Amazon has just unveiled three new Kindle Fire tablets — two HD models and one SD model. On the high end is the Kindle Fire HD, pictured above. This 8.9-inch slate features a 1920 x 1200 display (254 pixels per inch), a TI OMAP 4470 processor, 16GB of storage, stereo speakers, and a front-facing camera. It will be available in WiFi-only and 4G LTE models, respectively priced at $299 and $499. The LTE model has a $49.99 annual data plan with a monthly 250MB data cap. The Kindle Fire HD will be available on November 20, 2012.
A smaller Kindle Fire HD with a seven-inch screen will be available on September 14, 2012 for $199. It features the same internal components as its larger sibling, but sports a 1,280 x 800 resolution (215 pixels per inch). The seven-inch model is pictured below.
The replacement to last year’s Kindle Fire will carry the name of…wait for it…the Kindle Fire. Let’s just call it the Kindle Fire SD. It has twice as much RAM as the original and nearly twice the processing power. The real kicker is the $159 price, which will surely attract lots of casual customers. The new Kindle Fire ships on September 14, 2012.
These products totally aren’t for me due to the limitations of the highly customized version of Android they use and the shortcomings of the Amazon App Store, but I can see how millions of people would be interested in them. The price of the new Kindle Fire is just huge. $159 is such a low barrier of entry to tablet computing. The price point will snag budget shoppers, those that are on the fence about tablets, and people that want a cheap, new gadget. It also makes life harder for Google’s excellent Nexus 7.
The data plan for the Kindle Fire HD LTE model is also huge. $49.99 a year for LTE access is brilliant. 250MB per month is not enough data for people like you and me, but it should be just fine for most Kindle Fire HD customers. It’s also great for tech nerds that rarely stray from WiFi, but want the option to connect when they do. Amazon must be drooling at the prospect of customers having a portable 24/7 gateway to its digital offerings, ergo the crazy-low price for LTE connectivity.
Tablet computing is just getting bigger and bigger. Products like the Kindle Fire HD and the new Kindle Fire will just accelerate the popularity of tablets. Although I personally have no interest in buying one of Amazon’s new tablets, it’s easy to see that they’ll be successful. Amazon has done a great job at combing affordable hardware and an accessible software experience. They’re going to kill with the 2012 Kindle Fires.
What do you think of the Kindle Fire HD and the new Kindle Fire? Any of you interested in picking one up? If so, which one and why?
It looks pretty good, but I’m gonna wait until they say for sure whether or not there will be an SD card before I decide to pick one up. It’s easy enough to get the Android stores and OS on the devices, but the first one didn’t have enough computing power. Maybe it’ll work better with the new models?
I can guarantee there won’t be. Why would that be a killing blow though? On a smaller screen a lower quality video will maintain sharpness in case it was for you to load up a movie library but I don’t see the difference in plugging a micro usb to a computer and doing the drag and drop.
(my certainty comes from the previous model and the absence on many tablets)
I’ve got no problem with Micro SD or anything, I just want removable storage on this one. 8GB was definitely NOT enough on the first Kindle Fire. 16GB is probably not going to last very long either, at least for me.
The idea is they want you to use Amazon’s streaming services as much as possible. What types of content do you definitely need locally? Personally, I like to have a ton of media onboard for traveling.
I want my portable devices to have plenty of storage space for books and music (LOTS of music), plus all the games and apps I’d no doubt play around with. 8GB (read: 6GB) of space is not enough to fit everything I want.
For instance, utilities. A lot of the space on my Kindle Fire was taken up by utilities – things like a Flashlight app or a compass. My issue was that I didn’t want to get rid of the utilities to make space for other things because there’s always that one moment when you need something badly and remember “Oh, I put that on the cloud to make space for *insert game here*”. I didn’t like that.
I think the data plans are pretty spectacular. If I were in the android tablet market I would choose a Kindle for the data plan and low price of the device. We have an Asus tablet that is coming apart (odd for Asus if you ask me) and I’d rather only pay the premium for an iPad.
Oh and the new Paper White E-Reader is going to sell a boatload. I will be buying one via links on a site.