Amazon

Display shootout pits iPad mini vs the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7

Cody Lee ∙ November 5, 2012

Despite the success Apple is seeing with its iPad mini, the company has received a lot of criticism over the new tablet. Folks are particularly unhappy with its $329 price tag, which is at least $100 more than the competition, and its lack of a Retina display.

The mini's 1024 x 768 is also worse than its competitors, and has been the number one complaint in early reviews. But is it really that much worse than those found on the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7? DisplayMate thinks it has the answer...

IDC: Android gained tablet market share in Q3, while Apple slowed

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

In the race to win the tablet market, all it takes to gain an edge is for the leader to take its foot off the accelerator. Enough potential iPad buyers "sat out" the third-quarter waiting to learn more about the iPad mini, that the brief pause cut into Apple's lead, allowing Android tablet companies to gain share.

According to data by market research firm IDC, Apple's leadership in the third quarter - ahead of the iPad mini's release - shrank to 50.4 percent, down from 59.7 percent a year ago. By contrast, Samsung lead a pack of Android rivals with a triple-digit growth...

Amazon releases its first (and free) mobile game

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Dxy-gOQUE

This above is a trailer for Air Patriots from the recently launched Amazon Game Studios, the online retailer's first foray into the mobile gaming space. The game is available on Kindle, iOS and Android devices via Google's Play Store, Amazon's own Appstore and Apple's App Store (aren't you getting tired of so many unimaginative monikers already?).

The iOS version is provided free of charge as a 83MB universal binary download with native support for all iOS form factors and Retina graphics. Though the Play Store page originally suggested that Air Patriots couldn't run on the Nexus 7 tablet, Google said it was a "minor hiccup" and has updated the entry...

Amazon pulls anti-iPad mini ad from its web site

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Wow, that was fast. The iPad mini hasn't landed on store shelves yet and already Amazon has removed a comparison ad on its home page which painted the device in unfavorable light to its own Kindle Fire HD tablet. I guess they didn't like mostly raving reviews that describe the device as being beautifully constructed, fast, fluid and hard to resist - price be damned. Or perhaps alarms were raised at Amazon when another report suggested that Apple's marketing boss clarified that the iPad mini does have stereo speakers where in Amazon's ad claimed it didn't? What goes around comes around, Amazon...

Phil Schiller reportedly confirms the iPad mini has stereo speakers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

In a classic marketing 101 move, online retailer Amazon last week highlighted the iPad mini's perceived flaws in a huge Kindle Fire HD ad on its web site. The move came after Amazon uncharacteristically compared the iPad mini to its tablet in an earnings release announcing its first loss in nine years. Advertising against the iPad mini, Amazon listed Apple's device as having a mono speaker versus dual stereo speakers on its tablet. Some people likely bought this as Apple's own web page makes no mention of stereo speakers and the Tech Specs page only confirms "built-in speaker".

Always quick to right the wrongs, Apple's head honcho of worldwide marketing allegedly confirmed in an email exchange with a fan that the smaller iPad does have built-in stereo speakers. We expect Amazon to update its homepage ad shortly...

Apple’s green ranking drops to 118 in US

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Despite recently obtaining a green apple logo, the iPhone maker's ranking when it comes to green issues took a beating. The consumer tech giant ranks 118 among U.S. companies, a 68-point drop from a year ago. According to one report, Apple failing to answer a survey on greenhouse gas emissions from its American facilities via the Carbon Disclosure Project in both 2012 and 2011 was the chief reason for the poor showing...

Amazon takes on the iPad mini in homepage ad

Cody Lee ∙ October 29, 2012

With the release of the 7.9-inch iPad mini this week, Apple will essentially be entering Amazon's home turf. You could argue that Apple still dominates the overall tablet market. But with two years of Kindle Fire sales under its belt, Amazon owns the 7-8-inch tablet space.

And as you may have guessed, it's not prepared to concede any of that space to Apple without a fight. Over the weekend, people started noticing that Amazon had placed a comparison chart between the iPad mini and its Kindle Fire HD, front and center on its homepage...

Amazon reports first loss in nine years, cites iPad mini in release

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

The people with the smile on the box had no reason to smile when their company, the online retail giant Amazon, yesterday posted third-quarter results today, reporting its first loss in nine years. Even as revenue increased by 27 percent annually, Amazon lost $274 million during the third quarter on net sales of $13.8 billion, up from $10.9 billion a year earlier.

In the year-ago quarter, Amazon reported a net profit of $63 million. Total operating expenses increased from $10.8 billion to $13.8 billion. Amazon attributed the loss to its investment in online deal site LivingSocial.

It's also understandable that a low-margin, high-volume nature of Amazon's content and books businesses affects earnings. The company is also vulnerable to exchange rates, online shopping growth and fluctuations in consumer spending. And in announcing its first-ever loss, Amazon even took jabs at Apple's iPad in - wait for it - the official press release...

Amazon updates Kindle iOS app with X-Ray for Textbooks

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 24, 2012

Amazon refreshed its Kindle lineup last month ahead of Apple's September 12 iPhone 5 announcement. One of the easily overlooked software features the online retailer also brought out: X-Ray for Books, Textbooks and Movies. In a nutshell, the X-Ray feature intelligently retrieves additional information when you tap an on-screen object, like a movie character, book passages, glossary and what not, also pulling related data from Wikipedia and YouTube to enhance your e-reading experience.

Likewise, X-Ray for Movies lets you learn more about the movie's cast and characters by just tapping the screen, which produces relevant content by cinema site IMDb. In today's update to its free Kindle app, Amazon is bringing X-Ray for Textbooks to iPhones, iPads and iPods...

IHS iSuppli predicts off the sales for the iPad mini in 2013

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated June 13, 2018

Just as Apple revived a dormant tablet industry, the iPad maker is expected to double the market for seven-inch tablets. Thanks to its incoming smaller iPad, demand for tablets in the seven-inch range will grow to a third of the overall market by 2013, a market research firm announced Tuesday.

"Just as Apple has dominated the market for 9.7-inch tablets with its iPad, iPad 2 and new iPad models, the company is poised to rule the market for 7.x-inch products", said Rhoda Alexander, director of tablet and monitor research for IHS iSuppli. Indeed, the market for such tablets will increase 100 percent this year and next, according to the research firm...

Analyst thinks the iPad mini will be the priciest seven-incher

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 22, 2012

Is Apple's upcoming iPad mini aimed at consumers looking for an inexpensive tablet or folks seeking an Apple tablet that can be popped into a jacket pocket?

That's the real question facing observers as the Cupertino, California company prepares to introduce its 7.8-inch product tomorrow. The answer, of course, will tell us just who Apple thinks its rivals are in this space...

Apple poaches a prominent Amazon search technologist to improve on Siri

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

According to a new report by AllThingsD, Apple has nabbed an Amazon search specialist William Stasior, who also held a senior position at AltaVista and Oracle. Stasior has reportedly landed the top job: Apple basically has charged him with running its Siri unit.

In hiring a new tutor for its underachieving digital secretary, Apple has indicated intentions to double down on enhancing Siri's skill set, per Tim Cook's promise a few months ago.

It also might signal a broader search agenda down the road that might give birth to an Apple-branded, more natural version of the traditional web search.

At any rate, the iPhone maker is interested in expanding Siri's scope, which in its current incarnation focuses on voice-activated artificial intelligence, leaving search queries to specialized search engines and data bases such as Wolfram Alpha.

This could change down the road, however, especially as Apple continues to lessen its reliance on Google technology for some software features of the iPhone...