The Kindle Fire

Today Amazon unveiled a number of new Kindle devices at their media event. The most exciting of which was the new Kindle Fire, which is a 7-inch Android based tablet (with a custom Amazon user interface) that will sell for just $199.

As you can see from the image, the Kindle Fire looks very similar to the BlackBerry PlayBook, which I personally don't think is a bad thing, let's just hope it doesn't suffer from the same fate!

So, besides the Kindle Fire's great price ($300 cheaper then the iPad) what other selling points is it hiding beneath the 7-inch multi-touch display? The Kindle Fire full specification can be found below:

• 7-inch IPS Multi-touch Capacitive Display (1024x600)
• Dual core, TI OMAP4 Processor
• 8GB Internal Storage
• Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n)
• Micro-USB Connector
• Eight Hours Battery Life
• 190 x 120 x 11.5mm
• 14.6 Ounces (413g)
• Google Android (Custom Amazon User Interface)

In my opinion the only thing missing from the specification is 3G capabilities, however I'm sure this will come in a future release (e.g. Kindle Fire 3G).

Regarding the software, being an Android based tablet the Kindle Fire has access to the Amazon Appstore, which has now grown to over 10,000 applications, as well as being heavily optimised for use with Amazon's other services, such as ebook's (Kindle), shopping (with Prime), instant video, music and web services. It also has a few new features that are unique to the device:

Whispersync - The service that previously allowed you to automatically synchronise your ebooks and page locations between Kindle devices. This feature has now been enhanced to include movies and TV shows as well.

Silk - Is a web browser that utilises the power of the Amazon EC2 cloud to offload website rendering. This results in an optimised stream being sent to the Kindle Fire, which Amazon have stated delivers "lightning fast" performance. This process is actually very similar to what Opera attempts to achieve with its mobile browser. Finally it is also worth noting that the Kindle Fire does support Adobe Flash, however there is a big difference between supporting Flash and making it actually usable (I guess we'll have to wait and see how the Kindle Fire does).

For more details on the Kindle Fire check out the Amazon preview video below:

The Amazon Kindle Fire is set to be released in the US on 15th November 2011, with pre-orders starting today.

Amazon Media Event

As noted by AllThingsD, Amazon have sent out invitations to a media event scheduled for Wednesday 28th September.

My hope is that this will be the official announcement of the long rumored Amazon tablet, based on Android. Current speculation states that Amazon have been working on the device for many months and although it has Android at its core, the user interface will be something completely new. If you take this information as fact and include the recent international launch of the Amazon AppStore, as well as include the Kindle ecosystem and Amazon Cloud Music service, you have the makings of a great product.

So, after years of waiting could this finally be a true rival to the unstoppable iPad (I've said that before) and will Amazon do the unthinkable and create a usable Android tablet experience before Google? All will be revealed on Wednesday.