Amazon has recently released a new Kindle model called “Kindle Fire” and it seems that the tablet is no longer just limited to e-books but will also offer other content such as movies, music, games and a variety of apps. Read on to learn more about the features of the new Kindle Fire.

High Resolution Color Touchscreen

The Kindle Fire boasts a 7” touchscreen that features 16 million colors that are vibrantly displayed in high resolution. This color touchscreen allows for a more pleasurable movie viewing or reading of magazines and children’s books. The Kindle Fire’s touchscreen uses the same technology found on iPad touchscreens. This technology is called IPS or in-plane switching. This technology allows the screen to be viewed from a wide angle. This means that you can easily share the screen with other viewers.

Popular Children’s Books

More than a thousand popular children’s books are also available for download using the Kindle Fire. This is why the tablet is ideal for both parents and children. If you’ve been trying to encourage your child to take an interest in reading then the Kindle Fire will certainly entice him to explore the world of books. Some of the titles available are Circus Ship, Brown Bear and Curious George. All books feature beautifully-illustrated pictures that are made even more vibrant with the Kindle Fire’s color touchscreen. You may use the tablet to read bedtime stories to your child or you can also encourage him to do some reading on his own.

Popular Apps and Games

The latest and most popular apps and games can also be downloaded and experienced with the Kindle Fire. This is another reason why this tablet is so great for kids. Some of the games available are Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds and The Weather Channel. With the Kindle Fire, users may also avail one free app per day.

Thousands of Movies and TV Shows

The Kindle Fire can now also be used to download and watch movies and TV shows in full color. These movies and shows may be purchased, rented, downloaded or streamed. If you are an Amazon Prime member then you may enjoy unlimited streaming of your favorite shows without the commercials.

User-Friendly Interface

Thanks to its simple and use-friendly interface, the Kindle Fire is easy to use for both parents and kids. The tablet allows you to explore your favorite sites and content from the home screen wit a mere tap of a finger.

The $79 Kindle

If you have been looking around for a tablet for your kids to read on then you have probably considered the $79 Kindle. The slashed price tag is obvious but how else does this Kindle differ from other Kindle tablets? The $79 Kindle is smaller and lighter but it will not have the touch controls that other Kindle tablets feature. Since it sports a lower price, the $79 Kindle also features ads.

Although it is obviously more expensive than the $79 Kindle, the Kindle Fire is perhaps a more suitable option for your kids. Not only is the Kindle Fire free from annoying ads but it will also feature thousands of colors—an essential factor for attracting kids to read.

By now, you should know which of these e-Readers is the perfect fit for you and your needs.  With Amazon’s new product line-up and their very aggressive pricing, I believe the Kindle is the obvious way to go.  The only thing left to decide after that is which model of Kindle is best for your needs based on what you want to do with your new e-Reader.

Are you looking for an e-reader that is small and lightweight, easy to pack when traveling lightly?  Are you looking for the absolute best pricing?  If so, you need to grab the basic Kindle! (Just $79)

Do you want a touch screen?  How about an e-reader with text to speech functionality and the ability to listen to audio books?  Want more features without adding a too much to the price?  Most importantly, are you looking for an e-reader with an advanced e-ink screen to make you feel like you are reading right off the pages of a paperback book?  Go grab the $99 Kindle Touch (or $149 for the 3G version)!

Black and white not your style?  Want to take a break from reading books now and then?  How about a vibrant color touch screen and the ability to browse the web at lightning speeds or load up your favorite Apps?  How about adding millions of movies, games, and magazines into the already impressive library of books available for Kindle?  The all new Kindle Fire (only $199) may very well be your new favorite gadget!

The Nook and Nook Color are great devices, but until Barnes and Noble releases a new model and/or lowers their prices, I just don’t see how they can compete with Amazon’s impressive line-up.

If this six post series did not convince you, then feel free to check out some of our other posts.  Otherwise, what are you waiting for?  Head on over to Amazon and grab your new Kindle!

Vibrant color touchscreens, apps, movies, and games may not sound like the sort of e-Reader you are familiar with. Many people have even asked recently if Amazon has an iPad killer in their hands with the new Kindle Fire.

While the Kindle Fire may take away some iPad sales, it is a more direct competitor with the Nook Color.  These two devices are much closer in price than the iPad (which starts at $500), and are both marketed as e-readers though they may be capable of much more than reading books and magazines.

For those that are considering either the Nook Color or the Kindle Fire for their personal e-Reader, there is one thing I want to point out before we get into comparing the two devices.  In order to get the vibrant colors that both devices are capable of, they had to drop the e-ink in favor of a back-lit LCD screen.

To put that in layman’s terms, the screen looks less like the pages of a book (like the e-ink does) and more like a computer screen.

Is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily, that makes it great for browsing the web, watching movies, and looking at magazines, but it will not work as well in direct sunlight and some people might notice it is harsher on their eyes for extended use.

Again, it all goes back to what fits you personally.  If vivid colors and the ability to do more than just read a book on your new device are what you are looking for, then one of these two e-Readers will be perfect for you.  Which one?  Let’s take a look…

Nook Color

Price: $249

• Over 200 Magazines and Newspapers Available
• Nook Kids – A library of interactive kids books
• Web Browsing – From Wikipedia to Facebook to Youtube
• Nook Friends – the ability to lend books to your friends with Nooks
• Storage expandable with SD card

 Kindle Fire

Price: $199

• Over 2,000,000 FREE books and another 800,000+ that are under $10
• Over 1,000 children’s books illustrated in vibrant color
• Powerful dual core processor
• Access to the Amazon AppStore
• Super fast internet browsing with Amazon Silk Web Browser which speeds up your web browsing by learning to predict what page you will browse to next
• Unlimited cloud storage
• Over 100,000 movies and TV shows

So which one of these devices wins my recommendation?  While the Nook Color is a great option, I have to give the crown to the Kindle Fire.  Amazon is selling a product of amazing quality, at an incredible price, and they have the content to put behind it.  With over 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, you will never run out of entertainment on your new Kindle Fire.

Many recent reports say that Amazon is actually selling the Kindle Fire for less than it costs them to produce, which produces a win-win situation.  You get a great product at a closeout price and they get to earn your trust as a future customer.

That should help you decide between the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire – both are great devices, but my recommendation goes toward the Kindle.  If you want a more in depth comparison check out our more detailed product comparison.  Otherwise jump over to Amazon to get your new Kindle!  Or click the link below for a summary of this whole Kindle vs Nook discussion.

Both Amazon and Nook now have models that combine the most advance e-Ink technology with touchscreens making them even more feature rich than before.  These are some of the most user friendly and full-featured e-ink readers available.

These models are less expensive than their color counterparts, but that certainly does not mean they are inferior.  They just have different uses than the color tablet models.

While the Nook Color and Kindle Fire can display vibrant colors and are capable of loading various apps, they don’t have the e-Ink screen that helped make e-readers so popular in the first place.  On the other hand, the Nook and Kindle Touch have continued to perfect the e-Ink technology. Both models have reduced screen flicker that the previous models had and made page turning faster.  Just one more way they aim to give you that feeling of fully immersed book reading.

If you want a full featured e-Reader that feels like you are reading ink off a page and allows you to read in direct sunlight then one of these models is going to be your best bet.  All three are great options, but here is a quick look at each of them and I’ll tell you below what my picks are and why.  For a more in depth look, read our full comparison of the Kindle Touch vs Nook.

In order of Price:

So which one do I recommend?  Well for most people’s use, I would actually recommend the $99 Kindle Touch.  Why?

Overall, I see very similar features between the Nook and the Kindle, but with the Nook costing $40 (could be looked at as 40% also) more than the Kindle, I do not see any way to truly justify that cost.  It is clear with Amazon’s pricing of this recent fleet of Kindles that they want to undercut the price of the competition – and it is working.

Secondly, I don’t think that most people need the 3G service and if it is not a necessity, then I do not personally see it as worth $50.  However, there will be some of you that do need the 3G service and if that is you, then I think your choice here is obvious.

If you think the Kindle Touch, Nook, or Kindle Touch with 3G are a fit for you, then head over to Barnes and Noble or Amazon and grab one.  If you need a bit more detailed information check out our detailed comparison.  Otherwise, if you are undecided or think that you might want a color e-reader, click the link below to continue reading as we look at the Kindle Fire and Nook Color.

The battle between Nook or Kindle boils down to three main categories.  Each category has its own price range and its own set of features.  I have labeled these three categories as:

• Basic or Economy e-Readers ($79)
• Black and White Touchscreen e-Readers ($99 – $149)
• Tablet Style Color e-Readers ($199 – $249)

Each of these types of e-Reader has it’s own benefits and it’s own shortcomings.  It is not simply as easy as saying that the most expensive and feature heavy e-Reader is best or that you should just grab the cheapest one because it’s good enough (though it may be).  It really comes down to what you are looking for in your new reader and how you plan to use it.  We will take a closer look at each of these categories in the next three posts of this series.  But first we’ll take a quick overview of some of the pros and cons of each of these sub-categories of e-readers.

Basic/Economy e-Reader

The is category of e-Reader really only includes one model currently.  That is Amazon’s entry level Kindle.  With their newest line-up of Kindles, it is clear that Amazon is drastically trying to lower the bar as far as pricing goes while still keeping the features their customers need and want.

This particular Kindle is incredibly affordable at the price of $79.  If you are looking for something that is cheap, lightweight and easy to travel with while still carrying thousands of books around, this very well might be what you have been waiting for.

This e-Reader still sports the high quality e-ink screen you are familiar with from the previous models.  They have even cut back on the amount of screen flickering between pages.  However, at this price, they did not include a keyboard, speakers, or a touch screen – so if any of those are of interest to you, then it might be worth moving up a level to the $99 Kindle Touch.

Black & White Touchscreen Models

This segment of the Nook/Kindle market actually includes three models.  Amazon has a WiFi + 3G version priced at $149 as well as a WiFi only version priced at $99.  The Nook (WiFi only) lands in the middle, priced at $139 through Barnes and Noble.

Choosing one of these will be your best option if you want to mainly read books and newspapers (do not need color pictures) and are not as interested in browsing the internet, playing games, or loading up the latest apps on your e-Reader.

Since neither of the color options utilize e-ink, these mid-range models are also going to work best if you plan to read in direct sunlight or simply don’t like to stare at a back-lit screen for long periods of time while you read.

Tablet Style Color e-Readers

Amazon has just joined Barnes and Noble in this category and it is clear that they mean business.  Priced at $199, the Kindle Fire is set up to compete directly with the Nook Color which weighs in at $249.

These two devices are hard to define as simply e-Readers because they are capable of more than that.  They leave the familiar black and white e-ink behind in favor of high resolution color touch screens.  This not only makes them more suitable for magazines and other media with color pictures but also brings in the possibilities of watching movies, playing games, browsing the internet and more.

Hopefully you have a better idea by now of which models you are interested in and which ones will fit your needs.  If so, feel free to skip to the most relevant page by using the links at the top of this post.  Otherwise, click the link below to continue reading through the series as you decide which e-Reader is best for you.

For anyone that is looking for an inexpensive e-Reader that doesn’t need a lot of frill, the basic $79 version of the Kindle is definitely worth a look. It is missing a couple of minor features that allowed them to keep the cost down, but if you can live without them then this is definitely a good option for you.

Before we get into what they dropped from this model to help save your wallet, let’s take a quick look at what this inexpensive e-reader has going for it (beyond a great price tag).

Features

If you have had any experience with the previous Kindle models, you will probably be amazed to know that this version is substantially smaller in size and weighs quite a bit less. Weighing in at under 6 ounces, this thing is about 30% lighter than previous models.  And with an 18% smaller body, this Kindle is even more portable than ever!  This makes the basic version of the Kindle the obvious choice if you are doing a lot of traveling and want to pack as light as possible.

This decrease in size did not force them to change the size of the screen.  It has the same size screen as the previous models.  The screen being an important feature of any e-reader, I should mention that this one has received an upgrade.

Amazon’s goal with the e-ink screen on the Kindle has always been to help you forget that you’re reading from a computerized screen.  They want it to be as close to holding your favorite paperback as possible.  Personally, I did not believe how nice the e-ink screens were until I saw them for myself.  Their latest models have been updated to allow faster page turning – just one more way of helping you stay immersed in the book.

This model has enough space on it to hold 1,400 books so that you can take your entire bookshelf with you anywhere you go.

What doesn’t it have?

I mentioned that a couple of features got cut to help bring down the cost, and I am sure you are wondering what those were.

1)  This version of the Kindle does not have a keyboard, so any navigating that needs to be done will have to use the 5-directional controller and an onscreen keyboard when applicable.

2)  There is no audio support in this particular model.  This means no text to speech and no audiobooks.

3)  Slightly decreased storage and battery life – your battery will only last for one month and you can only store 1,400 books at a time on this model…

If any of those is even a slight issue for you, and you’re willing to bend a bit on not getting the absolute cheapest model then I recommend you take a look at the new Kindle Touch which is available for just $20 more and eliminates each those three issues.

If you think this model will fit your needs then jump on over to Amazon and grab one!  Otherwise, click the link below to continue reading about the touchscreen models of the Kindle and Nook (or use the links above to skip to a different section).

Amazon recently unveiled its new Kindle tablet which will go by the name of Kindle Fire and will be released in November this year. Although the $199 tablet will not be available for another month or so, it is now possible to pre-order through the Amazon site.

If you’ve been looking to buy an e-book reader and have been considering a Kindle then the Kindle Fire is certainly something that you should keep an eye on. Read on to learn more about the features of this new tablet model.

7-inch Color Touchscreen With IPS

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the new Kindle tablet model is its 7-inch touchscreen which is now equipped with about 16 million colors that can be viewed in high resolution. The new color touchscreen will certainly give Kindle users a whole new experience when it comes to reading books and magazines, and watching movies using the tablet.

Kindle Fire’s touchscreen also utilizes in-plane switching or IPS. This technology can also be found on iPad screens. Basically, the IPS allows the screen to be viewed clearly from an extra-wide angle so multiple individuals can view the screen at the same time.

Millions of Books Available

Kindle tablet users can also access a million books that are available for download. These titles include bestsellers, classics, children’s books and more. Some literary classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Treasure Island and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes can even be downloaded for free. Thousands of titles are also available for less than $10.

Ideal For Kids

If you have been trying to find a tablet for your kids to read on then the Kindle Fire might be an ideal choice. The tablet features hundreds of popular children’s books such as Curious George and Brown Bear. Kids will certainly be enticed to read these wonderfully illustrated books especially with the vibrant color touchscreen.

Aside from children’s books, this Kindle tablet also features popular games like Plants vs. Zombies and Angry Birds.

Amazon Silk Web Browser

Kindle Fire also allows you to surf the web with its very own web browser, the Amazon Silk. Silk features a “split browser” technology which allows users to load web pages faster.

Built-in Email Application

This Kindle tablet is also equipped with its very own email app. Using this app, you can consolidate all your email accounts (Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) into a single inbox. You may also import contacts and messages to your email app.

Portability and Durability

Of course, all the great features of this Kindle tablet will be of little use if you cannot take your tablet when you are on the go. The tablet’s small and lightweight design provides Kindle Fire with maximum portability. In fact, you can even hold the tablet with a single hand. The unit is also small enough to fit in purses and bags, allowing you to bring your Kindle tablet wherever you go.

Kindle Fire also boasts extra durability and is chemically strengthened to make it resistant to accidental scrapes, scratches and bumps.