This is not the first time we have heard rumors of a smaller iPad, but new reports are suggesting that Apple may be currently testing an eight inch device. As Electronista are reporting Apple have often been known to test a variety of displays for its devices with many never seeing the light of day. Many consumers seem to prefer the bigger ten inch screen size, which Apple already dominates with the iPad.

But smaller devices such as the Amazon Kindle Fire have begun eating into Apple’s market share, with Samsung’s Galaxy Note also selling well. Only yesterday we told you about Samsungs new seven inch device the Galaxy Tab 2. According to Diana Wu of Capital Securities many consumers want a smaller tablet PC, and pricing of any new sized unit from Apple will be very important if it was too succeed.

Previously the late Steve Jobs championed the screen size of the iPad saying that it was ideal for such a device. Apple has over sixty percent of the tablet PC sector, and entering the lower end of the market could easily increase this further.

Rival companies have seen the most success with tablet PCs around seven inches, and a smaller device from Apple with most of the main features found in the standard iPad will tempt many consumers. It is thought a smaller iPad will offer a similar screen resolution to the current model otherwise not much else is known.

With regards to the iPad 3 there are rumors that the device could make its debut on March 7th. Apple would certainly be covering more bases by offering consumers a smaller iPad, and us consumers always like plenty of choice.

Would you like to see an eight inch iPad?

While consumers in the UK wait to gain access to the Fire many unhappy owners have been returning Amazon’s new tablet PC. The New York Times is reporting that complaints about the device include the lack of an external volume control, web pages taking ages to load, and a severe lack of privacy on the unit.

Other complaints from early adopters of the Fire also include how easy it is to hit the off switch, and the touchscreen leaves a lot to be desired. Some have said if you don’t have the skinniest of fingers it’s almost impossible to use. But the online retailer is saying the Fire is proving to be the most successful product it has ever launched.

Now an Amazon spokesman, Drew Herdener has revealed that they are set to push out an over the air update “in less than two weeks”. It is being promised to provide improvements in performance and multitouch navigation. There will be also improvements with privacy with the option of editing the list of items that have been recently used.

Amazon is even thought to be in the process of developing an improved version of the Kindle Fire, which could have a bigger display. With the current model it is not thought that the company is losing much money on each unit sold either.

Have you thought about purchasing the Kindle Fire?

A source has told Know Your Mobile that Amazon’s new tablet PC will be arriving in the country, after the retailer has remained quiet about any possibility of the device hitting the UK. This comes after other reports suggested the Kindle Fire would never make it to the country.

The source is claiming the device will be released to UK consumers during January 2012, which is surprising as we are now well into the busy Christmas period for retailers. There is no news on pricing but you would have thought the company will be using the same competitive pricing the US is seeing with the tablet PC.

Analysts have already predicted the Kindle Fire will account for fifty percent of the Android tablet market during 2012. This would mean the device being released around the world to achieve this, and could see other Amazon services being released to coincide with the Kindle Fire launch in the country. Hopefully the device will be priced at below £200 for consumers as well.

There have been rumors previously that Apple are thinking of launching a cheaper iPad to meet the threat of more affordable Android tablets such as the Kindle Fire. Will you get the Amazon Kindle Fire when it launches in your region?

Last month we told you about the new eReader the retailer was releasing, and they have now followed that up with the release of the Kobo Vox. According to TechRadar the touchscreen device comes complete with Wi-Fi and a reasonable price tag to boot.

Just like the Kindle Fire it comes with a seven inch screen that runs on Android and also runs on similar applications. The display on the device is claimed to be anti-glare that should allow you to use it in bright sunlight, and there is even 42 different font sizes to choose from.

The retailer is also stating that the Kobo is the only official Facebook eReader partner, so this could be the tablet come eReader for you. The device hasn’t been customized as much as the Kindle Fire and you won’t have to go through Amazon’s app store and can get access to more Android apps.

For your £169.99 you get 8GB of storage that can be expanded, and with the Wi-Fi connectivity the Kobo looks quite an attractive proposition. The Kobo Vox is available now via the retailer’s stores or on its online store. It could prove to be a good Christmas seller considering the price and that there is no release date for the Kindle Fire in the UK.

Do you like the look of the Kobo Vox?

Amazon has had its eReaders available for a while now that have improved and continued to sell well. Now Amazon is getting into the tablet market and according to BGR, instead of building an iPad killer has built the Kindle Fire. Many other devices that have been released with the term iPad killer normally fail to sell many units.

But with the new Kindle Fire it is looking to be a totally different proposition considering Amazon already has its own app store, and the low entry price for the tablet PC. Starting at $199 the Fire is $300 less than the entry model iPad, but Amazon does have bigger and more expensive versions in the pipeline. The current model isn’t really competing directly with the iPad, but obviously many people will still compare the two.

The iPad is designed for a certain type of customer while out performing and outclassing much of the competition. But unless you have quite a bit of spare cash sitting around you won’t purchase one no matter how much you want to. The Kindle Fire on the other hand is aimed at the lower end of the market and while maybe not as good as the iPad, is still a dependable unit.

Using the device it was found that the hardware was good, but not exactly great. It is comfortable to hold in the hand but with the type of battery the Fire has, it can become heavy after prolonged use without resting it on a leg or table. Software wise it has a simple to use interface with the performance found to be good. There were some little niggles found opening certain apps though, while game play and video playback were good.

For the money the Kindle Fire was found to be worth it with good integration into Amazon services. The home screen has four sections with a status section along the top with notifications, time, Wi-Fi status, and battery life. There is also access to settings and a menu section lets you navigate between other features such as the apps menu, video player, music player, and book reader.

Another nice feature with the device was the web browser that was found to be quite quick in operation. The device will offer users a good experience and will be very easy to use for all ages of people. It should be expected to be met with the odd niggle from the first version of the operating system, but nothing to get too worried about.

There is room for improvement but for the price it is a worthy tablet PC to consider especially if your budget won’t run to an iPad. Are you thinking of getting the Kindle Fire?

All Things D are reporting that the device got stripped down and that IHS iSuppli analyst Andrew Rassweiler says the device costs $201.70 to make. This provides a rough guide to how much Amazon will lose on each Kindle Fire sold, and the company has taken a number of steps to keep costs down.

Most tablet PCs have 8 gigabits of DRAM memory while the Kindle Fire only has four, and also has only 8GB of memory for storing content. The iPad begins at 16GB going all the way up to 64GB. There is also no camera and Bluetooth available either.

Rassweiler said “We expected to see a certain wireless module that’s commonly been seen in other tablets, and we were surprised that it wasn’t there”. The one that was installed was a cheaper unit that had less features to save a bit more money.

Other cost cutting features include the packaging of the device that is the same as other third party resellers, and the tablet only comes bundled with a wall charger and a cord. These are believed to cost around $2 or $3 when it was originally expected to be nearer $5.

As what normally happens with consumer electronics the cost of these components are likely to fall, so that will mean bigger profits for Amazon in the future. Texas Instruments have a number of chips inside the Fire. The main app processor is the OMAP4430 that has been in the Droid Bionic and BlackBerry PlayBook. The company also provided chips for managing audio, power, and Wi-Fi.

Whatever the unit costs Amazon to make it is surely going to be a major success with its low entry price compared to other devices available. Are you planning on buying the Kindle Fire?

According to AppleInsider many retailers are set to slash up to $300 off the device as they try and shift stock of the device. This coming Friday Staples will be selling the device from $199 for the 16GB version, up to $399 for the 64GB model in its Canada stores until December 1st.

This coincides with Black Friday in the US and other reports are suggesting the prices will come back permanently from December 18th. The company has only shifted 200,000 units during the last quarter, and follows retailer Best Buy knocking up to $150 off the PlayBook back in September.

Earlier this year Hewlett Packard decided to exit the market following slow sales of its TouchPad, which led to a fire sale of the device quickly running stock dry. Motorola’s Xoom only managed to shift 100,000 units in the third quarter, which saw the company make a loss of $32 million.

Now with have the new offering from Amazon that starts at $199, and brings further pressure on the PlayBook because it has similar hardware. The online retailer is selling the tablet at a loss and hopes to claw this back via Amazon Prime subscriptions. For now that strategy seems tom be working as early sales have taken off. As we get closer to Christmas there is a good chance that more retailers will discount the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Are these price cuts big enough for you to get the PlayBook?

Amazon’s new tablet PC has been given the low entry price of only $199, and according to AppleInsider there is talk that Apple are looking at the possibility of a low cost iPad early next year. We reported before that the iPad 3 launch was rumored to have been brought forward to the beginning of 2012.

Brian White an analyst with Ticonderoga Securities has been visiting China and Taiwan meeting component manufacturers. This is where he heard talk of a proposed iPad mini coming next year, and the name doesn’t represent screen size, but a lower entry level price.

The move by Apple is seen as a way to tempt consumers who are on more of a budget, which is similar to what the company has done with the iPhone 3GS. It is also felt to be a way of rising to the competition of the Kindle Fire. White is claiming the new lower priced iPad will cost around $200, and be launched alongside a new and more powerful iPad 3.

If these rumors are true the new cheaper iPad could be available around the same time as Amazon is expected to launch a bigger touchscreen tablet. The Kindle Fire will have a screen size of seven inches compared to the 9.7-inch iPad.

A lower priced iPad could result big sales in emerging markets such as China, and other areas across the world. Do you think Apple will release a cheaper iPad next year?

Although unofficial figures, it is estimated by eMailDataSource that Amazon have already taken more than 100,000 preorders for the Kindle Fire. It only went up for preorder on Monday, and according to Electronista the figures were achieved by the end of the first day. Although it does trail the original iPad that achieved 300,000 in its first day, considering the market now it’s pretty impressive.

The Amazon tablet was seen by many as a serious challenger to the iPad even before it was revealed. It may be lacking certain features such as a camera, but the low entry price will make it popular for consumers on a tighter budget. The device will also tie in nicely with Amazon’s catalogue of media content, and comes in at way below the starting price of an iPad.

The company is looking to repeat the success of the Kindle, which they make a loss on the product that is made up by selling content to users. It is thought that Amazon could be losing between $10 to $50 on each Kindle Fire it sells.

There are some studies though that has found Android users not purchasing as much online content as iOS users. If consumers are looking to purchase the Fire for just browsing the web and checking emails, the company may struggle to make much of a profit on the device.

But as we have seen when other tablets have prices drop, consumers want to own a tablet. While there may be some who don’t purchase content; others will buy stuff to balance it out. Are you thinking of getting an Amazon Kindle Fire?

Apple seems to have the perfect balance with price, hardware specs and also apps. Other tablets can nail one or two of these, but never all three. Amazon might not be able to compete with the iPad 2 in terms of hardware, but it does have two other things going for it, and that is the access to all of their services and also a cheap price tag – something that the Xoom and Galaxy Tab 10.1 has failed on.

Tech Crunch has been speaking to Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos, and he is under no illusion that the Fire is in the same league as the iPad 2. This is why the online retail giant will do what they have done with the Kindle eReader, and that is offer the device at a ridiculous price when it is released sometime in November.

The iPad 2 starts at $499, and many tablets have failed to beat that price, and those that have failed miserably. You can imagine our shock when we learned that the Kindle Fire tablet would cost just $199. Okay, so let’s get real for one moment, it will not put the fear up Apple due to the device being a little slow and lacking app support, but the cheap price could make it become the biggest competitor for the iPad.

Consider this, as we are now in a double dip recession, what would you rather choose the iPad for $499 or the Kindle Fire for $199, and it is this dilemma that Amazon is hoping consumers will soon face?