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Amazon offers its clients to purchase millions of e-books, songs, movies, television shows through the online store. In addition, now the company gave the customers an ability of the access to Android applications. All this has allowed Amazon to seriously press its main competitors – the tablet Nook Color, produced by Barnes&Noble and the iPad, collected by Apple. Not long time ago the company sold only Amazon electronic reading devices with a papery black and white E-ink screen. But recently, in autumn 2011, the Amazon company presented to the public its first tablet computer Amazon Kindle Fire. This tablet has a dual-core processor and a 7-inch color touch-screen display, and in many species is similar to the leader of the tablets’ segment – Apple iPad. It’s possible to pre-order a tablet Amazon Kindle Fire from the 28th of September at the Amazon official website. According to the Amazon company’s website, the delivery of the reserved devices will start on the 15th of November 2011.

Amazon Kindle Fire weighs only 413 grams and perfectly fits the hand. Moreover, due to this weight which is optimal the users will not feel tired after holding the device for quite a long time. The tablet is a continuation of the Kindle electronic gadgets’ line. In the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet there is a specially designed browser Amazon Silk which is in charge of the Internet surfing. This browser is capable of significant reducing the time which is necessary for downloading a remote server with the help of Amazon’s own technology – EC2. The functionality of Amazon Silk is enhanced, when compared with the usual solution from Google. The users of Amazon Kindle Fire now can download web pages in the background in a preliminary mode. The device works with the AppStore, so it’s also possible to download all your favorite games and applications – Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, The Weather Channel and more. In addition, a unique top-paid application is accessible for downloading without charge every day.

As the tablet has 8 GB internal memory from which about 6GB can be used for an owner’s content. It allows a user to download, on average, up to 80 different applications, up to 10 movies, 800 songs, or 600 e-books and newspapers. For increasing running speed Amazon Kindle Fire is equipped with a processor with 2 active kernels, the operating frequency of 1 GHz, which is quite a good indicator. In addition, the device supports free data storage on the strange servers for Amazon content. In other words, it’s a cloud-based storage. Even in case of unexpected situations and errors, a user can always re-download purchased applications and stored data. However, as opposed to iPad2, there is no camera and microphone for video calls in Amazon Kindle Fire. The gadget also doesn’t have 3G connection module but it is able to transmit data by means of the wireless technology – Wi-Fi. Connect by means of the cellular networks is not possible. The device runs on Android, but the Android Market is not accessible. Kindle Fire doesn’t contain GPS.

One of the Amazon Kindle Fire’s advantages is the price as this device can be purchased for $199, while the cheapest iPad of the last generation will cost $499. The cost of Amazon Kindle Fire is more than in a half lower of the average cost of the tablets which are now sold on the world market. For example, the price of the HTC Flyer tablet, which, incidentally, also has a 7-inch screen, is $499. Another competitor of Kindle Fire is undoubtedly Nook Color which price on the market is $249. As Amazon sells its Kindle line via own online store, the prices of the electronic devices are not overstated, as it often happens in case when gadgets are distributed through retail intermediaries.

It’s worth to get acquainted with the main features of Kindle Fire in detail. As it was mentioned, Amazon Kindle Fire has 7-inch anti-glare touch-screen display which is based on IPS technology, with 1024*600 pixels resolution, 169 ppi (pixels per inch), and 16 million colors. Pixel density is slightly higher than those of iPad which has 132 pixels per inch. The size of the tablet is 190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm. There are no system requirements, as it is a completely self-contained device does not demand interaction with a computer. Battery of Amazon Kindle Fire enables a user to read up to 8 hours, or to watch video up to 7.5 hours non-stop and without switching on Wi-Fi. The use of wireless communication has an influence on battery life, including the possibility to download content and surf the web. There is the included adapter which guarantees the full charge for about 4 hours. Amazon Kindle Fire has USB 2.0 Port (micro-B connector), so USB-connection can be also used for charging from a PC. The device can be used by a user if he has an access to public and private Wi-Fi networks or hot spots, based on 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standards of communication. It’s also possible to use enterprise networks if a user is authenticated by entered password. But ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks are not suitable for Amazon Kindle Fire. There are top-mounted stereo speakers and 3.5 mm stereo audio jack in the gadget.

Among the formats which are supported by the tablet there are Kindle (AZW), GIF, PNG, TXT, DOC, BMP, MP3, PDF, DOCX, WAV, non-DRM AAC, unprotected MOBI, JPEG, MP4, MIDI, VP8, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), OGG, PRC natively. The device contains Quick Guide for Kinds users, which is already installed. Complete set includes the tablet Kindle Fire, power adapter, Quick User Guide. There is a one year of the device warranty and service. But U.S. residents have an opportunity to extend the warranty period for one more year. It’s an additional option.

The interface of Amazon Kindle Fire mimics the bookshelf, originally showing the destination of this device. This “shelf” is very convenient for accommodating not only e-books, but also music, videos, magazines, and other necessary user’s content.