It is often said that there is not really a tablet marketplace, just the Apple iPad marketplace with a group of other competitors arguing about what is left of the market. But starting this week, the situation will change as Amazon adds amazing multifunctional colorful tablet PCs to its popular Kindle line, which costs less than half the iPad 2 price.
This last $ 199 gadget is known as Kindle Fire, so after trying it for a week, I concluded that it is a good – but not really awesome – device and it is extremely good value. Amazon not only adds color to its Kindle, it also adds confident skills to save and listen to the streaming of music, TV, and movies – and even the ability to save and view colored photos. And it starts with around 8,500 apps that include Netflix, Angry Birds, QuickOffice and others.
To be really clear, the new Kindle Fire tablet is much less functional and flexible than the well-known $ 499 iPad 2. Kindle Fire has a lower amount of apps available, smaller screen, weaker battery life in comparison, web browser installed is slower, Half-size memory and no cams or microphone. It also has a rough and sort of disappointing user interface that is a lot less nimble than Apple’s UI.
But Kindle has some other things that make it right. The first of them is the $ 199 price tag, but its 7-inch screen is smaller than half the surface of the iPad display. Second, the fact that Amazon and Kindle are famous brands is very popular and revered for their e-readers and other gadgets. Third, Amazon is the only leading tablet manufacturer besides Apple with a large, well-known and easy-to-use content ecosystem that sells music, videos, periodicals and books. The Fire can be seen as a modern hardware frontend in front of all upcoming cloud-based content.
To hit the $ 199 price tag, Amazon has left out many features that are common to other tablets on the market. There are no cams or a microphone, no GPS system to define your current location, no wireless Bluetooth for headset use, or wireless speakers or earphones in one package. Kindle Fire only has WiFi – there is no embedded cellular connection. There’s not even a special cable to connect it to the PC, something you can do to get photos for this tablet as Amazon is missing an online photo service. To block its signal, you need to use one of the wifi jammer, such as Kindle Fire, and stop worrying about its inappropriate use.