Amazon moves ahead with Kindle tablets, ereaders (photos)
Amazon takes the wraps off its new tablets, the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD. They expect to give Apple stiff competition in price and features.
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos was thrilled to show off his company's new tablet and ereader devices. The 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD 8.9 will come in two basic versions: one at $299 and a higher-end model with 4G LTE that will go for $499. The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD 7 with 16GB will retail for $199. Here is
Larry Dignan's analysis: Gadget as a service: How hardware soon becomes irrelevant.
Amazon is trying to take on the iPad more directly with a larger focus on productivity in the enterprise. Bezos pitched the Fire's all new email functionality, which includes "world-class" Exchange support, faster access to new email, and improved sync reliability for contacts and calendars.
Amazon claims the the Kindle Fire HFD has 41 percent faster Wi-Fi than the iPad 3 and 54 percent more than the Nexus 7.
New features include a Dolby audio engine exclusive to the Kindle Fire HD as well as a new system called MIMO, which essentially improves Wi-Fi reception by using echos for better signals.
The side view.
The Kindle Fire HDs will sport a new X-Ray feature, which basically zooms in on everything from character names in books on any upcoming Kindle or integration with IMDB for actor biographies on the Fire.
Kindle Fire games.
The Kindle Fire 7 will be pretty much the same as the Kindle Fire 8.9.
The Kindle Fire 7 fits into your hand.
Bezos also unveiled a new ereader, the Kindle Paperwhite. It features three display stacks: a patented light guide, capacitive touch, and a paperwhite display. Read .
It's 9.1mm thin and 7.5 ounces light, "thinner than a magazine and lighter than a paperback," according to Bezos. It's biggest new improvement might be its 8-week battery life.
The Kindle Paperwhite display includes 62 percent more pixels at 212 pixels per inch to offer what might be the closest any e-reader has come to actually replicating the look of paper pages.
In a protective cover, the Kindle Paperwhite almost looks like a real book.
The Kindle Fire had its price cut to $159.
The low-end Kindle is having its price cut by $10 to $69.