Get ready for a battle in the tablet computer market.
Apple, the revered tech giant whose sales of phones and tablets have repeatedly wowed Wall Street, could finally shed blood at the hands of a rival to the north.
Seattle-based Amazon has introduced the Kindle Fire, a $199 tablet computer that costs less than half of the $500 iPad.
Featuring a 7-inch full color LCD touchscreen, the 14.6 ounce tablet ships on Nov. 15 and is available for pre-orders today at www.amazon.com/kindlefire.
The Kindle Fire offers a bevy of features ranging from gaming to free storage for Amazon digital content to access to more than 1 million Kindle e-books to the ability to stream roughly 100,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon Instant Video.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has been dominating the tablet computer market with its venerated iPad, but at least some analysts expect the Kindle Fire to record impressive sales and create a rivalry of sorts.
“We believe that the launch of an Amazon tablet will significantly boost the tablet market and inject a much needed competitor to Apple’s iPad," wrote Ovum analyst Adam Leach. “The device will help lift currently sluggish shipments of Android-based tablets, helping them to grow from five million units by end of 2011 to an expected 89 million units by 2016."
Amazon’s announcement today was widely expected, although the company didn’t merely release its tablet computer. It also introduced three Kindle e-readers, including a $79 device that weighs 5.98 ounces and fits into your pocket.
