OHMYWEEERD, I was so excited to see the brand new "KINDLE FIRE" unveiled on Amazon just this week:
What is this, you ask? Well, according to Amazon, it's one of the 4 new products in their "Kindle Family". The first color Kindle, it also offers movies, apps, games, music, reading and a web browser, like many popular tablets. (See short Amazon video HERE.)
In the ever-changing world of technology, it seems to be making quite a stir. (See these articles at PC Mag, Engadget, and Yahoo News and this video clip from CNN for starters.)
Now you KNOW I lurve my li'l Kindle (look HERE for proof!). But lately I have been thinking of getting a tablet, and have been looking around a bit. What I was finding was too high of a price for too many features that I didn't especially need or want.
When examining features and comparing to other popular tablets (including, of course, the king pin iPad!) the Fire offers a 7" screen, exclusive new "Amazon Silk" split browser system, Android Gingerbread OS, 8 hour battery life, and 8 GB of storage, but unlimited storage in Amazon's Cloud. (A hard drive in the sky, babeee!)
BUT, Amazon also makes no excuses: the new Kindle Fire doesn't boast a camera or microphone, potential 3G connectivity or GPS functionality. But guess what? I'm not lookin' for that - I've got all that on m' phone! So the Kindle Fire is offering the features I want at a price ME LIKEY!!! ($199, all-in, all-done, woot!)
In other words, I prefer to think of it, not as an iPad competitor, but as an iPad alternative. My darling niece (who's the adored techie of our family!), is a shameless Apple fan and lurves her iPad, but even she is intrigued by Amazon's new darling. (See her blog, The Daring Librarian, and especially this informative post on Kindles and iPads and Nooks OHMY!)
She also found and sent me this LINK which has this incredibly helpful at-a-glance comparison chart:
I am 100% psyched by this new Kindle Fire... in fact -- *SOLD!* -- I have my pre-order already in, and am eagerly awaiting its arrival in mid November.
So, yeah... I am well aware of what the Fire "is" and "isn't". I also do NOT intend for it to replace my current beloved Kindle (for starters, NOTHING beats the easy, pleasant reading experience of Amazon's E-ink Pearl technology on the classic black-and-white Kindles!) -- but it will certainly be a fun addition to my li'l stash of electronic toys. Besides my first Kindle, I think the Fire will compliment my laptop, Dell mini netbook, and smartphone quiiiite nicely, thank you!
See Amazon link for more information on the Kindle Fire: Here
