Rumors are that Google have been snapping up domains linked to the term Google Play but in all honesty we have no idea what the name of their new tablet will be….and woudl Google really leave thing that late to ensue they had A) the right domain and B) potential affiliate marketing variations that could muddy their brand….unsure myself though when seize and desist letter are pretty cheap.

Anyway the likelihood of their new tablet being called “Google Play” does make sense, as Google have been releasing various multimedia options for Android devices in the music, video and applications sector, and have now re-branded their marketplace Google Play….a direct competitor to iTunes.

Google Play – Kindle Fire Rival?

Google are likley to be mixing it in tablet land pretty soon with either the Google “Play” or some other name such as keeping the “Nexus” device name.

Their new 7 inch “Google Experience Device” will be packing an Nvidia Tegra quadcore SoC, with ASUS being the manufacturer and incorporating Android Ice Cream Sandwich as the O/S of choice. There are also talks of a 10 inch larger brother to this new entreat to tablet land.

The expected price point for the smaller tablet is a Kindle Fire competing $199.

News sources:

Started at the Mobile World Congress last week, the talk of the new tablet device is no revelation in the tech industry, Google have been worried about the rise of various devices and were bound to forge some plan to capitalize on their traffic, reach and operating system before too long just as they have done with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

With Android being “open” to developers Google have seen two things happen:

1 – Devices are developed with a pure Android O/S (Ice Cream Sandwich etc) and access Google owned markets and service such as the Android Application Market and Gmail.

2 – Companies such as Amazon developing tweaked versions of the Android O/S (non-certified devices) and taking owners of these devices to a totally separate marketplace controlled by their company.

The latter version is where the issues for Google stem and the fact that the Amazon Kindle Fire is the runaway tablet success on Android means that Google are now tipped to bring out their own competing tablet.

Talking at the MWC last week, Android chief Andy Rubin talked up the potential of Google stepping up to Amazon on the tablet front:

“2012 is going to be the year that we double down and make sure we’re winning in that space,….we’re going to do a better job at making people understand what ecosystem they’re buying into.”

Loss leader to gain market control:

Google will likely take a hit financially per device, just as Amazon did in order to lock people into their own marketplace, such is the lucrative benefits of gaining a client who buys apps and downloads films for the duration of tablet ownership that this initial hit is deemed worthwhile long term.

Release Date?

Expect to see the tablet getting into production next month and perhaps being retailed properly in June/July, we will keep you posted on any further news we hear.

Back in the fall of 2011 Amazon released its newest innovation to the tech world, the Kindle Fire. In doing this, Amazon itself became a new player in the tablet market.

The Kindle Fire has a dual-core processor, free cloud storage courtesy of Amazon, and access to millions of shows, movies, and books from Amazon’s large database. The Kindle Fire has everything a good tablet should have, but for me there is something missing. While the Fire has been a success thus far, it still seems subpar to other major tablets such as the iPad and the Asus Transformer.

Amazon Kindle Fire Screen Size:

In my opinion, the major downfall does not come in the OS, it is in the screen size. The screen of the Kindle Fire is a 7” multitouch display, comparable to the size of the Blackberry Playbook, but not the more successful iPad. If a tablet wants to become a major threat in the industry, it needs to have the option of having a larger screen such as the iPad’s or Transformer’s. Many people sought for a larger sized Fire. When Amazon was questioned about a possible 10” Fire they said, “Stay tuned”.

Ever since that comment, rumors have been flying all over the tech community. Rumors have it that Amazon will be launching a 10” Kindle Fire in their second quarter, specifically this summer. What does this mean? It means that Amazon would then be in competition with Apple’s iPad and the likes of the Asus Transformer. With a larger screen and Amazon’s outstanding support for the device, the Fire would be put in the elite tablet category. The Kindle Fire already has the media, hardware, and support to compete with the big dogs, all it needs now is the screen. Amazon Kindle Fire 10”, summer 2012?

It has often been the case that Europe has received their mobile tech updates and releases quicker than the US region, only for the US to get a slightly beefier version later on in a products life cycle that perhaps irons out some kinks on the way, well if our sources are to be believed it could be that the Kindle Fire gets a bit of a tart up and a 7 and 9 inch option when it finally hits UK shores later this year.

Though please understand that you can still bag yourself a Kindle Fire from many online UK retailers who have imports for sale.

Can costs be kept down at 9 inches?

With sales of the Amazon Kindle For globally expected to be somewhere in the region of 15 million units in 2012, up from an expected 12-13 million units, it is easy to see that Amazon are onto something but is it price dependent or have they found a device that hits the sweet spot in more ways than cost?

An analyst said:

‘We believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new seven and nine-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012.’

Exact dates are hard to come by but if I were to put my money on a date I would say that Amazon would have to think about getting in the mix with the iPad 3 release date which is expected to be somewhere around Mid-Late March.

So at what price point can Amazon keep the kindle fire attractive considering it is no iPad?….Unless they seriously give it some clout and make it more of a two horse tablet as some people expect Apple to consider doing.

We have been hearing rumours that google were going to enter the tablet market in 2012, and some believe that they are quite close to actually achieving this, but what many were unsure about was what level of tablet they were going to produce.

A number of categories are emerging in the very crowded tablet PC arena, with google likely to go for the mid to upper tier.

So that would effectively mean an iPad rival right down to a Kindle fire rival, with the mid priced options skirting either side of this extreme.

Google 7 inch tablet:

It is reported in digitimes that people “in the know” are stating that the new tablet will be more of an Amazon kindle fire device, maybe of the seven inch variety.

On top of this, it will be built on Android 4.0, AKA, Ice Cream Sandwich, and will actually be delivered at an even lower cost to the consumer than the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Christ on a bike this surely can only be good for the average joe.

Technology convergence:

So with Google TV looking to rival Apple TV and Amazon not yet entering the TV market with an actual device, 2012 could be the year of the internet TV, as technology starts to morph into one, with Google and Amazon both needing a decent Siri rival to start looking like top dogs in this fast paced industry.

Amazon have already signed deals with Disney-ABC and FOX, and will be looking to rival Netflix with their own video on demand eco-system, so could it be that we see google bring in their own version of the Amazon Kindle Fire and Amazon bring in their own version of Google TV with both using their respective tablets as some form of TV controller perhaps with or without a Siri equivalent for voice control.

Exciting times ahead on this frontier that is for sure.

3D TV almost looks like black and white now!

We have heard rumours that the UK arrival of the Amazon Kindle Fire will be some time soon, with varying release dates ranging from the end of January right up to March being tipped as the correct release schedule.

We have already done a review of the Amazon Kindle Fire, and found that the device certainly had its plus points.

One of which was the obvious price level that it was being sold at, coupled with access to a huge Amazon owned eco-system and their own version of Android running the tablet.

It seems like a great alternative to more costly versions of tablets running the Android O/S, and obviously Apples own premium priced iPad 2.

Amazon sell millions of Kindle Fires over Xmas:

With Amazon selling upwards of five million units so far, it will be interesting to see if the same success is replicated in the UK.

This will likely come down in many ways to what price level they decide to sell the tablet at.

On the amazing sales so far of the Kindle Fire, Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and co-founder states:

“We are grateful to our customers worldwide for making this the best holiday ever for Kindle,”

Amazon Kindle Fire or iPad 3?

Of course this is an unfair comparison in many ways, but just ask yourself the question:

If you were given the choice of waiting for the arrival of the next iPad 3 release, or probably waiting a shorter period of time and saving yourself a couple of hundred pounds in the process on top, which would you choose?

That is assuming that there is only one version of the new iPad being launched. As we hear there is a strong chance that two variations of the next iPad will be offered, with one cut-price version attempting to compete with the likes of the Amazon Kindle Fire which will undoubtedly be eating away at Apples bottom line now that it is fully unleashed.

Let us know your thoughts below.

Dilemmas dilemmas, which one to get?…A pretty dull e-reader with e-ink technology so you can read books, or a brand new tablet PC with full colour display and access to games, video and the internet?

So, you’re in the market for a cool gadget this Christmas, but still unsure what that will be.

You have the sweet Canon 60D for photography, you are happy with your current laptop for one more year, your smartphone needs updating, but that will be a bonus mid-way through the year at contract renewal, and your X-Box 360 is still providing you with lots of stimulation and pleasure, not in part due to the huge HD screen that it is connected to, yes Joe nearly has it all…

Obviously your missing an iPad or more Generic tablet?

Now many would argue that if you were this example of an average Joe, then your next logical gadget to buy should be a nice Android based Tablet from Samsung or a new iPad from Apple.

Joe is on a budget though:

Yes, like many in the US and the rest of the World our man Joe is skint.

And if the Samsung and Apple iPad were too costly, or he perhaps wanted something a bit smaller, then Joe should then go for the new Amazon Kindle Fire or Barnes and Noble Nook color E-Book, obviously these “near” tablet like devices are far better than those boring E-Ink E-Readers:

But does our man Joe really want a Tablet PC or colour E-reader for Xmas?

So, are these lovely looking, funky devices what this person really needs.

Let us do some common sense analysis:

Firstly, he works in an office with his own computer always there, his smartphone keeps him amused with various news apps during breaks and on the way to work, and gives him access to email, Youtube and other video sites, and at home and when he is out enjoying a coffee, his laptop is powerful enough and small enough to hold in his bag and do some emailing or surfing the net in general while out and about, and he is more than happy with his huge HD display and X-Box for gaming on a mid week night and weekend.

So what could Joe get if he still needs his gadget fix like so many guys and girls do at Christmas?

The answer could well be an E-reader, but not the color ones, and here is why:

We have covered some interesting comparisons of E-Readers in the past from the Nook V’s Kindle Fire Tablet and you know what I love about these is that you can have a huge sized book all contained in a lovely small device, that makes no noise, lasts ages on one charge, and can be read in any light (apart from dark), and what is more it is pretty cheap for a gadget. Though I predict that they will be almost giving these e-readers away in years to come, so you are then signed up to their individual marketplaces.

In this world of plenty the humble e-reader shines out as a bastion of peace and tranquillity:

So with this in mind, I am going to suggest to our friend Joe that he should take more time out to relax and stop stimulating his poor brain with vast amounts of data and unhealthy radiation and sit down with a new lightweight e-reader and enjoy one of life’s little, very inexpensive pleasures.

Albeit using a cool gadget that reinvented the book and termed it an “ebook” when it did not even know it had anything wrong with it.

Joe, if you ain’t got an e-reader in 2012, you are out of the loop my friend!

As holiday season approaches and Santa starts getting all those emails to sort through, we take a look at an Experian Hitwise report for the UK which suggests that the iPhone will be the hot property for UK buyers this Xmas, and iPads will be the gadget of choice for our cousins over the pond.

Smartphones are hot property this Xmas:

Phones will be a third more popular online than iPads this Christmas. If search intent was reflected in sales, for every three iPads Apple sold this Christmas they would sell four iPhones.

Yes the smartphone is now trickling down into the realms of normality now as more and more people are upgrading to devices such as iPhones with tablet computers coming in as a close competitor but nowhere near as in demand as smartphones, unless you are in the US!

It seems that US buyers can not get enough of tablets and indeed this is the hot property for festive buyers this Christmas.

According to a Nielsen report the iPad is the most desired item in the 6 and over demographics (pretty much everyone) for the second year running.

iPhone not as popular for US buyers but still in the top 7 most desired items for the 13 and over age group.

Could the Kindle Fire become Xmas hit?

Many people (myself included) have predicted that the Amazon kindle fire could well become the leading gadget of the Xmas period in the US, and here is why.

When Amazon want to shift units they have such a high amount of traffic already for people who are at that “itching” stage and primed to buy, that all they need to do is drop there overall prices a touch to gain even more traffic from the comparison sites and then heavily promote the cut price Amazon kindle fire to ensure that the item becomes a real hot property, that, and a well executed mixed marketing campaign could make this tablet become the winner for gadget of the season 2011.

Google insights seem to suggest only a couple of Apple search terms are in the top ten though Amazon are currently claiming many of the spots and most of the top five.

You might have thought that the arrival of new tablets by Amazon and a whole host of others before them, would make Apple scared?

Especially when they are competing so heavily on price. But Apple appear to be revelling in a marketplace that is now looking even more confusing to the average Joe.

Should they be worried?

I think to answer this I may have to put myself in the mind of a few different types of potential tablet buyers.

Apple lovers – Fanboys stay fanboys generally:

The iPad still has a superior marketplace and overall look/feel and usability factor which should ensure that most current Apple aficionados stick with the iPad for the foreseeable future.

Android lovers – The tricky, awkward but forgotten buyer:

Android users are often seen as the anti-apple brigade, and this type of device owner is often seen cutting off his face rather than accepting that Apple may have a superior product. They will usually site technical reasons to not go for an Apple product even though the equivalent Apple device may function better for most of their everyday needs.

Tech lovers – A mixed bag here:

Gadget lovers fall into a few camps: The die hard, the try hard and the try anything.

Apple rely heavily on the die hard and the try anything moulds.

The try hard’s are not really Apples kind of consumer, and here is why:

Apple’s love of control. Where the try hard’s love making things do what they are not perhaps designed to do…Apple want you to be happy straight away and stay that way until a new version arrives, try hard’s are not a good mix for apple, who are much better off using a “more” open O/S and device such as the Android based varieties, so they can tinker more freely.

Budget concious – The goldmine of the skint?

Now this large section of the Global populace is potentially where many riches lie. The problem is that unlike Apple who make shed loads of cash shifting very expensive units, and get away with a high price tag.

The likes of Amazon and others who have released cut priced versions of tablets mean that there is now very little money in the “cheap” tablet market for manufacturers without their own marketplace and entertainment eco-system like Amazon’s kindle fire offers.

Tech unaware – The late adopters:

Now I fear that Apple are going to lose a fair amount to this market, as these buyers rarely see what benefits are to be had in looking at areas such as amount of applications, functionality, design, and often only go on the basics such as cost, and overall look, expect to see these tablets in your local Walmart and Book store, and your Mum to come home one day from said stores proclaiming that she has picked up an iPad for less than $100….awww.

Verdict:

I am not convinced that Apple’s stable O/S, great marketplace and one size fits all approach is best, though it certainly works well currently, and I predict will see them comfortably stay main players in this market for a while.

But a new breed of buyers is entering the tablet market, yes your mum and dad…now how trend concious are the silver surfers of 2011/2012, or perhaps the question should be how tech concious are they?

My own opinion is that Apple will be doing very well indeed in the near to distant future in this market that they created, and essentially still dominate.

Others beware!

With plenty of thanks to those techy uber geeks over at the XDA-developers forum, we give you the low down on how to get your very own Android marketplace on that brand new Amazon Kindle Fire you just bought!

Amazon Kindle Fire Android Tab With No Android Marketplace Access:

OK, we can see why this could be considered confusing. You bought your new Amazon Kindle Fire after researching for a short period of time and after unboxing and playing with your new toy for a while you went to buy some apps from the Android marketplace, and at this point you realised it was not quite the tablet you had in mind.

You really wanted to gain access to the Android market you use on your Android based phone for apps but realised that when it said the Amazon Kindle Fire was an Android based tablet, you perhaps missed the point that it was only “based” and did not run quite like the Android tablets you are used to seeing.

You see on the Kindle Fire the app marketplace is within Amazon’s own eco-system, not Google’s. Now come on, think…why would a savvy retailer offer you such a great deal?

Because they want to get you by the sort and curlies once you decide you want some more content/apps/videos etc etc, and keeping you tied into their own marketplace ensures that process and monetization is a long standing relationship…bit of a quid pro quo really as the entry fee to this technology is so reasonable.

Well fear not!

Thanks as mentioned to the guys and girls (though I sense mainly guys) over at the XDA forum. Here is the process to gaining root access to your new device and then installing the Android Marketplace.

Warning – Not that easy – But hardly rocket science:

Be warned, any changes/alterations you make to your Amazon Kindle Fire will likely result in your warranty being affected and your device not working as expected.

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• Step 1: Download the GoogleServicesFramework.apk. This is to allow your rooted Kindle Fire to access Google Services. Best way to do this would be to download the whole Google Apps .apk package here. Then extract the GoogleServicesFramework.apk file from the GApps.rar folder archive using a free archive tool such as WinRAR.
• Step 2: Now download the Vending.apk file (version 3.3.11 is latest) this is essentially the Android Market application.
• Step 3: File management application needed: This is to modify read and write permissions on the routed android device, get this package here.
• Step 4: Using a Micro-USB cable transfer the .apk files to the Kindle Fire. Download and install the File Expert app, giving this application “superuser” permissions by simply opening the application and tapping the menu key, looking for the settings menu and opening File Explorer settings and then enabling the Root Explorer option, this will allow you to modify the app’s read and write permissions and thus allow and Android Market app to download and install the Android market applications on to your Amazon Kindle Fire.
• Step 5: With the FileExpert app open, select the GoogleserviceFramework.apk file, and tap to install. After this has completed go back to the Vending.apk pressing and holding this to open the file menu. Select the cut option, and after this navigate to the application folder inside your System folder. Tap the Menu key, open the Mount menu, and mount the App folder as Read-Write. Finally, tap the Menu key again and press Paste to copy the Vending.apk file into the App folder.
• Step 6: Now that you’ve moved Vending.apk into the App folder, tap and hold it to bring up the file-options menu, and select the Permissions option. Change it to match the permissions of the other apps in this folder, which should be: Owner – Read/Write, Group – Read, Others – Read. Once you’re done, tap Vending.apk and install it.
• Step 7: Reboot your Kindle Fire. You do this to ensure you can actually see the Android Marketplace launcher in the carousel, so you’ll need to download and install a custom launcher such as GO Launcher EX. Another way you can achieve this is to download and install the MarketOpener.apk, a custom .apk file provided and written by XDA Developers forum member munday. This will put a shortcut to the Android Market in your Kindle Fire launcher.
• Step 8: So, After logging in to your new Amazon Marketplace account using your Gmail address welcome to your new app store. I hope that this was not too difficult and would ask you to consult the people mentioned and credited right at the top of this page and throughout if you run into difficulty.
• Step 9: Crashes: It does appear that rebooting your Kindle Fire should stop issues when the device freezes which I am hearing is a common theme after this process has been done, but only when accessing the Amazon Marketplace and downloading apps (which is also apparently quite slow at times)

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We hope you enjoy your new Amazon Kindle and its new found access to another marketplace. Please do let us know how you find running the device using this method, though we can not personally help you out technically. Thanks again to the guys at XDA-Fourms for all the hard work.

Poor old AndyPad are perhaps quite annoyed at recent moves in the tablet market. We covered the UK firms brave attempt to bring tablet computers to the masses at a bargain price. All this from a man who made his fortune from selling beds.

We wonder if AndyPad have taken to finding new markets for their products or simply gone and lied down as the big boys enter the tablet market with cut price versions of their own.

I hope they find an outlet as I thought they made a brave but dangerous choice to enter this market at that time.

The UK has no official release of the Amazon Kindle Fire yet:

As the UK has no firm release of the Amazon kindle Fire juts yet (you can buy from the US site but not from UK site).

The arrival of a WhSmith tablet (loosely the UK’s Barnes and Noble equivalent book retailer) going by the name of the Kobo Vox, is causing some noises in the tech world relating to just how much of a competitor it could really be to the Amazon Kindle fire.

Kob Vox tablet or e-redaer?

I wonder if WhSmith are trying to differentiate themselves from the likes of the Barnes and Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle Fire by selling this particular model as more of an eReader even though it blatantly masquerades as a fully fledged tablet….are they lacking balls gong head to head with the US equivalents?

Similar to the Kindle they both have seven inch screens, though the Kobo Vox runs on Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread, giving you many more choices when it comes to obtaining applications for your kindle competitor, no need to go through the Amazon store with this tablet.

It also comes with an anti-glare screen, which should make reading in bright sunlight better than most tablet PC’s if it lives up to expectation, Wi-Fi connectivity, 8GB of storage and an option to expand this, and is apparently Facebook’s e-reader partner whatever this means?…maybe the fact you can have 42 different font sizes is testimony to it’s attempted e-reader pedigree.

With an 800Mhz processor and a headphone jack the tablet seems like a pretty worthy contender to the Kindle.

At £169.99 it also come at a price point that will be attractive to many.

So what do you think of the Kobo Vox? Does it seem like an attractive proposition at the price and feature list that it offers?

Both the Barnes and Noble Nook, and Amazon Kindle Fire offer affordable prices for gaining easy access into tablet computing, but what are they offering in terms of specifications and features other than a great price?

We help you make you make up your mind with an easy to see comparison between the two Tablet computers.

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Price:

• Nook tablet = $229-249
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = $199

Screen:

• Nook tablet = 7 inches
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = 7 inches

Internet:

• Nook tablet = Wi-Fi only
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = Wi-Fi only

Apps:

• Nook tablet = Roughly 1000 +
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = 10,000 and growing quickly

Operating System:

• Nook tablet = Based on Android but no access to Androids marketplace for apps
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = Based on Android but no access to Androids marketplace for apps

Storage:

• Nook tablet = 16 gigabytes of storage plus a memory-card slot
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = With unlimited access to the Amazon cloud service – Only 8 gigabytes of internal storage is offered and no memory-card slot

Dimensions/Weight:

• Nook tablet = 0.48 inch thick, 14.1 ounces
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = 0.45 inch thick, 14.6 ounces

Battery:

• Nook tablet = Up to 9 hours claimed
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = Up to 7.5 hours claimed

Entertainment:

• Nook tablet = Access to apps from Netflix and Hulu for video streaming
• Amazon Kindle Fire tablet = Access to apps from Netflix and Hulu for video streaming plus Amazon Premium cloud service for $79 a year offering free movies, e-books, music all form their cloud servers,

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Amazon Kindle v Barnes and Noble Nook:

So as you can see, apart from price there is not much at all between the two, there is however one more important factor that many should consider that is less obvious and will be prone to fluctuation and that is how many apps are available on their own marketplaces.

Here Amazon are leaps and bounds ahead from the fact that they have such a huge overall global presence already and a highly functional marketplace that is designed to make their Kindle Fire a real entertainment hub, offering videos, music and games with free access to their flagship cloud service as standard to stream the content and store items bought.

I actually struggle to see why anyone would want the Nook when they can get a better functioning and more connected tablet PC for less money.