get Play Store or the Google Experience on it. Amazon will, you can be sure, lock the living snot out of all that.

So for Google Experience or iDevice purists, this will not be a tablet worthy of consideration.

But a well-speced well-built tablet at those prices, even with the limitations, is going to FLY off the virtual shelves. And Google and Apple, faced with folks being drawn into the Amazonosphere, will be forced to respond with something interesting.

Oh, this is going to be fun. Popcorn time!

 

[seriyb]

$50 data plan - ANNUALLY!!, that's $4/month!!)

Let's be honest. This 250MB plan (or whatever that ridiculous number is) is just to suck you in to pay more.

 

[Jaingo5150]

How does 250MB a month actually translate? Is the amazon media stream that compact? It seems that the base of $50 a year for LTE would be exceeded quickly if you actually used it for streaming on the go.

 

[Ftspyder]

Amazon came out swigging today! This is seriously extrememly exciting. Alot of the tech they showed off seems amazing. Though I know i wont be purchasing one, i absoluetly love my Nexus 7, its great to see them trying to compete and doing well at it. This equals better and more innovation from everyone. Could Amazons Kindle Fires cause less Nexus 7 sells? Maybe. Im very excited about what is going on in the tech world right now. Cant wait to see a review.

 

[seriyb]

How does 250MB a month actually translate? Is the amazon media stream that compact? It seems that the base of $50 a year for LTE would be exceeded quickly if you actually used it for streaming on the go.

You can only do so much to compress the data. You will blow through this 250MB before you even get to the climax of a movie LOL
Heck, my wife is going through that much data just by sending emails and using facebook.

I actually just checked (today is my billing date)... she used 253MB last month. As I said, she ONLY uses facebook and email.... possible few app installations. AND this is all with a constant WiFi connection and home