14 DAY TRIAL // Amazon's hyped iPad killer is coming tomorrow. The company has announced that it's holding a press event and, while it hasn't said what it's about, there's really only one thing that it could be, the Kindle tablet.
In fact, TechCrunch was able to confirm what everyone else was already assuming, Amazon is launching its first tablet at the event.
The Kindle Fire is launching tomorrow but will be available in November
The tablet has gotten a full name now, it's going to be called the Kindle Fire. It will be showcased tomorrow, but it won't start shipping until the second week of November.
The specs have been known for a while, it's a 7 inch tablet running an older Android, possibly 2.1, heavily customized, with a new UI and no Google apps. Apparently, it will also sport a dual core, TI OMAP processor.
But the specs are not important if the tablet is going to have any chance against the iPad.
Amazon adds magazine publishers and Fox TV shows ahead of launch
Amazon's strategy is to not go head-to-head with the iPad, probably a smart idea, which is why it's launching a smaller device first and why, more importantly, it's putting the emphasis squarely on content.
And content Amazon's got. The MP3 store offers a huge selection of songs which become instantly available via its Cloud Player service, which will be the default media player on the device.
It's also boosting its video streaming offer, which now has a couple of thousands of new titles, both movies and TV shows, mostly older stuff, from Fox. Amazon's video streaming service boasts 11,000 titles in total, compared to Netflix's 20,000.
Amazon is lining up several publishers, as well, which will launch their magazines, in app form, for the Kindle Fire. Big names such as Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith have all signed up with Time still holding out.
Amazon is also working on boosting its app store, it is said to be working with several big name game and app publishers to make their creations available at launch.
Finally, Amazon has the Kindle store, with hundreds of thousands of books for sale. Buyers won't have a problem finding something to do with the Kindle Fire tablet, like they do with any Android tablet launched so far.
The Kindle Fire will compete with the Nook Color 2 as much as with the iPad
With Amazon's brand and site behind it, the Kindle Fire tablet is expected to sell in the millions. But it may not go unrivaled. The Kindle Fire is much more a competitor to the Nook Color than it is to the iPad.
And there's a Nook Color 2 coming very soon, boasting better multimedia capabilities and more apps. Granted, it probably won't have the range of content available on the Kindle Fire.
But it may be cheaper than Amazon's tablet, the Nook Color 2 is expected to sell for $250, 185 Euro. The Kindle Fire may be $300, 222 Euro, at launch, though that may include a subscription to Amazon Prime, worth $79, 58 Euro, a year.