The Amazon Fire Tablet

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained in an interview in September 2010 his reasoning for a person to purchase a Kindle in the iPad era, “The number one app for the iPad when I checked a couple of days ago was called Angry Birds — a game where you throw birds at pigs and they blow up. The number one thing on the Kindle is Stieg Larsson. It’s a different audience. We’re designing for people who want to read.”

Early Wednesday morning, Amazon released their $199 Fire tablet at a New York City press conference. And guess what, it plays Angry Birds. But, fortunately that doesn’t mean that Amazon is giving up on people that like to read. They’re just combining their target markets. They also released a new e-book reader dubbed the Kindle Touch – essentially just a Kindle with touchscreen capabilities. It is $149 with Amazon’s Whispernet mobile connectivity and only $99 for the Wi-Fi edition.

Amazon is also releasing a cheaper Kindle model that only costs $79. At the prospect of consumer excitement, Bezos is so giddy that he can barely contain it. “At $79, it’s really going to blow people away,” he said. “Nobody is expecting that we’re coming out with a $79 Kindle!”

Ever since the iPad dropped, everyone has wanted a taste of the tablet computing market. Many have tried, many have failed. Not only does the iPad not have a strong competitor in terms of specifications, but usually the tablets released are more expensive.

Media Integration

With a cheap and powerful tablet, Amazon has become a serious contender for the tablet computing throne. But, despite their major market momentum, their true profit lies not in the device itself, but in the media that comes with it. Bezos says that Amazon now has a $15 billion media business. “It’s not just books. It’s music, games, software, it’s a bunch of different things.” The Fire gives Amazon the platform it needs to make these things more accessible to consumers.

The Fire certainly isn’t the coolest and most innovative piece of technology – it doesn’t have a camera, GPS, 3G, or a large storage capacity. But Amazon is betting on their integrated media business to stand-in for the technical specs. The device is 14.6 ounces, has a 7-inch screen and runs on a dual-core TI OMAP 4 chip.

If you’re not already a member of Amazon Prime you probably will be soon. The device comes with a month-long free trial for new users to experience that instant streaming of 11,000 movies and TV. shows and free shipping that the service boasts. There’s also software built-in to help you manage the music you download via Amazon’s cloud music service.

“Silk”

Maybe the most interesting feature of the Fire is its browser: “Silk” – so named for the nearly transparent, yet supremely strong material. Amazon’s well-equipped data centers enable the company to take on the weight of heavy web pages, giving consumers a faster browsing experience. Plus, it has Flash.

And for you Android junkies out there, Amazon has you covered. They’ve equipped the Fire with a customized version of the ever-so-popular operating system; giving users access to thousands of popular apps. The Amazon Fire ships November 15. I guess Bezos changed his mind about just targeting “people who want to read.” What does he say about possible competition or contradictions between the Kindle and the Fire? Consumers will “buy both,” Bezos says.

Wired