Kindle Fire HDX Launches Alongside Revised Fire HD Tablet, Plus Mayday Tech Support Button
The tablet wars rage on, and believe it or not, what used to be an online book seller is now at the forefront of the slate battle. Amazon has just unleashed a bevy of new products this evening, designed to tempt your wallet just as the holidays draw near. Let's take a look at what's on offer:
The all-new Kindle Fire HDX was announced with a 7" or 8.9" display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor with 3x the processing power, 2x more memory as the prior flagship, 11 hours of battery life, and dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio. Amazon claims that the display has reduced glare and improved color accuracy, and the Snapdragon 800 should please power-hungry users. It's also equipped with Fire OS 3.0, which bundles hundreds of new and upgraded features, platform updates, and Amazon-exclusive services like X-Ray for Music, Cloud Collections, Goodreads, and more. To make sure enterprise users are looked after, Amazon is including hardware and software-encryption, Kerberos Intranet, secure Wi-Fi connections, VPN integration, and wireless printing. Both units ship with an updated Silk browser, a front-facing HD camera, and 4G LTE available on AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
The 7” Kindle Fire HDX is $229. It is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/hdx-7 and it will begin shipping October 18. The 4G version is $329—you can pre-order today to reserve your place in line at www.amazon.com/4g-hdx-7 and it will begin shipping November 14. The 8.9” Kindle Fire HDX is $379. It is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/hdx and it will begin shipping on November 7. The 4G version is $479—you can pre-order today to reserve your place in line at www.amazon.com/4g-hdx and it will begin shipping December 10.
Meanwhile, there's also a new Kindle Fire HD with a new $139 price tag. This guy is bound to rival the Nexus 7, as it offers a 1280x800 display, a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU (60% faster than the prior Kindle Fire), a slimmer design, Fire OS 3.0 (again, built atop Android), and a ship date of October 2nd.
One final note: the HDX offers a "Mayday" button, which puts the customer in contact with tech support right on their tablet... 24/7. Yes, 24/7. “With the Mayday button, our goal is to revolutionize tech support,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “With a single tap, an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX and can co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you—whatever works best. Mayday is available 24x7, 365 days a year, and it’s free. Something tells us this could very well change the perception of tech support, and we could envision other companies following suit in short order.
The all-new Kindle Fire HDX was announced with a 7" or 8.9" display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor with 3x the processing power, 2x more memory as the prior flagship, 11 hours of battery life, and dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio. Amazon claims that the display has reduced glare and improved color accuracy, and the Snapdragon 800 should please power-hungry users. It's also equipped with Fire OS 3.0, which bundles hundreds of new and upgraded features, platform updates, and Amazon-exclusive services like X-Ray for Music, Cloud Collections, Goodreads, and more. To make sure enterprise users are looked after, Amazon is including hardware and software-encryption, Kerberos Intranet, secure Wi-Fi connections, VPN integration, and wireless printing. Both units ship with an updated Silk browser, a front-facing HD camera, and 4G LTE available on AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
The 7” Kindle Fire HDX is $229. It is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/hdx-7 and it will begin shipping October 18. The 4G version is $329—you can pre-order today to reserve your place in line at www.amazon.com/4g-hdx-7 and it will begin shipping November 14. The 8.9” Kindle Fire HDX is $379. It is available for pre-order starting today at www.amazon.com/hdx and it will begin shipping on November 7. The 4G version is $479—you can pre-order today to reserve your place in line at www.amazon.com/4g-hdx and it will begin shipping December 10.
Meanwhile, there's also a new Kindle Fire HD with a new $139 price tag. This guy is bound to rival the Nexus 7, as it offers a 1280x800 display, a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU (60% faster than the prior Kindle Fire), a slimmer design, Fire OS 3.0 (again, built atop Android), and a ship date of October 2nd.
One final note: the HDX offers a "Mayday" button, which puts the customer in contact with tech support right on their tablet... 24/7. Yes, 24/7. “With the Mayday button, our goal is to revolutionize tech support,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “With a single tap, an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX and can co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you—whatever works best. Mayday is available 24x7, 365 days a year, and it’s free. Something tells us this could very well change the perception of tech support, and we could envision other companies following suit in short order.
