Kindle Fire HD Release Date and Price Announced

Today at an event in Santa Monica, California, Amazon announced the new Kindle Fire HD, the successor to its original Android-powered Kindle Fire tablet which launched last year.

The Kindle Fire HD replaces the original Kindle Fire which Amazon says accounts for 22% of tablet sales and is the #1 best-selling device on Amazon itself.

Amazon has upgraded the new Kindle Fire HD with several hardware enhancements including a bump in screen-size to 8.9″ for one version of the Kindle Fire HD. There is also a 7-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD.

The 8.9″ Kindle Fire HD model features a display that boasts 1920 x 1200 resolution with 254ppi. The ppi on the new iPad is 264 which means that the Kindle Fire HD is right up there with the screen on Apple’s third-generation iPad.

The Kindle Fire HD’s 8.9″ display will also feature a display that gives off full spectrum color at all angles, making it a perfect companion for those who love to watch media content on their device.

It will be powered by an OMAP 4470 processor which Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says is faster than NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor, a processor found in several Android tablets.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD features dual stereo speakers featuring Dolby Digital Plus, exclusive to the Kindle Fire HD. The Kindle Fire HD features dual-antennas which means that hands won’t get in the way and software can choose which has better connectivity.

It also features MIMO, the first tablet to do so.

Amazon will offer the tablet starting at 16GB, much bigger than the starting storage space of the Nexus 7 which starts at 8GB.

Kindle Fire HD will feature 100,000 Audiobooks and Amazon has added a feature called Whispersync which allows readers to sync books with audiobooks so users can listen to it and read, the tablet syncing automatically.

https://youtu.be/jrgO8Zseh6E

Amazon also announced All-New Email support which features world class exchange support, improved sync, and even faster access to email itself.

There is also a custom Facebook application, Skype which can be used with an HD front-facing camera, and a feature for parents called Kindle FreeTime which lets parents monitor the usage of their kids.

It will also feature X-Ray for textbooks and movies as well as Bluetooth, HDMI out and Wi-Fi.

https://youtu.be/LbcwsSZCKuI

Amazon will ship the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD model starting September 14th and it will cost $199. The 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD will cost $299 and will ship November 20th.

Both are available to order today through Amazon.

Amazon also unveiled the Kindle Fire HD with 4G LTE connectivity through AT&T. The price of the Kindle Fire HD with AT&T 4G LTE will check in with a price tag of $499. It will have an 8.9-inch display and 32GB of storage.

The 4G LTE will cost users $49.99 per year with 250MB per month of data. Amazon will also throw in a $10 Amazon Appstore credit.

Amazon will ship the 4G LTE Kindle Fire HD on November 20th as well and it will be available for order today.