Amazon Kindle Fire Features: 9 Things You Need To Know About Amazon's First Tablet

Amazon brought its very first tablet, the Kindle Fire, into the light at a media event in New York on September 28.

Unlike so many of its peers, the Fire brings a host of unique features to the table. Chief among the device's selling points are its modified Android OS, which Amazon nipped and tucked for greater compatibility with its own cloud-based storage system and content library. Amazon also developed a new web browser that the company says will offer faster surfing and downloading experiences on the Kindle Fire. In addition, the device's price tag undercuts the iPad's by quite a bit, and its entertainment offerings put some smaller app stores to shame.

Take a look at the slideshow (below) for an intimate look at the biggest, most exciting features the Amazon Kindle tablet has to offer. Then, take a look at the 6 things the Fire tablet has that the iPad doesn't. You can also check out photos of Amazon's new Kindle Touch and its next-generation Kindle readers (here), all of which were announced just before the Kindle Fire tablet made its big debut.

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Comments

[Ajax Johnson]

04:01 PM on 09/30/2011

Will it stream Youtube, that's all I need.
Can you connect a USB standard or wireless Keyboard?

[Ajax Johnson]

03:58 PM on 09/30/2011

I thought Moses had the first Tablet

[wkb2texans]

10:46 AM on 09/30/2011

Good grief. Amazon didn't bring out the Kindle to be an "IPad killer" ... what malarkey! And to claim such, or to go through all these gyrations to compare and judge is a waste of time. My neighbor has a Ferrari. I own a Chevrolet. They're both cars ... my car is smaller, cheaper (by far), and gets better gas mileage. My Chevy has a market segment ... my neighbor's "horse" has a market segment. No auto reviewer would, in their right minds, compare the two cars. Yet, we have folks doing just that with these 2 pads. OF COURSE the IPad has more capability and more "umph" ... of course the Kindle will appeal to a lot of folks ... can you say, $199? Don't insult our intelligence.

[RobertFromMN]

03:56 AM on 09/29/2011

No 3G, no cameras, no mic, only 8 gigs of storage, small display, boring design... but it's cheap.
I guess you get what you pay for. Hurry up and release the iPad 3!

[Kache]

01:34 PM on 09/29/2011

70% of iPad/Droid tablet users do not use the features Fire left out. Fire is designed for that 70% of the market. But, more important, the great majority of potential tablet buyers have never bought a tablet of any kind because they have no use for the extra $300 worth of features they will never use- and Fire is aimed at that market.

[Ajax Johnson]

03:59 PM on 09/30/2011

Well said

[Ampoliros]

06:00 PM on 09/29/2011

They left out 3g because they didn't want to explain that to actually get the content you'd need a Prime subscription and a 3g data plan, so you could buy more content.

When you think about how much it will cost to actually use this device, the $200 price tag isn't so nice.

EDIT: to be clear you only need the prime subscription for the video content.

[cyndie1030]

08:01 AM on 09/30/2011

No, you can use the Instant Video and pay for each thing you watch. Prime enables you to watch their Prime Streaming content for the $79 a year price which also gives you free 2-day shipping.

[RobertFromMN]

03:50 AM on 09/29/2011

Curious rating system. The fewer stars the better.

[Dave MacCannell]

03:20 AM on 09/29/2011

Anything that cuts into Apple's North American techno-monopoly gets a thumbs up from me.

[Andrew Wojtkowski]

01:01 PM on 09/29/2011

They don't have a techno-monopoly.

I'd say a vast majority of people know better than to spend $500 on a device that does what their $300 device iPod Touch can do. Which, coinsidentally can do the same thing (except less) than their $700 subsidized device iPhone can do. 3 items, all do the EXACT same thing. WHY!?

So if you are to say that they have a monopoly on people spending a fortune on items they already own? Then yes, Apple does have a monopoly. But given the speed of most Android Phones (Tegra 3's coming out soon) Android devices serve its uses well. They don't see the need to buy a $500-800 version of their phone.

[ramblingjohnny]

01:00 AM on 09/29/2011

The first thing you need to know is that it not the first Amazon tablet! They made like three generation of Kindle that sold like cupcake by the way.

[racdula]

10:37 PM on 09/28/2011

After trying out most gimmicks, the best Tablet of all is a headache tablet.

[Cotic]

08:02 PM on 09/28/2011

i'm talking about the video at the bottom by the way.

[Cotic]

08:01 PM on 09/28/2011

biut annoyed it won't play the video from the uk. anyone from huff know why there is a country restriction?

[IfIonlyknew]

10:35 PM on 09/28/2011

Aol is a little behind times I imagine.

[theveggiedude]

02:22 AM on 09/29/2011

Possibly because it is only to be sold in the US?