Size and weight

Both the Apple iPad mini and Amazon Kindle Fire HD fall into the 7in tablet category. Apple’s reduced form factor offering has nearly an inch more screen real estate, measuring 7.9in, while the the Fire HD falls more stiffly in line with its segment, sizing up at exactly 7in. The iPad mini’s classic minimalist design is typical of its iconic manufacturer: measuring just 7.2mm in depth and weighing just 308g, it’s the kind of super-svelte product we expect from Jony Ive and his team. The more utilitarian Fire HD is a fair bit chunkier, with a girth of 10.3mm and a weight of 395g – extra heft that could prove a bit taxing if you’re planning long reading sessions.

Display

Apple’s iPad mini has been roundly hailed as an instant classic since its October 2012 launch, though its display has attracted some muted criticism. Fanboys clearly hoped the device would feature the Cupertino-based firm’s famed Retina standard - an iPad mini with Retina is rumoured for later this year – but it falls short of this expectation with a resolution of ‘only’ 1,024 x 768 pixels at 163ppi. The Kindle Fire HD’s smaller screen packs superior specifications: its 1,280 x 800 pixel resolution features a density of 216ppi. Both displays are built on IPS LCD technology.

Storage and memory

Apple’s iPad mini features a full range of options for content hoarders: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models are available. The Kindle Fire HD comes in 16GB and 32GB iterations. Neither device features a memory card slot, so media-first consumers are advised to consider their on-board storage needs wisely and purchase accordingly, though price obviously becomes an issue with the more capacious Apple products. With regards to memory, teardowns of the iPad mini have put its RAM at just 512MB. Although that’s not not much memory compared to most Android tablets, our iPad mini review notes that it “never feels slow or underpowered.” The Kindle Fire HD packs a more standard 1GB of RAM that should confidently handle most tasks.

Processor and battery

Apple’s A5 chipset, as used in the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, features a dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU with an estimated clock speed of 1.5GHz, complemented by a PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. The Kindle Fire HD sports a TI OMAP 4460 SoC under the hood, also based around a dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, though with a lower clock speed of 1.2GHz. The Power VR SGX540 GPU used in the Fire HD is outdated to say the least – it’s found on ancient smartphones like 2010′s Samsung Galaxy S and 2011′s Galaxy Nexus. Actual performance obviously can’t be measured by specifacation alone, but on paper this is a clear win for the iPad mini – even though its processor is nearly two years old itself. With regards to battery life, there’s little to choose between the two: both devices are thought to pack 4,440 mAh batteries, with run time of up to 10 hours and 11 hours for the iPad and Kindle respectively.

Software

Apple’s latest mobile platform, iOS 6, seems to have found its feet after a disasterous debut headlined by the Apple Maps debacle. The new OS is every bit the slick, user friendly experience people have come to expect, and one of the benefits of Apple’s fiercely proprietary ecosystem is that updates come instantly. The Kindle Fire HD is a very different proposition, running a heavily modified version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It’s unrecognisable from stock ICS and features a bevy of potential annoyances: unless you buy your way out of it, advertising is fed to you at a number of turns, including the lock screen. You’re tied to the Amazon ecosystem, too, so there’s no Play store access, and the hugely customised nature of the Fire HD’s OS means that updates are going to be scarce, if they exist at all. Android fans are certainly going to find plenty to take issue with on the Kindle Fire HD and should probably stick with the Nexus 7, but even non-nerds are likely to find iOS 6 a more pleasant overall experience.

Camera

The Kindle Fire HD provides a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera capable of 720p video. Apple’s iPad mini ups the ante considerably, packing in a 5-megapixel rear camera in addition its 1.2-megapixel front snapper. The rear camera can shoot Full HD (1080p) video, and while a device nigh on 8in isn’t the most appropriate photography device in our opinion, users who see the additional capabilities as important will probably lean towards the Cupertino firm’s offering.

Connectivity and wireless

If it’s cellular connectivity you’re after, the iPad mini is the only way to go: not only will Apple’s mini-tablet link you up with 3G networks, but you’ll also be able to enjoy high-speed 4G LTE if you sign up with EE - £15.99 a month on a rolling contract with 5GB data allowance. The Kindle Fire HD is tied to Wi-Fi for the time being, but comes up trumps with regards to input/output offerings, sporting a micro-USB port and an HDMI socket. Apple favours its proprietary Lightning port over the former and lacks the latter entirely. Extras like NFC, which are increasingly common on smartphones, aren’t really as relevant on tablets and both devices lack the technology.

Price and opinion

There’s little question that the iPad mini is a superior product compared to the Kindle Fire HD, featuring a nippier processor, two cameras, better software, and 4G LTE compatibility. Given it’s an Apple product, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that these features – especially 4G – come at a premium. For £269, you’ll get a basic Wi-Fi-only iPad mini with 16GB of onboard storage, with a £100 jump to £369 if you want cellular connectivity as well. A fuller package featuring 32GB of onboard storage and the option of 3G and 4G clocks in at the considerably dearer sum of £449, while the full monty – 64GB and cellular –  will run you £529. It’s definitely tagged well ahead of the competition and only Apple could get away with this kind of borderline charlatan approach to pricing. Ethics aside, it’s still probably worth it.

The Kindle Fire HD, on the other hand, falls in line with the Android competition at a budget-friendly £159 and £199 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. It’s not without its merits – its sharp display is a particular strength, and an HDMI port is hugely desirable – but for us it’s difficult to look past the deficiencies in the software department. Frankly, we just wouldn’t pay be tied to ICS forever, have no Play Store access, and be held to ransom by advertisements. Critics who claim the Kindle Fire HD is little more than an Amazon store you can physically hold are being unkind – but they’re not far wrong, either. As far as Android tablets go, the Google Nexus 7 is still top dog.

	Apple iPad mini	Amazon Kindle Fire HD
Display
Screen size	7.9in	7in
Resolution	1,024 x 768 pixels	1,280 x 800 pixels
Pixel density	163ppi	216ppi
Type	IPS LCD	IPS LCD
Processor and battery
Family	Apple A5	TI OMAP 4460
CPU	ARM Cortex-A9	ARM Cortex-A9
Cores	Dual-core	Dual-core
Clock speed	1.5GHz	1.2GHz
GPU	PowerVR SGX543MP2	PowerVR SGX540
Battery	4,400 mAh	4,400 mAh
Claimed life	Up to 10h	Up to 11h
Storage and memory
RAM	512MB	1GB
Internal storage	16GB / 32GB / 64GB	16GB / 32GB
Card slot	No	No
Camera
Rear	5-megapixel	No
Front	1.2-megapixel	1.3-megapixel
Video	1080p	720p
Wireless
Cellular	4G LTE	No
Wi-Fi	802.11 a / b / g / n	802.11 a / b / g / n
NFC	No	No
Bluetooth	v4.0	v3.0
Connectivity
Charging	Lightning port	MicroUSB
HDMI	No	Yes
Dimensions
Size	200 x 134.7 x 7.2mm	193 x 137 x 10.3mm
Weight	308g / 312g	395g
Operating System	iOS 6	Android 4.0
Price	Wi-Fi / Wi-Fi + Cellular 16GB: £269 / £369 32GB: £349 / £449 64GB: £429 / £529	16GB: £159 32GB: £199

by James Laird,

According to the Amazon website, the Kindle Touch is listed  as “currently unavailable”, prompting rumours that the edition is being  discontinued in favour of the more recent product. The Amazon Kindle Touch was released in the UK  earlier this year on 27 April and has retailed between £109 and £169.

The new Kindle Paperwhite is due to be released on 25 October  alongside the Kindle Fire HD. The Paperwhite is considered an upgrade on  the original Kindle, boasting 62 per cent more pixels and 25 per cent “better  contrast” compared to the original, apparently for crisper text and images with  no glare. It is priced in the same range as the Kindle Touch.

The Amazon Kindle Fire HD is considered a low-cost alternative to Apple’s iPad  because you can watch videos and browse the Internet as well as using it as an  eBook reader. It will retail starting at £159 for a 16GB version, with a non-HD  model available for £129.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has admitted to selling Kindle products at cost  price, hoping to make profits on the sales of eBooks bought for the device. This  may be the reason it has discontinued the Kindle Touch in favour of offering a  limited range that only includes the latest products – Amazon is also widely thought to have dumped the supersized 9.7in  Kindle DX recently.

by Monira Matin,                            23 October, 2012

In the latest developments, Amazon came up with the clarification that the next generation 3G Kindle, the Kindle Touch 3G, will browse Internet only through Wi-Fi connection. Amazon made this declaration over the weekend.

By using 3G the users of this tablet can sync books and documents purchased but, anything outside Wikipedia can only be accessed through Wi-Fi connectivity.

Browsing Internet using Kindle was always on experimental basis on the Kindle, which, eventually, can be assumed to have failed as far as Amazon is concerned and because of this the Internet access of the Kindle Touch 3G has been restricted.

The official statement from Amazon reads “We apologize for the confusion. Our new Kindle Touch 3G enables you to connect to the Kindle Store, download books and periodicals, and access Wikipedia–all over 3G or Wi-Fi. Experimental Web browsing (outside of Wikipedia) on Kindle Touch 3G is only available over Wi-Fi.”

Available at the starting cost of $149, Amazon is offering subsidies in the 3G usage to its customers. The ‘Free 3G’ offer from Amazon doesn’t look that great after all because of these restrictions.

Source: Ravi Mandalia

Even before its official release the Kindle Fire tablet has been declared a hit. This tablet computer from Seattle based company Amazon.com is already selling 2,000 tablets per hour or more than 50,000 tablets per day on pre-order basis.

These figures have been reported by website Cult of Android which is claiming that it has “internal Amazon inventory documents”.

If the reports are to be believed then even before its official release on November 15th Amazon would have sold 2.5 million Kindle Fire tablets. This will definitely outnumber the first month sale of iPad or iPad 2 as predicted by the website.

The credit for this success goes to the fact that the latest tablet from Amazon is available just for $199. At such a low rate, it seems customers are ready to overlook the few flaws that the Kindle Fire has as compared to the iPad, for example lack of 3G broadband and front facing camera.

Kindle Fire tablet boasts of new features like full colour display, multimedia capabilities, and the clever, cloud accelerated Silk browser.  At just $199 Amazon’s Kindle Fire will be the cheapest available touch screen tablet in the market.