I suppose this is just a bit of housekeeping for our readers out there who want to make sure they're referring to products accurately, but just an FYI: Amazon has decided to drop the Kindle moniker from the full names of its Android-powered tablets. The new tablets are officially dubbed the Fire HD and Fire HDX, CNET noticed recently, instead of "Kindle Fire HD" and "Kindle Fire HDX."
Why?
Amazon told CNET that it's trying to make sure consumers understand the differences between the products it offers. Kindle is now only reserved for its eReaders while the "Fire" moniker is saved for the Android tablets that are capable of much more, like Web browsing, streaming video and playing music.
Will consumers actually pay attention? Maybe as the company moves forward and continues to branch out its products. "Is that a new Kindle?" someone might ask you. "No, it's a Fire HD," you might respond in the future, subtly highlighting the difference without even knowing it.
One expert, Rob Frankel, told CNET that Amazon might want to reconsider the branding. He suggests that the Fire Phone may have sullied the "Fire" name and that Kindle still has a solid reputation among consumers. "This is like taking one of your great failures, coming up with a new product and calling it failure version two," he said, referring to Amazon's decision to remove the trustworthy "Kindle" name from its tablets.
