On Friday (isn’t that when all big tech news comes out these days?), TechCrunch’s MG Siegler detailed the now long-rumored Amazon tablet that is due to launch this fall. Despite it being a Friday afternoon leak on a three-day weekend, many of the tech media streams picked it up, including James Kendrick, founder of jkontherun and now a blogger for ZDnet, who compared his own earlier predictions with MG’s “leak”. My own personal take-away is that this is an ecosystem move by Amazon, and could therefore have less of a direct impact on the tablet market-proper as many of us may think of it. If the Amazon tablet takes off, it may be another case, much like the iPad, where a new vertical market is created where there is a demand for the Kindle Tablet, but not necessarily increased demand for tablets in general.

Amazon will have some obvious apps pre-installed on the device, and, when looked at holistically, they pretty much cover most basic functions that I would think most tablet users want/need:

• A version of the Kindle App for reading ebooks
• The Amazon Cloud Player for music and other audio content playback
• Amazon Instant Video for video content
• Amazon’s Android Appstore for apps

For content, these four apps cover everything that Google includes as part of the Android base-install for content consumption. Despite the fact that Damian has found a tablet useful as a productivity outlet, and the fact that I insist that any tablet I own be used for some productivity applications, the fact is that the average user applies a tablet for media consumption. Amazon is planning on putting several hooks in place to encourage buyer’s of its Kindle Tablet (the popular name the media is applying to this device; not officially announced or endorsed by Amazon) to use the four apps mentioned above and others to consume their fair share or more.

MG claims that the device will come with free access to Amazon Prime. Which, to me, it is a lot like Playstation Plus; you subscribe, and for your trouble, you get some free perks, and several deals on a continuous, rolling basis. So will all of this work? Yes, and here are some pretty obvious possible reasons why:

• I do not think that the average consumer “gets” tablets as a product category. Very few consider picking up a tablet from the productivity standpoint, increased connectivity and awareness, or leveraging the advantage of a third screen in their mobile/IT setup. For most, they decide that they want an “iPad”. Not “I want a tablet so which one should I get?”
• My own link to Amazon does not take me to the homepage, so it is not that often that I get reminded of how the front-page can visually mug you with a Kindle assault. “Flagship device” is a term that does not do justice to what the Kindle represents to Amazon. At the expected pricing (supposedly to be $250), there will be a chunk of consumers in the market for the high-end Kindle 3G, currently selling for $189, who will see it making more sense to get the more capable device for $250
• People like bundles. The average consumer may not be as technology averse to gadgets as they were 10 years ago, but the wall that keeps a lot of them from going over is the threat of having to monkey with a device to get the stuff on it that they are supposed to use it for. The concept of a device that basically has everything on it that they want to use it for, and a pre-configured means for getting more of it, will be a factor that brings a lot of the stay-aways over the wall
• Why will Amazon’s bundling hook people who have not taken the iPad plunge yet? Because some of the stay-aways still see iOS devices as luxury items at their current price points. Also, despite the relative ease that most of “us” handle an iOS device or other tablet, a part of the non-techcentric consumer population of America still does not get the tablet paradigm.
• Why will Amazon’s bundling be any more effective than Google’s that comes stock with Android? Because you have to be invested in the Android ecosystem already before you understand what is available. Google’s services are not a storefront. Unless you are already an Android user, you do not go to the Android Market website on your laptop or desktop to window-shop. You only get there because you already have a device and you are using a desktop environment to manage it. Ditto for iTunes and the AppStore; places you do not normally go unless you already have an iOS device. Even if you use iTunes, I do not think people go to the AppStore section just to see what might be available on an iPad if they had one already. But millions of people go to Amazon everyday, and the Kindle Tablet and its bundles services will be front and center.

There has been some discussion among the technoratti as to whether or not the Kindle Tablet will be a premium device that will compete with the iPad and other, higher-end tablets. But I also do not know how much that matters. The fact is that most people who have iPads do not need them. And when I say “need”, I am saying that from the perspective of someone who has already decided to buy a tablet and buys an iPad. I mean that if they are only using the tablet to surf the web, read email, and take in an occasional eBook, they could have purchased a less expensive device and been ok. But a lot of people are averse to devices that are not from a big-name brand, and do not market themselves based on simplicity. Most of the Android devices on the market are being marketed on the basis of their power, and the average consumer doesn’t have a good understanding of what a more ‘powerful’ device really means, or how it benefits them directly.

The Kindle Tablet will reportedly run a forked and skinned version of Android 2.2. And that is skinned to the point where the average user will not be aware that they are running Android, and therefore may potentially not get turned off to the device on that factor. Most consumers will likely buy this because it is an Amazon tablet, not because it is an Android device. The presentation layer will be in-your-face Amazon, and its services will be the hub around which the user-experience revolves.

Who will not want this device? Those of us who want/need the other Google Services (Gmail, the Android Market, Gcal) that will not be natively on the Kindle Tablet. Also those of us who want the stock Android GUI, or an ability to load our own chosen launchers, as the Kindle Tablet will only run the Amazon Appstore. Of course, I am sure someone will hack the device eventually, but we are talking about the device running its stock install.

The point is, whether or not the Amazon Tablet is a premium device may not matter. I am not convinced that there is a defined tablet market for strata of devices based on price anyway. My own feeling is that there is an iPad market and a very limited premium Android market. I am saying that there are not strata within the market in North America because there is not a lot of consumption of budget-Android devices here. People are either buying an iPad or an Android device that is in the $499 MSRP range (sometimes as low as $349 with some of the recent sales).

The current tablets are being positioned as an alternative to the laptop with a minimum comparative savings for increased portability. In other words the strategy is “You don’t need a laptop, you can use a tablet that will accomplish most of what you need and comes in a little cheaper than a capable laptop”. I am simplifying this part of the assessment in order to not get entangled in the minutia (the value of cheap laptops at less than $499  in comparison to their capability compared to laptops that are only a skosh more and their reduced portability in comparison to a tablet).

The Amazon approach is positioning the tablet has an outgrowth of the eReader. The “in other words” here is “For a skosh more than our 3G eReader, you can get this device that does a ton more, comes with a free Amazon Prime account, and, incidentally, does everything that eReader you were going to buy does anyway”. I think this is a story that the average consumer is more likely to buy into, and will start pulling buyers away from the iPad potential buyer population. When Amazon presents a device that costs half-as much, does everything that most potential iPad buyers want to do, and will be supported by an ecosystem that is manageable from a desktop browser and that many of them are familiar with, it will be clear that Amazon does not need to deploy a premium device to compete with the iPad. If the Kindle Tablet goes over well, we will have an example where the value of the service infrastructure that a tablet product plugs into might be more than important than the tablet hardware itself.

Amazon is also attempting to put deals in place similar to the 3G service that is available on their high-end eReaders now. If Amazon locks this in, and if, while seemingly impossible, they are able to lock this service in as either part of the Amazon Prime subscription, or at a very reduced rate and the buyer never has to interface with a carrier — that could be the factor that allows the Kindle Tablet to eat every other tablets’ lunch.

Right now, the Kindle Tablet will reportedly only launch with a WiFi version, so the 3G advantage may not come into play until later. Linked below is to the original TechCrunch article. Join the conversation below, as I am sure there are plenty of opposing views to the ones I voiced here. As always, this assessment is just my own opinion based on my own experiences. Feel free to present a differing perspective; that is kind of the whole point in us posting this stuff anyway!

TechCrunch

A growing body of evidence is suggesting that Amazon will be moving into the Android tablet market sometime in 2011. The question on my mind is: how can Amazon’s tablet differentiate itself from the rest of the pack?

Amazon is already involved closely with Android (and even iOS) thanks to a number of applications that the company has developed. Let’s have a look at the list, shall we?

• Amazon.com [app] (Android)
• Amazon.com [webapp] (multi-platform)
• Amazon MP3/Amazon Cloud Player (Android)
• Amazon Appstore (Android)
• Kindle (Android/iOS)
• Amazon Mobile (iOS)
• Price Check by Amazon (iOS)
• Amazon Deals (iOS)
• Windowshop (iOS)

Now here’s the thing. Every Android tablet or iPad already has access to these applications. Amazon has effectively given up what could have been exclusive software offerings by deciding to go multi-platform early on.

So how is Amazon supposed to make a tablet that will stand out against other devices that already have access to Amazon software? The company still has some tricks up its sleeve there are several areas where the company can bring something new to the tablet arena:

Battery Life (efficient screen)

Amazon already has plenty of experience with E-Ink displays thanks to their work with the Kindle. The Kindle can last one month on a single charge, thanks in part to the screen which requires no power when the visuals are static. Sure, an eReader is obviously much different than a tablet, and has components that don’t require nearly as much power, but the display is usually the top-offender when it comes to power consumption on devices these days.

CPU makers can continue to reduce power consumption, but we’re at a point where optimizing such a small portion of the overall power footprint doesn’t have any significant impact on the battery life of the device. If Amazon could reduce display power consumption to 50% of what the standard tablet uses, users would see a big jump in battery life.

That’s not to say that they can just slap an E-Ink display on a tablet… but they are in a good position to develop (through partners) some new screen technology that would meet the criteria for a tablet (color, quick refresh, capacitive input, etc.) while reducing power consumption. Perhaps we’ll see a dual-mode screen which can switch to E-Ink when reading e-Books and doing other work where the screen doesn’t need to refresh often.

Whispernet

One of the defining features of the Kindle is the free Whispnet service that it uses to access and download content without the use of WiFi and without signing any contracts. Amazon has worked out a deal to let the Kindle use Sprint’s 3G service; on the customer’s end there are no fees and no contracts — you just start browsing and buying books (you can even surf the web!).

Using Whispernet, Amazon could capitalize on it’s pre-existing software ventures and regain some functionality from them that could be advertised as “exclusive inch. That is, an Amazon tablet could use Whispernet to connect and transfer content from any of the Amazon applications with no fees and no contracts.

In this way, an Amazon tablet with the Kindle app would work just like the Kindle in the way that it offers users no-setup/no-fee connection to downloading books, but this could also be expanded to shopping with Amazon.com app, and even for downloading apps from the Amazon Appstore.

This makes sense because it would help Amazon push their core services, which is undoubtedly where they are making the money: If you’re out of a WiFi hotspot and you’ve got a Whispernet connection that will let you browse the Amazon.com store, then you will definitely end up shopping there more often than a competing site that wouldn’t be accessible through Whispernet. If you can access books from the Kindle app anywhere, users will likely use that over Google Books or another eBook service. Whispernet would even give Amazon a chance to cut out the Android Market in favor of the Android Appstore by giving customers access to it where they wouldn’t be able to access the Android Market.

All of those scenarios would mean money in Amazon’s coffers instead of someone else’s.

This would make an Amazon tablet unlike any other one currently on the market, and Amazon has already shown that such a model is possible with the Kindle.

Price

While there are certainly some exciting Android tablets currently on the market, these devices are only starting to compete with Apple’s iPad 2 entry price of $499 (and they’ll need to not only compete, but beat that price by a lot to get significant tablet traction). For instance, the WiFi-only Xoom will run you $599 while Asus wants you to fork over $550 or so for the Eee Pad Transformer sans the keyboard dock.

Amazon, on the other hand, is clearly willing to cut deals to bring the price down for customers. We’ve seen the company repeatedly slash prices on the Kindle. They’ve recently even announced an option to purchase a kindle with sponsored screensaver ads, dropping the price by $25 for customers who choose this option.

Innovative strategies like this could lead to an Amazon tablet that undercuts Apple’s iPad 2 an important factor in getting this device out to the mainstream.

If Amazon were to combine these three aspects in a tablet, they would have a truly unique and useful device that wouldn’t’ be like every other 7-10 inch tablet running Honeycomb with Nvidia Tegra 2, and they’d have a chance at unseating the current king of tablets (by sales volume), the iPad 2.

Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering for Google, explained at Google I/O last May that Google intend to deliver a whole lot more than just applications on the Android Market by demonstrating a Android music download service. It seems Google don’t plan on stopping with just music downloads as a recent report in The Wall Street Journal explains that Google are trying to lure publishers into supporting a “digital newsstand inch service for Android.

Sources say that Google’s newsstand service will provide apps from publishers that allow Android users to view newspapers and magazines on phone and tablet devices. With Android now activating over 300,000 Google branded devices per day it seems only inevitable that publishers will eventually jump on-board.

Google are supposedly in contact with Timer Warner, Condé Nast and Hearst, three large publishers, regarding the service however “details of the newsstand venture and its timing remain vague inch. Apple already provide publishers with the ability to sell periodicals through their iTunes service so expect competition to intensify if Google can get their newsstand product off the ground.

Amazon also made a big announcement today with their Kindle service as they intend to launch Kindle applications for both Android and Windows tablets. Amazon previously announced that they have a Windows Phone 7 Kindle app in development and already have a Android app that is designed for smartphones but the applications announced today specifically target tablet devices.

Sources: WSJ, Downloadsquad

I’ve seen a few references to a forum entry on Android Community Forums over the last 24hrs and while I don’t think the case in question can be rated highly, the thought that it generates is an interesting one to discuss.

Update: Techcrunch have been investigating and have some more details here.

Rumour: Amazon will start an Application Store [Ref: Amazon cooking something up?]

I’ve been analyzing the Intel AppUp store recently and also thinking about how Android-based tablets can solve the problem of not having the hooks and channel available for applications on large-screen Android devices. We already see that the requirement for an app-store on a consumer device is critical and the potential gains for the store that becomes ‘de facto’ are huge. Google are having successes in the smartphone area (although one report I read yesterday says that it needs to do a lot better due to the limited country coverage of Google Checkout. Update: News on that today too) but there are other areas too. Tablets, TV, Netbooks and Laptops. There’s even a chance to spruce-up the desktop application experience. I don’t see any one store covering this whole area but that doesn’t mean you can’t win if you rule the niche or vertical.

Amazon are no stranger to distribution and as we found out last year, already have a software distribution and monetisation product. It was games-only then but can someone please tell me the difference between distributing a game and distributing any other piece of PC software? The Amazon service runs in the cloud with all the usual Amazon specification, rating, review and comment features and as I write, there are 1823 games being offered from free to $39.99 (Service only available in the U.S.)

What if Amazon tuned this service up for any PC software and rolled it out to their 100+ countries? What if they included more than just PC software? What if Google asked them to carry a selection of premium apps aimed at new markets? What if a hundred thousand Android apps could suddenly be sold through credit card, and direct bank transfer? Update: Even newer news indicates that Amazon might be readying an Android Tablet.

There are a number of important elements that an App-store should have:

• Categorisation
• Monetises
• Feedback/rating channel
• Simplify install process
• Provide search and discovery facilities
• Simplify migration of PCs
• Permit try-and-buy
• Helps devs with incentives/marketing
• Allow the community to curate
• Provides affiliation opportunities

When you check these requirements off against an Amazon offering, nearly all of them are covered and with the huge Amazon brand and web presence, marketing it should be easier and cheaper than for most. The only barriers will be 1) Getting devs to submit their apps 2) Getting customers to download the market client. Both barriers are huge and interdependent and could need a pile of cash to solve.

Update: If Amazon were to successfully ship a million their own Android tablets with a set of pre-prepared tablet apps done under NDA, they might solve the chicken-and-egg problem of apps and pre-installed customer base. It’s exactly what Intel are attempting with netbooks and AppUp so it will be interesting to watch and compare.

Related article: Kindle for (UM)PC now available.
Related article: What’s the best PC for the Amazon Kindle PC software?

I doubt many of you will be spending $599 on a ultra mobile PC just for the Kindle PC application but if you’re thinking of a mobile tablet PC anyway, here’s my top tip for a good PC-based ebook reading experience. The Viliv X70 UMPC. (Video after the jump.)

I won’t claim that this is a perfect e-reader device (see this article for an idea of the ideal PC for ebook reading) and as the Kindle software is locked-down to the Amazon store, it’s hardly flexible but considering I can run Mobipocket, PDFs and practically every other format of ebook known, it works out to be quite the flexible solution. Oh, and it’s a PC!

For those that aren’t familiar with the X70, it runs an Intel Atom at 1.3Ghz with a fast SSD drive and has a battery life of up to around 7 or 8 hours. It weighs 660gm and you can buy it with an optional built-in 3G module. More information here.

Make sure you watch the video in ‘HQ’ mode (button bottom-right) for the best quality.

Sascha from Netbooknews has just tweeted that the Kindle application for the PC is now available. ‘This is the beginning of the end for the Kindle hardware’ he says.

Well I’ve installed the software, linked it to an account in the UK and sure enough, it works like a charm. I just bought a book online, hit F5 and there it was on the PC.

As you can see I’ve got it running on my Gigabyte T1028M with the convertible touchscreen. I’ve rotated the screen and set the text to max width. That’s what it looks like on a 600×1028 screen. The margins are somewhat wide don’t you think? Touching the screen on the left and right margins changes page. You can access the contents, cover and bookmarks but you can’t make notes or highlights. That’s coming soon…

As with all our services, we plan to continue improving Kindle for PC. Below are some features we are thinking about bringing to Kindle for PC in the near future:

• Create notes and highlights
  Thanks to Whispersync, you can already read your notes and highlights from other devices on Kindle for PC. We’d like to add the ability to create notes and highlights using the Kindle for PC application.
• Search
  Find a word or a sentence in the book you are currently reading.
• Zoom and rotate images
  Click on an image to see an expanded view and rotate it if desired.

Images (the cover at least) are in glorious Technicolor!

Next up…the Viliv X70. It’s a tablet, much lighter and one of the best PC’s you can get if you want to take advantage of the Kindle for PC software [Article: What’s the best PC for the Kindle PC software?]

I’ll run off a quick video of the X70 and post it in a new article. or should I read a book. Hmm…

Well done Amazon. At last an easy to-use selection of ‘no-CD’ games that you can download, test and buy from your mobile PC.

Amazon launched their Game Downloads section on Tuesday. It’s a new section of Amazon.com that allows you to choose and trial any of the games and then purchase it if you like it. Game downloads are nothing new but this simple service with this trusted brand could be just what the casual gamers on netbooks want.

There are currently just under 600 titles available from various software houses and download and trial is a simple process of logging in, downloading a download application and then downloading and installing the app.

I tried Airport Mania on the Medion Akoya Mini netbook and the download process worked very smoothly. The game worked smoothly too as I seemed to have killed 30 minutes of my day. (The maximum trial time of a game is 30 minutes)

The selection of games is definitely ‘casual’ but this download model, combined with the Amazon brand and the millions of netbooks out there without optical drives could tempt many software houses into adapting their older titles giving them a fresh new market to step into.

If anyone tests this out, be sure to drop some comments below for other readers. What netbook and what game did you try? How did it go for you? Have you used game download services for the your netbook before? If so, which service did you try?

Via Buzz Out Loud podcast 903

Chances are: this is a highly targeted ad designed for tech shoppers like myself, but it is cool to see the biggest online retailer getting serious about netbooks. The ad is inspired by Theodore Roosevelt’s famous "speak softly and carry a large stick". Amazon has obviously been taking notice since they saw netbooks topping their laptop sales charts recently.

The ad is nice and all but can anyone spot what is wrong? If you said "That’s the old HP Mini-Note 2133!" you’d be correct (give yourself a pat on the back). I guess I really can’t expect an e-retailer giant like Amazon to stay up to date on everything that happens in the market but I would have been more impressed if they had the new Mini 1000 [Portal page] featured in the ad.