RUMOR CITYWith HP's two terminated Touchpads suddenly taking over the top selling slots at Amazon from the Kindle and the iPod Touch, even at heftier prices than HP's discounted prices that were announced Saturday before selling out Sunday at those attractive prices ($99~ and $150~), Kindle and Amazon Android tablet rumors are hitting the news again.
I tried getting the 32gig HP Sunday morning for $150 but they were sold out everywhere. Why? Real, dedicated Multitasking (unlike Apple's suspended type), the popular Beats Audio sound, Flash video (blank on the iPad), Hulu and CBS, etc., directly available on the tablet, at the $99-$150 price.
It's amazing that a killed product (with no promise of software updates for the webOS tablet version, although HP plans to keep developing webOS) would sell at $350 to $400+ at Amazon currently. HP had 275,000 to sell, and Best Buy was able to sell only 25,000, so HP decided it was not worth continuing the month old tablet. Maybe Amazon's rumored tablets were a factor. And the reports that webOS crashed too much, the battery life was poor, and the touch response not as good as with iOS or even Windows Phone 7.
The discontinued Touchpads topping Amazon's US sales yesterday proved one thing: there is strong consumer interest for affordable tablets from a trusted maker.
As a gadget person myself, I've never been able to justify paying a minimum of $500 for a WiFi 10" tablet by anyone, when what it does can't match what I can easily do on my 10" netbook. If a company were to charge about half of that, take a loss on the hardware while making money from the content sold for it, I'm in.
Amazon tablet rumors galore
Amazon Android tablet rumors were all over the news last night. Earlier this week some had noticed that Lab126, Amazon's subsidiary that designed and engineered the Kindle and which promises "the next revolution" on an image of a coming device, applied to trademark the term "Lab126" and its long-time logo (see top, left), which some think could "do double duty as branding" for the Amazon tablet.
Lab126's careers page has listed, for some time, jobs available for those with firm work backgrounds in research and design of "high profile, portable, hand-held consumer elecronics." Geekwire points out that these were filed (Aug. 16) under the classification, “design and development of computer hardware and software.”
Kindlescribe.com- more rumors
Add to that the news yesterday that Amazon has registered KindleScribe.com (and also grabbed KindleScribes.com to protect its use by others, I imagine), and the news-world is understandably hoping that the next Kindle or Kindle-inspired tablet will have a stylus and writing-software (as with the HTC 'scribe'.
Nowadays, you can hide the site-owner's name on WHOIS sites for $5~, so Amazon made a decision that this new domain name could be public. Nevertheless, from that, what we're seeing is just conjecture, but I'd say the domain name does indicate something's up.
In early August, Amazon registered a new domain name, KindleAir.com and that sparked interest of course. Does it have to do with Whispernet? (Doesn't it always?). Lightness?
Several news sites say Amazon has been dropping info here and there, and it's likely they want to build anticipation and maybe slow down sales of other devices until they're ready to announce whatever may come before October, although the more advanced tablet much rumored wouldn't be ready until the end of the year but in time for the Holidays (as these rumors go).
In the meantime, the Kindlestore has dropped prices on refurbished Kindles, AT&T stores are now selling the $139 Special Offers 3G model as of yesterday, and we're seeing new discounts on some Kindle accessories -- the latter happened about a month before the Kindle 3 was announced.
Thanks to Jesslyn - MyKindleStuff and Nancy Picchi - IslandLibrarian for news alerts last night.
Kindle 3's (UK: Kindle 3's) K3 Special ($114) K3-3G Special ($139) DX Graphite
Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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Does Amazon have a 'cheaper elsewhere' rebate policy? That's only reason I can see for buying the HP TouchPad from Amazon at a hefty price when there's still a chance of picking it up at less than half that direct from HP. Buy it in stock for Amazon and then apply for the rebate.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while I've been suggesting that the new Kindle pads will be more consumption-oriented than iPads, a name like Kindle Scribe suggests production. Scribes wrote rather than read. But perhaps the name is for a much needed Kindle note-taking app. Let's hope so.
Also, maybe Amazon's debating several names and took out domain names on them just to be safe. Kindle Air, Kindle Scribe, Kindle whatever. Keep us guessing.
Or perhaps Kindle Touch. I just checked and KindleTouch.com is registered by Mark Monitor to an obscure DNStination, Inc, which is at exactly the same SF street address as themselves. The former delivers "world-class brand protection solutions to over 50 of the Fortune 100 companies."
Could they be holding it for Amazon, which is #78 in the Fortune 100? Who else would want to use a name like Kindle Touch. And it is the best of the names I've heard.
--Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien
I feel like a groupie hanging out backstage just waiting to scream when the artist pokes his nose out of the exit door.
ReplyDeleteI run to my email every morning to see if a PR has been released and scour Google reader for news.
I hope they announce something soon since I allocate all my Xmas $ in early September. (But mostly because I'm just dying to find out anything concrete.)
Michael,
ReplyDeleteAmazon doesn't have a lower-price guarantee and rebate. I did read that HP was approving refunds for people who had just bought the tablet for $400 the week before or within the last 60 days actually.
Maybe that's why people are buying them.
One was a total refund and one was the difference, from SOMEthing I read but don't go by me. I'd google it.
People who go to get it cheap and then re-sell it at higher prices will not be giving refunds and if one didn't buy it from an approved HP dealer I doubt the refund would be there. The original buyer would be eligible to that.
Re domain names:
Amazon sends legal letters to those who use their trademarked names in the domain names (meaning kindle*.com or *kindle.com* as opposed to the blogger or wordpress domain names).
Calling it Kindle Touch would make them seem copycat with Nook Touch (though that latter is "Simple Touch" to explain why so many past features were removed, I guess.
If BN.com were Apple, they'd probably sue over use of the word "Touch"... :-)
If any newer Kindle CAN write via a stylus, I prefer the name KindleScribe but it's a tall order. Maybe more feasible on a fast-screen LCD screen than on e-Ink readers (but I don't know).
Jazz,
ReplyDeleteThat's a great description!
"As a gadget person myself, I've never been able to justify paying a minimum of $500 for a WiFi 10" tablet by anyone, when what it does can't match what I can easily do on my 10" netbook. If a company were to charge about half of that, take a loss on the hardware while making money from the content sold for it, I'm in."
ReplyDeleteYes to not wanting to pay the current price demanded for tablets, given the very limited functionality they provide for me (I've a single potential use for them, and that's still theoretical as I'm a long way from completing the software that would enable them to do that, when I already have such software that runs perfectly fine on a netbook or laptop).
As to the second, I'd not fall for such traps again, not after being locked in to mobile phone providers for years and years and keeping paying for your phone well beyond the date it's paid for in full.
I don't want such vendor lockin, which is a main reason (apart from Apple's business practies) that I won't ever buy an iPad (and why my iPod uses its music and video functions exclusively, using content I import into iTunes from my own sources rather than buying it from Apple).
"Does Amazon have a 'cheaper elsewhere' rebate policy? That's only reason I can see for buying the HP TouchPad from Amazon at a hefty price when there's still a chance of picking it up at less than half that direct from HP."
ReplyDeleteNever seen a company with such a policy that you could successfully apply for a rebate with. Always there are such massive restrictions that no claim is ever found to warrant a rebate ("no clearance sales, must be within 2 hours, no special offers, etc. etc.).
". I just checked and KindleTouch.com is registered by Mark Monitor to an obscure DNStination, Inc, which is at exactly the same SF street address as themselves."
Reeks of a domain squatter...
"Also, maybe Amazon's debating several names and took out domain names on them just to be safe. Kindle Air, Kindle Scribe, Kindle whatever. Keep us guessing."
Air would bring them into conflict with Apple who already have that trademarked for their ultrathin laptop line.
Scribe I think is safe.
Registering domain names is cheap. It just leaves the competition (and the press) guessing and indeed keeps your own options open as well. Many large companies do it.
"Could they be holding it for Amazon, which is #78 in the Fortune 100?"
No doubt they've sent Amazon an "offer" to buy the name for a massive sum, most likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Which, were I Amazon, would be enough reason to change the name of my unreleased product to something else if that were the name I had in mind.
jw,
ReplyDeleteOn that 2nd part, I meant --If a company were to charge about half of that $500, take a loss on the hardware while making money from the content sold for it (the 'ecosystem' thing:
- streaming video, audio, enhanced books, Android games ...
jw,
ReplyDeleteYes, I felt the 'Air' thing was tricky considering Apple's new small laptop/netbook.
Of course, some think 'air' is free! :-) Sort of generic, but they've already trademarked it, though the trademark would be for Mac Air as I don't think they'd get it for just 'Air' in a brand name.
Too much like 'App' ?