Amazon to Launch 10 Inch Kindle Fire in Coming Months | Hacker News Reader

Amazon to Launch 10 Inch Kindle Fire in Coming Months

freshtechweb.com

28 pointsszzonee11 comments

Personally, I just want a cheaper Kindle DX. I've been waiting for years for those suckers to get down to a reasonable price. I want to be able to read conference papers, the Linux Journal, and my O'Reilly ebook collection on something of a decent size.

I have a Kindle DX and it's absolutely awesome. It's not much larger area-wise than a large hardcover book, but obviously quite a bit thinner.

I can understand why Amazon keeps pushing the regular-size Kindles (price-point), but the DX should have had a price cut by now.

My guess is the DX is a forgotten child they won't be revisiting (any time soon). They have back-stock of the device, but will not make any more (any time soon), so based on the stock they do have they are comfortable with the supply/demand ratio at the current price point.

It will be interesting to see how they price it. I think $279 would be the sweet spot because if they bring it up to $299 then it would be close to a theoretical $399 iPad 2 (if Apple continues to sell them alongside the iPad 3 as has been rumored) Amazon needs to say firmly in the "low price" segment for now as their software/hardware is nowhere near as polished as iOS.

I would buy a Fire if it were a real Android device, but it's even more heavily modified than your average heavily-modified-Android device, and we all know how up-to-date those things stay. For example, why should I be satisfied with Amazon's browser when I could be using Chrome instead?

I understand why they might not want the "Google Experience" on their device, but I don't understand why they can't maintain a patchset on top of AOSP. Give me an up-to-date OS, and I'll add the software I want. I'll even promise not to ask for support!

I really hope they come to some kind of agreement with Google. The Fire is decent enough for the price, but no Google apps is frustrating. My Android phone is a more capable device for less money in part due to the Google apps.

Also, some more data input would help a lot - a microphone and camera for skype type usage, for instance.

Hear!! Hear!!

I would only buy one if I can install a stock version of Android and get access to the Android Market.

You can. Many people do. At least with the 7" Kindle.

But you see, Amazon has no particular interest in selling you a Fire if you don't want to use it for the intended purpose- a vector to deliver Amazon content.

It may be a more capable device, but I seriously doubt it's cheaper. Kindle Fire is $199 no strings attached. Android phones costing less than that up-front tend to come with 2-year voice+data contracts at $50+ per month, or at least $1200.

Cheap Samsung comes in at $140, unlocked: http://amzn.to/A2G57R

And yes, it does a lot more than the Fire: Gmail, maps, Google app market (including free The Economist app for print subscription subscribers, which I can't get with the Fire) takes pictures, microphone, 3g, etc...

The battery life isn't very good, and obviously the screen is smaller, but generally I find the phone more useful.

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