Google Releasing a Tablet to Compete With Amazon Kindle Fire
Google is planning to release a tablet specifically geared toward competing with the wildly popular Amazon Kindle Fire, according to tech site DigiTimes.
The site’s sources who are close to Google’s upsteam supply chain believe that this new tablet could be positioned to challenge Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire and is expected to be launched by the tech giant in the spring. Its price is rumored to be around $299.
This news comes only weeks after Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt told and Italian newspaper that the company plans to create and market a tablet that will be more on the high end focused towards competing with Apple’s iPad. Google has yet to clarify these comments, but it could be possible that they are aiming at both segments of the market with two different models.
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However, DigiTimes is not always the most reliable source, according to CNet who said that this news should be taken with a grain of salt.
Back in December, the blog reported that Apple was planning to launch a 7.85-inch tablet in the fourth quarter of 2012 to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Then just last week, it reported that Apple would unveil two 9.7-inch versions.
The iPad 3 is expected to launch sometime later this year. DigiTimes also reported that there is the possibility of Apple dropping the price of the iPad 2 once the new version is released in order to compete with the lower end tablet models in the market such as the Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble Nook.
The small tablet segment of the market seems to be growing with consumers looking to obtain a device such as an iPad, but for nearly half the price. The Kindle Fire retails at $199 and saw a successful holiday shopping season in 2011 in terms of sales.
