Amazon Kindle Battles Google Nexus
For eReader Dominance

By Joe Waynick

While print book sales ramble merrily along, the Amazon Kindle engages in a battle of survival from rival Google Nexus for eBook dominance.

The two powerful Internet giants are vying for massive shares of the Amazon eBook reader market and both see success in this arena as a pathway to the future for information providers of all types.

Google is especially fearful because as Internet usage becomes increasing more common on tablet devices, advertising revenue could be diverted to competitors such as the Kindle reader.

Amazon Flexes Its Muscle

Not to be caught resting on its laurels, the Amazon Kindle continues to up the ante by paving the way for developers to add social features for gamers much more easily.

Also, Amazon lags well behind Google in app availability. At last report Amazon only had about 43,000 programs in its app store, whereas Google and Apple have approximately 600,000 each -- a monumental disadvantage.

Nevertheless, Amazon is racing to play catch-up in the gaming world with this new move to expand its game offerings along with its Kindle eBooks.

If Google doesn't take notice, it won't be the first competitor to under estimate the bookselling juggernaut, and get crushed.

Google Strikes Back

Of course, Google is no lightweight itself. What makes the Nexus so attractive is the sheer amount of technology packed into the device at such a low price.

The Nexus leaps out of the gate with a forward facing 1.2 megapixel camera, a high definition 7-inch display, a more advanced version of its Android operating system dubbed "Jelly Bean", a quadcore processor, and 1 Gigabyte of RAM memory.

Adding insult to injury the nexus sports a thinner, lighter weight body weighing in at only 1.44 pounds which simply screams cool technology.

Finally, Google tops it off with an eye-popping price of only $199 and you've got a potential game changing winner that will give the Amazon Kindle Fire a run for its money.

The Stakes Are High

Both Amazon and Google are attempting to market rock bottom hardware to consumers that are programmed to only purchase digital offerings from their respective electronic stores and eBook format.

Consequently, they can afford to lose money on each device because they believe the lifetime value of each customer will make the value proposition profitable.

As consumer Internet browsing shifts to tablets and other mobile devices, Google is becoming increasingly worried about the stability of its massive advertising revenue.

The Amazon Kindle eBook reader further strengthens that fear as Amazon tightens its grip on the eBook and mobile Internet access market.

For example, at least one British hotel chain is giving away free Kindle eBooks by placing an Amazon Kindle in very room.

The Feature/Function Wars Continue

Whoever said war served no purpose? In the case of electronic tablets consumers come out the big winners as prices for the hottest technology continue to plunge.

It's a safe bet that each company will continue to leap frog each other as they battle for control of the mobile market. The Amazon Kindle will get cheaper, better, and faster as will the Google Nexus.

If you're in the market for a tablet computer for downloading books, music, or for Internet browsing you can be sure that six months after you make a purchase your device will be obsolete.

Still, if you need the technology, now is as good a time as any to take the plunge. Technology will always improve and prices may or may not fall a bit more. But if the device serves you well, it's still a bargain.

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