Areas where Amazon Kindle 2 will challenge the Apple iPad 2

After a series successful of Kindle e-readers, and as the rumors are doing rounds, Amazon is all set to release an Apple iPad rival this fall. The Amazon tablet will reportedly have a 9-inch display to compete with iPad’s famous 9.7-inch display. But surprisingly, Amazon plans not to mount a camera on its speculated Android-powered iPad killer. The Kindle maker will outsource third-party firms both to design and manufacture the tablet.Can a full-fledged multicolor tablet from Amazon pose threats to iPad? Surely the question won’t produce a spontaneous reply from you. But surely, Amazon, the king of e-books will certainly do wonders with the Kindle 2. The Amazon tablet may lag behind the iPad, but the successor to the famous kindly will certainly rock the market, which could play on the Apple's almost 90% tablet market share/

Amazon tablet vs apple iPad 2

In fact, Amazon Kindle, being an exclusive e-reader, has so many advantages over Apple iPad and other tablets. The first generation of Amazon Kindle hit the stores three years before the arrival of the first iPad. Here we compare two latest products from the companies - Amazon Kindle 2 and Apple iPad 2 - to check which does better in several key aspects and features of an e-reader.

Comparison attribute

1. Dimension and weight

Apple iPad 2 has a 9.50-inch height, 7.31-inch width and 0.34-inch depth. The Wi-Fi model weighs at 1.33 pounds (601 g) and the Wi-Fi +3G weighs 1.35 pounds (613 g). Meanwhile, Amazon Kindle 2 offers a dimension of 7.5” x 4.8” x 0.335” with a weight of only 0.54 pounds (240 g).

Winner: Undoubtedly, with more than two times less weight than iPad 2, Kindle 2 is the winner. The e-reader also has a better dimension than the iPad tablet.

Display

As everyone knows, Apple iPad 2 has a 9.7-inch LED multitouch display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels at 132 pixels per inch (ppi). Amazon Kindle 2 has only a 6-inch diagonal display with a resolution of 600 x 800 pixels at 167ppi. But the difference is that Kindle’s display is an E-ink electronic paper that means your eyes won’t tire out reading the contents. But incessant reading on iPad’s sharp and crisp display will exhaust your eyes.

Winner: Apple iPad 2 may have a larger and multicolor display. But it can never beat an E-ink display of the Amazon Tablet, specially designed for e-reading and lesser battery consumption.

Data Transfers and charging

Apple iPad famously lacks a USB port in place of its award-winning iTunes file management tool. But when a comparison with Amazon Kindle 2 is made, lack of USB port can be seen as a major shortcoming of iPad. Apart from data sharing facility, USB port is used for battery charging on Kindle when connected with a PC.

Winner: Amazon Kindle enjoys the edge here.

Battery backup

Apple iPad 2 features a built-in 25-whr lithium-polymer rechargeable battery that will offer 10 hours of backup. Meanwhile, Kindle provides a backup of three weeks when Wi-Fi is on, and two months when Wi-Fi is off. Via its USB adapter, Kindle only needs four hours for full recharge.

Winner: Long battery life grants an edge for Amazon Kindle 2 over iPad 2.

Wireless communication

Apple iPad 2 has two models based on wireless connection - a Wi-Fi only and a Wi-Fi 3G combo. Though Apple has rolled out unlocked iPads, they won’t work on 3G services of T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel. Amazon Kindle 2 is up with a HSDPA modem. In addition, e-reader has an option of fallback on EDGE/GPRS. In the US, Amazon Kindle has tied up with AT&T’s 3G network. Amazingly, Kindle offers 3G Wi-Fi connection for free in the US.

Winner: Apple iPad 2 may have wider wireless communication options. But thanks to its free Wi-Fi access in the US and compatibility with AT&T 3G, we have again judged Kindle as the winner here.

OS

Apple iPad 2 plays on iOS 4. Amazon Kindle 2 has the featured Linux-2.6.10 instead.

Winner: Linux open-source operating systems are gaining traction over closed software products like iOS and Windows in the new world. Hence Kindle 2 has an upper hand over iPad 2.

The verdict

In all the above criteria we used for testing, certainly Amazon Kindle 2 has won over Apple iPad 2. It is because the former device is a complete e-reader and the latter is an exclusive tablet PC. It should be remembered that Apple has designed its tablet for multi-purposes. It has many outstanding features when multimedia, music and video aspects are taken into account. But with Amazon’s new plan to compete with iPad’s tablet features too, we have just analyzed the performance of its Kindle 2 e-reader alongside the e-reading features of an iPad. Indeed, if Amazon develops its iPad killer keeping with the Kindle’s features, we have better reasons to think that Amazon tablet will be a threat to iPad.