Amazon Unveils 8.9-Inch, 7-Inch, and LTE-Enabled Kindle Fire HD
In addition to the upgrade to last year’s Kindle Fire, Amazon just announced a new HD version of the tablet, the Kindle Fire HD.
We jump from a 1024 x 600 resolution right up to 1920 x 1200, with a larger 8.9-inch size to match. New screen coatings should reduce glare by an impressive 25%, and new stereo speakers combined with Dolby Digital Plus technology will give this Fire tablet the ability to pump out some serious tunes.
The Kindle Fire HD runs a dual-core TI OMAP4470 and employs multiple WiFi antennas to help ensure reliable data connectivity. There’s a front-facing camera with an HD resolution.
As for software, Amazon’s bringing its X-Ray feature for books to other media, letting you tap on the screen during movie playback to get extra info about the actors. You’ll also see more cloud integration, like Whispersync letting you save game progress to Amazon’s servers. New parental controls called Kindle FreeTime will let adults restrict content for children that may be inappropriate.
The 16GB 8.9-inch Fire HD will sell for just about $300, starting November 20. There will also be a smaller 7-inch version of the Fire HD (not to be confused with the new Fire) selling for about $200, and arriving much sooner, on September 14.
There’s also going to be a separate LTE-capable Kindle Fire HD, with a seriously premium price. The 8.9-inch LTE version of tablet will run more like $500, but at least the data’s cheap: you’ll get 250MB a month for just $50 a year.
Update: Amazon’s official press release is now out, filling-in the picture on the specs of this new hardware. The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD will have a resolution of 1280 x 800 and be available in 16GB and 32GB capacities. The 8.9-inch 1900 x 1200 Fire HD will come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB versions.