Amazon recently announced a press conference to take place tomorrow, September 28th. It is widely expected to introduce the Kindle Fire, Amazon's long expected entry into the tablet market. As per Time, the specs are: based on Android 2.1, but modified to the point of being unrecognizable, Siegler reports. The software will emphasize Amazon's own digital content—movies, TV shows, music, e-books and the Amazon Appstore—with a carousel view of all content on top and pinned app icons on the bottom. The idea is to make content purchases and consumption as simple as possible. In terms of hardware: According to Ryan Block at gdgt, Amazon's tablet will look a lot like Research in Motion's Blackberry Playbook tablet—a 7-inch slab with sharp corners. That's because Amazon reportedly hired manufacturer Quanta, which designed the Playbook, to "shortcut" the Kindle Fire's development process. Naturally, everything is speculation until Jeff Bezos gets up on stage and introduces the new product. Many believe that it will be the first tablet offering to be a serious competitor to Apple's iPad. Rumour suggests Amazon will be pricing this most aggressively – below cost at $250-$300. That is half the price of the lowest spec iPad. Equally importantly, it…
So, today Amazon announced the Kindle web based cloud reader. Currently, it’s available for the Safari and Chrome browsers and the iPad. It is interesting to note that this is not yet available for the Microsoft browser Internet Explorer. This allows users to read and download their Kindle content directly from Amazon’s website without going through an app. Clearly, this is a hitback at Apple who last month forced Amazon to remove the link to the Kindle store from within the Kindle apps available on iOS and Mac. By developing their own web based app and bypassing the Apple Store apps, Amazon is effectively giving Apple notice that they will not be bullied. Personally, I say you go, Amazon! Now, I am a huge fan of both Apple and Amazon, but I really did not appreciate Apple’s tactics here, especially coming as it did after the e-book price fixing debacle several months ago. Apple and Amazon both have an intensely loyal customer base, and with good reason. I am very happy to see Amazon defending its territory in this manner. I am, and will remain, a loyal Amazon Kindle customer and look forward to see what innovations they come up…
So, today Amazon announced the Kindle web based cloud reader. Currently, it’s available for the Safari and Chrome browsers and the iPad. It is interesting to note that this is not yet available for the Microsoft browser Internet Explorer. This allows users to read and download their Kindle content directly from Amazon’s website without going through an app. Clearly, this is a hitback at Apple who last month forced Amazon to remove the link to the Kindle store from within the Kindle apps available on iOS and Mac. By developing their own web based app and bypassing the Apple Store apps, Amazon is effectively giving Apple notice that they will not be bullied. Personally, I say you go, Amazon! Now, I am a huge fan of both Apple and Amazon, but I really did not appreciate Apple’s tactics here, especially coming as it did after the e-book price fixing debacle several months ago. Apple and Amazon both have an intensely loyal customer base, and with good reason. I am very happy to see Amazon defending its territory in this manner. I am, and will remain, a loyal Amazon Kindle customer and look forward to see what innovations they come up…