The New Old iPhone?

So people were expecting the announcement of the new iPhone 5. However, Apple only came out with the iPhone 4S. It does still seem good though:

So now everyone has a chance to have a personal assistant? The hardware is much improved, but it's heavier. I'm sure people are disappointed that the iPhone wasn't released, but this is a much improved iPhone. The iPhone is now global, amongst other relevant and fantastic features.

This is clearly to give it more punch in its tussle with Android:

Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc., in its first product unveiling since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive officer, introduced a faster iPhone with voice features and a higher- resolution camera to help it vie with Google Inc.'s Android.

Let's talk about that camera:

The iPhone 4S, available Oct. 14, will have a camera with 60 percent more pixels and can handle high-definition video. The device also relies on an “intelligent antenna system” that's designed to improve call quality and works with both CDMA and GSM wireless standards. Users will have up to 8 hours of talk time on one charge.

Apple has high hopes for it:

“For many customers, the iPhone 4S will be the best still camera they've ever owned, the best video camera they've ever owned, and it's with them all the time,” said Phil Schiller, a senior vice president in charge of product marketing.

This should enable it to compete directly with Android:

At stake is leadership in the market for smartphones, which is projected to double by 2015, when 1 billion of the handsets will be sold, according to research firm IDC. While Apple is the single biggest smartphone maker, the Android coalition leads the market, accounting for 41.7 percent.

The iPhone always does well when it is first released. It has the benefit of having the "it" factor that Android lacks. While phones like the Droid Bionic seem to be pushing technological advancements, the iPhone continues to be the preferred phone of those looking for user experience. Now, with the new camera, it should attract those who have been moving to Android for phones like the Droid X which features a 8 megapixel.

Apple's stock may be down on the day, but I think the release of this new phone is setting up for another big quarter for the Cupertino company. It would be one thing if Apple was bringing nothing new to the table, but they are bring improved hardware and global capabilities. The Apple iPhone 4S will prove to be another hit.

Amazon Comin' Yo

So Amazon has decided to unveil a new tablet:

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), which revolutionized reading with its Kindle e-reader, is expected to unveil a tablet computer next week that analysts say will seriously challenge Apple's (AAPL.O) market dominating iPad.

Indeed, the big question is whether it will challenge Apple's iPad. The iPad has been hugely successful and Apple is selling every tablet that they can make. Everyone wants to know if Amazon's tablet, which will reportedly be called the Kindle Fire, will be a threat to the iPad:

Ultimately, it’s a question of how much Amazon has in common with Apple. If they have enough of the same DNA, that fact may separate the color Kindle apart from every other Android tablet on the market — and give Cupertino a run for its money.

The big deal with Apple has been their execution in delivering their products and for the iPad, it's been with Apps:

Today, there are almost half a million iPhone and iPod apps. In the space of less than two years, there are almost 100,000 iPad apps. I don’t know exactly how many Android tablet apps there are, but I do know that any time I’ve used an Android tablet, I have a heck of a time finding decent Android tablet apps (there are thousands of excellent Android phone apps). Tablet developers are clearly building their iPad versions first and, given the 25 millions iPads already sold, likely achieving their greatest success on the iOS platform.

Mashable believes that Amazon has a similar built in ecosystem that'll enable the Kindle Fire to thrive:

Amazon has one big advantage over virtually every other Android Tablet manufacturer: it understand user interfaces. No other competitor, aside from Apple, runs such an active and varied website for consumers. The Seattle-based retailer has been perfecting Amazon.com’s interface for 16 years. When Amazon was just books, it was pretty straightforward — but as the company added other product categories, it struggled to find an rational interface metaphor. Even so, Amazon was the acknowledged leader in the space. When it introduced tabs, all other online retail sites tried them as well.

Then there's pricing:

But I doubt Amazon cares if it takes a small loss on the tablets. They’ll be putting a fully functional, Internet and media-ready portal to all of its products in the hands of millions of existing customers. (How many people do you know who do not have an Amazon account?)

Amazon has features like Amazon Prime and the Amazon App Store which can give it a pricing advantage over the iPad, while still being a profitable entity for the company.

PC World says Amazon needs to get this right:

The hat trick with an Amazon tablet will lie not with whether Amazon can offer a device that integrates its storefront and services—that's an easy bet, and a foregone conclusion given its history with Kindle e-readers. The real question is whether the company can produce a tablet with an interface that's natural, visually pleasing, and functionally spot-on for how it will be used by consumers.

The Tablet market isn't easy to break into:

If, with this tablet, Amazon can finally make a product that's a standout star with its interface and usability, the tablet has legitimate potential to be a threat to Apple's iPad. But if the company doesn't nail the interface, it runs the risk of offering yet another ho-hum tablet in a crowded landscape, albeit a ho-hum tablet with, presumably, a better-integrated media consumption and e-book experience than most. One can hope.

Amazon is late to the Tablet party, but only Apple is really having fun in the party. Other companies have made attempt to compete with the Cupertino giant, but have come up short. The iPad is a jack of all trades, and it has the support of Apple's application Arsenal. Amazon seems to be the one company that can compete with Apple on the application front, with its App Store, but the fact is the tablet, itself, has to be good in order to compete.

Amazon is taking a risk by entering the tablet market, but if they get it right, it could be a huge win for the company.