Boom: Amazon’s US$199 tablet is sticker shock done right

Peter Dockrill
29 September 2011, 12:06 PM


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In a wide-ranging & pocket-friendly update to the "Kindle family", the star attraction is Amazon's new ultra-cheap Android tablet, Kindle Fire. Sadly, it's US-only for now folks.


As was widely expected, Amazon launched its Android-based Kindle Fire tablet overnight in the US, alongside three new conventionally positioned e-ink/e-reader models that start from as low as US$79 for the entry-level Kindle and top out with the US$149 Kindle Touch 3G.  

The heavy hitter among today's announcements however is the new US$199 7-inch Kindle Fire, which comes in at a whopping (and Apple-baiting) US$300 less than the cheapest iPad 2 (which is a larger 9.7-inch tablet). The Fire is available for pre-order in the US only -- for now at least -- with shipping stateside commencing November 15.

Amazon's new US$199 Kindle Fire.

The device features a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 capacitive multi-touch touchscreen display, 8GB onboard storage, up to 8-hour (reading) battery life (7.5 hours for video playback) and Wi-Fi connectivity, running on a highly customised version of Google's Android 2.3 OS (which, it should be noted, is a version of Android tailored for smartphones, whereas 3.0 and above are more suited for tablets). It's possible Amazon's skinning of the device will diminish the impact of this, however. Another notable inclusion is Amazon's new "cloud-accelerated" Silk browser, which channels the user's browsing through Amazon's datacentres to streamline performance (whilst potentially giving Amazon a lot of valuable user info).

There's no camera, no microphone and no 3G access, leading many to conclude that the Fire is no "iPad killer". Of course, at $300 less than the market-leading iPad 2 (and with Amazon's firmly established content shopfronts set in place), it's sure to be a rock-solid "iPad distractor", and at such plum pricing that's all Amazon really needs. The other prominent 7-inch tablet on the market is RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, but even with heavy discounting you won't find one at the Fire's aggressive RRP.

Of course, the real factor to bear in mind for Australian users is the potential waiting game the Kindle Fire poses. It took years for the e-reader Kindle to become available on these shores, so until further notice this jaw-dropping pricetag should be interpreted as an enticement purely directed at US buyers.



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CCCMikey (New user):

Sounds good. Should sell well at that price point. The older OS is no big deal, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" uses the same OS and it works fine in that environment.

29 September 2011, 12:29 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

TechHelpSIte (New user):

Anyone interested in a good 7" Android tablet just go buy yourself an (Optus) Mytab. Root the device and install custom rom (it's easy) and voila. Cost $139 au or less

29 September 2011, 12:35 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Optus Mytab is not available anymore, unless you happen to stumble across a shop that still has some in stock. Also, it was slow and pretty poor screen quality.

29 September 2011, 5:16 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

TechHelpSIte (New user):

MyTab was 'run-out' at $99 but due to demand they re-released at $139
It's now $129 delivered from Dick SMith
http://dicksmith.com.au/product/E6575/optus-mytab-7-quot-android-ouml-pre-paid-tablet-v2
Resistive screen is not up to an ipad standard but is very useable at the price point. Makes a fantastic e-book reader with bonus functionality and is half the likely AU price of the Fire when/if it becomes available here

30 September 2011, 1:48 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

John in Brisbane (Cornerstone member):

I've got the telstra t-touch one and someone said Myer was selling them for $150 the other day ... yes, Myer. I bought mine last year knowing the limitations and it is actually pretty useful as a media player and skype phone. I never activated the 3g sim but with wifi it runs fine off my router or smart phone hotspot. If the kindle can be rooted and has a decent touch screen and cpu, I'd recommend ordering one online. I've seen how useful one of these can be with a crappy touch screen and 768mhz cpu so the kindle looks good. I saw woolworths advertising a basic kindle reader for over $200 today lol ...

01 October 2011, 10:47 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Pauly (New user):

and yet they couldnt afford the extra $5 to add a micro sd reader...

29 September 2011, 5:00 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

teslaboy (New user):

That's if you ignore the difference in display size. As someone said in another thread, 7 and 10 inch devices are not in the same marketplace.

02 October 2011, 10:49 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Many consumers will ignore the screen size difference when it's 1/3 of the price. It's the Apple logo and shiny box they may not be able to rip themselves away from.

02 October 2011, 11:47 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

teslaboy (New user):

Quoting Tin:
It's the Apple logo and shiny box


Oh, I see, you are an Apple-hating elitist (you somehow seem to see that people have been suckered into believing that Apple stands for high quality technology... we're all fools, no doubt, but it's only you who's smart.) Whatever.

02 October 2011, 12:48 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Oh, I see you are new here and don't know a thing about me. Let me congratulate you on forming a judgemental opinion based on just one post.

If you had taken the time to read other posts by me, you'd see at least one where I state that I actually am considering a Macbook Air as a replacement laptop (OSX will be hosed immediately, but that's not the point). I also have posted in the past regarding limitations in iProducts being the reason I don't want them (rather than just forming a conclusion on the badge).

My comment was on society, not a company.

02 October 2011, 1:48 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

teslaboy (New user):

(The previous comment was meant for Tin, sorry).

02 October 2011, 10:50 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

Tin (User):

Why would the lack of 3G be a reason for it to be a non-threat for the iPad? The base iPad doesn't have it either!

As for microphone and camera... Well I do seem to recall the original iPad didn't have a camera either (since no one would use it) and last time I saw someone using the internal microphone on an iPad was never.

At 1/3 of the price of the base iPad, this IS going to sell. The drones may pay extra for the Apple logo, but getting 3 for the price of one will make many consider what they do and don't need.

29 September 2011, 5:22 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

ss-rotel (User):

kinda off topic, but has anyone installed Chrome OS over an andriod device?

i've been asked to see if it's posible to, for display purposes, supply a tablet that only gives the user web access. thought the easiest way would be there, i'm not sure if you can lock access to just the browser in andriod...

30 September 2011, 8:07 AM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

John in Brisbane (Cornerstone member):

No and I am not going to. I don't like the whole cloud concept, aside from online storage. WRT your question, I reckon it must be possible. Custom boot/installer? Never been that far under the hood.

01 October 2011, 10:50 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

ss-rotel (User):

yeah... possble maybe, i tried building a chrome os USB installer friday and failed... going to try again, just to have a play.

(have old ibm lappy that'll work nice)
meh. i'll figure something out


02 October 2011, 9:20 PM (1 year ago)report abuse Send to a friend reply

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