It looks like Nokia and Amazon are pairing up against Apple, one of their biggest rivals.
It was recently reported that Amazon reached out to Nokia as a mapping partner for their new Kindle Fire HD series.
According to NewsSimplified, Amazon has announced a planned partnership with Nokia for the development of mapping tools for its new Kindle Fire model which is due for release early this September.
The new Kindle Fire HD, which has an unofficial name of the Kindle Fire 2, will leave the much more widely known Google Maps and instead partner with Finnish telecom giant Nokia Oyj's mapping utility tools for the new mapping app.
"Bing Maps, the Microsoft Mapping service also signed a sharing of unified map design agreement contained in a broader strategic partnership with Nokia. Analysts have also placed a lot of emphasis in Amazon's interest in the NYC based 3D start-up UpNext, raising speculation that 3D geographical renderings could also be in the offing," NewsSimplified said.
Apple is expecting to release a new little iPad, the iPad Mini, around October of this year. Many analysts believe that the little iPad will greatly increase competition with the new Kindles.
There is an updated Kindle Fire for $159, and a new line for Kindles, the Kindle Fire HD, starting at $199 (16GB 7-inch), $299 (16 GB) to $499 (32 GB) for the 4G LTE Wireless. It has an 8.9-inch screen, which has 25 percent less glare, two antennas for Wi-Fi, which gives a stronger signal. The Kindle HD will also have MIMO, which adds up to Wi-Fi that should be way faster than the competition, 41 percent faster than the iPad and 54 percent faster than the Nexus 7, according to Amazon.
Nokia, on the other hand, has always been in competition with Apple's iPhone, which it is said that Apple will be announcing their new iPhone 5 today, Sept. 12.
Nokia recently announced two new smartphones, the Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820.
iPad Mini Release Date, Rumors: Apple Making Tablet WiFi Only Could Lower Price; Will Compete With Kindle Fire HD
In terms of books, Amazon might have an upper hand for avid book readers.
The Kindle Fire HD features Whispersync for Voice, which Amazon syncs all your books across all your gadgets, that syncs your words-book with your audiobook. You can also sync up your progression in games. Another feature will be Immersion Reading. You can listen to the narration of your book while you read it.
For the Apple, there might be an app that customers can download to read their favorite book. There may be a better screen for reading on the iPad Mini, which will likely include Apple's ipcoming new operating system, iO6, and might have Retina Display.
Pricing and timing is crucial for the iPad Mini to dominate the market again after the Kindle Fire HD release. The new Kindle is not targeting Google's Nexus 7, but Apple's iPad.
Pricing may be an issue for the little Apple tablet. The Kindle Fire HD with 16GB costs $199 while the 16GB Nexus 7 costs $249 with all the Android content. According to Pop Herald, "If Apple will sell the iPad Mini with a $249.99 price tag, then it will be safe to assume that Apple can sell "millions." But what if the iPad Mini will sit within the $300 to $399 mark? Can it still lure customers?"
According to one analyst, Apple might launch the iPad Mini at a $250-$300 price point, cheap enough to convince customers that the iPad Mini is a Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire alternative.
Another concern is the release date. Rumors first said that Apple will announce the iPad Mini at a special event on Sept. 12, which is when the iPhone 5 is supposed to be announced. However, now more reports are saying that Apple will unveil the iPad Mini in October. Google's Nexus 7 is already on the market. The Kindle Fire HD is taking pre-orders and will be available Sept. 14, just about a month ahead of the iPad Mini release date.
Many think the Amazon doesn't stand against Apple and their products, new or old.
"While Amazon's new products look impressive, we believe Apple remains the dominant vendor/platform of choice for smartphones/tablets," said Brian Marshall of the ISI Group, according to ComputerWorld.
Many customers can pre-order the new Kindle Fire HD. The 7-inch HD is expected to start shipping Sept. 24, while the 8.9-inch is expected to start Nov. 20.