Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos launched the company's update to the popular Kindle e-reader, the Kindle Fire, in New York yesterday. Rumours that the ecommerce giant was planning to take a bite out of Apple's iPad market were well founded.
The BBC's tech correspondent Roy Cellan-Jones called it "the most impressive unveiling of a new gadget since, well, the iPad 2"
Mashable's Lance Ulanoff exclaimed, "Amazon just schooled the tablet market. The Fire…may be the first blockbuster Android tablet"
Tech blogger Sarah Rotman said "Amazon will sell millions of tablets…Apple’s place as market leader is secure, but Amazon will be a strong number two"
JR Raphael of ComputerWorld commented that the new Amazon device shouldn't really be considered as a new tablet, "…the Kindle Fire is an Amazon media device, not a Google Android tablet. We're talking about a whole new platform," he explained.
The very competitive pricing seems to be raising some eyebrows – a snip at just $199 compared with far more expensive tablet competitors.
"What Amazon lacks in sex appeal, it more than makes up for in price" said The Telegraph's Katherine Rushton.
The Kindle Fire will launch in the US in November. There are currently no dates for release in the rest of the world.
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0r4Wo2Q3l4]
[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUaUvW1kLc4]
