TechCrunch has a couple of very interesting pieces confirming the existence of the Amazon color Kindle tablet. (The picture at left is TechCrunch’s mockup, since they couldn’t take actual pictures of the device.) First of all, MG Siegler has actually gotten to hold and use the device, which he says Amazon is simply calling the “Amazon Kindle”. (That could be potentially confusing when trying to differentiate it from the e-ink readers, but I suppose it’s possible Amazon might change the name later.)
Siegler reports that the device is a 7” tablet with a capacitive touchscreen, similar in appearance to the Blackberry Playbook. (And, hence, to every other tablet ever made, Apple’s lawsuits notwithstanding.) He says that Amazon plans to launch it at the end of November, testing the water. If it’s a hit, the company will follow up with a more expensive 10” version in 2012. (Not unlike how they started with the original Kindle, and later introduced the larger Kindle DX.)
He also reports that the planned price of the 7” tablet is to be $250, half the cost of the iPad and analogous to the price of the Nook Color, with which it will obviously directly compete. It will include wifi but no 3G at launch (Amazon is reportedly in talks with carriers about 3G versions, as it has with its e-ink Kindles, but I find myself highly doubtful that the 3G will be free as it is with the e-ink Kindle) and 6 GB of internal storage.
The main interface is a Cover Flow-like carousel which will give users access to all their content. Though it runs Android, it is a “fully forked” version of Android that is Amazon all over with no trace of Google. The Google Android Marketplace is nowhere to be found, though the Amazon Android Appstore is always one click away.
What does the Kindle tablet have over the similar Nook Color? For one thing, Amazon is apparently going to give buyers a free subscription to Amazon’s $79/yr Amazon Prime service. (Siegler does not mention whether this is a perpetual subscription or just a one-year sub. I would be inclined to suspect the latter—but on the other hand, given that it’s unlikely Amazon will finagle free 3G for a color tablet out of the carriers, perhaps this is a way to give customers something else perpetually free of equivalent value that Amazon can offer without having to get someone else to agree.) That does turn the rumor of a free Kindle to Amazon Prime subscribers right on its head, doesn’t it? And since Amazon Prime includes a Netflix-like movie streaming service, it makes a natural companion for the Amazon tablet.
The other TechCrunch piece, by Greg Kumparak, looks at what this tablet means. Kumparak makes the point that the average person doesn’t know about any tablets rather than the iPad.
Among my geekier circles, I’m always hearing the same question: iPad, or Xoom/Galaxy Tab/Android-tablet-name-here? Among less tech-minded folks (you know, like the majority of the population) though, the question seems to shift: iPad, or Kindle?
Now, it’s not that the less tech-savvy people wouldn’t like an Android tablet… they just don’t really seem to know they exist. There are just too many strikingly similar tablets, all battling for that one smaller sliver of the pie.
So, what Amazon is going to do is more or less what Barnes & Noble has done with the Nook Color: rather than try to go head-to-head with the iPad by coming out with a Kindle version of a tablet, it’s aiming at e-reader users by coming out with a tablet version of a Kindle. Given that it has the more popular e-reader brand than B&N, it might have even more success with this approach than B&N has—and the Nook Color’s sales have been nothing to sneeze at.
From what I have read on the article it will revolve around Amazons various cloud systems, like the MP3 cloud and their own app store. For customers outside of the USA these aren’t available. So if this is the case what is the point of this tablet for anyone outside of the US?
oh, great. Another walled garden. Just what I don’t want.
I sure hope this rumor is wrong as it likely means no 10 inch Amazon tablet in the near future. Regards, Don
For that price a dedicated ereader that just happens to be built on top of Android (like the Nook Color) sound about right. And then in a year or two start adding more general features. If they do it right, like they did with the Kindle, instead of pinning their hopes on a quick return (like HP did with the TouchPad to their detriment) they might be able to carve their own niche in the slate/tablet space next to Apple.