We aren't going to stop you from knowing what happened. So here you go.
Amazon announced and put pre order availability on a new Kindle reading device and 3 new Kindle Fire devices.
First of all, the Kindle. It's name? The Kindle Paperwhite. It has the first ever Paperwhite display (built by Amazon themselves) and has some cool specs.
Improved UI from previous Kindles
Capacitive touchscreen
25% more contrast
Whiter whites, blacker blacks
212 PPI
62% more pixels
It also has improved software, including the ability to change fonts, access to Amazon's cloud and more. They will be listed below. It also has 8 week battery life and the Paperwhite display is similar to GlowLight from B&N's Nook. But apparently better.
Available for $119 or $169 on 3G, without having to pay any contracts it find hotspots. 3G is free and unlimited.
Amazon also made their original Kindle a bit better with some screen and software upgrades and a price drop from $79 to $69.
KDP. Kindle Direct Publishing.
They talked about this for a few minutes of the event too. What is it? KDP allows authors to instantly publish books to Amazon's Kindle Bookstore, they can be read from any device with the app or any Kindle itself.
This will prove useful for anyone interested in publishing Ebooks.
But of course, the Kindle Fire took the stage.
The original Fire was said to be the #1 bought product in all of Amazon's history. Not surprising, considering that it was only officially available on Amazon. I think it's a shame it was never released to the UK for sale.
They've improved the original Kindle Fire.
2X more RAM
Faster Processor
40% faster
Longer battery life
$159
Amazon wanted to make the best tablet of any price. They've only gone and done that.
Kindle Fire HD.
2 Models. A 7 inch and an 8.9 inch.
The display on this is really nice:
HD Display
1920 X 1200 Resolution
In-Plane Switching (IPS)
254 PPI.
Some other features of this display are nice too. Amazon's worked out that glare is caused by air gaps between the touch interface and screen. They've managed to remove this therefore leaving the screen with 25% less glare.
Also, this thing processes like a beast. It uses an unheard of Texas Instruments OMAP4470, but just because it's unheard of, it doesn't mean it's a bad thing.
This processor is nearly twice as good as the current model Tegra 3 processor.
Audio. I'm a big fan of speakers and headphones that sound good, and boy have Amazon gone all out on this. They pointed out that the iPad and many other tablets have one speaker, therefore mono sound. I happen to have an iPad myself (not something in happy about tonight), and the mono audio drives me nuts.
The new Kindle Fire HD has specially made Dolby Digital Plus audio engine built into it. Wow. Just wow.
Now for WiFi. Something important in a tablet. Amazon also pointed out that 2.4GHz wifi antennas have been around for 15 years, and it's crowded. Their tablet has 5GHz WiFi antennas. It also means your hand won't be able to get in the way of the WiFi connection.
It has the fastest WiFi speeds out of any tablet, way better than the new iPad, Nexus 7 ETC.
Storage. For tablets "8GB is dead on arrival"
Kindle Fire HD starts at 16GB.
Audiobooks. Amazon has added audiobooks with whispersync. it reads to you.
Samuel L Jackson is a voice that reads some of the books.
Read a normal book again, I dare you I double dare you motherf***er.
Kindle Fire HD has something called X-Ray. When you're watching a movie, just tap on an actor's face and it will come up with a nice-looking IMDB file of theirs. Even links to download their other movies too! This works with pretty much all movies available on Amazon for Kindle download.
Games. All your levels and data are saved in the cloud so you won't ever lose them. Store those precious, unlocked levels.
Email. Amazon's added fantastic emailing support. Great syncing, world class exchange support and very fast access to emails.
It also connects to a ton of social networks. The Kindle Fire HD has a front facing camera and a custom HD Skype app for it too. They have also put together a Facebook app for it too.
Freetime. There's a pretty cool feature to restrict kids overusing the Kindle or using it for the wrong things. Parents can set specific time limits on different apps or even block them, and the background changes to blue so the parents can see across the room and instantly know.
The Kindle Fire HD comes in 7" and 8.9" screen sizes.
Pricing and availability:
Kindle Fire HD 8.9"
16GB
$299
Ships September 20th
Kindle Fire HD 7"
16GB
$199
Ships September 14th
Amazon also announced a $500 tablet. The 8.9" Kindle Fire HD. But with 32GB storage as well as full fledged 4G LTE connectivity. But there's more.
Just $49.99 PER YEAR. Only 250mb per month but you do get a whopping 20GB of cloud storage and $10 Amazon credit.
When compared to the iPad 3 on 4G LTE, with the same 32GB storage and the same amount of data usage allowance, 20gb iCloud storage and $10 AppStore credit, the total yearly cost of the iPad is $960. The kindle? $550.
Amazon then proceeded to end the event. They now have the best tablet(s) available, and for the money, they are all the best value too.
I'll definitely try and do a hands on but there's no guarantee since they won't be too easy to find in the UK and get a hold of. I'll make a video with my opinions soon too.
Thanks for reading!
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