Amazon launches Kindle Fire, tablet discount for all media

Written by Sandeep Nehra

Internet group Amazon introduced its first multimedia tablet on Wednesday, the Fire Kindle, sold half as much as the market leader, Apple’s iPad, which promises to be a credible competitor.

Sold $ 199 (against at least 499 dollars for an iPad) as of November 15, exclusively in the United States as a first step, the Kindle Fire is part of the range of reading lights Amazon Kindle has been declining for four years. But it goes far beyond the field of play: you can also use it to watch movies, listen to music, surf the web etc..

“These are luxury products at prices not luxurious,” said CEO and founder Jeff Bezos of Amazon, adding that his group was busy making “millions of these devices.”

Amazon has made no secret of the fact that the Kindle Fire responded with its strategy of digital distributor, “we wondered if there was a way to bring together in one product what we offer, in a form that customers will love, “said Mr Bezos.

Amazon sells this device certainly at a loss, despite some compromises on performance as the lack of camera. But it is a way for the group to push the sale of books, movies and music online for the exploitation rights which the group has “budgeted hundreds of millions of dollars,” says Bezos.

This strategy has already worked beyond all expectations with books, Amazon now sells more titles than digital works on paper with its Kindle reading light.

Kindle owners of Fire, connected to wifi and mobile phone network will have access to millions of books in the Kindle digital library, to 11,000 movies and TV shows offered by Amazon streaming and downloading, with 17 million songs its online store, its games and more.

A film can be consumed within one minute after being ordered: the streaming begins during the download operation. The storage capacity of 8 gigabytes is expected to keep a dozen downloaded movies – but the online storage system launched by Amazon provides access to a video or audio recordings Virtual much larger.

Amazon has designed for this device a new browser called Amazon Silk specially adapted to navigation on mobile device, using the power of the Amazon servers to anticipate the behavior of mobile users.

Kindle The Fire has a screen smaller than the iPad, 7 inches (17.8 cm) against 9.7 (24.6 cm), but it is also significantly lighter (414 grams against 601 grams). Battery, a battery life of 7 to 8 hours (against 10 hours for the iPad) is less powerful.

This new device is now the subject of the most luxurious range launched in 2007 with entry-level model, a reading light in black and white simultaneously launched in the UK and Germany, will see its price lowered to $ 79 . A new model costs touch 99 to $ 149.

“Many customers will buy these devices,” given their complementarity and low price, assured Dave Limp, vice president of business Kindle.

With a tablet, Amazon launches a land where Apple’s competitors have achieved at best a tentative success, Samsung or Motorola to Research in Motion, while Hewlett-Packard has squarely decided in August to stop the tablet in TouchPad After seven weeks.

“Amazon will sell millions of tablets,” predicted analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, Forrester Research, surprised by the low price but also the late release of the device.

According to her, “instead of Apple as the market leader is achieved (note: 78% of the market in 2011 for the firm eMarketer), but Amazon will be a solid number two, and we expect no other serious competitor in shelves before the launch of Windows than 8 “, the next operating system that Microsoft must start.