Amazon Q2 2012: Kindle Fire best-seller device, net income down 96%

All the main companies in the tech business are posting their financial details for the second quarter of the year, ending on June 30, and after we looked at various players in the mobile business – including Google, Apple, AT&T or Samsung – we now have Amazon’s financial report for Q2 2012 to inspect.
As expected, the most important product for the company remains its own tablet, the Kindle Fire, a device that’s sold at cost, as the giant retailer tries to make money off the digital content purchased on the tablet by its owners.
But Amazon’s numbers weren’t necessarily good for a company that’s fairly interested in turning in a healthy profit each quarter. The company reported $12.83 billion in sales for the period, a 29% increase in sales, but net income dropped 96% compared to the year-ago quarter to $7 million.
Sure, that number was affected by a $65 million “of estimated net loss related to the acquisition and integration of Kiva Systems, Inc.” but also by a “$272 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter. But $7 million is still a very low number for such a retailer.
It is not clear how many Kindle Fire units the company sold in the second quarter of the year, but those numbers must have surely been affected by the launch of the new iPad, which made Apple discount the iPad 2 by $100, but also by the Nexus 7 rumors that hit the web during the time – the Jelly Bean tablet has only been unveiled in late June, and started selling on its announcement day at Google I/O.
What we’re mostly interested to see from Amazon is its new generation of Kindle Fire tablets, which may be announced and launched in the following months – the company is rumored to have quite a few models in stock soon, with the most recent report suggesting that Amazon will release six different Kindle Fire versions this year.

Source: http://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-q2-2012-kindle-fire-best-seller-device-net-income-down-96-103865/

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Nexus 7, a wolf in sheep’s clothing for other Android tablet makers?

The Google Nexus 7 is right now one of the most popular 7-inch tablets out there, and considering it’s a Nexus-branded device ready to offer buyers a pure Android experience, it will probably become one of the best sold tablets of the year.
Google is yet to mention sales numbers for the device that started shipping last week and which is currently sold out with certain third-party retailers, but Digitimes reports that according to “industry sources” the Search giant may ship as many as 2.5-3 million units this year.
That may not seem like an impressive number, as the tablet is only available in a limited number of markets right now, but will Google hurt its partners when it comes to overall tablet sales and profits? The Nexus 7 doesn’t, and can’t, target the iPad – Apple is expected to sell tens of millions of iPads each quarter – but instead it’s meant to compete against the Kindle Fire, a product Google can’t afford to ignore.
Amazon’s tablet became popular with the crowds because it’s an affordable device, ready to offer a good enough experience for that price, not to mention access to the company’s digital content stores.
Google has adopted the same model, selling the device at cost, hoping to prevent users from jumping ship to Amazon and have them immersed in an improved Google Play environment instead. But while Google can sell the Nexus 7 without making any profits because users would then spend more money in its digital stores, other Android makers won’t be able to enjoy the same perks.

 

And they won’t be able to come up with similarly priced devices ready to offer a similar experience. Google did say that’s plenty of room left for innovation in the tablet environment, implying that its product will not hurt tablet sales from its Android partners, but the fact is that each Nexus 7 buyer is a customer that may have chosen an Android tablet from a different OEM. At the same time, that customer may have chosen the iPad too, so having him or her purchase a Nexus 7 instead is a better alternative for Google.
But, and I’ll say this again, Apple may sell as many as 30 million iPads by the end of the year (that’s a guesstimate from my part), that’s not counting what it has already sold in the first two quarters. And Apple did not cut the price of its tablets once the Nexus 7 launched. And Apple also has its digital stores in place that can be accessed almost in full in more markets that Google Play is available in, which means Apple too can make plenty of money off of its digital offerings.
Meanwhile, other Android device makers will have to suck it up, and fight even harder for a piece of the (Android) tablet ecosystem. The same Digitimes reports that various OEMs including Samsung, Asus and Acer, have started to cut the prices of their tablet offerings in order to better adapt to the new competition from Google’s tablet:

Samsung, which enjoys a high level of brand recognition, cut slightly the prices of its tablets in order to cope with increasing competition and to pave the way for the launch of its own new models.
But for Acer and Asustek Computer, they seem to have adopted the same strategy of lowering the prices of their 10.1-inch models to the levels close to those quoted for 7-inch models by Google or other rivals in order to attract consumers.

So is the Nexus 7 a wolf in sheep’s clothing for the Android tablet ecosystem? We’ll be able to better asses that in the following months when we’ll find out more details about tablet sales from the most important players in the business.

Finally, there’s also one more negative effect of the Nexus 7 that we can’t overlook – the iPad mini. Apple was rumored since last year to be working on a 7.85-inch iOS tablet, but the company didn’t make it public. Then the Kindle Fire appeared and the Google Nexus 7 rolled out seven months later revealing that there’s a certain share of the population that’s interested in purchasing cheaper tablets – but not the very cheapest, as there are various cheap Android tablets from unrecognized brands that don’t enjoy the popularity of the Kindle Fire or Nexus 7. And that could be a good enough reason for Apple to launch its smaller iPad this fall/winter. Android tablet makers will then have to fight against the smaller tablet as well.
What tablet are you buying this year?

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Kindle Fire sales forecast cut by analyst, no thanks to Google Nexus 7

The tech industry has its share of analysts and their predictions and forecasts, but it doesn’t mean that one should take every little finding as gospel – especially as things can always take a turn either for the best or worst. The latter can be applied to the Amazon Kindle Fire, as Cowen analyst Kevin Kopelman has changed the firm’s overly bullish stance on the tablet.
It looks like the Google Nexus 7 and the rumored iPad Mini will rain on Kindle Fire’s parade. While the fire won’t be extinguished entirely, the research firm’s sales forecast for the Kindle Fire has been dialed down. Instead of the predicted 14 million Kindle Fire sales for 2012, the figure is now set at 12 million units. With that said – it’d still be a respectable showing for an almost 1-year old device.
Things aren’t looking too bright either for the Kindle e-reader. Sales forecast for the device, where the number was initially expected to grow 30% in 2012, has also been revised. The e-reader is now predicted to grow at a 3% rate. The slowdown is attributed to several unfavorable circumstances, which include the removal of the device from Target stores, and Amazon’s preferential treatment of the Kindle Fire. Again, the number is nothing to sneeze at – as Amazon is still expected to sell about 15.9 Kindle e-reader units this year.
If it’s any consolation, Amazon is prepping up the release of several new Kindle Fire models this year – which should help the online retailer regain a solid footing in the tablet market.

Sumber: http://www.androidauthority.com/kindle-fire-sales-forecast-cut-analyst-google-nexus-7-102056/

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NYT: iPad Mini, 10-inch Kindle Fire 2 on track to debut this year

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Image Credit: NYT

The Google Nexus 7 tablet has been just launched, and it’s selling like hot cakes, at least according to various third-party retailers that have sold out their initial Nexus 7 allotments. But the 7-inch Jelly Bean device will have some fierce competition in the near future, both from Apple and Amazon.
A fresh New York Times report mentions that both companies are readying new tablets to be released in then near future, the iPad Mini and the new Kindle Fire, respectively.

Apple iPad Mini

We have recently compared the Nexus 7 with various 7-inch rivals, including the iPad Mini – we have used available rumors for this initial comparison, as we have a general idea of what Apple’s smaller tablet could offer.

 

The Times now reports that the tablet will feature a 7.85-inch touchscreen display – something we already knew – and that the device will sell “for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad,” which somewhat confirms the previous $249 price tag for the iPad Mini that was mentioned in other reports.
The Times compares Apple’s iPod strategy – the company came out with various models a few years ago to make sure it stayed atop the music player business – with current iPad plans. That iPod diversification – various iPod models sold at various price points to meet various needs from consumers – worked well for Apple as no company really managed to dethrone the former computer-only maker from the number one position it quickly acquired in the music player business thanks to the iPod.
Similarly, Apple is dominating the tablet business right now, with no Android tablet, or any other kind, being able to truly deliver a blow to Apple’s iPad sales. Even the Kindle Fire was not really a threat for the iPad, but rather a nuisance for existing Android tablets, which prompted Google to come out initially with a Kindle Fire-killer rather than a full-fledged iPad-killer.
These 7-inch devices have shown that there’s definitely interest in smaller tablets, and now appears to be the best moment for Apple to come out with the Mini version, a device that was rumored for more than a year. Not to mention that the Times report adds even more credibility to the rumor, even though Apple declined to go on record regarding such rumors – the Times spoke with “several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans.”

Amazon Kindle Fire 2

We have extensively covered the Kindle Fire 2 rumors for you, noting that, depending on who you ask, Amazon will launch more than one new tablet this year, with screen size set at 7-inch, 8.9-inch and 10-inch. The Times adds further to the confusion, suggesting that Amazon is going to respond to Apple’s iPad Mini with a bigger Kindle Fire model that would compete against the iPad. Therefore the publication seems to indicate a 10-inch Kindle Fire 2 is in the works, and while Amazon “declined to comment,” the Times had a credible source, a developer familiar with the project:

Amazon is working on a new version of the Kindle Fire, with a larger display, that could compete more directly with the iPad, according to a developer briefed on Amazon’s plans who did not want to be identified talking about unannounced products.

However, the Times did not go into more details about such a device, as it dedicated its feature on the impending arrival of the new iPad Mini and its impact on the market.
What budget-friendly tablet will you buy this year and why?

Source: http://www.androidauthority.com/nyt-ipad-mini-10-inch-kindle-fire-2-debut-this-year-101305/

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Bloomberg, Reuters confirm Google will unveil a $199 tablet made by Asus, at I/O. The main target? The Kindle Fire

While Google’s Nexus 7 tablet is no big secret by now, Bloomberg and Reuters are independently confirming that the tablet is indeed made by Google in cooperation with Asus, it will cost $199, and it will be unveiled at Google I/O (most likely today at the main event).
The news outlets can’t confirm the specs too, because the tablet plans are secret, but from what we’ve heard so far, the $199 version will have a Tegra 3 quad core chip, 1280×800 HD display with a pretty high 216 PPI, 1 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of storage, while there may be another version going for $250 that will have 16 GB of storage.
The tablet will of course run Android 4.1 JellyBean. I think that, without the launch of Google’s own tablet at I/O, the JellyBean version would have not existed, or Google would have called Android 5.0 JellyBean, for the fall release. If Google would stick to a 1 year release cycle like everyone else, it would be a lot easier for manufacturers to upgrade all their models within that year to the latest version of Android, before a new one shows up. Otherwise, most users will still be on Gingerbread, two versions behind, like it will be the case now, when Android 4.1 JellyBean will be out.
But since Google is releasing its tablet now, it couldn’t have used the eight months old ICS on their brand new tablet. It just wouldn’t have been so exciting, and Google need it to be exciting to start gaining market share against the iPad and the Kindle Fire. While it’s based on Android, the Kindle Fire doesn’t have much to do with Android at all, except for app compatibility (and even that may change in the future as Amazon forks Android further). Reuters reports that an anonymous Asus exec has told them that Google built the Nexus 7 specifically to target the Kindle Fire.
It will be interesting to see if, besides the new OS, Google will do anything about the tablet app situation. The thing is, on 7-inch tablets, “phone apps” don’t actually look that bad, so Google may yet again ignore the situation. Hopefully, I’m wrong, because as long as Android doesn’t have many tablet-optimized apps, there will be this general perception about the Android tablet ecosystem that it offers far less value than the iPad.
As for the Kindle Fire, it will probably continue to get some press because of the original tablet’s momentum. But now that Google has a similarly priced alternative, with an equally rich ecosystem, I doubt that Android users will be interested in the Fire, even if Amazon discounts it in the future to stay competitive. There’s just no reason for customers to get a Kindle Fire, when they can get a stock Android tablet from Google, for which they will get all the major Android updates for the next 18-24 months or so.

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Refurbished Kindle Fire now going for $139, offer ends in just a few hours!

Amazon’s Kindle Fire has truly been a revolutionary device last fall, when it was made available, and still remains arguably the best Android tablet for the money.
Usually going for $200, the Fire is going through a fire sale as we speak (see what I did there?) and is available for just a few more hours for a mere $139. The discounted tablets are a refurbished device, which could put off a couple of prospective buyers, but the 7-incher comes with a full one-year warranty, so you should pretty much get a gadget as good as new.
The Fire is for the second time made available at such a low price, so if you missed out on the first Amazon exclusive deal, there’s no excuse for you to not buy the tablet right now! I mean, in the old days, you used to pay over 100 bucks for basic e-readers, so you can’t complain about not receiving what you pay for and much more.
There’s a 1 GHz dual-core processor powering this little guy, 1 GB of RAM under the hood, a 7-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with 1024 x 600 pixels resolution, 8 GB of on-board storage, as well as Wi-Fi connectivity, USB 2.0 and microUSB. On top of it all, the Fire comes with one of the coolest ecosystems out there, running a customized and heavily modified version of Android with an integration of Amazon’s universe of entertainment.

 

The clock is ticking and there are just 12 hours left for you to decide, go on Amazon.com and purchase a refurb Kindle Fire. Also, keep in mind that the online retailer’s stocks are limited, so they might run out of tablets well before midnight.
On a different front, we have to mention that this new special offer from Amazon might not just be a super cool Mother’s Day promotion, but also an indication of a new gadget being released soon. We have known for a while that Amazon is preparing to unveil a couple new tablets this summer, so it’s now possible that we’ll see the new Kindle slates up for sale sooner than it was initially rumored.
Are you going to take advantage of today’s great deal? Do you already own a Kindle Fire? Are you excited about the possible releases of second-generation Fire tablets? Hit us with a comment and let us know!

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Target stops selling Amazon’s entire line of Kindle devices, “conflict of interest” cited as reason

Target Corporation, the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, has just announced that it will stop selling Amazon’s Kindle devices in all its stores effective immediately. Target officials have cited a “conflict of interest” as the reason behind the decision, but they haven’t been willing to offer a more comprehensive statement at the moment.
Amazon’s Kindle e-readers and tablets have always been some of the most successful and popular devices on sale at Target stores, which makes this decision even more surprising. On the other hand, financial analysts have predicted for a while that something like this could happen, as Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet reportedly caused Target and other similar retailers significant financial losses.
The Kindle Fire is tightly integrated with Amazon’s online retail store, which competes with Target’s outlets and its website and therefore steals business from the retailer. “Target is trying to distance themselves from Amazon as much as possible because they recognize they are losing sales to them. “ said Scott Tilghman, an analyst at Caris & Co. in an exclusive statement given to Reuters.
Target is apparently not considering Barnes & Noble as strong a competition as Amazon, because according to official claims, Nook e-readers and tablets will still be sold by the retailer for the time to come. “Nook is much less cannibalistic and Barnes & Noble is not going after Target’s business. “ Tilghman stated, underlining the fact that B&N is mainly focused on selling books, a product category not viewed as essential by Target executives.

 

Target’s online store has already removed every and any Amazon products sold until now, including the entire line of Kindle e-readers and the Kindle Fire tablet. Also, the retailer’s Kindle-branded online store has been itself discontinued, the website now welcoming you with a “generic application error”.
It remains to be seen how will Target’s decision affect the retailer’s and Amazon’s business in the near future. According to analysts, Target might see a short-term profits drop, while Jeff Bezos’ company should not have the same problem, as its products are still sold by Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy, and other important retailing chains in the US.
On the other hand, if Target’s decision to “get more serious about Amazon as an enemy rather than a partner” will prove to be beneficial in the long term, other retailers might themselves reach the conclusion that their alliance with Amazon is doing them more financial harm than good.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with Target’s decision to end its longstanding partnership with Amazon? Does this come a bit too late for the company? And finally, which one of the two giants will have more to suffer on account of this “conflict”?

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Android 2.3 Gingerbread vs. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich [video]

September 23, 2008, Android 1.0, the first commercial version of Android is released. Just over 3 years later, October 19, 2011, after evolving from Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, and Honeycomb, not including Astro and Bender, Ice Cream Sandwich was announced. Along the way, Android put out loads of features and took in some 200+ million users. Today, we’re going to be breaking down two of the newest, and arguably best, Android versions (Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich). Obviously, a winner has already been chosen for this Versus Match. However, look at the competition as more of a comparison and evolution of Android.

 

UI (User Interface)

It is hard to miss the fact that Google was going for an improved User Interface with Ice Cream Sandwich. Just from taking a look at the search bar, you can tell that Ice Cream Sandwich is much sleeker than Gingerbread. Mainly, Ice Cream Sandwich will make it easier for users to find those common buttons and actions that were always playing hide and go seek in older Android versions. Furthermore, the animations and “typeface” have been refined to play nicely with your new 720p HD display. Furthermore, Ice Cream Sandwich introduces the new font “Roboto”. This Google creation will make reading easier and give Android a more modern feel.

By far, the most visible interface on any device is the font you read everything from websites, to emails, to SMS’ on. With Android 4.0, Google has designed a font completely from the ground up, and it looks exceptional. Dubbed Roboto, it’s a font built with modernity in mind, and looks great.
With a heavy dose of the use of intuitive gestures, and the ability for developers to add them too, Ice Cream Sandwich really is as silky smooth as its name implies.

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Multitasking, Widgets, and Folders

Two of Android’s most notable and original features are Multitasking and Widgets. Therefore, Ice Cream Sandwich will be bringing new meaning to both of those features with some key upgrades.

First, the Recent Apps button lets users jump instantly from one task to another using the list in the System Bar. The list that pops up should be very familiar to Honeycomb users. Furthermore, the list will show you a thumbnail image of whats going on inside of that app for easy app-switching. If you want to get rid of recent app, just toss it away with a finger swipe.
Note! this swiping feature also works with browser tabs and notifications.
In addition, Ice Cream Sandwich now enables users to re-seize their widgets. Want a full page dedicated to Gmail? Go for it! Finally, Android 4.0 borrows iOS’s folder creation method of drag and drop. Therefore, all you have to do to create a folder is pick up and app, and throw it onto another one.

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Network Data Manager

Wireless providers are starting to charge their customers an arm and a leg for less and less data. Thankfully, Google has provided us with a solution. The new Data usage controls allow for constant monitoring of your total usage by network type and application. In addition, it adds the ability to set limits on those data-hungry apps.
This is one of the more welcome additions to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as it gives you the complete breakdown on what your most data hungry apps are, which can end up saving you a lot of money. Definitely not something the carriers are looking forward to, but consider this a win for you, the consumer. Plus, it displays all of the info an easy to understand and beautiful graph, too.

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Sharing

Now that Social Networks are destined to completely take over our lives, Android has adapted to make sharing a heck of a lot easier. First, Ice Cream Sandwich will introduce a whole new way to look at your friends.

 

Android 2.3′s contact list was known for being extremely boring. The new People app in Android 4.0 offers richer profile information, including a large profile picture, phone numbers, addresses and accounts, status updates, events, and a new button for connecting on integrated social networks.

But what happens when you want to send something to the person sitting right next to you instantly?! Well, with Gingerbread, you email it to them. In Ice Cream Sandwich, simply touch phones, and given that you have an NFC-capable device, voila! The guy next to you is watching the exact video or playing the same game as you are. Furthermore, Google has left this feature open to developers. Therefore, passing game scores, initiating a multiplayer game or chat, and more just got a lot easier.

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Camera and Video

Live Effects are a collection of graphical transformations that allow you to turn your friend into an alien, put them on the moon, or more all from the Camera app. For example, users can change the background behind them to any stock or custom image, for just the right setting when shooting video. Also available is “Silly Faces”, a set of morphing effects that transform facial features. For example, you can use effects such as small eyes, big mouth, big nose, face squeeze, and more. Into video chatting? All of this can be done in the Google Talk app as well.
Do you hate it when friends get into your phone? But at the same time, setting a password stops you from getting into your phone fast. Google has come to the rescue with a new revolutionary feature called Face Unlock. It is exactly what you think it is, face recognition lets you unlock your phone with your face.

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Improved Speed

Although at the time, Gingerbread was a huge update to older android versions in terms of speed, Google somehow managed to make Ice Cream Sandwich faster. And we’re not just talking about minor speed improvements. “In benchmarks run on a Nexus S device, the Android 4.0 browser showed an improvement of nearly 220% over the Android 2.3 browser in the V8 Benchmark Suite and more than 35% in the SunSpider 9.1 JavaScript Benchmark. When run on a Galaxy Nexus device, the Android 4.0 browser showed improvement of nearly 550% in the V8 benchmark and nearly 70% in the SunSpider benchmark” (Android Developers).
Furthermore, Ice Cream Sandwich makes email better by adding improved auto-completion, quick responses, an integrated menu, nested mail subfolders, and as mentioned before, a resizable Email widget.

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Other Goodies

Wi-Fi Direct: will make instant sharing of files, photos, or other media; streaming video or audio from another device; or connecting to compatible printers or other devices all possible for Ice Cream Sandwich devices.
Bluetooth Health Device Profile (HDP): will allow for connecting to wireless medical devices and sensors in hospitals, fitness centers, homes, and elsewhere with some help from third party application developers.
Developers: 
Key Android 3.x developer features, now for phones too
Core UI

• Fragments and content loaders
• Resizeable home screen widgets
• Rich notifications
• Multi-selection, drag-drop, clipboard
• Improved screen-support API
• Hardware-accelerated 2D graphics

Graphics and animation

• Property-based animation
• Renderscript 3D graphics

Media and connectivity

• HTTP Live streaming
• Bluetooth A2DP and HSP devices
• Support for RTP
• MTP/PTP file transfer
• DRM framework
• Input from keyboard, mouse, gamepad, joystick

Enterprise

• Full device encryption
• DPM policies for encrypted storage and passwords

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Video Comparison

As you can tell, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has added quite a large amount of new features. With that being said, Android 4.0 will be eliminating many of the problems that users had with older versions while also adding loads of new features, and innovation for developers. Ice Cream Sandwich made its debut on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. However, it is far from limited to this device. Any device that comes out after, or relatively close behind, October 19th 2011 (ICS Release Date) is almost guaranteed the upgrade to 4.0. Furthermore, tons of Gingerbread devices will be getting the call for an upgrade in the near future.
Also, let’s not forget it’s already starting to trickle into all sorts of devices like the Kindle Fire, the Asus Transformer, and many, many more. Google has released the source, and it’s likely this will herald an entirely new generation of useful devices in the near future.
For a full list of new Android 4.0 features for users and developers, click here.

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IHS iSuppli says Nexus 7 costs $152 to build

 

A few days ago we had an initial prediction of how much it costs to build the Nexus 7 from iFixit, which said that the components alone should cost around $184. IHS iSuppli did an actual Nexus 7 teardown and evaluated the cost of the components to be around $152, for the 8 GB Nexus 7, and only $7.5 more for the 16 GB version.

Andrew Rassweiler, who leads the teardown team at IHS iSuppli thinks Google will indeed break even on the 8 GB $199 version, just like Google said they would, but they will get a nice profit on the 16 GB $249 version. This was pretty obvious from day one, because 8GB of storage doesn’t cost $50, but it’s a nice way for Google to round up the numbers, and increase their average profit they get from both versions, thanks to the 16 GB one.

“Like Apple, Google realizes it can boost its profit margin by offering more memory at a stair-step price point. It’s getting $50 more at retail for only $7.50 more in hardware cost, which sends $42.50 per unit straight to the bottom line.”

 

The main differences between the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire are the better IPS display with a higher 1280×800 HD resolution (vs 1024×600 for Kindle Fire), quad core Tegra 3 processor (vs dual core OMAP 4430), 1 GB of RAM (vs 512 MB), NFC, a front facing camera, as well as a gyroscope that was built right into the accelerometer.

So there are quite a few extras compared to the Kindle Fire, and that’s besides the higher build quality of the device. IHS iSuppli thinks that all of those should only add an extra $18 to the cost of the Kindle Fire. However, they don’t mention if this is compared to a recent evaluation of the Kindle Fire’s components, or to the original one that was done last year. The reason why this is important is because Kindle Fire’s components may have become significantly cheaper since then.

We should get a clear picture of how Nexus 7 fares against the upcoming Kindle Fire 2 in the coming weeks. But I don’t think having slightly better hardware would be a strong enough reason for an Android user to want to buy the Kindle Fire 2 over the Nexus 7. The latter, and not the former has the “real” Android OS, more and better updates from Google, and the full app store for all Android apps.

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More rumors suggesting new Kindle Fire is imminent

 

Rumors of a new version of Amazon’s Kindle Fire have been building for months now and it is anticipated that the company will release details of the new device within the next three weeks. AllThingsD has jumped on the rumor bandwagon and released details of what we can expect from the new Fire. Talking with “sources familiar with Amazon’s plans” and with developers who have been approach to ensure that their apps work on the new device, it seems that the biggest difference in the new Kindle will be the display. The current Kindle Fire has a 1024 x 600 display while the new device will sport a 1280 x 800 display similar to that found in the Google Nexus 7.

The change in display size has several repercussions. First, it changes the aspect ratio from 1.71 (a more tall and narrow ratio) to 1.60. The 1.60 aspect ratio seems to be the one preferred by manufacturers at the moment. The practical upshot of this is that apps designed or tweaked specifically for the Kindle Fire will need to ensure that they run correctly on the new display. Secondly the increase in resolution means that there is a 67% increase in the total number of pixels and a 29% increase in pixel density. These increases could have an effect on battery life but it is anticipated that Amazon will increase the battery size to compensate.

Other improvements expected in the new Kindle Fire include a built-in camera, a faster CPU and of course an updated version of Amazon’s custom version of Android. It is also rumored that the new iteration will be thinner and lighter than the original.

The real question is if these changes are enough for the new Kindle Fire to beat Google’s forth coming Nexus 7 tablet. Read our in-depth analysis of what Amazon needs to do to beat Google.

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