Anyone excited about the new Kindles?

So, work bought a couple of 3G iPads for reporters to take into the field and file stories. Had the defendant not pleaded guilty earlier this week, I was supposed to take one to cover a murder trial next week. The boss told me to take the iPad home and learn to type well on a flat screen, because we wouldn't get an external keyboard in time.

After playing with it for a night, I'm convinced it'll be great to use in the field. It's even better than I didn't have to buy it.

 

Too bad HP didn't take a page out of Amazon's playbook, price the tablet cheap and make your money on the consumption of media.
HP has its own movie store and could have set up deals to share revenue with Amazon or B&N for books.
I was able to score a $100 HP Touchpad in August when HP firesaled them after announcing they were getting out of the tablet business.
Tablets rock, for surfing the web, listening to music, reading Time and SI (very cool), Angry Birds, etc.
Amazon is going to sell a ton of these.

 

Has anyone heard about how long the battery lasts?

 

I've already pre-ordered mine. I've fallen in love with Amazon as a whole over the last year. Almost all gadgets are cheaper (significantly) than other retailers, I love their DSLR store and prices, and you can get every book ever printed. And yes, I am a Prime member, which I got mostly for free two-day shipping and $3.99 one-day shipping.

When I got Prime, I was completely unaware of the streaming options and the extra goodies that Amazon offered. I have still yet to try any of them. However, I look forward to using those services.

The excellent price aside, that Fire appeals to me more than the IPad on several levels. First, it offeres cloud storage, which Apple doesn't (though that's probably only a matter of time). Some of you seem to have an issue with that. However, as far as storage, I will always be in range of a wifi signal. If I can keep movies and the big-space items off the internal hard drive of the Fire, that's awesome! Plus, 8GB of storage gives you a ton of room for stuff to have all the time. Secondly, from the video demos I've seen, I like the design of the software better. They've made it look like a bookshelf, with all of your recently viewed items (websites, books, videos, etc.) all right there on the "homepage" once you fire up the device. You don't have to dig through pages to find what you want. Thirdly, I'm geeking over Amazon's new browser, which will be faster than anything before it. I also like that Amazon has designed it (and the entire Kindle brand) as its standalone device. You can download everything over wifi straight to the device and don't have to sync it to your computer/itunes to get your stuff. I know that's an option for IPads/IPhone/Ipods, but they still all rely more on syncing to a computer.

As far as what an Ipad/other tablets has that it lacks (namely, cameras), well... I have DSLRs and a point-and-shoot to take pictures, and a Sony HD camcorder. Why to I need the inferior camera on a tablet to do that? (Most people, especially those that are going to invest in a tablet, already have some sort of digital camera anyway.) As for 3G, I already have a mobile 3G hotspot for my laptop/netbook to use "in the field," so I don't need a 3G/4G connection in anything.

Amazon's app store and other services will only continue to grow, and I look for their future models of the "Fire" brand to include amenities like 3G and cameras as well.

So, for what the Fire does get you for $300 less than an IPad, this is a steal for many. For current Amazon customers like myself, we'll be unable to keep our hands off it.

 

Supposed to be about 8 hours with wifi off. My guess is about 4 hours with it on.

 

That's not too bad, then. Not as good as an ipad but still good.

 

Best Buy is going to carry these in-store, so a hands-on look is definitely in order come mid-November.

 

This just in: The Kindle Fire has already been outdated by the iPad 1 and all Android-based tablets

 

If the Kindle Fire is the affordable iPad, I may have to get me one.

 

This just in: The iPad and Android tablets cost at least twice the price of the Fire.

 

How many gigs on the Fire?

 

8 gigs