Kindle Fire: 95,000 Orders On Day One Tweet

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet is off to a solid start in terms of sales, according to one analyst firm.
eDataSource, which tracks consumer purchases, estimates that Amazon received about 95,000 pre-orders for Kindle in the first 24 hours after the product was unveiled Wednesday. That's a good bit lower than the 300,000 iPads that Apple sold in that gadget's first day on the market, but still respectable--particularly given that the Kindle Fire won't actually ship until Nov. 15.
The research firm builds its estimates by tracking email traffic, social media messages, and other electronic communications. The market watcher estimates that sales of the three other new Kindles that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced this week--the $79, non-touch Kindle Wi-Fi, the $99 Kindle Touch, and the $149 Kindle Touch 3G--totaled about 25,000.
"Despite the higher price point, the Kindle Fire outstripped sales of the other three new Kindle units combined," said eDataSource. Amazon officials did not return a call seeking comment on Kindle Fire sales. Bezos said he expects that sales of the new Kindles, including Fire, will be in the "millions."
Kindle Fire's impact on the tablet market won't be limited to Apple, as other players will also feel the heat generated by Amazon's decision to price the device at just $199. Best Buy this week revealed significant price cuts on RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook. The $699 64-GB model is now $499, the $599 32-GB model is now $399, and the 16-GB model, originally priced at $499, is now $299.
Kindle Fire is also cheaper than Barnes & Noble's $250 Nook Color, a fact that could lead the brick-and-mortar book seller to lower its price, according to some analysts.
Kindle Fire boasts some impressive specs for a device that comes in at under $200. The LCD screen displays 16 million colors in high-resolution, at 169 pixels per inch.
In-plane switching technology provides wide viewing angles. A dual-core processor, reportedly from Texas Instruments, provides quick responsiveness. The device weighs 14.6 ounces, making it possible for most people to hold in one hand.
Kindle Fire also provides out-of-the-box integration with Amazon subscription services for movies, TV shows, games and music. And it boasts a new browser called Silk that splits rendering tasks between the tablet and Amazon's big iron EC2 servers in the cloud. Amazon said the approach makes browsing faster than traditional approaches.
Noticeably absent, at least until the next version, is a microphone and camera. Kindle Fire is also currently available only with Wi-Fi connectivity. Amazon has not said whether it plans to release a follow-up model with 3G or 4G cellular reception.

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Amazon Kindle Fire No True iPad Rival Tweet

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the long-awaited, heavily anticipated Kindle Fire Sept. 28 in New York. The slate, which uses a custom version of Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system, costs $199.99 and is expected to ship Nov. 15.

This may not surprise many people following the red-hot tablet market Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) created, but Piper Jaffray and other analysts don't believe the Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle Fire will compete head-to-head with the iPad.

No one was really expecting Amazon to produce a premium consumer electronics device. The e-commerce giant's legacy of low-cost Kindle e-readers put wood behind that theory.

Sure, $199 is an aggressive enough price point to dupe pundits into thinking Amazon deigns to claw at the stout underbelly of Apple, which sells its 16GB iPad 2 for $499, but the product specs show otherwise.

There are major differences between the forthcoming Kindle Fire and Apple's freshest tablet, the iPad 2, that put the Kindle Fire at one end of the market and the iPad 2 at the top.

Apple's iPad 2 has a 9.7-inch screen. The Kindle Fire possesses a 7-inch display. The iPad 2 has front- and rear-facing cameras to enable photo and video shoots, as well as video chats.

The Kindle Fire has no cameras. iPad 2 has a microphone. The Kindle Fire doesn't. iPad 2 may be purchased in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models. The Kindle Fire comes with 8GB of internal storage, but offers all of the cloud storage a consumer can eat.

Where Apple reigns atop the high end of the tablet market, Amazon has targeted the low-hanging fruit grabbers, and plans to rely on its toy chest of Web-based music, movies, books and storage to woo consumers.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster noted, "With the Kindle Fire, we believe Amazon is attempting a unique tablet strategy by leveraging a superior cloud-based content delivery system tied with Prime to make money off of a device we believe will sell at a loss."

Of course, his caveat is that because Amazon is relying on a superior cloud-based content system to counter Apple's premium hardware and software choices, the Kindle Fire remains a step or two behind the iPad for the time being. This thinking puts the spotlight back on the rumor that Amazon will soon launch an improved Kindle Fire with a 10-inch screen.

Daring Fireball's John Gruber put it best:

"The iPad takes it on from the high end. It's the best possible device in that price range from the world's best maker of devices. The Kindle Fire takes it on from the low end. The iPad is a credible laptop replacement for many people-and with iCloud and another year or two of hardware improvements, that's going to be true for more and more people. The Kindle Fire is a laptop replacement for almost no one. It's a peripheral, not a second computer-and it's priced accordingly."

Munster remains comfortable with his previous estimate that Amazon will sell 2.5 million Kindle Fires this quarter to close out the year.

Interestingly, Munster noted that his conservative sales estimate is based on Amazon's history with Kindle e-reader shortages that he believes will extend to the Kindle Fire. "If supply were not an issue, we believe Amazon could sell closer to 4 million Kindle Fires in the holiday quarter," he said.

Munster expects the Fire to lead the pack of Android tablets that will take share from the iPad in 2012. He expects the iPad to go from its current 90 percent market share to 60 percent in 2012 as the Kindle Fire and other popular Android slates emerge to entice consumers.

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Is Amazon trying to buy WebOS from HP? Tweet

Who will save what’s left of Palm from HP’s bumbling? It could be Amazon, as the online retailing giant is in serious negotiations to snap up Palm from HP, VentureBeat has learned.
A well-placed source tells us that HP is currently looking to rid itself of Palm as soon as possible, and that Amazon is the closest to finalizing the deal, among a handful of contenders.
Indeed, after yesterday’s announcement of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet, no other company seems as fitting a home for Palm and its webOS software. It’s worth noting that former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein, who now holds a vague “product innovation” role at HP’s Personal Services Group, joined Amazon’s board late last year.
When asked for comment, an HP spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on rumors and speculation. We’re still waiting to hear back from an Amazon representative.
The Kindle Fire is powered by Android, but it’s been heavily customized by Amazon to the point where you can barely tell. By purchasing the remnants of Palm, Amazon would have free rein to redesign webOS to its own liking, and it would be able to further differentiate its Kindle devices from the slew of Android tablets in the market.
And even though HP has given up entirely on its webOS hardware business after the TouchPad tablet failed spectacularly, there’s still plenty of potential for webOS to power a successful device. Palm’s mobile software was praised for its slick multi-tasking capabilities, which could allow future Kindle Fire tablets to juggle games, movies and media with more finesse than Android.
It also appears that HP has been eyeing Amazon for some time as a potential webOS partner. In an interview with This is my next in July, Rubinstein revealed quite a bit about having Amazon use webOS in its future tablets:
So, we’d like a partner that would allow us to expand the webOS ecosystem… There’s a variety of different sets of a characteristics to qualify as a good partner. I would say Amazon would certainly make a great partner, because they have a lot of characteristics that would help them expand the webOS ecosystem. As to whether there’s been discussions or not… that’s obviously not something I’m going to comment about.
HP paid $1.2 billion for Palm in 2010, but Amazon will end up spending a fraction of that if the deal goes through. Given just how badly the TouchPad failed, HP will likely offer what’s left of Palm at a major discount, especially since Amazon woudn’t be interested in resuscitating now extinct webOS hardware.
Personally, I’ve never had much faith in HP’s ability to effectively manage Palm and webOS. Amazon, with its commitment to long-term planning and innovative consumer devices, seems like a much better fit. And in a way, it seems fitting for the company that released the first widely-available $200 tablet to snap up the company that made PDAs, the precursor to the smartphone, a phenomenon.

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Will Samsung unveil latest Android and Nexus phone? Tweet

The rumors have been swirling for months that the next version of Google's Android operating system, to be nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich, will make its debut on a new Samsung smartphone which could be called the Nexus Prime.
So when will the world see the Nexus Prime, if there is one, and Ice Cream Sandwich, which is set to be the version of Android that unifies phone and tablet operating systems? Possibly Oct. 11, just a few days after the Tuesday unveiling of the next Apple iPhone.
Samsung is hosting an Android event on that day in San Diego that it's calling "Samsung Unpacked, Google Episode" during the CTIA Enterprise and Applications conference.
The company sent out Unpacked invites to members of the press Wednesday and Thursday that read "Join us at Samsung Mobile Unpacked 2011 to get a look at what's new from Android."
Hmmmm, could it be the next Android release? Maybe a new tablet to go along with a new phone?
Samsung just released its Galaxy S II to the U.S. after it had been available for months in Europe and Asia, but new Android phones from an array of manufactures are released each month so it might not be too weird for the Korean electronics maker to release a new phone.
The Nexus Prime however, as of now, hasn't been announced by Samsung, though speculation has pointed to such a device featuring many higher-end specs seen on current phones, such as a dual-core processor, a larger screen that's possibly as big as the Galaxy S II's 4.5-inch display and 4G network connectivity.
If Samsung does release a new Nexus-branded device, it would be the handset maker's second Nexus phone and Google's third -- the first Nexus being the Nexus One from HTC, and the second being the Nexus S from Samsung. The Nexus line thus far has always run an unadulterated version of Android, with no third-party overlays and pre-installed apps.
If Samsung does have a Nexus Prime on the way, we'd expect that "pure Android" software would remain the theme.

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Skype App comes to more Android Devices Tweet

Skype this week unveiled an update to its Skype for Android app that adds support for more than a dozen popular Android devices.

In all, Skype 2.5 for Android brings video calling to 14 new Android phones and tablets, bringing the total number of supported devices to 41.

The new additions include the new Motorola Droid Bionic and the LG Optimus 2x smartphones, as well as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 , the Motorola Xoom , and the Acer Iconia tablets. A full list of newly supported devices is below.

The app update also includes new video enhancements, Skype said, including the ability to switch between portrait and landscape modes during video calls and zoom with a double tap on the screen.

There are also several bug fixes and improved support for Bluetooth headsets, Skype said. Like recent Mac and iOS updates, Skype is also adding an advertising platform, though users who have Skype Credit or premium accounts will not see the ads.

Earlier this week, meanwhile, Skype also issued an update for its iPhone and iPad apps that's intended to reduce the shakiness of outgoing Skype video chat when using a rear-facing camera. "So, if you're using Skype video to show friends and family what you're up to or where you are, the image they see will be less shaky," Skype said in a blog post.

The iOS update also added Bluetooth support. " You will now be able to use Bluetooth-enabled headsets to make hands-free Skype calls," Skype said. "This will make life easier while you're on conference calls, on the road, or simply don't want to hold your iPhone or iPad in-hand."

Newly supported Android devices include:
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1
HTC Nexus One
HTC Shooter
Sony Ericsson Xperia Live with Walkman
Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
LG Optimus Black
LG Optimus 3D
LG Optimus 2x
Motorola Photon
Motorola Droid 3
Motorola Bionic
Motorola Xoom
Motorola Atrix
Acer Iconia

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Microsoft making nearly half a billion in license deals Tweet

updated 08:15 pm EDT, Thu September 29, 2011

Estimates show huge Microsoft profit on Android. Goldman Sachs analysts estimated that, at between $3 to $6 for each device, Microsoft's combined deals could lead to it making $444 million in its fiscal 2012 year, which ends next June. The deals range from majors like HTC and Samsung through to more niche firms like Onkyo and Velocity Micro.
Windows Phone itself is now a much smaller share of Microsoft's revenue at that rate. With 1.72 million Windows phones of all makes shipped in the spring and a $15 licensing rate, Microsoft would have made just $25.9 million a quarter or $103.4 million a year, just a quarter of what it makes from Android.

Goldman Sachs saw the royalties as still secondary to Microsoft versus building up Windows Phone. Google's buyout of Motorola might actually help by taking a completely independent Android maker out of the picture. Microsoft is also widely believed to be wielding Android royalty rates as a way of forcing firms to make more Windows Phones, lowering the rate if they agree to design more models and ship more units.

HTC may be warming up to the platform in spite of legal pressure to use it. Singapore manager Melvin Chua stated Wednesday that 30 percent of HTC's total unit sales were coming from Microsoft's OS. He saw this rising and that it could soon "give Android a run for its money," according to ZDNet.

Some of the hope was coming from the just-shipping Windows Phone 7.5, or Mango. It adds multitasking, a much newer browser, and other additions that have helped it catch up in features. Microsoft still faces some deficits, such as a lack of support for dual-core processors, but has generated "positive feedback" inside and out of the company, Chua said.

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Foxconn may produce Amazon 10.1" tablet Tweet

After passing on orders for the new Kindle Fire from Amazon, Foxconn Electronics is believed to have won the contract to produce the Internet retailer's rumored 10.1-inch tablet and could begin shipping the device from factories by the end of the year, according to a new report.

Taiwan industry publication DigiTimes reported on Friday that industry sources claim Amazon will continue its long-term relationship with Foxconn by outsourcing production of its 10.1-inch tablets to the manufacturer. Amazon has historically hired Foxconn to build its Kindle e-readers, but the retailer went with Quanta for its new Kindle Fire touchscreen tablet, set to ship on Nov. 15.

Unveiled on Wednesday, the 7-inch Fire sells for $199 and is a "souped-up version" of the Kindle that is meant for media consumption through Amazon's ecosystem. Amazon Prime members can enjoy movie and TV show streaming on the tablet and users can purchase apps via Amazon Appstore. The Fire runs an older version of Google's Android operating system with a "fresh and easy-to-use interface" painted over Android's "rough surfaces."

According to the report, sources said Foxconn "decided not to take" orders for the Fire because it had been busy producing Apple's iPad. That's consistent with rumors that emerged in June that said the success of the iPad could place production constraints on Amazon.

Amazon instead turned to Quanta, which had produced Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet earlier in the year. The Fire bears a strikingly close resemblance to the PlayBook.




AppleInsider reported on Monday that, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the Kindle Fire is a transitional device meant to 'test the waters' ahead of Amazon's true tablet efforts that have been pushed back to next year. The 10.1-inch tablet is reportedly codenamed "Coyote" and is expected to arrive in early 2012. Amazon is also said to be readying an 8.9-inch tablet with an "amazing form factor" for the second half of next year.

Initial response to the Fire has been mixed. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray said the device is "not a true competitor, but more competitive than expected," while noting that Amazon is expected to lose about $50 per unit it sells. J.P. Morgan's Mark Moskowitz was unimpressed with the Fire, calling it "noise" and a stepping stone at best. Others, however, have hailed the device as an "iPad killer" that will undercut Apple's tablet on price.

Kuo estimates that Amazon will build 3 million Fires by the end of the year, but some industry watchers have expressed concerns that supply of the device will be tight this holiday season.

"When [Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos] quipped that people should get their pre-orders in quick, that wasn't just a sales pitch," Reuters reported Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair as saying "That was him warning this will sell out."

Amazon will benefit from using older technology and more readily available 7-inch screens, but may have trouble expanding its production and distribution capabilities. Rival Apple has leveraged its sophisticated operations to give it "a competitive advantage over Amazon, which may find it difficult to produce more than a few million Kindle Fires for the holiday season," Munster said on Wednesday.

In addition to the Fire, Amazon unveiled a $79 low-end Kindle without a keyboard and a Kindle Touch with multi-touch capability. Both devices continue to use e-ink displays and will be sold alongside the previous model, which has been renamed the Kindle Keyboard.

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Amazon may ship 10 inch Kindle Fire before 2012 Tweet

Amazon's 10-inch version of the Kindle Fire could already be shipping from factories in late 2011 if supply chain reports from late Thursday are correct. Foxconn is purportedly taking on production of the larger model before the end of the year for "holiday-season demand," Digitimes said. It's unclear exactly when the tablet would go on sale.
A very late 2011 launch would be unusual given that the seven-inch Kindle Fire will only be shipping November 15. Shipment at the end of 2011 might not lead to real sales until the more widely rumored early 2012 date. The 10-inch tablet is understood to be Amazon's real centerpiece and could have a quad-core TI OMAP or NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip inside with more of an emphasis on video.

Regardless of plans for the larger model, Apple may have disrupted some of Amazon's production plans. Even as Quanta lent its experience with the BlackBerry PlayBook to make the Kindle Fire, it may have come after Amazon was denied a chance at manufacturing from Foxconn. The contract manufacturer was said to have had its capacity booked making iPads for Apple. If true, it's possible Apple's surge of iPad demand may have ultimately dictated the Kindle Fire's design as well as its production limits, giving Amazon a lower ceiling than it would have at the world's largest contract manufacturer.

The seven-inch slate is so far considered Android's best hope at getting significant market share in a climate dominated by iPads. Part of its appeal has been the deliberate decision to get away from conventional Android tablet design and focus on a completely original interface along with a well-established ecosystem already waiting to supply books, music, and videos. Its $199 price may also clinch the deal, although it's speculated Amazon might be selling at a loss just to build market share early on.

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