Mobile Magazine » kindle fire http://www.mobilemag.com Gadgets, Smartphones, Android Tablets, iPhone, iPad and all the latest tech you'd expect. Thu, 23 May 2013 21:05:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 A Look at Some of the Best Apps for your New Kindle Fire Tablet http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/31/a-look-at-some-of-the-best-apps-for-your-new-kindle-fire-tablet/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/31/a-look-at-some-of-the-best-apps-for-your-new-kindle-fire-tablet/#comments Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:42:58 +0000 Andrew Grush http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=143326 Finally received that brand new Kindle Fire or Fire HD for Christmas this year? If Santa brought you one of Amazon's popular tablet devices this holiday season, you might now be wondering “What's next?”

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Finally received that brand new Kindle Fire or Fire HD for Christmas this year? If Santa brought you one of Amazon’s popular tablet devices this holiday season, you might now be wondering “What’s next?”

At around 50,000 apps, the Amazon AppStore doesn’t have nearly as many apps as what you’ll find with Apple or with Google’s Play Store. That said, 50,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

Whether you are looking for general entertainment, productivity or gaming– you’ll find there are many decent apps out there for your new tablet. While it is never a bad idea to just jump and explore for yourself, we’ll do our best to at least recommend a few reasonably popular Kindle apps.

Office Software

Documents To Go 3.0 Main App:

Probably considered the “de facto” standard for Android Office Suites. Not everyone loves Documents to Go, but it works well enough at what it claims to do. For free, it provides a reasonably decent way to view your documents, excel files and more.

With the purchase of the “full version” you also get the ability to edit. Again, this is a no frills solution. If you don’t plan on doing much ‘hardcore’ writing or office productivity, this will probably be good enough.

Considering the Fire and Fire HD are more consumption devices than anything, this will probably be the case.

OfficeSuite Professional 6:

I personally use this software for my Acer Iconia Tab. This is an excellent suite with a decent amount of features. On the downside? It is also very expensive at $14.99 through the Amazon AppStore. Besides content creation for word docs and excel files, you’ll also find easy PDF and PowerPoint viewing.

There is also a feature with OfficeSuite that allows you to convert text documents over to PDF files. Interestingly enough, OfficeSuite also offers Google Docs integration for accessing your Docs files and editing them in OfficeSuite.

If you think you will ever need to do true productivity work on your tablet, this is probably a better solution than Documents to Go for most users.

Image Editor

If you are looking for a flexible yet full-featured photo editor, PicShop is probably one of the best you’ll find for the Kindle Fire and Fire HD. The software supports HD images and allows editing of brightness, blur, color saturation, and gives you control over things like RedEye and the ability to crop, rotate and flip images.

Beyond that, you can add speech bubbles, enter into a Sketch Mode with different brushes and much more. There are also social integration options with Facebook, email and Twitter.

To get the most out of PicShop, you’ll want the full version for $2.50. If you are looking for a more basic photo editing experience, there is also a Lite variant that is completely free through the Amazon AppStore.

Expanded Storage

Let’s face it, with no microSD expansion, there might come a time when you want more file space. This is especially important if you want an easy way to transfer those files to your tablet without syncing it to your computer.
There are pretty much two major choices to consider here: DropBox or Box. Honestly, both are quite similar. I’m not going to go into a ton of detail here, but I will say that I use DropBox for my own needs.

Both services have a wide support for different devices, though only DropBox has Linux support. Both cloud services work with most mobile platforms. To my knowledge, Box is the only one that also supports Windows Phone devices if you happen to have one, though.

News

In today’s age, few of us are actively subscribing to print magazines and newspapers, instead opting to get our news the digital way. Listing a bunch of major news publications is pointless here because it will likely come down to taste.

That said, if you want good socially-driven news that is constantly updated with new information and presented with a convenient and friendly layout, you should check out FlipBoard. The magazine-style app looks great on your tablet and has easy social sharing tools that work with Facebook and Twitter.

Looking for an RSS reader for your news and information needs instead? The free EasyRSS app is probably one of your best bets. The UI is simple and works great, and the app itself is highly rated as one of the best you’ll find for Kindle Fire devices.

Messaging

While there are several different messenger programs for Kindle Fire users, I’ve found that imo Messenger is one of the best and works great with the Kindle Fire. There is a wide range of support for services here as well: Facebook Chat, Skype, ICQ/AIM, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, Steam, Jabber and more.

Another highly recommended messaging app would be the official Skype app, which is highly polished and great for your voice/vid calling needs for Android devices including the Kindle Fire line.

Weather

Weather apps are probably one of the most commonly downloaded apps for any type of mobile device. For the Kindle Fire line, one of the best out there is AccuWeather for Android. With radar overlays on Google Maps, severe weather notices, and hour-by-hour forecasts– you are covered with this app. There is also a platinium version on sale right now for $.99. 

Games

Games are pretty much one of the top reasons families buy tablets. Pointing out the ‘best’ games for the Kindle Fire tablet line is pretty difficult for a number of reasons, the biggest being that everyone has different tastes when it comes to games.

That said, here are a few from different genres that we highly recommend:

Where’s My Water: This physics-based game is all about trying to direct streams of water into an alligator’s shower. Sounds odd, but it is very fun, and equally addictive. Whether you have young ones around or not, this Disney game is quite worth the play.

Minecraft Pocket Edition: Minecraft has become a cult classic in the gaming world, and the Pocket Edition is no different. The Fire version of the game is just like the regular, allowing you to build a functioning world out of nothing but blocks. The game is on the expensive side for a Kindle Fire game at $6.99 but is worth it if you are into the series at all.

Diner Dash: This is a time-management game, which basically puts you in charge of a restaurant. You control the owner/server as she fetches order tickets, delivers food, clears tables and more. Essentially this game is simulating work, which might not sound fun but somehow is nonetheless.

Angry Birds Star Wars: There are many great Angry Birds games out there, and this is the latest one. Combining the best of Angry Birds with concepts from Star Wars, this game looks beautiful and is very addictive and fun to play as well.

Music

There are tons of Android music players out there. Some are simple and let you just play songs you’ve uploaded to your tablets, others are about streaming. This list is getting massive enough so we’ll recommend just two if you’ve just picked up that Kindle Fire for the first time and aren’t sure what to download.

Spotify: While this requires a subscription to make the most of it, it is probably worth it if you really love listening to music. This streaming service has a massive library of songs available for play on demand.

Pandora: Pandora is all about adding songs and genre types you like, and letting it generate a list of similar sounding tunes. This is a great app if you are looking to discover new songs you’ve never heard of before.

Video

Amazon has some very good services of its own here, especially if you are a Prime owner. That said, you will also want to pick up the standard video apps like Hulu Plus and Netflix, though both do require monthly fees.

Conclusion

There are many, many more great apps out there but you should at least have a rough idea now of a few good apps to help you get started. After checking some of these out, it never hurts to keep exploring and finding others that suite your needs.

Did we miss an app that you feel is one of the best that the Kindle has to offer? Let us know about the app in the comments!

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/31/a-look-at-some-of-the-best-apps-for-your-new-kindle-fire-tablet/feed/ 5 Entire Kindle Fire Family on Sale Today Only, for Mom’s At Least http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/12/kindle-fire-family-dea/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/12/kindle-fire-family-dea/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:34:47 +0000 Andrew Grush http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=142292 On Monday we reported that the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire was arriving at a stunningly low $250, which was $50 off. Unfortunately, it was a one day deal, only. The good news is that now it seems that Amazon is repeating the deal with all of the Kindle Fire family. You can now get the original Kindle Fire for $20 off, the 7-inch HD model for $25 off and the 8.9-inch Fire HD for $50 off.

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On Monday we reported that the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire was arriving at a stunningly low $250, which was $50 off. Unfortunately, it was a one day deal, only. The good news is that now it seems that Amazon is repeating the deal with all of the Kindle Fire family. You can now get the original Kindle Fire for $20 off, the 7-inch HD model for $25 off and the 8.9-inch Fire HD for $50 off.

The catch? You need to be an Amazon Mom with an active Amazon Prime subscription. So what’s that? Basically it is a maternal-focused membership giving discounts on diapers, wipes and more. It is free to join, and you don’t really even have to be a mom.

Again, you will also need a paid Amazon Prime subscription to get in on this deal though. So what do you think? Interested in picking up a member of the Kindle Fire family on the cheap?

[ source ]

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/12/kindle-fire-family-dea/feed/ 0 Amazon Kindle FreeTime gives you an Easy Way to Restrict Kid’s Access http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/05/amazon-kindle-freetime-gives-you-an-easy-way-to-restrict-kids-access/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/05/amazon-kindle-freetime-gives-you-an-easy-way-to-restrict-kids-access/#comments Wed, 05 Dec 2012 14:05:29 +0000 Andrew Grush http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=141810 Looking to get your family a Kindle Fire or Fire HD this holiday season? For those with small children, that means doing your best to watch what apps they are using and to make sure they aren't getting into settings they shouldn't be. The good news is that Amazon has now released a tool to make life much easier on parents with Kindle Fire hardware.

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Looking to get your family a Kindle Fire or Fire HD this holiday season? For those with small children, that means doing your best to watch what apps they are using and to make sure they aren’t getting into settings they shouldn’t be. The good news is that Amazon has now released a tool to make life much easier on parents with Kindle Fire hardware.

Kindle FreeTime is a subscription app that works by allowing kids to have personalized logins and gives them access to only family-approved apps and programs. Parents can also set time limits and can even have time limits on specific categories. For example, may you just want non-education games to have a 20 minute daily lockout, but you will allow a full hour for education games.

As you probably would expect the app also keeps your kids from seeing any ads, and prevents watching of video on demand or from making in-app prucahses.

The bad news is that paying for this kind of feature is a bit pricey. First, you need a subscription to Amazon Prime. After that, you will need to pay $2.99 a month per child, or for $6.99 you can get a family-wide license that allows use with up to six different accounts for your kids.

The feature officially roles out in the next few weeks and will also have a month trial that allows you to make sure it actually does what you want before you spend any of your money on it. What do you think, worth paying the money for the feature or not?

[ source ]

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/12/05/amazon-kindle-freetime-gives-you-an-easy-way-to-restrict-kids-access/feed/ 0 Google Nexus 7 vs. Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/11/21/google-nexus-7-vs-amazon-kindle-fire-hd-8-9/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/11/21/google-nexus-7-vs-amazon-kindle-fire-hd-8-9/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:17:58 +0000 Michael Kwan http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=140978 Many people commented that a much better alternative to Kindle Fire HD 8.9" is the Google Nexus 7, so we thought it would be apt to put together that viable comparison too.

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Earlier this week, we compared the Kindle Fire and new iPad in a tablet shootout. Many people commented that a much better alternative to Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is the Google Nexus 7, so we thought it would be apt to put together that viable comparison too.

Screen Size and Resolution

Starting with the most obvious difference, the Nexus 7 is the smaller of the two with its 7-inch display running a resolution of 1280×800 pixels for a density of 216ppi. The Amazon offering has an 8.9-inch display at 1920×1200 pixels for a density fo 254ppi. The Kindle Fire HD is both bigger and has better pixel density, making for a better display.

Size and Weight

This is largely a matter of personal preference, since some people prefer one form factor over the other. Not surprisingly, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is larger and heavier than the Nexus 7. It weighs 567 grams (vs 340 grams) and measures 164 x 240 x 8.8mm (vs 120 x 198.5 x 10.5mm). It is interesting that the Kindle is thinner though.

Performance

While both tablets are perfectly capable, the Nexus 7 looks like it wins on paper with its NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core 1.3GHz processor. The Kindle Fire HD has a TI OMAP 4470 dual core 1.5GHz. That’s a higher clock speed, but the Nexus 7 has more cores. Both tablets have 1GB of RAM.

Storage

Looking at just the WiFi-only model of the Kindle Fire 8.9″, both it and the Nexus 7 are offered in your choice of 16GB and 32GB of capacity with neither offering a memory card slot. If you opt for the LTE version of the Fire, you can get up to 64GB.

Wireless

Speaking of LTE, that’s one feature that differentiates the Fire from the Nexus 7, the latter of which is only offered with up to HSPA+. Naturally, both get Wi-Fi. The downside is the LTE version of the Kindle Fire HD costs a whopping $200 more than its WiFi-only version.

Camera

Both tablets rock a front-facing camera in the one-megapixel range for video chat, lacking a rear camera for any kind of primary shooting.

Operating System

While it is certainly true that both tablets are powered by Google Android, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is heavily skinned with the Amazon OS, complete with heavy Amazon store integration. In fact, it ships with “Special Offers” advertisements that cost $15 to remove. You also don’t get the full Google Play Store. The Nexus 7, on the other hand, is a pure Google experience with the Google Play Store and no integrated “Special Offers” ads. The Nexus 7 wins here for most users.

Price

The Nexus 7 is the cheaper of the two, starting at just $200. The similarly equipped 16GB Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is $100 more at $300. Naturally, if you want wireless data or more storage, be prepared to pay more money.

Who Wins?

Unless you are really bent on having that larger 8.9-inch display with better pixel density or you really like the Amazon storefront being front and center, the Nexus 7 is likely the better bet here. It’s cheaper and it’s more versatile with its vanilla Android OS and Play Store access.

Buy Android Tablets

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/11/21/google-nexus-7-vs-amazon-kindle-fire-hd-8-9/feed/ 7 What’s Better: Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ or New Apple iPad? http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/11/19/whats-better-kindle-fire-hd-8-9-or-new-apple-ipad/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/11/19/whats-better-kindle-fire-hd-8-9-or-new-apple-ipad/#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:20:55 +0000 Michael Kwan http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=140873 The surprising thing is that even though the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" starts at a full $200 cheaper than the starting price for the Apple iPad ($299 vs. $499), the specs on paper are actually very, very comparable.

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Are you shopping for a new tablet this holiday season? Are you disheartened that the Samsung Nexus 10 is sold out? Fret not, because this is probably one of the best times to be a tablet customer. If you can’t decide between the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ and the new Apple iPad, this is the comparison for you.

The surprising thing is that even though the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ starts at a full $200 cheaper than the starting price for the Apple iPad ($299 vs. $499), the specs on paper are actually very, very comparable.

Display

The iPad has a slightly larger 9.7-inch 2048×1536 display, but the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ isn’t that far behind with its 1920×1200 panel. In fact, at 254ppi, the Kindle Fire HD has a touchscreen that’s only a touch less pixel-dense than the 264ppi iPad.

Dimensions and Weight

Because they have similarly-sized displays, it’s not surprising that the physical dimensions are pretty close too. The Kindle Fire HD is 164 x 240 x 8.8mm, while the iPad is 185.7 x 241.3 x 9.4mm. Similarly, the weight of the Kindle Fire HD is 567 grams, which is a little lighter than the 653g iPad.

Performance Specs

The new iPad is powered by a dual core Apple A6X processor running at 1.5GHz, while the new Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ has a dual-core TI OMAP 4470 1.5GHz processor. They both have 1GB of RAM too. Based on this, the actual performance for the average consumer should be roughly comparable.

Storage

The starting point for the both tablets is at 16GB. The Kindle Fire HD can get bumped to 32GB, as can the iPad, but it’s only the iPad that can go even further with 64GB of storage. Of course, you’ll have to pay more money for that too.

Wireless Connectivity

Both tablets are available in your choice of WiFi-only or Wi-Fi plus LTE. If you need to stay connected, either tablet will do the job.

Camera

While both tablets have a front-facing camera (1MP on the Kindle Fire HD, 1.2MP on the iPad) for video chats, only Apple’s tablet has a 5MP rear camera. This isn’t a huge deal–the Nexus 7 doesn’t have a rear camera either–but it could be an important differentiator for some people.

OS and Apps

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is powered by a modified version of Google Android, but it does not have access to the full Google Play Store. You can only go through the Amazon Appstore, which limits your options. At the same time, some people might prefer the Amazon-ified OS over a more conventional Android interface, since it is simpler and more geared toward media consumption. The iPad, of course, is powered by iOS and comes backed by Apple’s gigantic App Store. If you want tablet apps, not much can compete with Apple’s juggernaut at this point.

Price

As mentioned at the top, this is really where the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ beats the new iPad by a long shot. Starting at $299, Amazon’s tablet is only a little more than half the price of an equivalent iPad. Considering that the core guts are so comparable, it may be hard to justify the Apple tax on the iPad, but it is arguable that iOS is superior and there are more iPad apps.

For my part, if you’re choosing between these two and you’d rather buy into the Apple ecosystem rather than the Amazon ecosystem, it might make more sense to consider the $329 iPad mini instead. It’s not as powerful as its bigger iPad 4 cousin, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper too.

 

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/11/19/whats-better-kindle-fire-hd-8-9-or-new-apple-ipad/feed/ 7 Nook HD and HD+ Announced, Finally a Worthwhile Fire Competitor? http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/26/nook-hd-and-hd-announced-finally-a-worthwhile-fire-competitor/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/26/nook-hd-and-hd-announced-finally-a-worthwhile-fire-competitor/#comments Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:50:13 +0000 Andrew Grush http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=138539 Barnes & Noble has yet to truly excite us with their tablet offerings, but this might finally be changing. Today they announced a brand new set of tablets, the Nook HD and HD+.

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Barnes & Noble has yet to truly excite us with their tablet offerings, but this might finally be changing. Today they announced a brand new set of tablets, the Nook HD and HD+. There is a 7-inch model with 8GB of storage for $199, and 9-inch Nook HD+ model with 32GB of storage for $299.

Is the new line a worthwhile upgrade from the Nook tablet and Nook Color? Absolutely. The Nook Tablet has a 1024×600 resolution, the HD line has a 1440×900. Other changes include Android 4.0 as the basis, not Android 2.3. Not enough of a reason? How about a dual-core 1.3GHz (HD) or 1.5Ghz dual-core processor (HD+), as opposed to the slightly slower 1GHz dual-core in the Nook Tablet? All around, this is a worthwhile upgrade. The screen is crisper, the graphics are better. The Nook Color is nothing more than a color e-reader with a few apps, the Nook Tablet is slightly above that in capability. The Nook HD and HD+ are both in an entirely different league than any of B&N’s previous offerings.

The new tablets look pretty good, and with a new “Nook Video” service coming this fall, there are more reasons to own a Nook HD tablet than ever before. Are the changes enough to truly set them apart from the Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7? Yes and no, but we’ll take a look at that in another upcoming post.

[ source ]

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/26/nook-hd-and-hd-announced-finally-a-worthwhile-fire-competitor/feed/ 3 Walmart Stops Selling Amazon Kindle and Kindle Fire http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/21/walmart-stops-selling-amazon-kindle-and-kindle-fire/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/21/walmart-stops-selling-amazon-kindle-and-kindle-fire/#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:03:23 +0000 Michael Kwan http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=138345 However, it looks like sales of the Kindle products at Walmart aren't quite so hot and the mega-retailer has decided to stop stocking Amazon's e-readers and tablets.

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If you ask most people, they’ll tell you that the Amazon Kindle is pretty much the de facto e-book reader on the market today and that the Kindle Fire tablet has been pretty darn popular too. However, it looks like sales of the Kindle products at Walmart aren’t quite so hot and the mega-retailer has decided to stop stocking Amazon’s e-readers and tablets.

This comes straight from Walmart PR:

Recently, Walmart Stores, Inc. made a business decision to not carry current Amazon products beyond our purchase commitments and existing inventory.
Our customers trust us to provide a broad assortment of products at everyday low prices, and we approach every merchandising decision through this lens.
We will continue to offer our customers a broad assortment of tablets, eReaders and accessories at a variety of great price points. This decision is consistent with our overall merchandising strategy.

So, what are we supposed to glean from this? Well, we could think that it has to do with sales figures and the Kindle isn’t performing on Walmart’s shelves as well as they would have liked. It might also have to do with money in that Amazon might not be offering Walmart the kind of margins that it would like to have either. Then again, there could be a much more compelling reason.

Amazon directly competes with Walmart in just about everything. You want a physical book? Amazon and Walmart both sell that. You want a video game? They both sell that too. You want furniture, groceries, textiles, shoes, luggage, watches, light fixtures or bicycles? Both Amazon and Walmart sell all of that. In a sense, by stocking the Kindle family, Walmart becomes a bit of an Amazon showroom. This could be the same reason why Target decided to pull the Kindle from its shelves too.

Of course, I could be reading far too much into this, but I think it is amazing how Amazon has its hands in everything. You buy the tablet from them, so you can buy the digital content from them. Even if you buy an iPad or some other device instead, you can buy that product from Amazon too and there’s a good chance that you might get the Kindle app to buy more content. They get paid at every step of the way.

[Source]

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/21/walmart-stops-selling-amazon-kindle-and-kindle-fire/feed/ 0 No Way To Eliminate Ads from Amazon Kindle Fire http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/08/no-way-to-eliminate-ads-from-amazon-kindle-fire/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/08/no-way-to-eliminate-ads-from-amazon-kindle-fire/#comments Sat, 08 Sep 2012 14:47:25 +0000 Michael Kwan http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=137696 Unfortunately, there could be a rather monumental downside to the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD: you can't turn off the ads.

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The new family of Kindle Fire tablets are all pretty sweet, especially with the upgraded specs and the availability of the $50 per year 4G LTE data plan. Unfortunately, there could be a rather monumental downside to the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD: you can’t turn off the ads.

Yes, we already know about the regular ad-supported Amazon Kindle e-reader that lets you save a few bucks over the version that isn’t ad-supported, but it turns out that the full range of Kindle Fire tablets will not have the option for you to opt out of the ads. Even if you buy the range-topping $499 model, you’re going to be stuck with the “Special Offer” promotions on your lock screen.

This is in stark contrast to an earlier email from Amazon’s support team that stated you would have the option to “unsubscribe” from Special Offers. As it turns out, you can’t. No matter what you do, short of rooting and hacking your Kindle Fire, you’re going to see these “Special Offers” on your lock screen. Granted, they could be seen as a “value added” proposition that lets you know about deals with the Amazon store, but they’re still ads.

I don’t think this will be a deal breaker for most people interested in the Kindle Fire HD, but it could provide them with another reason to consider a different Android tablet altogether.

[Source]

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/08/no-way-to-eliminate-ads-from-amazon-kindle-fire/feed/ 2 Kindle Fire Just became a Whole Lot Better, Introducing the Fire HD http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/06/kindle-fire-just-became-a-whole-lot-better-introducing-the-fire-hd/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/06/kindle-fire-just-became-a-whole-lot-better-introducing-the-fire-hd/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:49:56 +0000 Andrew Grush http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=137634 The Kindle Fire's successors are here. There are three flavors to choose from, the first of which is an entry model at $169. Essentially, the $169 Fire is the same as the OG Fire except it has double the RAM and a slightly faster processor.

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The Kindle Fire’s successors are here. There are three flavors to choose from, the first of which is an entry model at $169. Essentially, the $169 Fire is the same as the OG Fire except it has double the RAM and a slightly faster processor.

The real show-winner at Amazon’s press event was the Kindle Fire HD. The Fire HD will come in both a 7-inch and 8.9-inch package. While 8.9-inches is smaller then the rumored 10-incher, it’s still more room than you’d get with a 7-inch.

What kind of Fire Power (pun intended) do you get with the Kindle Fire HD? Here’s a quick rundown of the specs:

  • 8.9-inch IPS touchscreen display with 1920 x 1200 resolution OR 7-inch IPS
  • TI OMAP 4470 processor said to outperform the current Tegra 3 SoC
  • HDMI out
  • HD Front-facing cam with customized Skype app
  • 16GB memory
  • Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz and MIMO support
  • Bluetooth
  • Fire OS – the same Android-based UI we know and love
  • Whisperync for Voice – syncs audiobooks with reading
  • Whispersync for Games– save game progress and continue progress from the last saved session on multiple devices
  • X-Ray for movies – find out details about movie characters/actors while playing a movie
  • X-Ray for ebooks– offers book-related details taken from the web
  • Exchange support and improved email
  • Facebook integration
  • Kindle FreeTime with multiple profiles, for kids

When can you get your hands on the new Kindle Fire HD? The preorders start today, though the 7-inch $199 Fire HD will ship first on September 14th. The 8.9-inch will actually have two versions itself shipping in November, a $299 model and $499 4G LTE variant. Keep in mind, these are the U.S. Launch targets. International release scheduling is still unknown.

What do you think? Excited by the Fire HD, or would you rather stick to the Nexus 7 or upcoming iPad Mini?

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 6, 2012– (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Less than one year ago, Amazon introduced Kindle Fire—combining 15 years of innovation into a fully-integrated, end-to-end service for customers. Kindle Fire quickly became the most successful product launch in the history of Amazon.com, earning over 10,000 5-star customer reviews, remaining the #1 best-selling product across the millions of items available on Amazon since its introduction, and capturing 22% of U.S. tablet sales in just nine months. Today, Amazon is excited to announce that it’s taking on the high-end with Kindle Fire HD—the next generation of Kindle Fire.

The Kindle Fire HD family—the most-advanced tablets:

  • Ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless, powered by the latest generation 4G chipset, support for all 10 4G bands, and Amazon’s breakthrough 4G LTE data package—customers save hundreds of dollars in the first year compared to other 4G tablets.
  • Stunning custom HD display with in-plane switching, Advanced True Wide polarizing filter and custom laminated touch sensor for 25% less glare with rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle.
  • Fastest Wi-Fi of any tablet—dual antenna, dual-band, and MIMO—40% faster downloads and streaming compared to the next fastest tablet.
  • High-performance processor and graphics engine for snappy and smooth performance.
  • Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio—the standard in high-end audio—available for the first time on a tablet.
  • Kindle Fire HD starts with 16 GB of local storage, enough to accommodate the larger file sizes of HD content.
  • Exceptional battery life—7” Kindle Fire HD gets 11 hours of battery life.
  • Front-facing HD camera with custom Skype application for video calling from anywhere in the world.
  • New Amazon-exclusive features like X-Ray for Movies, X-Ray for Textbooks, Immersion Reading, Whispersync for Voice, Whispersync for Games, and Kindle FreeTime.
  • World’s best content ecosystem—over 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, apps, games, books, audiobooks and magazines.
  • Best cross-platform interoperability, with Amazon apps available on the largest number of devices and platforms so customers can access content anytime, anywhere.
  • Amazon’s top-rated, world-class customer service.

Amazon is also introducing an all-new upgraded version of the best-selling standard definition Kindle Fire with a faster processor, twice the memory and longer battery life—all for an even lower breakthrough price—only $159. Meet the all-new Kindle Fire family at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd.

“We’re taking on the most popular price point for a tablet, $499, but doubling the storage and incredibly, adding ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Kindle Fire HD is not only the most-advanced hardware, it’s also a service. When combined with our enormous content ecosystem, unmatched cross-platform interoperability and standard-setting customer service, we hope people will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best high-end tablet anywhere, at any price.”

The Best Hardware

Stunning Custom HD Display

The 8.9” display on Kindle Fire HD features an incredible 254 pixels per inch with a resolution of 1920×1200, with pixels that are indistinguishable to the human eye. The 7” Kindle Fire HD features a stunning HD display with 1280×800 resolution that delivers deep, detailed contrast and rich, natural color. Kindle Fire HD also uses Gorilla Glass to provide superior strength and reliability. Kindle Fire HD starts with excellent resolution, but that is only the beginning—Amazon also added custom features that reduce glare and improve color saturation at any viewing angle.

Most tablet displays are made up of two pieces of glass—an LCD on the bottom and a touch sensor on the top, separated by an air gap. This air gap allows light to come through the touch sensor and reflect off the LCD, which causes added glare for the user. Fire HD solves this air gap problem by laminating the touch sensor and the LCD together into a single layer of glass, creating a display that is easy to view even in overhead light, and reducing glare by 25% relative to the latest generation iPad.

Like many tablets, Kindle Fire HD uses in-plane switching (IPS) to improve color reproduction. But displays that only use IPS still appear washed out at various angles, such as laid sideways in bed, flat on a table, or propped up in a case. Fire HD features an Advanced True Wide polarizing filter that is applied directly to the LCD panel. This results in a display that shows the same deep contrast and rich, detailed color from any angle.

High-End Laptop-Quality Wi-Fi—40% Faster Downloads and High-Speed Streaming

HD content has much larger file sizes than standard definition content—for example, Marvel’s The Avengers in standard definition is 785 MB, but in HD, The Avengers is 2.97 GB. Files of this size require the very latest in Wi-Fi technology to download or stream the HD content quickly and reliably—anything else results in buffering, slow downloads and dropped connections. Many Wi-Fi enabled devices only use the 2.4 GHz wireless frequency. This frequency is crowded since it is used by everything from other tablets to microwave ovens, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, not to mention the neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks. Kindle Fire HD circumvents this congestion with state-of-the-art dual-band Wi-Fi. Kindle Fire HD can automatically switch between the 2.4 GHz network and the newer, less crowded 5 GHz network, resulting in better range and less interference. In addition, dual antennas and Multiple In/Multiple Out (MIMO) allow for higher bandwidth and longer range. The new Kindle Fire HD is the first tablet to market with all three of these latest generation Wi-Fi technologies—dual-band support, dual antennas, and MIMO. This is the first time this state-of-the-art Wi-Fi technology has been offered in a tablet, resulting in 40% faster throughput compared to the latest generation iPad.

Latest Generation 4G LTE Wireless

The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with ultra-fast 4G LTE, with download speeds as fast as Wi-Fi. To keep the 4G Kindle Fire HD just 8.8 mm thin, Amazon custom-designed its 4G wireless modem to be just 2.2 mm. Some 4G devices don’t support all of the non-4G bands—Kindle Fire HD includes support for 10-bands, so even if a customer doesn’t have perfect 4G coverage, the Kindle will fall back to the fastest available 3G speeds.

Amazon’s Breakthrough 4G LTE Data Package

The 4G Kindle Fire HD comes with the most affordable 4G tablet data package. Customers will have access to a 12-month data plan with 250MB per month, 20GB of Amazon Cloud storage, and a $10 credit in the Amazon Appstore for a one-time cost of $49.99. In fact, when you combine the cost of the device and the data plan, customers who purchase the Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE will pay over $400 less than latest generation iPad owners in the first year of ownership. Customers can also choose to upgrade to 3 GB or 5 GB data plans from AT&T directly from the device.

8 GB of Storage is Not Enough for an HD Tablet

Customers want to enjoy HD content if they have an HD tablet—and 8 GB of on-device storage isn’t enough for the larger HD file sizes. The 7” Kindle Fire HD is available with 16 GB or 32 GB of on-device storage, and the large screen Kindle Fire is available with 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of on-device storage. This large on-device storage capacity is in addition to the free storage Amazon provides for Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud. Amazon digital content is automatically backed up for free in the Amazon Cloud’s Worry-Free Archive where it’s available anytime.

Powerful World-Class Processor—Snappy and Smooth

An HD display and HD content must be driven by a powerful processor and optimized software. The Kindle Fire HD family features world-class processors and the new Imagination Technologies graphics engine for lightning-fast HD graphics and excellent fluidity. The 8.9” Kindle Fire HD is powered by the latest generation OMAP4 4470 processor and Imagination SGX544 graphics engine capable of over 12 billion floating point operations per second—50 percent more than Tegra 3, and both Kindle Fire HD 7” and 8.9” come with higher memory bandwidth than Tegra 3. Combining the latest generation processors with significant customization of the Kindle Fire software by Amazon engineers results in a snappy and smooth experience for the user.

Dual Stereo Speakers and Exclusive Dolby Audio—The New Standard for Tablet Audio

Customers shouldn’t need to wear headphones while watching a movie on a tablet to get excellent sound. Kindle Fire HD solves this by combining dual stereo speakers with the next generation Dolby Digital Plus audio platform—the standard in high performance audio—to offer a world-class audio experience. Dolby’s audio suite for Kindle Fire HD includes technology used to adjust volume and deliver easier-to-understand dialogue in movies and TV shows. Kindle Fire HD automatically optimizes the audio profile based on what a customer is doing, such as watching a movie, listening to music, using third party apps like Pandora and Netflix, and also optimizes for headphones versus speakers. All of these pieces combine to create an exceptional audio experience that results in clearer, crisper and balanced sound quality.

11 Hours of Battery Life

The 7” Kindle Fire HD is optimized to deliver high performance without sacrificing battery life, delivering over 11 hours of battery life.

Thin and Light

Even with a custom display, a powerful processor, extra speakers and dual-band/dual-antenna Wi-Fi, the new Kindle Fire HD is extremely light and thin. In fact, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” weighs only 20 ounces and is just 8.8 mm thin. Kindle Fire HD 7” is small enough to take everywhere and light enough to hold easily and comfortably in one hand.

Connect with Bluetooth and HDMI

Kindle Fire HD supports Bluetooth, enabling customers to connect their wireless Bluetooth headphones or Bluetooth speakers to listen to songs, videos or audiobooks. With Bluetooth connectivity, customers can also easily connect to a wide range of Bluetooth-enabled keyboards. HDMI out makes it easy for customers to connect the Kindle Fire HD to their big-screen TV to enjoy their favorite HD videos and photos.

Stay in Touch with Front-Facing HD Camera

The new Kindle Fire HD features a front-facing HD camera. Skype created a customized app tailored for Kindle Fire HD that is ready to use out of the box for free HD video calls at home and abroad. Kindle Fire HD makes it easy for the over 500 million customers already using Skype to get in touch with friends and family.

Beautiful Leather Covers

Covers for Kindle Fire HD feature a premium textured leather exterior in a variety of colors and a subtle woven nylon interior to provide the lightest and thinnest form of protection. The integrated magnetic clasp ensures the cover remains securely closed while in a backpack, purse, or briefcase. The cover automatically wakes Kindle Fire HD upon opening and puts it to sleep when closed, making it easy to dive right back into whatever content a customer is enjoying.

All-New Features Only Amazon Can Offer

X-Ray for Books

One year ago, Amazon introduced X-Ray on Kindle Touch, and customers loved it. Amazon is extending X-Ray to books on Kindle Fire, making it easier than ever for customers to learn more about the content they love by exploring the “bones of the book.” With a single tap, readers can see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon’s community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers.

X-Ray for Movies

“X-Ray for Movies” is a new feature that revolutionizes the movie experience by bringing the power of IMDb directly to movies on Kindle Fire HD, accessible with a simple tap. Without ever leaving the movie, customers can look up any actor in the scene or movie, see what other movies they have been in, and view photos, biographies and more. X-Ray is offered only by Amazon and is exclusive to the Amazon ecosystem. IMDb, an Amazon company for 14 years, is the #1 movie website in the world with more than 160 million monthly unique visitors worldwide.

X-Ray for Textbooks

Glossaries in print textbooks contain the most important information for students, but they’re placed inconveniently in the back of the book. And glossaries don’t always contain enough information for students working to understand new concepts. X-Ray for Textbooks solves these problems by integrating the glossary directly into each textbook page and by algorithmically assembling related data from Wikipedia and YouTube.

Immersion Reading

Research supports that readers can benefit from listening while reading. Together, Amazon and Audible invented “Immersion Reading,” allowing customers to fuse together printed text and professionally-narrated audiobooks, giving readers the ability to experience their reading with two senses—sight and sound. As the reader views the text of their book on Kindle Fire, text is highlighted as it is professionally-narrated, creating a more immersive experience, as well as deeper learning and comprehension.

Whispersync for Voice

Whispersync for Voice allows customers to synchronize their Kindle books with professionally-narrated audiobooks—customers can start reading a book on Kindle Fire and seamlessly switch to listening to the companion audiobook, picking up exactly where they left off. With Whispersync for Voice, customers can continue enjoying books during commutes or any other time their eyes are busy. When they get in the car, customers can effortlessly pick up the story right where they left off reading by listening to the professionally-narrated audiobook using Bluetooth on Kindle Fire HD or with any Audible app on their smartphone.

Ideal for Gaming

Amazon has worked with leading developers to offer new Android games exclusively on Kindle Fire HD, including Activision’s popular Skylanders Cloud Patrol franchise and Crytek’s Fibble. In Skylanders Cloud Patrol, gamers will discover a new feature—the ability to purchase physical toys from within a game. Customers will be able to purchase a unique Skylanders character with a single click, and Amazon.com will deliver it to their doorstep. In addition to hardware that’s perfect for gaming like stunning custom HD displays, fast Wi-Fi and large on-device storage, the Kindle Fire HD family also offers HD Games, gyroscope and accelerometer for full tilt and turn controls, as well as social gaming features including group leaderboards and achievements.

Whispersync for Games

One of the biggest frustrations of mobile gaming is that when customers switch devices or delete and re-install the game on the same device, they have to start a level over or go back to the beginning of the game. To solve this problem, Amazon extended its Whispersync technology to gaming with Whispersync for Games. Whispersync for Games syncs a customer’s place in the game and saves unlocked levels, so even if they get a new device, the progress is backed up in the cloud.

Kindle FreeTime

Amazon today reinvented parental controls with Kindle FreeTime. FreeTime gives parents easy-to-use tools to personalize their children’s digital media experience. With FreeTime, parents never have to worry what content their kids will access—parents select all of the content their kids can see and kids can’t exit FreeTime without a password. FreeTime also lets parents limit their kids’ screen time by content type—they may choose to limit videos and games, for example, but make reading time unlimited. Kindle FreeTime will be available for free on all of the new Kindle Fire devices starting in the coming weeks.

Cloud-Accelerated Silk Browser

The new Kindle Fire family uses a new version of Amazon Silk with the unique “split browser” architecture that leverages the computing speed and power of Amazon Web Services to deliver content faster. The new Amazon Silk browser features an updated core rendering engine and a reengineered transport layer that contribute to faster page loads. Customers can experience full-screen browsing, reading view, and improved browsing with most-visited, trending and recommended sites all available from a single screen.

All-New Email and Calendar

The new Kindle Fire family features world-class Microsoft Exchange integration, with fine-tuned performance on many of the most critical e-mail functions. For example, typical Exchange accounts sync with the oldest emails first, ending with the most recent emails—Kindle Fire instead syncs with newer emails first, then with older emails, getting customers faster access to the most recent emails they are looking for. Kindle Fire also features a new calendar app, making it easy for customers to stay connected and keep track of their schedules. The new e-mail client offers support for the world’s most popular email providers—including Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, Hotmail and more.

Photos Brought to Life

Photos come alive in stunning high-resolution on Kindle Fire HD. Fire’s mosaic view arranges personal photos beautifully, and customers will be delighted to see their best shots on their TV with HDMI out. Kindle Fire lets customers easily import their photos from Facebook and because their photos are securely stored in Amazon Cloud Drive, they never have to worry about losing their favorite pictures.

New Latest Generation Kindle Fire—Only $159

Kindle Fire, the #1 best-selling product on Amazon for the past year, is now even better, with all the features customers love about the original Kindle Fire—all the content, seamless integration with the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, and a brilliant 7” touchscreen—now with a faster processor for 40% faster performance, twice the memory and longer battery life. The new Kindle Fire also offers all of the new features that are exclusive to the Kindle Fire family—including X-Ray for Movies, X-Ray for Books, Immersion Reading, Whispersync for Voice, Kindle FreeTime and more.

Backed by the World’s Best Content Ecosystem, Cross-Platform Interoperability and Customer Service

All the Content—Over 22 Million Movies, TV Shows, Songs, Apps, Games, Books, Audiobooks and Magazines

Kindle Fire offers customers the largest selection of digital content, including thousands of exclusives:

  • Over 120,000 movies and TV episodes, including the most popular titles and the biggest new releases. Customers can stream or download, purchase or rent. Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, commercial-free streaming of over 25,000 popular movies and TV episodes at no additional cost with Prime Instant Video. Customers who are new to Prime get one free month of Amazon Prime when they purchase Kindle Fire.
  • Instant access to the most popular apps and games, including Where’s My Perry?, Pinterest, NBA JAM, HBO GO, Hulu Plus and Asphalt 7—each one optimized for Kindle Fire HD.
  • Millions of songs from over 3 million artists. Customers can stream purchases from the cloud, download playlists for offline listening, and store their personal collection in the cloud for access anytime, anywhere.
  • Millions of books, including over 180,000 titles that are exclusive to the Kindle Store. Over 650,000 books are priced at $4.99 or less; over 1.2 million are $9.99 or less. Amazon Prime members can choose from over 180,000 titles, including all 7 Harry Potter books and over 100 current and former New York Times best sellers, to borrow for free as part of Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, as frequently as a book a month with no waiting and no due dates.
  • Hundreds of magazines and newspapers—including Vogue, Esquire, National Geographic and Better Homes and Gardens—with glossy full-color layouts, HD photography, and beautifully detailed illustrations. Customers can try more than 50 free single issues available in the Kindle Newsstand, including Cosmopolitan, Maxim, O, The Oprah Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, Elle and Martha Stewart Living.
  • Over 100,000 professionally-narrated audiobook titles available, with free samples to listen to before buying.

Best Cross-Platform Interoperability with “Buy Once, Enjoy Everywhere”

With apps available on the largest number of devices and platforms, Kindle makes it easier than ever to access content anytime, anywhere. Customers can read and sync their Kindle books across iPad, iPhone, PC, Mac, Android phones and tablets, BlackBerry, Windows Phones and in their web browsers with Kindle Cloud Reader. Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video are available to watch on iPad, PC, Mac, Xbox, Playstation 3, Blue-Ray, Roku and hundreds of compatible TVs, and because of Amazon’s Whispersync technology, customers never have to worry about losing their place in a movie or TV show. Amazon MP3s are available on iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Sonos and web browsers with Cloud Player. Apps from the Amazon Appstore for Android are available on all Android phones and tablets. No other company offers customers this level of flexibility with their content.

Free Month of Amazon Prime

Amazon continues to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to bring Prime members new movies, TV shows and books to enjoy at no additional cost. Amazon customers enjoy unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of over 25,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video; over 180,000 books from Kindle Owners’ Lending Library to borrow for free, as frequently as a book a month, with no waiting and no due dates; and receive the convenience of Free Two-Day Shipping on over 15 million items from Amazon.com. Even with all this investment and continually growing selection, Prime remains at the same low price it launched with seven years ago—just $79. Customers who are new to Prime get one free month of Amazon Prime when they purchase Kindle Fire.

Arrives Pre-Registered

Kindle Fire comes automatically pre-registered so customers can immediately start enjoying their digital content purchased from Amazon or shop for new content.

Top-Rated, World-Class Customer Service

When a customer shops on Amazon.com, buys a Kindle Fire, or buys Kindle content, they know that with that they are also getting Amazon’s world-class customer service. Amazon scored 86—the top score—on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), and 89 on the ForeSee customer satisfaction survey—the highest ever attained by a retailer. Amazon has been rated #1 in the National Retail Federation Customers’ Choice Awards, has been awarded the top spot in the MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Fame three years in a row, and is a JD Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion. Customers have been shopping on Amazon for over 15 years, and they continue to do so because of the unparalleled end-to-end customer experience.

Special Offers

The new Kindle Fire family comes with special offers that appear on the lock screen. Examples of special money-saving offers that customers will enjoy include a $5 credit in the Amazon MP3 Store and a $5 credit for select titles in the Amazon Instant Video Store. Customers will also receive special offers and screensavers from brands like AT&T, Discover and Intel, such as a special offer of a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card when a customer uses their Discover card to purchase a digital product on Amazon.

Best Tablets at Any Price

The all-new Kindle Fire HD 7”—with a stunning HD display, the fastest Wi-Fi, exclusive HD audio with two stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus, 16 or 32 GB of storage and a powerful world-class processor—all backed by the world’s best content ecosystem, best cross-platform interoperability and best customer service is $199. Kindle Fire HD 7” is available for preorder starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd7 and will begin shipping on September 14.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9”, with all of these features plus an ultra-high definition 8.9” screen, and 16 or 32 GB of storage, starts at $299 and is available for preorder starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd, and will begin shipping on November 20.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G, with the most affordable 4G data plan in the world, and 32 or 64 GB of storage, starts at $499 and is available for preorder starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd4G, and will begin shipping on November 20.

The new latest generation Kindle Fire with a faster processor for 40% faster performance, twice the memory and all the new features is only $159, and pre-order to reserve their page in line at www.amazon.com/kindlefire and will begin shipping on September 14.

For high resolution images and video of the all-new Kindle Fire family, visit www.amazon.com/pr/kindle.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support and dual-antennas/MIMO for 40% faster throughput than other tablets, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and comes with Amazon’s groundbreaking $49.99 one year 4G LTE data package—customers save hundreds of dollars in the first year compared to other 4G tablets. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

The 4G device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

The post Kindle Fire Just became a Whole Lot Better, Introducing the Fire HD appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/06/kindle-fire-just-became-a-whole-lot-better-introducing-the-fire-hd/feed/ 0 New Kindle Fire, gets twice the memory and drops to just $159 http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/06/new-kindle-fire-gets-twice-the-memory-and-drops-to-just-169/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/09/06/new-kindle-fire-gets-twice-the-memory-and-drops-to-just-169/#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 18:58:29 +0000 Andrew Grush http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=137623 The Kindle Fire finally has a successor, the Kindle Fire. That's right, a second generation Kindle Fire is here. What's new? It has double the RAM over the first Fire and has a somewhat faster processor. According to Amazon, that means a 40% bump in power.

The post New Kindle Fire, gets twice the memory and drops to just $159 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

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The Kindle Fire finally has a successor, the Kindle Fire. That’s right, a second generation Kindle Fire is finally here. What’s new? It has double the RAM over the first Fire and has a somewhat faster processor. According to Amazon, that means a 40% bump in power.

The looks on the Kindle Fire update will also remain pretty much the same as we already are used to.

Expected more from the Fire, huh? Keep a few things in mind before you get disappointed. First, the second-generation Kindle Fire will have lower price point than Google Nexus, now at just $159. Second, there are three other new members to the Kindle Fire family.

Now we have the Kindle Fire (2nd gen), Kindle Fire HD 7-inch, and Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch (and a 4G 8.9-incher as well). The HD models have plenty of high-end features that are worth getting excited about as well, though we’ll have more about them in an upcoming post. The Kindle Fire family is now much more crowded, but that also means we have more options with pricing ranging from $159 all the way up to $499 for the 4G 8.9-incher.

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 6, 2012– (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Less than one year ago, Amazon introduced Kindle Fire—combining 15 years of innovation into a fully-integrated, end-to-end service for customers. Kindle Fire quickly became the most successful product launch in the history of Amazon.com, earning over 10,000 5-star customer reviews, remaining the #1 best-selling product across the millions of items available on Amazon since its introduction, and capturing 22% of U.S. tablet sales in just nine months. Today, Amazon is excited to announce that it’s taking on the high-end with Kindle Fire HD—the next generation of Kindle Fire.

The Kindle Fire HD family—the most-advanced tablets:

  • Ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless, powered by the latest generation 4G chipset, support for all 10 4G bands, and Amazon’s breakthrough 4G LTE data package—customers save hundreds of dollars in the first year compared to other 4G tablets.
  • Stunning custom HD display with in-plane switching, Advanced True Wide polarizing filter and custom laminated touch sensor for 25% less glare with rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle.
  • Fastest Wi-Fi of any tablet—dual antenna, dual-band, and MIMO—40% faster downloads and streaming compared to the next fastest tablet.
  • High-performance processor and graphics engine for snappy and smooth performance.
  • Dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio—the standard in high-end audio—available for the first time on a tablet.
  • Kindle Fire HD starts with 16 GB of local storage, enough to accommodate the larger file sizes of HD content.
  • Exceptional battery life—7” Kindle Fire HD gets 11 hours of battery life.
  • Front-facing HD camera with custom Skype application for video calling from anywhere in the world.
  • New Amazon-exclusive features like X-Ray for Movies, X-Ray for Textbooks, Immersion Reading, Whispersync for Voice, Whispersync for Games, and Kindle FreeTime.
  • World’s best content ecosystem—over 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, apps, games, books, audiobooks and magazines.
  • Best cross-platform interoperability, with Amazon apps available on the largest number of devices and platforms so customers can access content anytime, anywhere.
  • Amazon’s top-rated, world-class customer service.

Amazon is also introducing an all-new upgraded version of the best-selling standard definition Kindle Fire with a faster processor, twice the memory and longer battery life—all for an even lower breakthrough price—only $159. Meet the all-new Kindle Fire family at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd.

“We’re taking on the most popular price point for a tablet, $499, but doubling the storage and incredibly, adding ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “Kindle Fire HD is not only the most-advanced hardware, it’s also a service. When combined with our enormous content ecosystem, unmatched cross-platform interoperability and standard-setting customer service, we hope people will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best high-end tablet anywhere, at any price.”

The Best Hardware

Stunning Custom HD Display

The 8.9” display on Kindle Fire HD features an incredible 254 pixels per inch with a resolution of 1920×1200, with pixels that are indistinguishable to the human eye. The 7” Kindle Fire HD features a stunning HD display with 1280×800 resolution that delivers deep, detailed contrast and rich, natural color. Kindle Fire HD also uses Gorilla Glass to provide superior strength and reliability. Kindle Fire HD starts with excellent resolution, but that is only the beginning—Amazon also added custom features that reduce glare and improve color saturation at any viewing angle.

Most tablet displays are made up of two pieces of glass—an LCD on the bottom and a touch sensor on the top, separated by an air gap. This air gap allows light to come through the touch sensor and reflect off the LCD, which causes added glare for the user. Fire HD solves this air gap problem by laminating the touch sensor and the LCD together into a single layer of glass, creating a display that is easy to view even in overhead light, and reducing glare by 25% relative to the latest generation iPad.

Like many tablets, Kindle Fire HD uses in-plane switching (IPS) to improve color reproduction. But displays that only use IPS still appear washed out at various angles, such as laid sideways in bed, flat on a table, or propped up in a case. Fire HD features an Advanced True Wide polarizing filter that is applied directly to the LCD panel. This results in a display that shows the same deep contrast and rich, detailed color from any angle.

High-End Laptop-Quality Wi-Fi—40% Faster Downloads and High-Speed Streaming

HD content has much larger file sizes than standard definition content—for example, Marvel’s The Avengers in standard definition is 785 MB, but in HD, The Avengers is 2.97 GB. Files of this size require the very latest in Wi-Fi technology to download or stream the HD content quickly and reliably—anything else results in buffering, slow downloads and dropped connections. Many Wi-Fi enabled devices only use the 2.4 GHz wireless frequency. This frequency is crowded since it is used by everything from other tablets to microwave ovens, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, not to mention the neighbors’ Wi-Fi networks. Kindle Fire HD circumvents this congestion with state-of-the-art dual-band Wi-Fi. Kindle Fire HD can automatically switch between the 2.4 GHz network and the newer, less crowded 5 GHz network, resulting in better range and less interference. In addition, dual antennas and Multiple In/Multiple Out (MIMO) allow for higher bandwidth and longer range. The new Kindle Fire HD is the first tablet to market with all three of these latest generation Wi-Fi technologies—dual-band support, dual antennas, and MIMO. This is the first time this state-of-the-art Wi-Fi technology has been offered in a tablet, resulting in 40% faster throughput compared to the latest generation iPad.

Latest Generation 4G LTE Wireless

The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with ultra-fast 4G LTE, with download speeds as fast as Wi-Fi. To keep the 4G Kindle Fire HD just 8.8 mm thin, Amazon custom-designed its 4G wireless modem to be just 2.2 mm. Some 4G devices don’t support all of the non-4G bands—Kindle Fire HD includes support for 10-bands, so even if a customer doesn’t have perfect 4G coverage, the Kindle will fall back to the fastest available 3G speeds.

Amazon’s Breakthrough 4G LTE Data Package

The 4G Kindle Fire HD comes with the most affordable 4G tablet data package. Customers will have access to a 12-month data plan with 250MB per month, 20GB of Amazon Cloud storage, and a $10 credit in the Amazon Appstore for a one-time cost of $49.99. In fact, when you combine the cost of the device and the data plan, customers who purchase the Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE will pay over $400 less than latest generation iPad owners in the first year of ownership. Customers can also choose to upgrade to 3 GB or 5 GB data plans from AT&T directly from the device.

8 GB of Storage is Not Enough for an HD Tablet

Customers want to enjoy HD content if they have an HD tablet—and 8 GB of on-device storage isn’t enough for the larger HD file sizes. The 7” Kindle Fire HD is available with 16 GB or 32 GB of on-device storage, and the large screen Kindle Fire is available with 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB of on-device storage. This large on-device storage capacity is in addition to the free storage Amazon provides for Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud. Amazon digital content is automatically backed up for free in the Amazon Cloud’s Worry-Free Archive where it’s available anytime.

Powerful World-Class Processor—Snappy and Smooth

An HD display and HD content must be driven by a powerful processor and optimized software. The Kindle Fire HD family features world-class processors and the new Imagination Technologies graphics engine for lightning-fast HD graphics and excellent fluidity. The 8.9” Kindle Fire HD is powered by the latest generation OMAP4 4470 processor and Imagination SGX544 graphics engine capable of over 12 billion floating point operations per second—50 percent more than Tegra 3, and both Kindle Fire HD 7” and 8.9” come with higher memory bandwidth than Tegra 3. Combining the latest generation processors with significant customization of the Kindle Fire software by Amazon engineers results in a snappy and smooth experience for the user.

Dual Stereo Speakers and Exclusive Dolby Audio—The New Standard for Tablet Audio

Customers shouldn’t need to wear headphones while watching a movie on a tablet to get excellent sound. Kindle Fire HD solves this by combining dual stereo speakers with the next generation Dolby Digital Plus audio platform—the standard in high performance audio—to offer a world-class audio experience. Dolby’s audio suite for Kindle Fire HD includes technology used to adjust volume and deliver easier-to-understand dialogue in movies and TV shows. Kindle Fire HD automatically optimizes the audio profile based on what a customer is doing, such as watching a movie, listening to music, using third party apps like Pandora and Netflix, and also optimizes for headphones versus speakers. All of these pieces combine to create an exceptional audio experience that results in clearer, crisper and balanced sound quality.

11 Hours of Battery Life

The 7” Kindle Fire HD is optimized to deliver high performance without sacrificing battery life, delivering over 11 hours of battery life.

Thin and Light

Even with a custom display, a powerful processor, extra speakers and dual-band/dual-antenna Wi-Fi, the new Kindle Fire HD is extremely light and thin. In fact, Kindle Fire HD 8.9” weighs only 20 ounces and is just 8.8 mm thin. Kindle Fire HD 7” is small enough to take everywhere and light enough to hold easily and comfortably in one hand.

Connect with Bluetooth and HDMI

Kindle Fire HD supports Bluetooth, enabling customers to connect their wireless Bluetooth headphones or Bluetooth speakers to listen to songs, videos or audiobooks. With Bluetooth connectivity, customers can also easily connect to a wide range of Bluetooth-enabled keyboards. HDMI out makes it easy for customers to connect the Kindle Fire HD to their big-screen TV to enjoy their favorite HD videos and photos.

Stay in Touch with Front-Facing HD Camera

The new Kindle Fire HD features a front-facing HD camera. Skype created a customized app tailored for Kindle Fire HD that is ready to use out of the box for free HD video calls at home and abroad. Kindle Fire HD makes it easy for the over 500 million customers already using Skype to get in touch with friends and family.

Beautiful Leather Covers

Covers for Kindle Fire HD feature a premium textured leather exterior in a variety of colors and a subtle woven nylon interior to provide the lightest and thinnest form of protection. The integrated magnetic clasp ensures the cover remains securely closed while in a backpack, purse, or briefcase. The cover automatically wakes Kindle Fire HD upon opening and puts it to sleep when closed, making it easy to dive right back into whatever content a customer is enjoying.

All-New Features Only Amazon Can Offer

X-Ray for Books

One year ago, Amazon introduced X-Ray on Kindle Touch, and customers loved it. Amazon is extending X-Ray to books on Kindle Fire, making it easier than ever for customers to learn more about the content they love by exploring the “bones of the book.” With a single tap, readers can see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon’s community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers.

X-Ray for Movies

“X-Ray for Movies” is a new feature that revolutionizes the movie experience by bringing the power of IMDb directly to movies on Kindle Fire HD, accessible with a simple tap. Without ever leaving the movie, customers can look up any actor in the scene or movie, see what other movies they have been in, and view photos, biographies and more. X-Ray is offered only by Amazon and is exclusive to the Amazon ecosystem. IMDb, an Amazon company for 14 years, is the #1 movie website in the world with more than 160 million monthly unique visitors worldwide.

X-Ray for Textbooks

Glossaries in print textbooks contain the most important information for students, but they’re placed inconveniently in the back of the book. And glossaries don’t always contain enough information for students working to understand new concepts. X-Ray for Textbooks solves these problems by integrating the glossary directly into each textbook page and by algorithmically assembling related data from Wikipedia and YouTube.

Immersion Reading

Research supports that readers can benefit from listening while reading. Together, Amazon and Audible invented “Immersion Reading,” allowing customers to fuse together printed text and professionally-narrated audiobooks, giving readers the ability to experience their reading with two senses—sight and sound. As the reader views the text of their book on Kindle Fire, text is highlighted as it is professionally-narrated, creating a more immersive experience, as well as deeper learning and comprehension.

Whispersync for Voice

Whispersync for Voice allows customers to synchronize their Kindle books with professionally-narrated audiobooks—customers can start reading a book on Kindle Fire and seamlessly switch to listening to the companion audiobook, picking up exactly where they left off. With Whispersync for Voice, customers can continue enjoying books during commutes or any other time their eyes are busy. When they get in the car, customers can effortlessly pick up the story right where they left off reading by listening to the professionally-narrated audiobook using Bluetooth on Kindle Fire HD or with any Audible app on their smartphone.

Ideal for Gaming

Amazon has worked with leading developers to offer new Android games exclusively on Kindle Fire HD, including Activision’s popular Skylanders Cloud Patrol franchise and Crytek’s Fibble. In Skylanders Cloud Patrol, gamers will discover a new feature—the ability to purchase physical toys from within a game. Customers will be able to purchase a unique Skylanders character with a single click, and Amazon.com will deliver it to their doorstep. In addition to hardware that’s perfect for gaming like stunning custom HD displays, fast Wi-Fi and large on-device storage, the Kindle Fire HD family also offers HD Games, gyroscope and accelerometer for full tilt and turn controls, as well as social gaming features including group leaderboards and achievements.

Whispersync for Games

One of the biggest frustrations of mobile gaming is that when customers switch devices or delete and re-install the game on the same device, they have to start a level over or go back to the beginning of the game. To solve this problem, Amazon extended its Whispersync technology to gaming with Whispersync for Games. Whispersync for Games syncs a customer’s place in the game and saves unlocked levels, so even if they get a new device, the progress is backed up in the cloud.

Kindle FreeTime

Amazon today reinvented parental controls with Kindle FreeTime. FreeTime gives parents easy-to-use tools to personalize their children’s digital media experience. With FreeTime, parents never have to worry what content their kids will access—parents select all of the content their kids can see and kids can’t exit FreeTime without a password. FreeTime also lets parents limit their kids’ screen time by content type—they may choose to limit videos and games, for example, but make reading time unlimited. Kindle FreeTime will be available for free on all of the new Kindle Fire devices starting in the coming weeks.

Cloud-Accelerated Silk Browser

The new Kindle Fire family uses a new version of Amazon Silk with the unique “split browser” architecture that leverages the computing speed and power of Amazon Web Services to deliver content faster. The new Amazon Silk browser features an updated core rendering engine and a reengineered transport layer that contribute to faster page loads. Customers can experience full-screen browsing, reading view, and improved browsing with most-visited, trending and recommended sites all available from a single screen.

All-New Email and Calendar

The new Kindle Fire family features world-class Microsoft Exchange integration, with fine-tuned performance on many of the most critical e-mail functions. For example, typical Exchange accounts sync with the oldest emails first, ending with the most recent emails—Kindle Fire instead syncs with newer emails first, then with older emails, getting customers faster access to the most recent emails they are looking for. Kindle Fire also features a new calendar app, making it easy for customers to stay connected and keep track of their schedules. The new e-mail client offers support for the world’s most popular email providers—including Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, Hotmail and more.

Photos Brought to Life

Photos come alive in stunning high-resolution on Kindle Fire HD. Fire’s mosaic view arranges personal photos beautifully, and customers will be delighted to see their best shots on their TV with HDMI out. Kindle Fire lets customers easily import their photos from Facebook and because their photos are securely stored in Amazon Cloud Drive, they never have to worry about losing their favorite pictures.

New Latest Generation Kindle Fire—Only $159

Kindle Fire, the #1 best-selling product on Amazon for the past year, is now even better, with all the features customers love about the original Kindle Fire—all the content, seamless integration with the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, and a brilliant 7” touchscreen—now with a faster processor for 40% faster performance, twice the memory and longer battery life. The new Kindle Fire also offers all of the new features that are exclusive to the Kindle Fire family—including X-Ray for Movies, X-Ray for Books, Immersion Reading, Whispersync for Voice, Kindle FreeTime and more.

Backed by the World’s Best Content Ecosystem, Cross-Platform Interoperability and Customer Service

All the Content—Over 22 Million Movies, TV Shows, Songs, Apps, Games, Books, Audiobooks and Magazines

Kindle Fire offers customers the largest selection of digital content, including thousands of exclusives:

  • Over 120,000 movies and TV episodes, including the most popular titles and the biggest new releases. Customers can stream or download, purchase or rent. Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, commercial-free streaming of over 25,000 popular movies and TV episodes at no additional cost with Prime Instant Video. Customers who are new to Prime get one free month of Amazon Prime when they purchase Kindle Fire.
  • Instant access to the most popular apps and games, including Where’s My Perry?, Pinterest, NBA JAM, HBO GO, Hulu Plus and Asphalt 7—each one optimized for Kindle Fire HD.
  • Millions of songs from over 3 million artists. Customers can stream purchases from the cloud, download playlists for offline listening, and store their personal collection in the cloud for access anytime, anywhere.
  • Millions of books, including over 180,000 titles that are exclusive to the Kindle Store. Over 650,000 books are priced at $4.99 or less; over 1.2 million are $9.99 or less. Amazon Prime members can choose from over 180,000 titles, including all 7 Harry Potter books and over 100 current and former New York Times best sellers, to borrow for free as part of Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, as frequently as a book a month with no waiting and no due dates.
  • Hundreds of magazines and newspapers—including Vogue, Esquire, National Geographic and Better Homes and Gardens—with glossy full-color layouts, HD photography, and beautifully detailed illustrations. Customers can try more than 50 free single issues available in the Kindle Newsstand, including Cosmopolitan, Maxim, O, The Oprah Magazine, ESPN The Magazine, Elle and Martha Stewart Living.
  • Over 100,000 professionally-narrated audiobook titles available, with free samples to listen to before buying.

Best Cross-Platform Interoperability with “Buy Once, Enjoy Everywhere”

With apps available on the largest number of devices and platforms, Kindle makes it easier than ever to access content anytime, anywhere. Customers can read and sync their Kindle books across iPad, iPhone, PC, Mac, Android phones and tablets, BlackBerry, Windows Phones and in their web browsers with Kindle Cloud Reader. Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video are available to watch on iPad, PC, Mac, Xbox, Playstation 3, Blue-Ray, Roku and hundreds of compatible TVs, and because of Amazon’s Whispersync technology, customers never have to worry about losing their place in a movie or TV show. Amazon MP3s are available on iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, Sonos and web browsers with Cloud Player. Apps from the Amazon Appstore for Android are available on all Android phones and tablets. No other company offers customers this level of flexibility with their content.

Free Month of Amazon Prime

Amazon continues to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to bring Prime members new movies, TV shows and books to enjoy at no additional cost. Amazon customers enjoy unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of over 25,000 movies and TV episodes with Prime Instant Video; over 180,000 books from Kindle Owners’ Lending Library to borrow for free, as frequently as a book a month, with no waiting and no due dates; and receive the convenience of Free Two-Day Shipping on over 15 million items from Amazon.com. Even with all this investment and continually growing selection, Prime remains at the same low price it launched with seven years ago—just $79. Customers who are new to Prime get one free month of Amazon Prime when they purchase Kindle Fire.

Arrives Pre-Registered

Kindle Fire comes automatically pre-registered so customers can immediately start enjoying their digital content purchased from Amazon or shop for new content.

Top-Rated, World-Class Customer Service

When a customer shops on Amazon.com, buys a Kindle Fire, or buys Kindle content, they know that with that they are also getting Amazon’s world-class customer service. Amazon scored 86—the top score—on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), and 89 on the ForeSee customer satisfaction survey—the highest ever attained by a retailer. Amazon has been rated #1 in the National Retail Federation Customers’ Choice Awards, has been awarded the top spot in the MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Fame three years in a row, and is a JD Power and Associates 2012 Customer Service Champion. Customers have been shopping on Amazon for over 15 years, and they continue to do so because of the unparalleled end-to-end customer experience.

Special Offers

The new Kindle Fire family comes with special offers that appear on the lock screen. Examples of special money-saving offers that customers will enjoy include a $5 credit in the Amazon MP3 Store and a $5 credit for select titles in the Amazon Instant Video Store. Customers will also receive special offers and screensavers from brands like AT&T, Discover and Intel, such as a special offer of a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card when a customer uses their Discover card to purchase a digital product on Amazon.

Best Tablets at Any Price

The all-new Kindle Fire HD 7”—with a stunning HD display, the fastest Wi-Fi, exclusive HD audio with two stereo speakers and Dolby Digital Plus, 16 or 32 GB of storage and a powerful world-class processor—all backed by the world’s best content ecosystem, best cross-platform interoperability and best customer service is $199. Kindle Fire HD 7” is available for preorder starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd7 and will begin shipping on September 14.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9”, with all of these features plus an ultra-high definition 8.9” screen, and 16 or 32 GB of storage, starts at $299 and is available for preorder starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd, and will begin shipping on November 20.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9” 4G, with the most affordable 4G data plan in the world, and 32 or 64 GB of storage, starts at $499 and is available for preorder starting today at www.amazon.com/kindlefirehd4G, and will begin shipping on November 20.

The new latest generation Kindle Fire with a faster processor for 40% faster performance, twice the memory and all the new features is only $159, and pre-order to reserve their page in line at www.amazon.com/kindlefire and will begin shipping on September 14.

For high resolution images and video of the all-new Kindle Fire family, visit www.amazon.com/pr/kindle.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support and dual-antennas/MIMO for 40% faster throughput than other tablets, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The large-screen Kindle Fire HD is also available with 4G wireless, and comes with Amazon’s groundbreaking $49.99 one year 4G LTE data package—customers save hundreds of dollars in the first year compared to other 4G tablets. The all-new Kindle Fire features a 20% faster processor, 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, and www.amazon.es. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

The 4G device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

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