Amazon is expected to announce the Color version of its Kindle in November with some new features like Video player and Music Player. The device is the much touted Amazon Tablet and is expected to be released in 7 inch variant before possibly other versions.
One of TechCrunch columnist’s had a sneak peek of the device, but had no photos to show for it. As per his article The device has Android as the base and Amazon UI on top and Amazon Appstore is the only Appstore on the device.
The lack of full featured Android and freedom of Android has disappointed many fans. But it remains to be seen how the device and OS turns out. Devices is also expected to have no camera , 8GB space and possibly a slower single core processor around 600MHz based on other reports.
Based on the specifications and OS features it is very clear that target prices of $250 is entirely possibly and even more in terms of value, the device will be pitted against Nook color. And if successful a 10 inch ipad competitor might come out next year from Amazon.
Amazon’s Tablet is expected to be bundled with amazon cloud player, Amazon Prime Videos and a free Prime membership. With Amazon’s marketing skills and front page flashing of Kindle, it sure is expected to outsell many other low end tablets.
HTC has announced its new flagship phone – HTC Titan, with a 4.7 inch screen and 1.5 Ghz processor, it takes the windows phone 7.5 to the next level with this beastly device. But there are definitely some gripes on the phone as well, the resolution of the screen is only 480 x 800, a lower resolution compared to other top phones like iPhone 4.
The phone boasts of 8 Megapixel rear camera with Focal ratio of 2.2 (2.2 F), and Dual LED flash which vastly improves the low light photos. The phone also has a 720p video recording capability. Strangely the phone doesn’t come with 4G.
Compared to other top phones HTC titan lags in some areas here are the dimensions of other phones against HTC Titan. HTC Titan is the biggest phone among all the competitors and nearly matching the Samsung Infuse 4G.
HTC Titan – 131.5 x 70.7 x 9.9
Samsung Galaxy S2 (Attain) – 125.3 X 66.1 X 8.49 mm
Nokia N9 – 116.45 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm
Samsung Infuse 4G – 132 x 71 x 9 mm
Iphone 4 – 115.2 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm
Motorola Atrix – 117.8 x 63.5 x 11 mm
Blackberry Torch – 111 x 62 x 14.6 mm
And in terms of weight is The heaviest phone around.
HTC Titan – 160 g
Samsung Galaxy S2 (Attain) – 116 g
Nokia N9 – 135 g
Samsung Infuse 4G – 139 g
Iphone 4 – 137 g
Motorola Atrix – 135 g
Size: 131.5mm x 70.7mm x 9.9mm (5.18″ x 2.78″ x 0.39″)
Weight: 160 grams (5.6 ounces) with battery
Display: 4.7-inch touch screen with 480 x 800 resolution
Screen: 119 mm (4.7″)
CPU Processing Speed
1.5 GHz
Storage
Total storage: 16 GB
Available storage: up to 12.63 GB
RAM: 512 MB
Connectors
3.5 mm stereo audio jack
micro-USB 2.0 (5-pin) port
Multimedia
See photos from your camera, Facebook and Windows Live™ accounts in the Pictures hub
Music and Videos Hub powered by Zune lets you listen to radio, download music, and more
SRS enhancement
5.1 surround sound for video
Audio supported formats:
Playback:.m4a, .m4b, .mp3, .wma (Windows Media Audio 9)
Video supported formats:
Playback:.3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m4v, .mbr, .wmv (Windows Media Video 9 and VC-1)
Recording:.mp4
(You can only playback a .3gp or .3g2 video if the video is an email attachment or is part of an MMS message.)
Power & Battery2
Battery type: Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery
Capacity:1600 mAh
Talk time:
WCDMA: Up to 410 minutes
GSM: Up to 710 minutes
Standby time3:
WCDMA: Up to 460 hours
GSM: Up to 360 hours
Camera
8 megapixel camera with F2.2 lens, dual LED flash, and BSI sensor (for better low-light captures)
Front camera: 1.3 megapixel front camera
HD video recording: 720p HD video recording
Internet (USA/Japan)
3G: Up to 14.4 Mbps download speed
Up to 5.76 Mbps upload speed
GPRS: Up to 80 kbps downloading
EDGE: Up to 236.8 kbps downloading
Wi-Fi®: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth® 2.1
A2DP for wireless stereo headsets
PBAP for phonebook access from the car kit
Other supported profiles: AVRCP, HFP, HSP
Social Networking
Twitter™, Facebook® and Windows Live™
Share photos on Facebook® or Windows Live™ SkyDrive
HP has been criticized in the past for hanging on to the PC business and recently been criticized again for dumping both PC and its Tablet business. Recently HP made a bold move to discontinue its TouchPad – Web OS based tablet and which many saw a potential competitor to both iOS and Android based tablets.
On the sidelines another key move was also made, to spin off its not so profitable PC division, many might wonder what is HP doing and why should they leave a very successful hardware brand. But the 2011 Q3 numbers might explain why.
While HP’s services , HP Software, Enterprise services and Financial services showed growth in Profit. Its PC division and Imaging (Printer/Scanner) division had negative growth. Even within its PC division the worst hit was in retail consumer clients (-17%) , the commercial division fared much better. Imaging division had marginal negative growth, will be safe for now.
But does a negative growth justify a spin-off?. Maybe for financial experts and Shareholders that will be a good bet, but will it help HP in the future by giving away its PC division ?. After buyouts of Compaq in the past and Palm recently, HP Board seems very impatient with their hardware business. And after announcements of possibly pitting WebOS against Windows and MacOs, sudden change of heart seems strange. HP appears more like a lost kid in a carnival, than the world’s largest services player.
Management personnel change might have accelerated the decision partly due to Leo Apotheker’s appointment as CEO. But all this makes one wonder, why isn’t a huge organisation with wealth of Software teams cant innovate on some of its existing platforms . Losing PC division would mean loss of valuable user feedback , Brand image , multiple channels to attain corporate customers and many more..
Maybe someone is thinking that near term profit and that extra employee bonus is more important than long term gains for a company.
