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Amazon Kindle Fire sells 95,000 units on day one
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Handhelds,
Amazon and retail partners took 95,000 pre-orders for the first Amazon tablet, the Kindle Fire tablet on its first day, according to a digital marketing firm.
That's about a third of the 300,000 first-generation iPads Apple sold on its first day, but still impressive given Amazon is only shipping the Kindle Fire on November 15.
On Wednesday, Amazon launched its first and long-awaited tablet, the Kindle Fire, for $199. Though it won't be released until November, Amazon and select retail partners, like Best Buy, began taking pre-orders and expect to to have the product shipped out in time for the holidays.
Pre-sales of Amazon's three other Kindles launched this week, the $70 original Kindle, $99 Kindle Touch, totaled approximately $25,000 units.
Click to continue reading Amazon Kindle Fire sells 95,000 units on day one
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Amazon Kindle, Kindle Touch, Kindle Fire wrap-up
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Hot Deals, Software,
Today Amazon announced a slew of new Kindle hardware, and we covered it all extensively. We wanted to make sure you knew where to find the details on each new device, as well as how to order (or pre-order, depending on the device you want) the new goods as well. Here's what went down today:
Amazon Kindle Fire
Announcement: Kindle Fire: Amazon's $199 tablet e-reader
Pre-order: $199 at Amazon, ships November 15th
Amazon Kindle Touch
Announcement: Amazon Kindle Touch: Multi-touch, 3G, $99
Pre-order: $99 at Amazon, ships November 21st
Amazon Kindle
Announcement: Amazon launches new $79 Kindle
Order: $79 at Amazon, available now
In addition to all that new hardware, the company also announced its new Amazon Silk web browser.
Kindle Fire: Amazon’s $199 tablet e-reader
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Handhelds,
That Amazon tablet we've been waiting on for months has finally arrived, and it's called the Kindle Fire. Amazon's looking to disrupt the tablet landscape with the Fire, and is pricing it aggressively at $199. So, what do you get for your money? Well, the Kindle Fire weighs 14.6 ounces and packs a 7-inch IPS display with Gorilla Glass protection, dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM, and 8 GB of on-board storage. It runs a forked version of Android that Amazon has prettied up in a major way, customizing and optimizing it to take advantage of Amazon's various services. The Fire also has Wi-Fi built-in, but lacks a 3G option, camera, and microphone.
Purchasers of the Kindle Fire also get a 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which'll let you get a nice sampling of what the company's Video on Demand service offers. Other services you can access from the Fire include Amazon's Android Appstore, Kindle books, a host of magazines, Cloud Drive, Cloud Player, and the Amazon MP3 service. One nice feature is that WhisperSync, the technology that let you continue reading Kindle books from where you left off across multiple devices, now works with movies and TV shows. In other words, you can start a show on your Kindle Fire, and continue where you left off on your television. Another big feature is the inclusion of the Amazon Silk web browser, which does all the web processings on Amazon's EC2 servers, greatly speeding up the browsing experience.
You can pre-order a Kindle Fire now, and it'll ship on November 15th - check out the commercial after the break.
Click to continue reading Kindle Fire: Amazon’s $199 tablet e-reader
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 revealed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Google, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video,
Samsung on Monday offered the first glimpse of a new 8.9-inch Galaxy Tab tablet with Google's Android 3.1 Honeycomb that will be available Oct. 2, as well as two new media players, the Galaxy Player 4.0 and Galaxy Player 5.0.
"These three additions to the Galaxy family of products are impressive examples of our commitment to offering consumers an unrivaled array of choices for entertainment and information on-the-go," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile, in a statement.
"People want their mobile device to fit their lifestyle and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Players offer unparalleled power and portability to meet the widest consumer needs."
The Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab 8.9 (pictured above left and below) comes in two flavors, a 16GB tablet priced at $469, and a 32GB version priced at $569, the company said at its Samsung Experience event in New York. Samsung's Galaxy Player 4.0 is priced at $269 and the Galaxy Player at $229—b;oth; are set for U.S. release on Oct. 16.
Click to continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 revealed
Amazon Kindle Fire tablet will be revealed in two days
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds,
Looks like Amazon has decided to call their upcoming tablet the "Kindle Fire." That news comes from MG over at TechCrunch, who was given then info by unnamed sources. In addition, our pal Ryan from GDGT has posted information about why the Kindle Fire will so closely resemble the BlackBerry PlayBook. As it turns out, the group that typically handles the Kindle design, Lab 126, wasn't used. Instead, since Amazon wanted to get this thing out for the holidays, it was outsourced to Quanta, the same original design manufacturer that designed the PlayBook. Amazon will be holding a press conference on Wednesday to announce the Kindle Fire, and we'll have all the details right here as it happens.
Barnes & Noble set to launch a new Nook Color
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Rumors,
Is Barnes & Noble preparing to launch another tablet under the Nook name? Rumor has it the company will launch a new, pricier Nook Colors this year.
According to a tip obtained by the Digital Reader, B&N will launch a $349 tablet that could be named Acclaim. The Nook Simple Touch Reader will still be offered at $139 and the Nook Color will stay at $249. The tipster didn't offer any information on the specs of the device, but said the tablet would launch in the next quarter, likely in some time in October.
The Digital Reader also pointed to a tablet it saw on a slide from a Barnes & Noble company presentation with the codename Encore, but speculated that this is an updated version of the current 7-inch Nook Color.
Click to continue reading Barnes & Noble set to launch a new Nook Color
Amazon set to reveal Kindle tablet on Wednesday?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Rumors,
Amazon has been working on a new Kindle tablet for quite a while, and it looks like its set to reveal it to the world in just under a week. The Android-powered device is set to take advantage of all of Amazon's services--not just eBooks, but video on demand, music, the store, and all the rest. We're guessing that in addition to a tablet or two, we'll also see an updated e-ink version of the Kindle as well. Of course, we'll let you know what happens when it all goes down this Wednesday at 10:00 am Eastern!
Apple ready to launch a Sprint iPad?
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Rumors,
Sprint could be the next carrier to support the iPad. According to 9to5Mac, Apple and Sprint have finished a version of the tablet that is compatible with Sprint’s network and it will launch in time for the holiday shopping season.
Word on the street is that the Sprint iPad is a completely different model from the CDMA iPad that Verizon carries, even though both carriers’ networks use that standard. It’s unclear whether or not the iPad will run on Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network.
As far as the launch timeline goes, Sprint will start selling the iPad soon after it begins carrying the iPhone 5. While the reports that Sprint is getting the iPhone have yet to be confirmed by either Sprint or Apple, this should all happen at the beginning of October. It also speculated Sprint could offer users a much more “generous” data plan, citing the rumors that it would one-up AT&T and offer unlimited data on the iPhone. The site said Sprint could peddle the same plan for the iPad.
Click to continue reading Apple ready to launch a Sprint iPad?
Samsung Windows 8 tablet image leaks
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Microsoft,
We're expecting the Windows 8 tablets to debut this morning at Microsoft's BUILD conference, but as is the norm nowadays, we've got what we believe to be a legitimate spy shot of the device right here. Rumor has it that this tablet is a quad-core slate, made by Samsung, and rocking Windows 8 software...and it looks strikingly similar to an iPad. We'll have more later today, once BUILD kicks off.
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Best Buy cuts price of Blackberry PlayBook by $150
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Handhelds, Hot Deals,
First Sprint canceled the PlayBook 4G. On Thursday, Best Buy took $150 off the price of the RIM PlayBook tablet with 64 GB of memory.
The Best Buy deal is a far cry from the $99 HP TouchPad fire sale that captivated the technology industry in late August. The new, discounted price of the 64 GB PlayBook is $549.99, $50 above the price of the 32 GB TouchPad that HP discounted on August 10.
The discount means that Best Buy is now selling the 64 GB and 32 GB versions of the TouchPad for the same price, or $549.99. Best Buy has discounted the 32 GB version for $50 off of the list price. The 16 GB model is still priced at $449.99, with no discount.
Following the TouchPad debacle, RIM's PlayBook appears to be significantly overpriced, as the buyers turn to good, cheap tablets. The PlayBook is still less expensive than the 32-Gbyte Wi-Fi-only iPad, however, at $599.99. Hewlett-Packard has also said that it will make one final batch of HP Touchpads, apparently to soak up additional components from its upstream suppliers.
Click to continue reading Best Buy cuts price of Blackberry PlayBook by $150
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