Amazon pitches cheap new Kindles for Blighty
Priced to sell
Amazon is bringing its Kindle Fire to the UK almost a year after the 7in Android tablet's US debut. The good news for folk who've been patiently waiting: it's only 129 quid.
Punters may prefer the better spec'd Fire HD. It's the obvious choice, particularly since it's only 30 quid more expensive. So, just £159 for a 7in, 1280 x 800 tablet with a 1.2GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP processor, 16GB of Flash storage, twin-antenna, dual-band Wi-Fi and HDMI out.
Both Fires can be ordered now but won't ship until 25 October.
The new Kindle e-book reader comes out sooner: 12 September. It'll cost a mere £69. Alas, it's not the backlit version, but it's light - just 170g - and supports 802.11n Wi-Fi. It has 2GB of storage and the usual 6in E Ink Pearl display. ®
COMMENTS
Sulk
Why aren't we getting the good versions? The Paperwhite eInk and 8.9 inch Fire HD. Thanks for remembering the world outside the US exists, Amazon, but we don't want to be permanently a year behind the US.
What an absolute bugger to be an Android OEM. You've got Google on one side of you, punting the Nexus 7 at pretty much cost price. You've then got Amazon going for a bit of loss-leader action, and this time their hardware might actually be a lot less horrible. Although I have personal doubts about their software...
Then you've got the bastards at Apple, hoovering up all the profits at the top-end (stopping you going premium). Plus they get all the free publicity that the world's media can throw at them.
And Microsoft coming up on the rails, who might try a bit of loss-leadering themselves... OK, a lot of people have their doubts about how Windows 8 will go, but it might go brilliantly, and certainly adds an awful lot of uncertainty to your life.
I got an email from dabs.com yesterday, offering the new Samsung Galaxy 10.1 for £210. Admittedly that's including £50 cashback - where they hope you'll forget to claim it so they keep the money. Samsung can make huge profits on the Galaxy III, selling at £500 odd, but clearly not on tablets.
After the debacle with the Kindle Fire...
...Amazon can suck my balls
Kindle reader and 802.11n
I find it's crucial to have such a fast connection to download a one meg ebook (and that's a big Tom Clancy jobbie). Saves me 0.2 seconds every time, and at a book a week that's almost 10 seconds a year! Now I just have to think about what to do with all that extra free time.
Too sarcastic?
Why can't they do an A4-sized e-ink Kindle?
You can't read the average non-fiction PDF on those little screens.
