Source = http://everyjoe.com/technology/amazon-tablet-to-challenge-the-ipad-836/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+b5media%2Feveryjoe+%28EveryJoe%29 More Info/Updates: http://www.evri.com/users/evricarou...ek_+270911&utm_term=amazon_tablet_Preview_JPG Cant say I wasnt expecting this, I would rather buy an Amazon tablet then an iPad.
Then Apple leapfrogs everyone again with the iTampon. Sometimes they have some good ideas; it just takes a company with business sense to make them affordable and robust enough for the average user.
Amazon.com announced it today, its called the Kindle Fire: http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Color-...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1321408942&pf_rd_i=507846 Their selling them for $199
I just can't find a practical use for any of these "pads". I see people at school trying to write essays on their iPads and it makes me cringe. The only thing they have going for em is their portability. As for the Kindle Fire, 7" is way too small. I think Steve Jobs called 7" tablets 'tweeners' - too big to be a smartphone and too small to be a tablet.
Barely larger than a normal Kindle, which is a good size for reading books but not much else. It's probably a battery life compromise. Unfortunately, one of the best things about the Kindle is that it doesn't have a hot and power-hungry LED display. That technology is totally unsuited to videos, however. It's subtractive monochrome and it can't refresh fast enough.
It's easy to say something is retarded if you don't give any justification for it. Personally, I think tablets/pad's are great for mobile computing. As long as no prolonged data entry is needed (keyboard and mouse are still the most convenient tools there), they're great for doing what you need on the go. Citrix/LogMeIn/PC-Anywhere into another computer and access all you need from wherever you are? Hell, you can even do PC gaming on them with that. Throw in Skype, video conferencing, internet, Netflix, Slingbox, etc on the go and you quickly see they're not retarded. They're fucking awesome!
http://crackberry.com/blackberry-inspiration-blackberry-plagiarism-apparently-design-process-behind-amazons-kindle-hardwar I would tend to agree with the statement Drudge made. For someone to say that these "pads" are retarded and then go on to say 7" is to small seems a little ridiculous. Then go on to quote Mr. Jobs. jobs has quite the agenda pushing 10" ipads and convincing the masses anything smaller is useless. Unless you have owned either I would stay away from making statements like that based off others opinions. I would also never even dream of trying to write an essay on a tablet. You just can't replace the use of an actual keyboard. I would be curious to see how it would work using a bluetooth keyboard+tablet combo though. As far as I am concerned I don't really ever see anything challenging the ipad, especially an offering from amazon. It was around long before anyone else was in the tablet market and they are too well established for new products to really make a dent in the market share they have. Multiple tablets will take away from their dominance in the marketplace but I don't think we will see another pop up and dominate so completely. As much as I don't like apple they do have a solid product which appeals to a broad audience and is quite functional. I own the Blackberry Playbook which is a 7" tablet and I find that it is the perfect size. If I wanted to carry around something bigger I would just carry my laptop with me. The playbook is smaller than some books that I own and carry around with me. I recall reading that at some point during the development process RIM went out and looked into the average size of objects that people carry around with them and they settled on the 7" size as the most portable. I use it on a regular basis while at school and around the house. A lot of the time I don't actually need the functionality off a laptop so it is perfect. It is just as easy to do research on and read the pdfs I need to on the playbook as on my laptop, maybe easier. I don't own a tablet to play games on or waste time on. The battery life is excellent on it so I never have problems with needing to charge it during the day..... unlike my laptop with a 2-3 hour battery life. eta- Only 8gb of storage may be a problem since wifi isn't always accesible so cloud storage is moot at that point. Unless it has bluetooth to tether to a cell network.
The iPad will be challenged and beaten if tablets ever take off. At present they're too expensive, too fragile, too power-hungry, and worst of all Apple makes them.