Amazon unveiled a tablet today called “Fire.” At an introductory price of only $199, “Fire” is expected to heavily compete with Apple’s ipad, which starts at $499.
The device will have a 7-inch display, and will run Google’s Android software, and use Wi-Fi connections. However, it will not have a camera, microphone or 3G capabilities.
The tablet market has been difficult to penetrate for many companies such as Samsung and HP, and one main point of differentiation between tablets is the online stores. Amazon’s new tablet will have access to the online store, downloadable music store, movie and TV streaming service, cloud-based computing services and electronic books.
Shares of Amazon.com jumped more than 3 percent this morning immediately following the announcement, and Barnes and Noble stock dropped 6 percent.
Additionally, Amazon announced a new browser, Silk, which will run on the tablet. Silk utilizes predictive technology to detect user behavior and predict what the user will request next.
While all features have yet to be unveiled for “Fire”, we expect to see a noticeable market interruption and increased competition, specifically on price, among other tablet manufacturers.
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