Amazon has joined the tablet wars in earnest, debuting a 7″ color tablet called “Fire” today that’s priced at an affordable $199. Fire ties to Amazon’s growing arsenal of content, beyond books to movies and TV shows (see yesterday’s story about the addition of more FOX TV shows.) And Fire apps are powered by Android, which again, ties back to the Amazon store.
The price is the key here. The iPad starts at $499, which for the holiday season, is a prohibitive gift for the vast majority of Americans. But $199 is certainly in range, tapping an entirely new customer base that can’t afford Apple’s higher-end products. I expect Amazon will sell a lot of these.
The good news for developers — and by extension, media companies — is Fire is built on top of Android, so existing Android tablet apps will port over. Or if you’re like most media companies, the addition of Fire means you have to seriously consider creating an Android tablet app. (Yet… another… app!)
One of the most interesting Fire features is the extension of “Whispersync” to video. “Start streaming a movie on your Kindle Fire, and when you get home, you can resume streaming right where you left off on your TV – avoid the frustration of needing to find your spot,” explains Amazon’s press release.
Of all the companies to compete with Apple in the tablet space, Amazon is the best suited. The addition of video is yet another sign the Amazon is becoming a serious competitor of Netflix and Hulu, too, leveraging the strength of its store into the hardware space. The addition of “Fire” will also expedite adoption of the “second screen” in TV viewing, as it opens up a new audience with a more approachable price point.
