Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Apple's working on a smaller version of the iPad (insert iPod touch jokes here) to compete with Amazon's lower cost Kindle Fire device, but maybe we've been led astray. Maybe Apple has no intentions of releasing a 7-inch iPad -- Steve Jobs always scoffed at the idea anyway -- and perhaps it's Google, not Apple, who will ultimately fight Fire with, well, something.
Amazon is usually light on details when discussing Kindle sales, but this time we’ve been granted a bit more data on the holiday season. According to Amazon, the online retailer moved 4 million Kindle devices in the month of December. Additionally, eBook gifting shot up 175%. After all, you can’t give a Kindle without including a few books.
Time is running out if you still haven't slid any presents underneath the Christmas tree (for those of you who celebrate the holiday), and you have even less time if you prefer to shop online. But it's not too late to snag a Kindle online, not yet anyway. Amazon is offering free two-day shipping -- a deal normally reserved for Prime members -- to customers who order any Kindle device, including the Kindle Fire, by 8PM PT on December 21 (tomorrow).
Amazon is promising an over-the-air update for its recently launched Kindle Fire device will cure many of the ills early adopters have been complaining about. A company spokesman said the firmware revision will improve performance, smooth out navigation, and give users the option of editing recent activity, which will mean no more having to hide the device when you don't want other family members knowing what you've been up to.
Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire isn't really supposed to be an iPad killer, and in fact the mega online retailer rarely compares the two devices, at least publicly. However, if Amazon's new tablet can spread like a wildfire and make up half of the Android tablet market by 2012, as one analysts predicts it will, then the Kindle Fire will be well on its way to dethroning the iPad (in terms of shipments).
The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes the horror of holiday shopping. At this time of year, thinking about others and spending your hard earned dough on them is pretty much requisite. While this might paste a look of joy on your nearest and dearest, every gift you purchase means there’s a little less coin in the coffers for the stuff you want. This means that instead of being able to buy what you want when you want, you’re gonna have to wait. Fortunately, Add to Amazon Wish List for Chrome will help you to keep your backlog of personal indulgences in check.
Build a low cost tablet (that doesn't suck) and the buyers will come. Amazon's Kindle Fire is proof that there's a significant market out there for non-iPad tablets, and folks, we're just getting started. The Fire has only been burning for two weeks, yet is already on pace to grab the No. 2 spot in the global media tablet market, with shipments expected to reach 3.9 million units by the end of the year.
Amazon's only begun lighting up the tablet market with its recently introduced Kindle Fire, a $199 tablet built around a heavily customized version of Android and powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor, but it's never too early to look ahead. Especially if you're Nvidia, which reportedly scored a deal to supply the application processor in the next Kindle Fire device.
Forget all the talk about a down economy and lack of disposable income for a moment. None of that seemed to affect Amazon, the online giant who peddled more Kindle devices this past Black Friday than ever before. Overall Kindle sales jumped four-fold compared to last year, and the popular Kindle Fire tablet remained the best selling product across all of Amazon since its introduction 8 weeks ago, Amazon said.
Last week we discussed Google’s lack of support for music lovers in 
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