<IT WORLD> Amazon joins tablet wars
By Martin J Young
HUA HIN, Thailand - Online retailer Amazon has entered the tablet arena with
the release of its own handheld device hailed the Kindle Fire. Touting a shiny
seven-inch full color touch screen and dual core processor the unit, showcased
by chief executive Jeffrey Bezos, has been marketed as a service rather than
just a piece of hardware.
The company has taken a tweaked, limited version of Google's Android to power
the device and it has been in conference with Netflix, Facebook and Twitter
with regards to the possibility of running apps on it. At the moment though,
the Kindle Fire has been designed to tap into Amazon's huge online trove of
over 18 million e-books, songs, movies and television shows.
The tablet also comes loaded with eight gigabytes of storage, a
free cloud-based storage service, usb port, WiFi connectivity and boasts up to
eight hours of battery life, the software includes a media player, PDF reader
and email application but no browser plugins. It is also missing a camera,
microphone, and cellular network connectivity, sacrifices that were deemed
necessary by Amazon to achieve such a competitive price.
Retailing at a mere US$199, Kindle Fire is less than half the price of Apple's
entry level iPad. The company hopes to make up the price deficit by selling
books, movies and locking users into other Amazon offerings such as a new
online magazine subscription service.
Apple has already tried something similar which failed to gain momentum as its
demands for revenue and consumer information from publishers were too
excessive. Two new touch-screen Kindle e-readers were also announced at the
company event ranging in price from $79 to $149.
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Apple stirred the tech news pot this week by sending out invitations to a
company event on October 4 that is likely to host the arrival of the iPhone 5.
A number of improvements are expected with the new model including a larger
screen, upgraded hardware specifications, the new iOS5 operating system, eight
megapixel camera, and the possibility of holding it with all of your fingers at
any angle to get a signal.
Despite the initial antenna problems, Apple aficionados flocked to get their
hands on the iPhone 4, launched in June 2010. The release cycle has been
delayed this year and rumors abound that the latest iteration of Apple's
winning handset may be called the iPhone 4S.
Analysts estimate that 25 million units will be shifted during the December
quarter. However, that will not be good enough to rival the number of devices
being sold that run Google's Android, which now holds a dominating 43% of the
market.
Microsoft
meanwhile has launched the latest version of its own mobile operating system
this week, Windows Phone 7.5, dubbed Mango. The original WP7 platform was
lacking in several key features, such as copy-paste, which is why it did not
perform as well as the company expected. The new Mango flavored version is a
major update, with over 500 changes and improvements.
Some of those tweaks and enhancements include on-the-fly messaging, which
enables the user to switch from instant messaging to SMS to Facebook with ease.
Multi-tasking, a feature lacking in many of today's smart-phones, is included
as well as speech recognition and visual search.
Wireless tethering is also a big bonus for those that wish to use their phone
to act as a WiFi hotspot to enable other devices, such as a laptop, to get
online. With Mango, Microsoft finally has a contender on the mobile OS
battleground, although there is a lot of work to be done to catch up with Apple
and the Android army.
Industry
South Korean electronics giant Samsung has been chased across the planet by
Apple's legal hounds, claiming another round of patent infringement by the new
Galaxy Tablet. The latest skirmish took place in Australia where Apple are
trying their hardest to get federal courts to ban the sales of the rival
device.
Samsung was hoping to launch the Galaxy Tab 10.1 on the Australian market on
Friday 30 however has stated that it would wait for the result of the hearing
next week. Apple originally sued Samsung in the US in April for "slavishly"
copying the design of the iPhone and iPad.
Meanwhile, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has refused Apple's
bid to trademark the term "Multi-Touch". Apple argued that the term had
"acquired distinctiveness" and should only be restricted to its own products.
It is the second time the USPTO has denied Apple, claiming that the term is
generic and refers to a wide variety of technology involved in the creation of
various gadgets.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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