Where does Kindle Fire stand against the Apple iPad 2

With Apple iPads, Samsung Galaxies, Toshiba Thrives and Blackberry Playbooks ruling the roost of tablet market, when we actually think about one, Amazon's Kindle Fire certainly doesn't come to our mind at first. As a matter of fact when we briefly appraise the basic specs of an iPad 2 and Kindle Fire, the differences are quite glaring. Whereas an iPad 2 exhibits a 9.7 inch screen with 16 GB of internal memory, the Kindle Fire has a 7 inch screen with 8 GB of memory.

Kindle Fire

So, why this hullabaloo over Amazon's latest offering to the tablet domain? Well! the reason might be more simple in allusion to the overall state of our recessive economy. While an iPad 2 comes at a cost of $499 (to $799 depending upon higher specs), a Kindle Fire comes with a paltry price tag of just $199.

Moving beyond this societal appeal of owning a tablet at a much lower price, we here at GizmoWatch have decided to make a more critical assessment of Kindle Fire's intrinsic qualities as opposed to its more renowned competitor. Will it really exude the potential to be an Apple killer, or will it be forever be relegated to the shelves of mediocrity? So, without further ado let us check out where does Kindle Fire actually stand against the Apple iPad 2.

1. It runs flash

It Runs Flash

As simple as that; the Kindle Fire will incorporate something that has eluded Apple for a very long time, and the name of the feature is Adobe's Flash. Despite a demand from a legion of fans, Steve Jobs once actually dismissed the renowned multimedia platform as having no future. Moreover, even Microsoft has indicated that they will not include the feature in their upcoming Windows 8 tablets. So, the Flash with its unique degree of animation and interactivity can actually tilt the scale towards Amazon's Kindle Fire.

2. It costs less

It Costs Less

We have already touched upon this significant attribute. The most basic model of iPad 2 without any 3G support comes with a price tag of $499. The Kindle Fire also without any 3G supports (only WiFi connectivity) will cost you around $199, which is a whopping three-fifth less than that of iPad 2. Now, with the state of our economy and related financial situation, will iPad 2 really stand out from its lesser known cousin by virtue of its aesthetics and acclaim?

3. It fits in your hand

It Fits In Your Hand

Of course a 7 inch tablet will certainly fit better in your hand that a 10 inch solid square. As a matter of fact, the Kindle Fire actually takes up the style of Blackberry's Playbook in its sleek bearing and overall screen dimensions. Now, tablets in our book were never meant to be handled as smartphones by a single hand. But then again if it could be handled (as shown by the Kindle Fire) by one hand; that would certainly accentuate upon the overall portability factor of the device. And from a consumer's viewpoint this is clearly an advantage.

4. It weighs less

It Weighs Less

According to official measurements, an iPad 2 weighs in around 20.8 ounces, which is actually lighter than its predecessor (the iPad) by 3 ounces. In comparison the Kindle Fire weights only in around 14.6 ounces, thus improving upon its overall level of compactness and mobility. But then again it should be duly noted that the Samsung Galaxy Tab (with 7 inch screen size) weighs even lesser than Kindle Fire.

5. It loads webpages faster

It Loads Webpages Faster

We are making this assumption primarily based around the touted features of Amazon's all new Silk web browser. As a matter of fact, it is already claimed to be the fastest mobile based web browser because of the intrinsic 'dynamic split browsing' capability. In simpler terms this work load shifting means that the browser will actually split up the processing magnitude when a large web page is being loaded. The lighter components like the text will be supported by the tablet specs, while the heavier stuff like HTML, CSS and Javascript will be handled by Amazon's very own EC2 cloud servers. Of course the cache memory will also work in case of the cloud service to pre-load certain earlier visited sites.

6. It has both wireless mirroring and native streaming media

Wireless Mirroring And Native Streaming Media

Just like Apple's iOS 5 will have the ability of wireless mirroring, so will the Kindle Fire. This fascinating capability to project the content of your tablet screen onto a larger monitor without the requirement of wires is a very big step in tablet interactiveness. Moreover, the Kindle Fire will have the added benefit of Amazon Prime (in relation to its streaming library), which is basically a quick shipping opportunity with bonuses facilitated by a membership fees.