Ugh. Android is after all cursed on the Tablet and Amazon is just doing their bit. Very disappointing - ridiculous in fact given there should be literally no excuse to put 2.1 on modern hardware.
Oh and no Email client and no Google integration if that wasn't enough.
[Edit] Consider JIT (2.2+) and low pause GC (2.3+) that they will be missing. Also consider Flash support which is also 2.2+. Then there is competition from the likes of Archos and you can take their $299 Honeycomb 3.2 tablet and run everything Amazon has to offer on it - Kindle, MP3, Instant video etc.
Very disappointing - ridiculous in fact given there should be literally no excuse to put 2.1 on modern hardware.
Amazon's a pretty big SW company. I wouldn't be surprised if they started their fork with 2.1, but will bare no resemblance to it. Amazon may have their own internal Android fork built up now and may not merge back with the Google version of Android.
I don't think Amazon wants Google to control their destiny. And considering what Google has done in their 3.x branch (none of which is very impressive), Amazon may well believe they can out execute Google. And considering how few Android tablets have shipped, Amazon could really quickly dominate the Android tablet market -- and then be the one calling the shots.
> Very disappointing - ridiculous in fact given there should be literally no excuse to put 2.1 on a modern hardware.
There's a more than reasonable reason:
Perhaps Amazon's project froze that portion of the code at some point during 2010. They're shipping v1 of a brand new product based on heavily customized code. At some point, you need to eliminate moving targets if you're ever going to ship.
Amazon's use of Android here is almost an implementation detail. They want to sell you a Kindle so you'll buy content. They're not trying to sell an Android tablet. As a result, I think they're going to sell a ton of them. Enough to make Apple sweat a bit. Very exciting.
Corresponding edit:
>[Edit] Consider JIT (2.2+) and low pause GC (2.3+) that they will be missing. Also consider Flash support which is also 2.2+. Then there is competition from the likes of Archos and you can take their $299 Honeycomb 3.2 tablet and run everything Amazon has to offer on it - Kindle, MP3, Instant video etc.
I'm not an Android dev (yet), but does it matter much outside of the UI? Honeycomb isn't open source, so 2.* is all they can use without talking to Google.
Seeing as how Ice Cream Sandwich is meant to better unify the APIs, I don't mind if they skip Honeycomb as long as they do get on track eventually.
Still waiting for a device that will let me read PDF's and take hand-written notes on them. I assume the only input here is touch, and maybe a few buttons?
After waiting for this for a long time, I'm disappointed to hear the specs of the fire. I hope it really isn't android 2.1 with their own UI. I have faith in cyanogen to fix it though :)
Doesn't anyone else see how the Kindle Fire is very significant for Google, despite the fact that Google may see no revenue from this product?
Google now has a strong partner in its Android patent war, unless Amazon has paid license fees to the likes of Oracle, which would then undermine Google's position.
Because Samsung, who have been firing all patent/IP guns they can find at Apple, aren't a strong partner? Because HTC aren't? I'm sure Google will welcome an extra ally, but very significant seems like a bit of an overstatement.
The next generation e-ink tablet hybrid is when the real battle begins. Not sure they even needed to release this even to get their foot in the door. What's their differentiation? It just makes the iPad look like it's better value to me.
They haven't leaked the most interesting facts: device price and data-plan pricing model. Is it going to be carrier-price based or content subsidized like on Kindle Ice?
"While that store doesn’t offer all the apps found in Google’s Android Market..."
With tablet hardware providing little differentiation, software is the main value proposition. In light of this, providing a subset of the second largest app selection is a questionable move.
You're still thinking apps. Amazon features the largest eBookstore, one of the largest MP3 stores, one of the largest tv/movie streaming libraries.
That's the value proposition. I think the App store is going to be like the Browser on the kindle: some will use it, but it's not going to be the main focus.
They out-sourced the design to Quanta, and it's similar to the Playbook. What does this mean? It means RIM must've outsourced the design for the Playbook to Quanta, too, otherwise they'd be all over Amazon with a lawsuit when they launch. That's just sad. RIM is in a worse position in the tech world than we think it is.
Regarding the Kindle Fire, I just hope it's not as heavy and thick as a Playbook. It should be more like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which is very light (~330 grams) and very thin (7.9 mm)
[+] [-] blinkingled|14 years ago|reply
Ugh. Android is after all cursed on the Tablet and Amazon is just doing their bit. Very disappointing - ridiculous in fact given there should be literally no excuse to put 2.1 on modern hardware.
Oh and no Email client and no Google integration if that wasn't enough.
[Edit] Consider JIT (2.2+) and low pause GC (2.3+) that they will be missing. Also consider Flash support which is also 2.2+. Then there is competition from the likes of Archos and you can take their $299 Honeycomb 3.2 tablet and run everything Amazon has to offer on it - Kindle, MP3, Instant video etc.
[+] [-] kenjackson|14 years ago|reply
Amazon's a pretty big SW company. I wouldn't be surprised if they started their fork with 2.1, but will bare no resemblance to it. Amazon may have their own internal Android fork built up now and may not merge back with the Google version of Android.
I don't think Amazon wants Google to control their destiny. And considering what Google has done in their 3.x branch (none of which is very impressive), Amazon may well believe they can out execute Google. And considering how few Android tablets have shipped, Amazon could really quickly dominate the Android tablet market -- and then be the one calling the shots.
[+] [-] mcpherrinm|14 years ago|reply
The GUI will be completely Amazon-built, so the the version of Android probably won't matter all that much to end-users.
Since this is all speculation, we'll have to see when the device is unveiled.
[+] [-] danilocampos|14 years ago|reply
There's a more than reasonable reason:
Perhaps Amazon's project froze that portion of the code at some point during 2010. They're shipping v1 of a brand new product based on heavily customized code. At some point, you need to eliminate moving targets if you're ever going to ship.
Amazon's use of Android here is almost an implementation detail. They want to sell you a Kindle so you'll buy content. They're not trying to sell an Android tablet. As a result, I think they're going to sell a ton of them. Enough to make Apple sweat a bit. Very exciting.
Corresponding edit:
>[Edit] Consider JIT (2.2+) and low pause GC (2.3+) that they will be missing. Also consider Flash support which is also 2.2+. Then there is competition from the likes of Archos and you can take their $299 Honeycomb 3.2 tablet and run everything Amazon has to offer on it - Kindle, MP3, Instant video etc.
"No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."
[+] [-] stuartjmoore|14 years ago|reply
Seeing as how Ice Cream Sandwich is meant to better unify the APIs, I don't mind if they skip Honeycomb as long as they do get on track eventually.
[+] [-] sliverstorm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jessriedel|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] f7u12|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dskhatri|14 years ago|reply
Google now has a strong partner in its Android patent war, unless Amazon has paid license fees to the likes of Oracle, which would then undermine Google's position.
[+] [-] jarek|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gxs|14 years ago|reply
http://www.pcworld.com/article/195151/htc_cuts_licensing_dea...
[+] [-] RexRollman|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joenathan|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] danilocampos|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] flocial|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Kaya|14 years ago|reply
I suspect Lab126 is cooking up something much better--but, unfortunately, it's not yet ready for prime time.
[+] [-] vl|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] twodayslate|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jodrellblank|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ck2|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] recoiledsnake|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xnxn|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] r00fus|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wccrawford|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jasongullickson|14 years ago|reply
With tablet hardware providing little differentiation, software is the main value proposition. In light of this, providing a subset of the second largest app selection is a questionable move.
[+] [-] jarek|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] officemonkey|14 years ago|reply
That's the value proposition. I think the App store is going to be like the Browser on the kindle: some will use it, but it's not going to be the main focus.
[+] [-] simplegeek|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nextparadigms|14 years ago|reply
Regarding the Kindle Fire, I just hope it's not as heavy and thick as a Playbook. It should be more like the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which is very light (~330 grams) and very thin (7.9 mm)