Amazon Gets Into the Tablet Market
Amazon.com is the latest challenger to Apple’s dominance in the tablet market introducing plans this week to launch the Kindle Fire in November.
The display for the device is much smaller than an iPad (7 inches) but will also be offered at a much cheaper price (starting at $199). The bare-bones iPad sells for $499.
The Fire will run a version of Google’s Android software and will also have access to apps through Amazon’s Android store. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said at a media event in New York that the Kindle Fire will allow users to “connect to the Web, stream movies and TV, display e-books and support thousands of apps” calling it a “platform for games, movies, music and other applications.”
The tablet will not have a camera and also lacks a microphone and slot for memory expansion. It will run on Wi-Fi networks but will not connect to cellular networks.
Amazon is already taking pre-sale orders for the devices, which go on sale on November 15.
Photo Credit: Amazon.com
