Amazon has rocked the tablet world by unleashing its new Kindle Fire HD tablets at a Sept. 6 press conference.
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.
The tablets are competing with Google's Nexus 7 and Apple's highly anticipated iPad Mini. Let's see how they compare.
Price
The Kindle Fire HD 7-inch is $199 (16GB). The Nexus 7 sells for $249 (16GB). No one knows the price for the iPad Mini. he newest iPad sells for $499 with Retina Display and 4G LTE. The iPad 3 sells for $399. Many rumors say that the iPad Mini might sell for around $250-$300, and may or may not have Retina Display.
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?"
Operating system
Both Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD tablets run on Android, but they are vastly different.
The Kindle Fire HD runs on Amazon's highly modified version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is the second-most-recent version of the Google operating system.
The Nexus 7, on the other hand, runs on the newer Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is supposed to use Google's Project Butter to run quicker and smoother than its predecessor.
The iPad Mini, however, will run on Apple's new and upcoming iO6.
Audio
One of the key features of the Kindle Fire HD is its Dolby Digital Plus dual speakers. Though we haven't compared the two in person, Amazon wins this round because the Nexus 7 has just a single speaker located on its back, according to the LA Times.
For the iPad Mini, no one knows how man speakers it will have. However, new leaked photos reveal two speakers.
PadGadget gives more details:
"Additionally, there are two speakers positioned at the center of the device instead of where the speaker is on the 10-inch iPad. Currently, there is only one speaker on Apple's tablet, and it is positioned in the corner. The two-row design looks distinctly different than the 10-inch iPad."
Wi-Fi
Unlike the Kindle Fire HD, the Nexus 7 has just one antenna to pick up Wi-Fi signals. Amazon claims the Kindle Fire HD's dual antennas give it faster download and streaming speeds than its competitors, according to the LA Times.
A new report suggested that the new iPad Mini will have WiFi-only to keep the price down.
According to Forbes, citing analyst Allan Yogasingam of the research firm, UBM TechInsights, Light Reading reported today that Apple is likely to make the widely expected 7-inch version of the iPad Wi-Fi only in an effort to keep the price tag of the device below $250.
In comparison to the new Kindle Fire HD, Amazon is only offering a WiFi version of the 7-inch version, which is priced at $199.
Display
Both Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD devices feature 7-inch 1,280-by-800 pixel HD displays.
The iPad Mini, however, will have a 7.85-inch display and 1024 x 768 resolution.
Specs
According to PCMag, the Kindle Fire HD's "IPS LCD touch screen is a higher resolution 1,280 by 800 pixels compared to its predecessor's 1,048 by 600 pixels. It now features Bluetooth and a front-facing camera, neither of which was found on the Kindle Fire. It also boasts some new networking tricks, with dual Wi-Fi antennas and MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi in 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands.
"The Nexus 7 has similar specs - NFC, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi - but it only has 8GB of storage compared to the Kindle Fire HD's 16GB (the $249 Nexus 7 has 16GB of storage), and there's no HDMI output on the Nexus 7. It's also slightly smaller and lighter than the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet. The Nexus 7 also has dedicated GPS, and can find its location without access to a Wi-Fi hotspot. However, you need Wi-Fi to download the appropriate maps to the device to make that location data useful (but you can do this any time through Google Maps' offline mode)."
Reports say that the iPad Mini will feature a 7.85 inch IGZO display with 330 pixels/inch. It will be more affordable. It is also assumed that the new tablet will feature Apple's upcoming operating system, iO6, which includes a new, Google-free Maps app, and Passbook, and promises better Facebook integration, better maps, and better video conferences that use cellular data, according to Entrepreneur.com. It is also said to have a smaller dock connector and thinner bezel. It will feature iTunes.
A report has announced that Apple is seeking to create a service similar to Pandora radio.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "Apple Inc. is in talks to license music for a custom-radio service similar to the popular one operated by Pandora Media Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be a bid by the hardware maker to expand its dominance in online music," the report said. "Such services create virtual "stations" that play music similar to a song or artist of the user's choosing, either on Web browsers or smartphone apps. Like traditional radio, they are typically free for users, but incorporate advertisements."
The service is to work with Apple's products, including Macs, iPhone 5, and iPad Mini.
Against Amazon and Google, Don Reisinger, a writer for EWeek, said that the iPad Mini will hurt Amazon and other rival Google, which produced the Nexus 7.
"Kindle Fire and other smaller tablets look awfully boring in comparison," he wrote. "The Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 are great for right now, but the iPad Mini might just hurt them in a big way."
Which one would you buy? Sound off below!