Will Apple beat Amazon at their own game?: iPad vs. Kindle 3

(GIZMODO)

What is the Apple iPad (or maybe its iSlate?) you ask? Well, its an unannounced unleaked apple tablet that rumor speculates will be released in 2 days time, at Apple’s Media Event. With pricing speculated as high as $1000 (although in my worthless opinion it will be a subsidized $499 with data plan from VZW or ATT), it might seem insane to argue it will overtake amazon’s best-selling device this holiday season.

Amazon’s Kindle is the iPod for books. The Kindle 2 sits comfortably in the <$300 price range along with the Sony Reader and Barnes and Noble nook. Of course the larger screen Kindle DX price is $489. The Kindle 2 and other <$300 readers you get a small 6 inch e-ink display which is great for books, blogs, and some news, but terrible for any larger PDF files or internet browsing. As a Kindle 2 owner I’m somewhat frustrated by the lack of PDF text resizing. Since the average PDF is 8.5x11, each page is scaled down and almost unreadable on the Kindle’s 6” display. Reading a textbook on the Kindle 2 would prove equally frustrating, and without an easy way to navigate to individual pages, almost worthless even on the larger screened Kindle DX.

Enter Apple.

Apple is a company that (apart from the ROKR) gets it right, or at least makes you think so even if they don’t (iPod nano scratches). Here is my take on the general specifications of this phantom device, based upon all speculation from sources such as Engadget, Macrumors, Gizmodo, among others.

Screen: Capacitive ~9” touchscreen Pixel Qi screen that looks like a typical LCD, but when the backlight is turned off, looks like e-paper for easy reading with little eyestrain.

OS: iPhone OS 4.0

Connectivity: 3G and Wifi for internet browsing and downloading books, games, music, and movies.

Camera: Front facing iSight camera.

Memory: 16-64GB storage

PixelQi screen compared to Kindle (PixelQi.com)

Now in my opinion these specs are a given, based on the niche Apple is trying to fill with the device. It is sure to be closer to a computer with a reader friendly screen rather than a specialized e-reader. If Apple simply wanted a reading device they would have busted out an aesthetically pleasing e-reader a long time ago. They want a multimedia powerhouse mobile device that integrates all of Apple’s well established iTunes and App Store offerings.

Having said that, Apple has clear plans to sell e-books and e-newspaper subscriptions on the device. According to the Wallstreet Journal, Apple has already negotiated e-book deals with publisher HarperCollins, and other deals with the New York Times and McGraw-Hill for educational content. The iPad with its larger multi-touch color screen, and powerful processor will be the perfect device for digital textbooks and other large format digital texts.

So where does this leave Amazon and their rumored Kindle 3? Hopefully not trying to fight it out with apple in the multimedia realm, that’s all I have to say. I don’t think Apple would readily compete with the Kindle for the e-reader niche, and I don’t think Amazon can or will compete with Apple in the multimedia/internet device niche. To continue dominating the e-reader market Amazon must focus on books and pricing, not spreading itself thin to develop multimedia applications and content. The Kindle is a simple and beautiful device. It does exactly what Amazon intended (in most cases), and has almost single-handedly defined the e-reader. I don’t think we’ll see a Kindle that shifts focus away from reading anytime soon.

Be sure to check back on Wednesday after the Apple Media Event to see how my predictions fare with reality.

Update: So far the other goliaths of gadgetry (see Engadget and Macrumors) seem to agree with my pricing predictions for the new Apple Tablet.

Update 2: So the device has been released, and it turns out my predictions (although my price prediction was 3G subsidized, and actually a 3G enabled device is more expensive) were spot on. One thing Apple did not do that I thought for sure they would be doing is include the pixel-QI screen. Without a non-backlight screen I can't imagine reading books on this device for any period of time. I'll stick to my kindle2/ipod touch combo for reading e-books. Pretty device though Apple. Check it out here.