Amazon Brings the Heat with Kindle Fire

Since the announcement of the iPad, manufacturers have scrambled to get a slice of the tablet market. Yet still, the iPad remains the only true success story. The Playbook was a bust, early tablets were poorly designed, and even Honeycomb, which I thought would be a strong contender against the iPad, has struggled to catch on. The iPad remains the sole product which defines the tablet space and Apple remains the market leader. The problem with gaining headway in the tablet market has been because there is no other company with a strong base like Apple. Customers have limited loyalty to Samsung over Asus or Acer or Motorola, they are all generic OEMs (even if some make far better products than others like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1). The iPad has the Cult of Apple behind it in a way no other tablet manufacturer does. This may be why Amazon can succeed where others have failed, because they have generated a similar brand loyalty under the Kindle moniker.

Amazon has finally brought their answer to the iPad: the Kindle Fire. The new tablet is a 7-inch affair, sporting a dual core processor and heavily modified version of Android 2.3. The device is not meant to mirror the iPad, but compete more with specialized tablets like the Nook Color from Barnes and Noble.  The device is notably devoid of cameras, 3G or GPS, microphones at the like.  While spartan on extras like those, it has helped the Kindle Fire maintain a price of $199 At this price, the Kindle Fire is an insanely great deal for a well-rounded Android tablet. It’s not Honeycomb, but it doesn’t need to be.

The Kindle Fire runs under a heavily modified version of Android 2.3 meant to quickly integrate Amazon’s services. Kindle ebooks, the Amazon Music and Video store, and Amazon’s customized Android App marketplace are all quickly accessible on the device. Note that productivity software is depreciated (though I’m sure some Office suite will be released). Even the email client wasn’t mentioned during the conference. Amazon isn’t trying to make this a PC replacement, it’s not a post-PC device. It’s a pure media device and Amazon isn’t striving for anything more than that. The device has 8GB of local storage with free access to Amazon’s cloud services to back up purchases and files.

Speaking of the cloud, one of the Kindle Fire’s most unique features is its Silk browser. Amazon calls this a cloud browser. Some of the processing for webpages is done by the tablet’s internal hardware, but much of it is done by Amazon’s remote Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) servers. This by itself is not very novel — Opera Mobile uses server-side compression for webpages on mobile devices — but this framework is more intelligent by consciously selecting what content should be processed in what area. It’s a really cool idea though that should make web browsing an impressive feat on the device.

The Kindle Fire looks to be the first tablet since the iPad that really has a shot. Ironically, that was done by being a wholly different kind of device. It’s smaller, lighter, and more focused on being a device for media consumption. Plus, it’s at a rockstar price.

Also announced was a new basic Kindle for only $79 and two touch screen, e-ink Kindles for $119 and one with 3G for $149. Amazon has learned how to sell premium at a value price. I’m pretty excited for the Kindle Fire. Wait until November for its release.

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Windows 8 (Don’t Pay Attention to the Windows Behind the Curtain)

Microsoft is rarely a company I associate with stylish design and forward-thinking enhancements.  Until Vista gave Windows a bit of a visual pick-me-up, the only adjective I could give to Microsoft’s operating system was “drab”.  I mean XP was ugly, it just wasn’t anything to be proud of.  Yet over the past few years, Microsoft has made some good steps in improving their aesthetic.  Still, even with a new coat of paint, you can always see the old, sometimes dysfunctional, UI paradigms in place.  And then all of a sudden comes “Metro”, this whole new UI design for Windows Phone 7.  It’s classy, minimal, uses space efficiently, and most of all unique.  Metro was this side of Microsoft we had never seen before.  One that could appeal to young, artistic types in the way OS X and iOS have.  Metro has spread into the “oh-yeah-that-thing” Zune and the 360’s latest UI update but I always craved to see Microsoft do a thorough reworking of Windows to make it really cohesive and feel new.

Well, enter Windows 8

And Here We Go…

Well, here we are.  Less than 24 hours from Apple’s big event and the rumors keep pouring in.  We know that the Tablet will debut tomorrow, it is certain, but along with CEO confirmation, there is the obligatory pre-release analysis.  Many are excited about the new tablet and all the wonderful possibilities that it will off.  Others are skeptical of the new device’s promise and hype, since it may just be a gigantic iPod Touch and not enticing enough to warrant real attention.  And others are…. less constructive in their anticipation.  But though the tech world is relatively divided on whether this will be the device to change everything or just a big iPhone, they don’t have to be.  I can say with a fair amount of certainty that it will be the former.

Think about it, Apple has danced around the idea of a tablet computer since 1983, even before the first Macintosh.  They’ve released the Newton PDA in the 90s as their first foray into mobile devices.  Though it failed, it prompted Apple to try harder and continue to focus on products beyond just computers.  They’ve released the iPod as a more specialized mobile device and finally, the iPhone and iPod Touch as the total amalgamation of all their efforts for over 20 years.  So why wait almost three years after the original iPhone to release just a bigger version?  Oh sure, you can argue that they were just waiting for the right time, but as a recent Engadget article details, an Apple Tablet has had vigorous rumors surrounding a tablet since 2002.  Yes, much of their R&D probably became the iPhone, but that would only further drive them to differentiate this new device from an established one.  My point is, that even though there will be obvious and unavoidable comparisons and similarities between the tablet and iPhone – even down to the OS – it will be a vastly different device.  Apple has spent 2.5 years doing that.

Of course things still remain unclear and no one can say how dramatically revolutionary the tablet will be.  Jobs himself has said that ” [it] will be the most important thing I’ve ever done.”  Now, Jobs is not exactly a stranger to hyperbole (or sarcasm for that matter) but the man is smart enough to know when he’s got something truly ground breaking on his hands.  The way this device will be so incredible is not known, and we’ll only find out tomorrow, but that is part of the excitement.  I have derided Apple’s attempts at creating a tablet in my inaugural post because its role just seems unclear amidst smartphones, smartbooks, and netbooks.  And even though in a later post I declared that netbooks are on death watch under the advent of smartbooks and tablets, Apple will not create a conventional tablet like the generic devices coming out of Asus or HP.  Apple’s device has too much hype and too much importance to be just a “me too!” device.  It won’t be an e-reader, internet browser, or giant media player – though it will have those features.  Somehow, it has to be something wholly greater than the sum of its parts.  Oh sure, I may be placing too much faith in Apple, but I honestly think that this will be the case.

Only tomorrow will tell what happens and the excitement is palpable.  We’re left with two options – either it surpasses our expectations, or have underwhelmed them; I don’t see much of a gray area existing.  So my post-event article will either be titled “The Game Has Changed” or “After So Much Hype….”  If you check back tomorrow, all you’ll need to see is the title to know how it turned out.