Online mall Have2Have has announced the availability of the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet for pre-order on its web site at www.have2have.co.za.

Jeff Bezos announced the Kindle Fire in New York with initial reaction focusing on its competitive price of $199 or approximately R2 400 (including duties paid and delivered) in SA.

The tablet features a seven inch IPS, gorilla glass display and is powered by a derivative of the hugely popular Android operating system.

Co-owner of Have2Have, Simon Swanich says “while we were disappointed to not see a camera or a 3G option, we feel that the value for money on this device makes it a steal. This will be our top Christmas item.” And with strong demand expected, Swanich urges customers to pre-order as quickly as possible.

The device integrates with Amazon’s cloud-based services. However “Music and video services are always tricky for South Africans to access due to the regulations imposed by the owners of the Intellectual property. This remains a challenge locally and we do expect some limitations. But we expect this to have a marginal impact on demand,” he concludes.

Amazon also announced a new range of e-ink based Kindles with models starting at $50 less than the current cheapest model.

Swanich continues “our pick is the two touch-screen models with pricing at a little over R1 600 for the non-3G version and R2 200 for the 3G version (with lifetime international data)”.

The touch-screen models would no longer have a physical keyboard making it not only smaller but much lighter too, which means the device is without any competition.

What makes the Kindle and Kindle Fire different to all other ebook and tablet competitors is the available applications and integration to Amazon services such as books, music, and video.