Amazon Announces Kindle Fire Tablet

Amazon Unveils New Kindle Tablet

Amazon has announced a new line-up of Kindle tablets.

The original Kindle Fire was never released in the UK, but proved to be a huge hit in the United States because of its blend of inexpensive hardware and a strong line-up of movies, TV shows, books and magazines available through the Amazon store.

The new seven-inch Kindle Fire HD has a faster processor, twice the RAM of the old model and a longer battery life.

Amazon also announced an 8.9-inch device Kindle Fire HD tablet, and a high-end model with an LTE 4G data connection - which is not currently available in the UK.

But the crowd at the announcement was shocked to learn that the cost of a 250mb per month data plan will be just $49.99 per year - a very cheap price.

The larger tablet has a 1920 x 1200 display, an anti-glare screen, an OMAP 4470 processor and Dolby Digital Plus sound.

Amazon added that the new Kindles have faster WiFi than Apple's iPad or competing Android tablets. The HD model is the first tablet with MIMO, dual-band (2.4-, 5GHz) WiFi.

The 16GB seven-inch Fire will cost £159 and the 32GB will cost £199. The original Kindle Fire will also reach the UK for £129, but the 8.9-inch version will not initially launch in the UK, Amazon said.

The tablets will ship in November, with pre-orders starting immediately.

The company used its event in LA to claim that it already had 22% of the tablet market in the US.

Above: The Kindle Fire HD 8.9

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