Amazon unveils new Kindle Fire tablet
2012-09-06 22:32
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Santa Monica - Amazon's founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos on Thursday unveiled a new, larger version of its Kindle Fire tablet, with a high-definition display.
The new Kindle Fire HD will be available in the standard size but also with a 8.9-inch (22.6cm) display, he told reporters at a press conference in Santa Monica, California, in a bid to take on Apple's market-leading iPad.
"Our large-display tablet is only 8.8mm (thick), and weighs 560g," he said, unveiling the larger device after also unveiling a new back-lit version of the online retailer's ground-breaking Kindle reader.
The Kindle Fire HD has dual-band Wi-Fi and two antennas, he said, comparing it to the iPad and the Google Nexus 7 tablets, which it will probably compete directly with.
Bezos said the upgraded Wi-Fi specifications and increased processing clout would make it run 41% faster than the latest generation of the iPad, launched earlier this year.
The Kindle Fire announcements came after he unveiled a new basic Kindle reader with so-called "paperwhite" display. It will have a battery life of eight weeks with the backlight on, and will ship 1 October.
The paperwhite Kindle will retail at $119, while a 3G mobile version will cost $179. A new version of the basic Kindle will be reduced in price from $79 to $69, he said.
