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In most aspects of life, it’s fair to say that size matters. Amazon seem to think so, too, as the latest rumour out of the mill suggests that early 2012 will see an 8.9-inch Fire on the market.
DigiTimes reported that supply chain sources suggest Amazon will follow up the recent 7-inch Kindle Fire with a bigger brother. The say that the new Fire will pack an 8.9-inch screen and will launch in the second quarter of 2012.
Apparently Amazon is hoping to take advantage of LG Display’s and Samsung Electronics’ promotion of 8.9-inch panels, as well as using the device to fend off competition from the glut of 9-10-inch tablets that are already available.
It’s fair to say that we’re fans of the Fire. But do we need an 8.9-inch version? To be honest, to make a bigger screen size worth it, we also need to see higher specs throughout. Without that, a larger Fire might actually turn out to be a damp squib. [DigiTimes via The Verge]
Not over here it won’t. We might just get the 7″ Fire by that time.
I don’t care, as long as we get some sort on kindle in the UK, I’ll be happy!
I think the 8.9″ is the sweet spot for tablets. 7″ is just too small and 10 is too big for me. I travel a lot with mine so 8.9 is a good trade off for portability over usability. Biggest issue for me though is battery life. For the kind of travel I do 8 hours is just not enough. Most of my flights are longer than that. Add in time at the airport and transfers on arrival I need up to 16 hours. Give me 8.9″ with 16 hours battery and I will take one.
Right now the Transformer is the closest I can get but its just that bit too heavy for lugging around
Agree – Maybe a tablet needs to be brought out where you can swap batteries when the old one dies. Can’t believe that would be harder than making batteries have a better life. (just don’t ask Apple)