Amazon's new gadgets
 

Kindle Fire HD 9

• 8.9", 1920x1200 screen
• TI OMAP 4470 processor
• Dual speakers
• HDMI out port
• Dual-band, MIMO wifi
• Multiple profiles (for children)

$299/$369 for the 16GB/32GB wifi version
$499/$599 for the 32GB/64GB 4G version ($50/yr for 250mb monthly data and 20GB cloud storage)

16GB wifi is about $100 cheaper than the iPad2
32GB 4G version is about $30 cheaper than the 16GB iPad2 3G
32GB/64GB 4G versions are about $220 cheaper than the iPad3 3G

Kindle Fire HD 7

• 7", 1280x800 screen
• Same stuff as above
• Wifi only

$199/$249 for the 16GB/32GB version

Kindle Fire SD

• Similar to the original Kindle Fire
• New processor
• Twice as much RAM

$159

Kindle Fire SD = $60 overpriced IMHO
Lacks SD card slot, no physical volume control
12gig? usable storage isn't all that great IMHO

Kindle Fire HD's = $50 overpriced
Lacks SD card slot, no physical volume control

Its a tough market as far as tablets go. Amazon seems to have a strong following so I bet they do ok with this new line up.

The Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE wireless with 32GB of storage will be available for $499, and also ship on Nov. 20. A $49.99 annual data plan provides 250MB of data transfers per month and 20GB of storage in the cloud. The company did not clarify the screen size of the Kindle Fire HD LTE model.

dot dot dot

The Kindle Fire tablets now have Microsoft Exchange integration. A new email client offers support for Google's Gmail, Microsoft's Exchange and Hotmail.


The 50 bucks for an annual data plan is going to bring them in I bet, get them hooked, then charge them a fortune for overages.

what good is 20 gig cloud storage if you only get 250 MEG a month ?

You cannot even download 1 movie :(

They need to have 3-5 gig a month pricing for $10-$15 a month to make it interesting....

soarer

Totally unrealistic sadly. 3G/4G is not designed for streaming movies.

*Advertising supported.
* locked to Amazon's market
* a not-quite-standard version of Android.
* No SD card.

No thanks, for my use. The one thing that seems cool to me, despite that, are the 16:10 screen (for some things, a nice step between the 16:9 of most Android tablets, and the 4:3 Apple uses).

I haven't seen an 8.9" tablet to have a sense how the size compares to the 9.7/10.1" standard; I've found absolutely no use for the bigger size (anything I might do with that, I can either do more conveniently on a 7" or can do better on a subnotebook with a real keyboard) but people do like their iPads, and the 8.9" form factor might just be enough smaller to be worth getting for those of us put off by the larger tablets.

Trying to think more generally:
The $159 Fire SD looks like a pretty good deal for those wanting a bare-bones mostly-an-eReader device.

I'm not sure who the HD 7" would be good for, when the Nexus 7 is the same price with no real down-side. Basically, just the Amazon tie-ins for those who are in their ecosystem.

The 8.9" is priced very attractively compared to 9.7"/10.1" tablets, and for those who want a larger one mainly as an eReader and streaming media player, it seems it might be enough cheaper to justify the lack of some capabilities...

--

Also haven't seen if these have GPS or not, which was missing on the original Fire.

Don't try telling mooper that. *lol*

Same here. I remain perfectly happy with my HP Touchpad bought at last year's mad scramble.

I resold mine as soon as a native Android tablet I liked came out (Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0) ; 7" is a much better form factor for me, and never found much use for the larger tablet with either Android or the native WebOS.

Can't complain, though; I paid $115 with tax and shipping, and got the same amount back several months later.

I may actually end up getting the SD for someone as a Christmas gift - my aunt loves her (older-generation, e-ink) Kindle and might enjoy the more flexible device.

If Apple came out with this plan they would be hounded for being clueless about what consumers want. Amazon comes out with it and they are heralded as saviors by the anti-Apple crowd. How ironic.

Nexus 7 also doesn't have a SD-card slot.

I don't think any of the Kindle Fires are ad-supported. To my knowledge, the Kindle e-readers specifically marketed as "with Special Offers" are the only ad-supported tablets.

The one thing that does attract me is the Free Time app which allows you to create different profiles for different people. I had a thread on here earlier about how it might be difficult to prevent kids from inadvertently purchasing all sorts of music/apps/movies through the Amazon apps. Now, you can restrict to what is being shown depending on the profile loaded.

The burning question I have is if the older Kindle Fires will also get this Free Time app.

Apparently they all are:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/06/n...-ad-supported/

I would guess that the data limits are only on 3G/4g, and not on WiFi. You could store all your stuff in the cloud, and use WiFi when you had it to access, when not dip into your 250 meg limit (which probably will go very fast).

A big question here is: What is the SD battery life? I adore my older Kindle specifically because I go a month or more without worrying about the battery.

Sorry, "no real down side relative to the Fire HD" not necessarily compared to other tablets out there (of course, the GT2 7.0 I've got and love isn't perfect; screen resolution is lower, and price is higher, but it does have the broadest function of this set of 7" tablets.)

The new ones appear to be; ScottC beat me to the link.

Good question. I'd hope it's better than my GT2, which goes about 2-3 days of typical use for me, but I'm sure it won't be a month or more even with the wifi off when slept.