By Lou Covey
Editorial Director for Footwasher Media

The web is awash with reviews of the Kindle Fire, many positive (some scathingly negative), and the comparisons to the iPad are just as plentiful.  The question that keeps coming up, however, is the Fire a game changer in the tablet war?  Probably not for Apple, but probably in the Android world and definitely in the remains of RIM’s empire.

In the iPad comparison, the Fire is the inexpensive, entry-level tablet for noobs.  At $199  it is better than half the price of the iPad, which means people who want …

By Lou Covey
Editorial Director, Footwasher Media

In the outpouring of grief over the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs has been an underlying meme of concern regarding not just the future of Apple, but the potential for disaster in the semiconductor industry.  On one side are those people whose fortunes ride on continued success of Apple, while on the others are those that would prefer the current Apple leadership on consumer electronics and applications be blunted in favor of their own.  It makes it difficult to have an objective opinion one way or another.

One of the issues …