As Wilson Rothman of NBC News put it this morning, Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HDX tablets pose a “real threat to iPad dominance.”
Unveiled Wednesday, the Kindle Fire HDX offers up a 7” or 8.9” HDX display, quad-core 2.2 GHz processor with 3x the processing power, 2x more memory, 11 hours of battery life, and dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio.
Without question, it’s a superior offering when measured against the ghosts of Kindle’s past.
But the HDX display, Amazon says, goes beyond HD. There’s exceptional pixel density, perfect 100% sRGB color accuracy, reduced glare, dynamic image contrast, and improved brightness for the best viewing experience indoors or out.
“Lightest large-screen tablet—Kindle Fire HDX 8.9” is startlingly light at 13.2 ounces,” Amazon says, “34% lighter than the previous generation.”
Let’s not bury the other good news: The new 7-incher will cost $239 and ships Oct. 15, while the 8.9-incher — now with a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera — will cost $379 when it ships on Nov. 7. 4G versions of the two will be available for $100 extra, and now buyers will have a choice of adding service from AT&T or Verizon. (The Origami covers range in price from $45 to $70, based on size and material.)
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos insists that Amazon can sell these tablets at “roughly break-even” pricing, because the company makes so much money on its content sales.
