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Handhelds

Staples Executive Outs Six New Kindle Fire Tablets 79

Posted by samzenpus from the around-the-corner dept.
zacharye writes "Staples (SPLS) president Demos Parneros has gone on record in stating that Amazon (AMZN) has plans to introduce as many as six new Kindle Fire tablets. A new report on Monday says that Amazon has plans to add up to five or six new tablet SKUs to its lineup. According to the claim, Parneros confirmed that the Kindle Fire tablets will vary in size, and will include at least one 10-inch tablet model."
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Staples Executive Outs Six New Kindle Fire Tablets More

Staples Executive Outs Six New Kindle Fire Tablets

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  • Snubbed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by BigBunion ( 2578693 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @09:25AM (#40736181)
    Something tells me that Staples was angling to carry the new devices in their stores but then got snubbed by Amazon. Ouch.
    • Yeah what makes him so special that he would even get this information?

      • Re:Snubbed (Score:4, Interesting)

        by cpu6502 ( 1960974 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @10:19AM (#40736833)

        Notice he said "SKUs". The SKU number is always added to computers a few months before the actual item arrives at the store, so they have time to (1) set a price and (2) order it for their inventory.

        Just to pick a random example: My store used to start ordering summer bikinis in October/November, and they arrived in December. Which is why there's always a post-christmas clearance; to make room in the stockroom for all these bikinis and other summer goods.

        • Okay that explains why I'm out of luck if I lose that hat that's kept me warm all winter in February.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by alen ( 225700 )

      or that amazon told them to leak the story so that people won't buy the nexus tablets

      at the same price i'll buy the kindle over the nexus any day. just for the amazon prime benefits

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by h4rr4r ( 612664 )

        The fact that I don't get those prime benefits on other tablets makes me want to cancel prime not buy a kindle.

        If the kindle shipped with stock android and actually got updated I might consider it.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by alen ( 225700 )

          so you're going to give up "free" books and streaming media just for this google experience nonsense?

          can the kindle get gmail? - Yes
          can it do google reader? - yes. use Feedly which is a better interface than the google idiotic interface for reader. or use flipboard which is awesome by itself
          can it do music? - Yes

          as for the cartoony live wall paper and the customization most people don't care.

          • Re:Snubbed (Score:5, Interesting)

            by P-niiice ( 1703362 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @09:55AM (#40736539)
            Your limited on what you can do with the tablet. This is fine if you're really, really into Amazon and don't get movies from varied sources, for example. As an Android tablet, it's severely crippled.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by _KiTA_ ( 241027 )

              Your limited on what you can do with the tablet. This is fine if you're really, really into Amazon and don't get movies from varied sources, for example. As an Android tablet, it's severely crippled.

              Point of order: The current Fire is "severely crippled." We have no idea if the Fire 2 ("Blaze" or "Ember" or whatnot) will be as crippled.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by jeti ( 105266 )

              True. And it's almost useless outside the US.

              Unless you choose to root the device and install a third party ROM. The Jelly Bean (Android 4.1.1) releases are shaping up nicely:
              http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1765288 [xda-developers.com]
              http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1766829 [xda-developers.com]

              • I'm running CM7 on mine.

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by corvax ( 941506 )
                WOW wonder if they are going to lock the boot loader etc to stop this? if everyone buys a kindle (based on gingerbred 2.3) and installs the snappier vanilla jelly bean based roms. Now not only will they have a tablet that will get updated but they will be able to use google play/market and not have to buy from amazon. Im sure atleast on the lower in they take a near loss on every tablet but if you as a customer arent buying from their market they will be in the hole. :O Talk about sticking it to the man! l
            • He might not have a limited for his tablet.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Andy Dodd ( 701 )

              The ONLY thing that is available on the Kindle Fire but not on a standard Android tablet is streaming to the tablet.

              That limitation prevented me from signing up for Prime for many months after my "Kindle Fire free month" ran out. I eventually resubbed for one year for the shipping benefits and PS3 streaming... However while my Fire made a great hacktoy, I can't think of anything Amazon could offer in this generation that would make me choose any of their new products over a Nexus 7.

              • Not true. One example is there are some serious go-to video players that I could not install from the Amazon Market - and when i installed them from other sources, they did not handle movie playback as well as my phone. After wiping and flashing CM7 and getting the Android market back, it plays everything fine. That's one example, there were others.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by h4rr4r ( 612664 )

            I don't get those now, because Amazon decided not to put those features into the normal apks. I will not buy their device just to not get screwed on my prime subscription.

            I don't want live wallpapers I want google maps, voice, talk, skype, in general all the apps I can find in the google market.

            I do want updates, not to be stuck on 2.2.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by alen ( 225700 )

              in 2011 for $199 it was an awesome deal

              i bet they add all these features for the new one. unless they are having patent issues with MS which means no skype

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by corvax ( 941506 )
            Im pretty sure the fire only comes with 30 days free and then you have to pay the $78 dollars a year like everyone else

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by corvax ( 941506 )
            im pretty sure prime is only free for 30 days on the fire and then you pay the same seventy eight dollars every one else pays

      • Can't you get all the Amazon apps on a normal Android device?

        Where as the Kindle Fire doesn't have access to all Android apps and music/video from Google Play, Nook, etc. As far as I know, Nook is the only major e-book app that allows side-loading my own e-book collection, which I enjoy.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by alen ( 225700 )

          do i really want all the apps? no

          when i got my ipad 2 i ended up using it mostly as an ereader until my wife stole for the baby education apps to teach my almost 2 year old

          if i'm going to buy something new ereader is going to be my #1 feature and that goes to kindle. same with amazon streaming, kindle fire is the only tablet that does it now. i might get netflix again but now i have amazon

          for the apps i just care about the most popular ones like flipboard and a few others. same on my iphone, i use the most

          • Re:Snubbed (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Dishevel ( 1105119 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @10:15AM (#40736771)

            if i'm going to buy something new ereader is going to be my #1 feature and that goes to kindle.

            If that is the #1 feature. Should you not be looking at the regular Kindle or the Nook? You know something with a incredibly readable E-Ink screen.
            Or are you willing to throw your "Number One Feature" feature out the door for "Color".
            If that is the case then I believe that "Color" is your number one feature.
            You can thank me later.

            • If that is the #1 feature. Should you not be looking at the regular Kindle or the Nook? You know something with a incredibly readable E-Ink screen.

              You answered pretty much what I was going to say.

              I love my nook color tablet that I installed Android on...as a tablet for surfing, email...watching videos on plane trips.

              But for long, sustained reading for pleasure...I have the Kindle DX. The e-ink is THE way to go IMHO, for pleasure reading.

              My eyesight is getting pretty bad last years...and honestly, I'd pr

        • Is it official, no, but I have Google Play on my Kindle Fire, and I manage all of my ebooks from various sources with Calibre without issue. The Fire is a nice tablet once you (fairly easily) break down the walls.

        • The main thing you can't get is the video app and with Amazon Prime supposedly you get a lot of free movies through it. I guess that's enough to swing some people.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Blue23 ( 197186 )

          As far as I know, Nook is the only major e-book app that allows side-loading my own e-book collection, which I enjoy.

          I've got no problems side-loading e-books to the Kindle Fire. There is a trick to it though. It's easy as pie to side-load them, but if you stick them in your Docs directory and want them to show up as books, you need to turn your Fire off and back on once, not just hibernate it. (To turn off, hold down power for 5 or 10 seconds).

  • 6 new Kindle tablets (Score:4, Insightful)

    by GameboyRMH ( 1153867 ) <gameboyrmh@@@gmail...com> on Monday July 23, 2012 @09:33AM (#40736275) Journal

    1 geek news site
    0 fucks given

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's Amazon's fault for not giving their tablets techy names like "Guns", "Climate", "Terrorism", "Elections", "Distracted Driving", and "Islam".

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Dog-Cow ( 21281 )

      I think that's redundant. If it's a geek site, of course there's no fucking going on.

  • "Outs Six New Kindle Fire Tablets". Where they gay? How about "Staples executives leak six new..."

  • Someone does not know what a SKU is (Score:5, Informative)

    by h4rr4r ( 612664 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @09:43AM (#40736373)

    6 SKUs could easily be only one or two products.
    The Nook 7 has two SKUs, we don't call them difference devices.

    • Luckily they are only a journalist for a major financial news publication, so competence isn't really too important...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Sir_Sri ( 199544 )

      Right. A couple of sizes, a couple of capacities, a couple of colours or a 'deluxe' edition with per-bundled goodies or a cross promotion with a pre -installed set of software and you can easily hit half a dozen SKU's.

      If I were to guess, it's two sizes, then with/without 3g and then a version with extra memory and 3g or something similar.

      • My guess would be two sizes, three colours. Too much choice tends to be counterproductive. A range of colours isn't so much of a problem since most people know which they prefer and there aren't any disadvantages.

  • Snuff the Fire, what about eInk? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23, 2012 @09:57AM (#40736571)

    All these posts about the July release have been Kindle Fire this and Kindle Fire that, but is everyone forgetting about the REAL Kindle? You know, the one that actually has a good eInk screen? There's bound to be at least one model with a frontlit screen (like the Nook), but what I really want is a non-touchscreen one. I doubt it will happen because they think people only want the button version because it's the cheapest, but the perfect model to me would be one in the same form factor as the current K4 with buttons, WITH 3G (so annoying to not have it after being used to the Kindle 2 and Kindle 3), and with the frontlight

  • Non-vendor-locked tablets are better deals (Score:5, Insightful)

    by walterbyrd ( 182728 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @10:15AM (#40736765)

    When the Kindle Fire first came out, it was a decent tablet, for the price - even if it was crippled, and you were vendor-locked by Amazon.

    Today, with great tablets, like the Nexus 7, so inexpense, why bother with proprietary, crippled, vendor-locked devices?

    • Because soon, all available content will be locked to these vendor-locked devices.

    • Today, with great tablets, like the Nexus 7, so inexpense, why bother with proprietary, crippled, vendor-locked devices?

      For a many of the people who shop Amazon.com, the Kindle fits comfortably into place --- it meets their needs ---- and they don't give a damn about the geek.

      • Heck, I learned that tactic from my grandmother, who probably learned it from her grandmother, who probably learned it from hers. Is it more accurate to say that only geeks remember those hard earned lesssons about shopping that have been passed down? Seriously??

        A vendor supplied hardware device that is tied to a single storefront is silly on its face. The fact that there are enough gullible people out there to buy them to continue to make it a viable business model is what is truly mind-boggling.

      • Today, with great tablets, like the Nexus 7, so inexpense, why bother with proprietary, crippled, vendor-locked devices?

        For a many of the people who shop Amazon.com, the Kindle fits comfortably into place --- it meets their needs ---- and they don't give a damn about the geek.

        If it meets their needs, well and good. However, a Nexus 7 would also meet the same needs, and offer a great deal more should they ever want it. They would have to take the extra step of downloading the Kindle app from the Play Store.

  • Well, that's just about the only thing he could do that would ever make people remotely consider Staples as their tablet dealer. I didn't even know they had them, lol.

    • Staple's has a huge selection of Android tablets on display and one lone Windows tablet (Acer W500) that looks especially clunky sitting next to all the skinny little Android units.

  • SKUs not the same as products (Score:4, Informative)

    by SpleenVenter ( 976034 ) on Monday July 23, 2012 @11:18AM (#40737529)
    A separate SKU (stock-keeping unit, a fancy term for "part number") will exist for each sellable configuration of a product. Saying that there will be "five or six" SKUs could easily mean only two separate models, say a 7" and 10" with three memory configurations each.

  • It has taken me until now to figure out this isn't about a fire sale.

  • Kindle Fire outside the USA: fun while it lasts [johnbokma.com]

    It's a nice device, don't get me wrong, but even if I could have warranty outside of the USA I am not interested anymore. I live in Xalapa, and there's an Apple shop "around the corner" from where I live. Beats shipping and waiting weeks if not months for repairs.

    • This isn't really unique to Amazon so it's hard to fault them for it. You can spend thousands upon thousands of USD on a brand new camera abroad and it won't be warranted outside of whatever zone you purchased it in.

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