Amazon has announced the new Kindle Fire HD. This new and greatly improved Kindle Fire HD will come in both 7-inch and 8.9 inch screens and include an option for 4G wireless technology. Unlike last years Kindle Fire there are going to be several versions of the Kindle Fire HD. Price points will be $199 and $249 for the 7-inch display model and $299 and $369 for the 8.9 inch model and $499, and $599 for the 4G version. Prices points will be determined on memory size, much like the Apple pricing model.
There is no doubt that Amazon created the first real competitor for the Apple iPad. However they were only able to get a small portion of the market and most of that market was those who just didn’t want to pony up$500 – $700 for an iPad. The $199 price point seemed to be a sweet spot for Amazon. Will Amazon be able to compete in the higher price point market? Only time will tell but I’m going to guess; not a chance.
However Amazons prices are appealing. Especially when we talk about the price point of the data plans. Amazon is reporting that the data plan cost will be $50 per year for the 4G service and 250mb of monthly usage. Now 250mb is not much usage at all. You won’t be watching many movies on that. However it does at least give you an option for some internet when your in a pinch and it’s very affordable.
Amazon is also releasing an improved old version of the Kindle Fire. This upgraded version will cost $159 and come with faster hardware and improved battery life. While the HD version is suppose to include two antennas to make its wifi over 40 percent faster then Apples iPad along with a 1920 x 1200 resolution screen with reduced glare to give the Fire sharper contrast. The Kindle Fire HD will also include a front facing camera which was a much needed addition in my opinion to really compete in the tablet market.
The new Fire HD will also include custom Facebook and Skype apps along with a new email client that will support Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo.
There is no denying that Amazon has a great product lined up with a great ecosystem. With Amazon cloud services and the ability to stream movies and music, buy books and shop no the Amazon store. I think consumers are going to love the new Kindle Fire HD just like they loved the original Kindle Fire.
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