Amazon Kindle Fire is quick to note 'lighter than air' - Washington Post

Well, that was quick. Just a day after Apple Announced its newest full-sized tablet, the iPad Air, Amazon rolled out a new banner ad on its home page proclaiming the Kindle Fire HDX is “lighter than air.”

And it is true – both of the latest models of the Kindle Fire are lighter than Apple Their competitors: The larger model of the Kindle Fire HDX weighs 0.82 pounds to the iPad Air’s weight or 1 pound. And the narrower Fire is 0.66 pounds to the new iPad Mini with Retina display’s 0.73 pounds.

But it’s worth noting usefull That it’s not a straight comparison.

For one, the screens on both Kindle Fire HDX models are narrower than On Their corresponding thing iPads. The larger Kindle Fire HDX is 8.9 inches to the iPad’s 9.7 Air, Which Retains the screen size of the standard iPad. The smaller Kindle Fire is 7 inches to the iPad mini’s 7.9 inches.

The construction of the two devices is different usefull. The iPads are made with aluminum bodies to preserve Apple’s premium design philosophy, while the Kindle Fire HDX models show Amazon’s low-price philosophy with plastic bodies. Amazon has improved the feel of its tablets with this latest model. But it’s still pretty clear That its design has a different goal: to be made inexpensively to keep prices low

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Still, the quick turnaround on the ad – and the factthat it calls the iPad Air out by name – That shows it’s going to be A particularly fierce holiday season in the tablet market, as Amazon and Apple duke it out with Microsoft , Nokia, and Google for a place in gift-wrapped boxes across the world.

In the United States, as Bloomberg reported last month, Amazon had a 4.6 percent share of the market ahead of its launch HDX, as Compared to Apple’s 50.7 percent. But the online retailer has leg pushing its tablet hard and Improving core features zoals browsing and typing as well as introducing a new 24/7 customer service feature. That’s a calculated move to go after first-time tablet owners and For Those looking for something cheap That serves Their basic needs.

(Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)

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