Amazon Officially Announces New Tablets; 8.9" Kindle Fire HD & More

[dgstorm]

Amazon just had their press event and officially announced a few products. They have the new Kindle Fire HD 7-inch and the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch. Here's a breakdown below:

Kindle Fire HD 8.9-Inch - Shipping November 20th for $299.99! (There will also be a 4G LTE Version of the 8.9" Kindle Fire HD, which will include 32GB Storage and will sell for $499.99)

• Built-in WiFi Enhancement tech - MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) technology - the software selects the antenna that has less fading - two-antennas to cut down on interference (5GHz band and another that runs on the standard 2.4GHz band) - device buffering - The WiFi is 41 percent faster than the iPad 3
• Dolby Digital Plus Audio - Stereo Speakers
• TI OMAP 4470 CPU
• 8.9 inch display, 254ppi - 1920 x 1200 - The touch sensor is laminated -- 25 % less glare. Sharper, clearer, better contrast - It's got a new polarizing filter on it to cut down on glare and increase the viewing angle
• 8.8mm, 20 ounces
• Looks similar to the old Fire
• Front facing HD camera and customized Skype App
• 16GB Storage
• Double the RAM of last Kindle Fire (1GB to be precise)
• Battery lasts longer and performance is 44 percent faster.
• Multiple Unique Software Enhancements (especially some related to Amazon's ecosystem, including music, movies, books and games)

Kindle Fire HD 7-Inch - Available September 14th for $199.99!

• Built-in WiFi Enhancement tech - MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) technology - the software selects the antenna that has less fading - two-antennas to cut down on interference (5GHz band and another that runs on the standard 2.4GHz band) - device buffering - The WiFi is 41 percent faster than the iPad 3
• Dolby Digital Plus Audio - Stereo Speakers
• TI OMAP 4470 CPU
• 7 inch display (similar specs to the larger model above)
• Looks similar to the old Fire
• Front facing HD camera and customized Skype App
• 16GB Storage
• Double the RAM of last Kindle Fire (1GB to be precise)
• Battery lasts longer and performance is 44 percent faster.
• Multiple Unique Software Enhancements (especially some related to Amazon's ecosystem, including music, movies, books and games)

There is a third device that is a new variation of the original Kindle eReader. It is called the Kindle Paperwhite, and has a new front-lit eReader with Amazon’s latest E-Ink display. It will have a black and white touchscreen E-Ink display with 25% better contrast than previous-generation Kindles and 212 pixels per inch. It will be priced at $159.99, (hence the confusion earlier about prices).

Correction from above: Apparently, we still didn't quite have the facts 100% straight. Yes, there is going to be a new eReader called the Kindle Paperwhite, but the device for $159.99 will actually be an enhanced version of the current Kindle Fire (effectively a Kindle Fire 2). We are still unsure as to the price of the eReader.

Source: Kindle-FireForum

 

[Angus66]

Awesome specs/price/features!

I've been waiting for a dual-band WiFi device (other than the Galaxy Note 10.1") to come out.

Now I've got an excuse... I mean reason to upgrade my home WiFi setup.

 

[MA83]

That dual band capability is pretty sick! Our IT department in their infinite wisdom set up the public network on 5GHZ only under the guise of trying to avoid interference from things like microwaves and cordless phones. Really, they just didn't want to have to deal with complaints of lag due to too many mobile devices accessing it.