The other day, we compared some of the physical characteristics of the Apple iPad against the recently released Kindle Fire.

Today, we will look at some of the other features and give you our overall impression.

Content available:
Both the iPad and the Kindle Fire can access movies, music, games, books and other reading material. The only difference is that the Kindle Fire uses Amazon to download the material and the Apple iPad uses Apple’s iTunes software. Amazon has sweetened the deal a by bundling all of its services and making them available to Fire users.

The real difference (for now) are the number of apps available to each device. With such a large jump on the competition, the iPad currently has many more apps available to it’s customers. It remains to be seen how many apps will be written for the Kindle Fire since developers are already stretched writing them for Apple products, Android, RIM, etc.

The downside of Amazon’s Fire is that there is no way to use alternative music apps such as Spotify or Pandora on the device. Amazon is, of course, pushing their own music services.

Point goes to: iPad

Web browsing and email:
Both the iPad and the Fire can access the web and email. They each use their own browsers. If you are familiar with any Apple products, you will immediately feel at home when you start up your Safari on iPad for the first time, however Amazon’s Silk browser is very easy to navigate.

Point goes to: tie

Flash:
Here’s where the Kindle Fire has a slight edge. It supports flash technology right out of the box, unlike the iPad.

Point goes to: Kindle Fire

USB:
This is something that has been missing from the iPad all along – a USB port. The Kindle comes not with a standard USB port but a micro-USB – still incredibly handy for backing up or transferring data.

Point goes to: Kindle Fire

Price:
The Kindle Fire is priced at $199 and the Apple iPad (entry level) at $499. Do we have to say anything else?

Point goes to: Kindle Fire

After reviewing all the specs and features of both products, we don’t have a clear winner! Many here at West Florida Components are Apple loyalists and would choose the iPad over any competition but there were a few that admitted that the Kindle Fire had some appeal and wouldn’t mind owning one.

Maybe the answer is to get one of each?

The iPad has been around a couple of years and has set the standard for tablet computers. Very often “iPad” has been synonymous for “tablet” the way that people use the word “Kleenex” for “tissues.” There has been just no competition.

We decided to compare the newest Kindle Fire from Amazon head to head with the iPad to see which was was preferred here at West Florida Components. Today’s comparison will look strictly at the physical aspects of both tablets.

Screen Size:
The Kindle Fire has a 7″ screen compared to the iPad’s 9.7″ display. While nearly 3 inches seems like it would be a lot, we streamed the same movie simultaneously, and the tablets were equally viewable at that size.

Point goes to: Tie

Tablet size:
The overall size of the Kindle Fire (7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″) vs the iPad (9.5″ x 7.31″ x 0.34″) was even easier to judge. The Kindle Fire is less bulky to handle and small enough to slip into most ladies’ purses.

Point goes to: Kindle

Weight:
The Kindle Fire weighs in at just under one pound while the iPad is about 21.5 ounces making the iPad about 45% heavier than the Fire. The Fire was a bit more comfortable to handle with just one hand. The lone critic here of the Kindle’s size pointed out that the heavier iPad felt more substantial.

Point goes to: Kindle

Next we will compare some of the other features of both the iPad and the Kindle Fire and you’ll see which tablet wound up on the top of our ‘must have’ list.

With its eyes firmly focused on the ebook market which is reportedly about $500 million in annual sales, Google has launched it’s ebookstore. A fast look at the ebookstore appears to make it a smart alternative to buying proprietary e-readers and ebooks like Amazon’s Kindle device.  At the beginning of 2010, Amazon held about 90% of the ebook market – a number that is estimated to drop to about 35% of the overall market in the next five years.

What is special about Google’s ebookstore?

Purchasing a book from their bookstore allows you the ability to use virtually any type of internet accessible electronic device to read your ebook purchased from the Google ebookstore. You can read books on Android devices (smartphones and tablets), iPhones, iPads, iPhone touch, any netbook, laptop or desktop computer and even the Nook from Barnes & Noble and the Sony Reader. Noticeably absent from this list is, of course, Amazon’s Kindle.

Google’s ebooks are stored in the cloud, so there is nothing to download (except maybe an app) if you are using a device connected to the web. And, since your ebooks are stored in your Google account, your page positions will sync across all the devices as you open each device to read.

Given the limitations of other devices such as Amazon’s Kindle which allows you to download your ebook to one device, Google has created a very flexible way to access your purchased reading material.

So you need to buy a replacement cell phone midway through your contract period. You check out the replacement cost and are shocked to find that the phone will cost you hundreds more than you paid to begin with. The truth is, the cost of electronic components used to build your portable electronics is a pretty high percentage of the gadget price. While the increased availability of surface mount electronic components has kept the prices in check overall, there are still some necessary components that have kept the prices of these electronics elevated.

Here’s a breakdown of retail price vs the cost of the  components used to build some popular electronic items:

Phones

Google Nexus One

Retail price: Starting at $179
Cost of components: $174

The retail price is for a Nexus One through T-Mobile with a 2 year contract.  Without a contract, expect to pay over $500 for this phone.

Motorola Droid

Retail price: Starting at $199
Cost of components: $185

Heavilly promoted as the ‘anti-iPhone’, the Droid is another smart phone that is made up of an expensive list of electronic parts. If you purchase the phone without a contract, it will cost you nearly $600; a Motorola Droid with a 2 year Verizon Wireless contract is just under $200.

Apple iPhone 3GS

Retail price: Starting at $199
Cost of components: $179.16

In general, the cost of new generation electronics usually decreases with each new round. The iPhone 3GS is an exception due to the price of the included memory which has not declined as much as in the past. In the case of the iPhone, the new version actually costs about $5 more to produce than its predecessor.

Research In Motion BlackBerry Storm

Retail price: $249 (before rebate)
Cost of components: $202.89

Also hailed as an ‘iPhone-killer’, the newest Blackberry smart phone is an expensive piece of equipment to produce. The most surprising thing is the cost of the wireless chip that’s included: $35 for just the wireless chip in this phone.

Other Devices

Amazon Kindle 2

Retail price: $359
Cost of components: $185.49

More than half of the cost of materials for the latest version of the Kindle comes from the cost of the display ($60) and the included wireless chip ($39.50). Interestingly, the battery for the Kindle costs $7.50 according to the tear-down report done by iSuppli.

Apple iPod Shuffle

Retail price: $49 (4GB)
Cost of components: $21.77

The bulk of the cost of components for the Shuffle is about $10 for two chips: a flash memory chip to store the music and a chip for the control functions of the unit. Including packaging, the Shuffle costs less than $22 to produce.

Apple iPad

Retail price: Starting at $499
Cost of components: $219.35 to $334.95

The recently introduced Apple iPads are produced in both 3G and non-3G models. Apple hopes you will buy their 3G models as those are the most profitable for them.  Either way, the cost of electronic components for the iPad averages less than 50% of the retail price.