Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#91

Post by abuzzooz » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:22 PM UTC

buff-a wrote: post #69

And it has a browser that renders on the cloud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u7F_56WhHk&feature=playe...

Isn't that what Opera does on their mobile platform?

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#92

Post by mcphilip » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:23 PM UTC

estel wrote: post #33

Lewisham wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great price point. It's basically in impulse zone: "This book is 6 dollars cheaper at Kindle price... if I buy 12 it pays for itself..." but note there's no physical keyboard. Without a touch screen, it looks like it won't do note-taking, which is a bummer.

I'd be interested to see what % of Kindle users make use of the Keyboard. I'm pretty sure that I've only ever touched it for inputting URIs when web-browsing from abroad.

I find the keyboard invaluable for the search functionality on a given text. Simple examples: searching the Economist for all references to the ECB (i.e. looking for euro crisis related news); searching A Game of Thrones for Kinslayer to figure out which character was introduced with that nickname.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#93

Post by SteveJS » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:23 PM UTC

cleverjake wrote: post #4

Outside of the amazing marketing and stance that amazon holds, this really doesn't seem like much. I don't see a lot that my parents would get excited about at least, and if they aren't the market, I am not sure who is.

If it can web browse with Flash then (modulo the dead end hp touchpad) it's the cheapest tablet web browser that can play games on facebook. My wife is a long time Apple fan since she was a Graphic Designer, but she turned her nose up at the iPad due to lack of Flash and some specific games she wants to play on Facebook.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#94

Post by achompas » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:24 PM UTC

smackfu wrote: post #24

bennesvig wrote: post #19

I'm guessing this means no free Kindle this November like Kevin Kelly was predicting. http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2011/02/free_kindle_t...

I bet if you add this new price point to the graph, you can plot a new curve that makes it not go to zero.

I called this graph ridiculously dumb and got downvoted for it.

The idea was ridiculous, but the thought experiment was fun. Still, hardware costs are not trivial. There's no way Amazon gives something away for free (with 10 ebook purchases) just yet.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#95

Post by apaprocki » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:24 PM UTC

rkudeshi wrote: post #2

Looks like Bloomberg got early access and published before the actual press conference by accident. The most relevant details: The Kindle Fire will have a 7-inch display and sell for $199, compared with $499 for Apple’s cheapest iPad, Amazon executives said. The device, a souped-up version of the Kindle electronic-book reader, will run on Google Inc.’s Android software, the Seattle-based company said. The Kindle Fire…

It wasn't an accident. It was a straight news "scoop". The news headline came across the wire at 9:31am:

  *AMAZON TO UNVEIL KINDLE FIRE TODAY, SELL TABLET AT $199  BN  9:31

Just to be sure, I checked with the news team. :)

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#96

Post by yusefnapora » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:24 PM UTC

latch wrote: post #70

Just tried to order the new non-touch Kindle (which ships today): Kindle, Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display cannot be shipped to the selected address. A non-US address was selected for this US-only Kindle. BEZOS!!!

Did you select the one with special offers? I believe that one's US only. Perhaps the other one will work?

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#97

Post by saturdaysaint » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:25 PM UTC

It's a shame to see that text-to-speech is absent from the light $79 model (it's present in the touch). At 6 ounces, that would be exactly the model I'd want to have TTS, which has been a killer feature for me. I actually prefer the robotic voice to most audiobook narrators for a lot of material - the affectless delivery must be how my internal voice reads a lot of books. Here's hoping Amazon puts TTS functionality into their Android/iPhone apps sooner than later - I'd gladly pay a $20 in-app purchase...

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#98

Post by shrikant » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:25 PM UTC

endlessvoid94 wrote: post #81

I have a serious question. Will I be able to use/read instapaper on this device? This is a big deal to me.

Set up Instapaper to deliver to your Kindle automatically on a schedule [1], and you're golden.

[1] http://www.instapaper.com/user/kindle

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#99

Post by sbt » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:27 PM UTC

estel wrote: post #33

Lewisham wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great price point. It's basically in impulse zone: "This book is 6 dollars cheaper at Kindle price... if I buy 12 it pays for itself..." but note there's no physical keyboard. Without a touch screen, it looks like it won't do note-taking, which is a bummer.

I'd be interested to see what % of Kindle users make use of the Keyboard. I'm pretty sure that I've only ever touched it for inputting URIs when web-browsing from abroad.

I don't take notes and tweet them, but I do search for books in the online store via whispernet. I have no idea how that's going to work on this device, probably something like registering your name on Zelda, which will be a pain and probably not worth the real estate.

Re: Amazon Unveils $199 Kindle Fire Tablet

#100

Post by pnathan » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 3:27 PM UTC

I am kinda waiting for the DX to drop in price. I really want that bigger e-ink screen, but it's not worth $379 to me.