Martie | Blue Beach Song™

Amazon Introduces New Kindle Fire HD & New Kindle Reader Paperwhite

| Updated: September 6, 2012 | 4:30 pm PST |

Wow is all I can say after watching the just-concluded ARS Technica Live-Blog of the Amazon Kindle Fire Press Conference. (By the way, these guys, Cyrus and Nathan, did an excellent job with their play-by-play!) I also followed the Twitter feeds of the Kindle Team, and kept my eye on the Amazon website, which made a point to display their new lineup only after the press conference.

After sitting patiently through the Live-Blog recounting of CEO Jeff Bezos’ introduction of two new Kindle Readers, called Paperwhite (impressive on their own), Mr. Bezos finally began talking about the much anticipated (at least by me), newly updated  Kindle Fire family of tablets.

Amazingly, Amazon has updated and improved the original, very popular, Kindle Fire that sold out last week. Instead of holding its original $199 price tag, the newly updated Kindle Fire will now be only $159, shipping out September 14, 2012. The updates to the Kindle Fire include double the RAM, 40% faster, and longer battery life. It comes with Kindle Free Time for kids and unlimited free cloud storage, among other things.

Also shipping out September 14, 2012, will be the new Kindle Fire HD 7” with 16 GB at $199. (Santa, if you’re reading… this is the one for me.)

The two 8.9” Kindle tablets will be shipping out November 20, 2012, which include the new Kindle Fire HD 8.9” with 16 GB at $299 and the Kindle Fire 4G LTE at $499, with 32 GB of storage and a $49.99 annual AT&T data plan.

So, what do you get?

The Kindle Fire HD 7” will have 1280x800 high definition (HD) display with anti-glare; exclusive Dolby Digital Plus audio engine and dual-driver stereo speakers, for virtual surround sound; minimum 16 GB of internal storage; a built-in HDMI out port to watch content on your TV; 1.2 Ghz dual-core HD processor with Imagination PowerVR 3D graphics core; and the fastest  Wi-Fi of any tablet with dual-band and dual-antenna, as the Kindle Fire HD will be the first tablet with MIMO, which means multiple in/multiple out, using two wireless antennas to achieve faster Wi-Fi speeds.

The larger Kindle Fire HD 8.9” will have the same advanced technology as the 7” model, but will offer it on a large 1920x1200 HD display, including a more powerful processor and graphics engine. (I think I’m drooling. Does that make me a techno-geek?)

If that weren’t enough, both the 7” and 8.9” models of the Kindle Fire HD come with integrated support for social media and email, including Exchange-based corporate email; a custom-built Skype application (app) making use of the new Kindle front-facing camera to offer free HD video calls; Bluetooth support to connect to wireless accessories, like headphones and keyboards; and, of course, unlimited Cloud storage.

Kindle Free Time, a new service available on all the Kindle Fires, offers built-in tools to customize a child’s experience with the tablet, giving parents greater control over what content their kids see and how much time they spend on the tablet. (Those tilt, touch, and turn HD games are hard to resist, even when you’re not a kid.)

The Kindle Fire HD also comes with something they call X-Ray for Movies fed by the vast IMDB database; X-Ray for Books, which offers a quick-view at book-related ideas, characters, important places, background info, biographies and more; Immersion Reading can synchronize Kindle text with companion Audible audiobooks with real-time highlighting; WhisperSync for movies, books, voice, and games; and everything is backed up in the Cloud… it has to be, because there is no SD card slot! (I was really hoping they would add one.)

So, my head is spinning after this information overload, but I’ll do my best to recap all the new Amazon Kindle offerings and price drops:

• Kindle Wi-Fi 6” Display Reader is available for $69, and it’s in stock; 
• Kindle Wi-Fi 6” E-Ink Display Reader is available for $69, ships September 14, but you can pre-order now; 
• Kindle Paperwhite Reader is available for $119, ships October 1, but you can pre-order now | Wi-Fi, Paperwhite Display, Higher Resolution, Higher Contrast, Built-in Light 
• Kindle Paperwhite 3G Reader is available $179, ships October 1, but you can pre-order now | Free 3G + Wi-Fi, Paperwhite Display, Higher Resolution, Higher Contrast, Built-in Light
• Kindle Fire (new and improved) is only $159, ships September 14, but you can pre-order now | 7” LCD Display, Wi-Fi, 8GB, twice the memory, 40% faster, and free unlimited cloud storage
• Kindle Fire HD 7” is $199, ships September 14, but you can pre-order now | 7” HD Display, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Dual-Antenna Wi-Fi, 16GB ($199) or 32GB ($249)
• Kindle Fire HD 8.9” is $299, ships November 20, but you can pre-order now | 8.9” HD Display, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Dual-Antenna Wi-Fi, 16GB ($299) or 32GB ($369)
• Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G LTE Wireless is $499, expected to ship November 20, but you can pre-order now | 8.9” HD Display, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Dual-Antenna Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, 32GB ($499) or 64GB ($599)

So, get your Christmas shopping lists out… there is a lot to choose from!

NOTE: I will be updating this blog post with links, information, and shipping dates, as they are made available.
For more information: Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and 
To watch promotional video: Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD - Video 

Martie Hevia | Blue Beach Song™ (c) All Rights Reserved