Amazon unveils iPad competitor

Amazon has declared war against Apple -- and a few other companies -- announcing a slew of new products at a NY press event Wednesday morning. As expected, the online retail giant has unveiled plans to release a tablet computer, called Amazon Kindle Fire. The 7-inch device will cost just $199, a price point that's likely to make it a hot holiday gift item. Shipments are scheduled to begin Nov. 15. "We're building premium products at non-premium prices," said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The device, of course, actively supports Amazon's Kindle functionality, but will also provide access to Amazon's streaming library of movies and television shows (which numbers over 100,000 at this point), the Android App store and full color magazines. All content will be stored using Amazon's Cloud storage system, meaning if users choose to delete local copies from their Kindle Fire, they can quickly retrieve them for no cost.Amazon has been steadily building up its partnerships among studios in recent months to expand its video offerings. Earlier this week, it announced a deal with Fox, adding fare such as "The X-Files," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "24" and "Arrested Development" to the Amazon Prime lineup. It will also add a few exclusives, such as "The Wonder Years". In late July, it added NBCUniversal Domestic TV Distribution (and titles such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Elizabeth," and "Gosford Park") to its collection.All programming on the Kindle Fire will use Amazon's Whispersync technology, letting people watch part of a program on their tablet, then pick up where they left off at home on their television. Since it runs on a heavily modified Android operating system, the Kindle Fire also has access to all of the games available to that system - including "Angry Birds," "Fruit Ninja" and "Cut the Rope". That's critical in the tablet wars, as users of the iPad have shown a heavy preference towards entertainment apps, especially games.Amazon has also struck deals with hundreds of newspapers and magazines. Kindle Fire customers will receive a free 3-month trial to 17 Cond Nast magazines, including Vanity Fair, GQ and Glamour.The tablet will come with a proprietary Web browser, bypassing standards like Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome. Amazon Silk, as it's called, will again leverage the company's cloud technology to more quickly render pages.The Kindle Fire's price makes it one of the most viable competitors to the iPad, coming in at half the price and not making the same mistake many other competitors have made, which is attempting to simply clone Apple's product. The company also clearly highlighted the content available for the system, rather than the hardware itself. (Other tablets have been criticized for being light on content.) It does lack a few of the features people love about the iPad, though, including an embedded camera and microphone. The lack of 3G could be a pain point as well. But with the Kindle Fire's low price, the company expects people will be willing to overlook those shortcomings. "We're making many millions of these, but I still recommend you pre-order today," said Bezos. Beyond the tablet, Amazon dramatically expanded its lineup of Kindle eReaders, announcing a pair of touchscreen devices (3G and WiFi) that do away with the keyboard and buttons that have been on previous generation models. The new systems also feature a longer battery life and the most advanced eInk display the company has ever used, said Bezos.And like the Kindle Fire, they're priced to sell. The WiFi Kindle touch will cost $99, while the 3G version will run $149. (The 3G will work in 100 countries, noted Bezos and will not carry any monthly fees.) Pre-orders on the device started Wednesday and it will begin shipping Nov. 21st. The new Kindle touch will also ship with a new feature called X-Ray, allowing people to do in-depth research on terms that catch their interest while reading. While current Kindles allow people to lookup words, X-Ray will show them facts, including Wikipedia entries, which are downloaded with the book or magazine texts. For users who prefer a physical keyboard, Amazon's also dropping the price of the Kindle to $79. The system will be a slightly different model than the current Kindle 3, weighing 30 percent less and boasting a smaller frame, but the same screen size. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

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