In hopes of trying to secure a sturdy foothold in the tablet market, Amazon announced today that it will be releasing a new Kindle Fire HDX slate in two display size variants. The latest installment in the Kindle Fire series comes just as rumors of two new iPads poise to disrupt the tablet game to the benefit of Apple at the expense of rivals like Amazon, Samsung, and more. The new Fire HDX, though, encapsulates many of the aspects Kindle Fire users know and love, as well as plenty other new goodies.
“It’s been just two years since we introduced the first Kindle Fire, and the team is innovating at an unbelievable speed,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “2.2 GHz processor, 339 ppi display, new 34% lighter design, Fire OS 3.0, and new exclusive features like the Mayday button, X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, and Prime Instant Video downloads. We’ve worked hard to pack this much hardware, innovation, and customer obsession into these prices.”
As far as specs go, the Kindle Fire HDX will come with two different screen sizes, a 7-inch display and 8.9-inch display. The only other difference between the two variants will be price, though that comes with the territory of having one device larger than the other. The 7-inch Fire HDX with 16GB of internal storage will cost users a respectable $229 with more data storage costing more money. The 8.9-inch with 16GB will run you a heftier $379.
The entire device of both sizes will run on a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor for 3x faster speeds than the previous generation, will operate using Amazon’s latest Fire OS 3.0 Mojito, be powered by a battery with 11 hours worth of mixed usage power (17 for just reading), and have 4G LTE connectivity courtesy of AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
The Fire HDX will also come outfitted with two cameras, a front and rear facing shooter, that are 8megapixels and 8.9megapixels respectively. The front-facing 8mp cam comes with Skype integration for seamless video chatting while the 8.9mp rear cam shoots video in 1080p HD footage.
While the bare bones of the Fire HDX are impressive enough, the latest features ensure user gratification to the max. The new Mayday button allows for instant tech support 24/7/365 remotely in just 15 seconds, the new Mojito OS offers a redesigned and more easily navigable UI.
The Kindle Fire HDX varies in price contingent on amount of internal storage and display size. Pre-orders are currently available for soon-to-be users on Amazon’s Kindle Fire site and both versions of the gadget will be consumer available on October 18.
