The release of Amazon Kindle Fire has sparked the interest of consumers due to its budget-friendly price but still being a highly functional tablet. Will this be enough for Kindle Fire to compete with other high-end tablets like Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime?

The Amazon Kindle Fire is a 7-inch tablet and is primarily designed to be an e-reader with much more capabilities. Specifications of Kindle Fire include 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, Wi-Fi capability, and USB 2.0. It has 8GB storage capacity (6GB for user content) and Android 2.3 Gingerbread for its OS. Kindle Fire also has a free storage and access feature for a wide range of Amazon contents like music, books, videos, TV shows, and more. Users could avail of all these tablet specifications for only US$199. This "low price" offer is one of the reasons why Kindle Fire is experiencing popularity in the market.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is considered as a "high-end" tablet because of its advanced specifications. It has a display size of 10.4x7.1 inches and comes in silver or purple color. It has a MicroUSB slot, MicroSD card slot (left side), and standard 3.5mm headset jack oon the right. It also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability. The Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is noted for being fast due to its quad-core Tegra 3 technology with 1GHz each. It has 2 cameras, one 8MP camera located at the back panel and 1MP camera placed in front. It has an impressive 32GB for storage and could store more due to its microSD built-in slot. The Eee Pad utilizes Android 3.2 Honeycomb as its OS. This tablet can turn into a netbook if the user would opt to use a laptop dock. The suggested selling price for this tablet is around US$499 for the 32GB, Wi-Fi model.

In comparing these two tablets, Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime has the advantage when it comes to technical specifications largely due to its quad-core processor and storage capability. Users can do a lot more with this tablet because it works fast and has all the essentials that a user would need especially when doing work. This tablet is also considered as the thinnest tablet to date and yes, it is thinner than Apple's iPad. In terms of price and access to apps, Kindle Fire has advantage over this because its price is lower than Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. Aside from that, Kindle Fire also offers access to Amazon.com for numerous selections of apps, movies, music, etc.

Both tablets have their own advantages and disadvantages to determining the best between the two should be left with the user's preference. Asus and Amazon have not yet announced the availability of these tablets in the Australian market.