Amazon Just Unveiled A Bunch Of New Fire Devices

Amazon has been making headlines over the failure of its Fire Phone, but its Fire tablets and Fire TV devices live on with new models just being unveiled in time for the holiday shopping season. The c...
Amazon Just Unveiled A Bunch Of New Fire Devices
Written by Chris Crum
  • Amazon has been making headlines over the failure of its Fire Phone, but its Fire tablets and Fire TV devices live on with new models just being unveiled in time for the holiday shopping season. The company announced a new Fire tablet, new Fire HD tablet models, and a new Fire Kids Edition tablet as well as a new Fire TV model and new Fire TV Gaming Edition.

    New Fire Tablet

    First up is the new Fire tablet (pictured above). This is a $49.99 device that Amazon says has the best display on any tablet under $50. It has a quad-core processor, 7” IPS display, front- and rear-facing cameras, and up to 128GB of expandable storage.

    “Today, we’re taking another step in our mission to deliver premium products at non-premium prices,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. “The all-new Fire features a quad-core processor, is incredibly durable, and is backed by the Amazon content ecosystem, the new Amazon Underground, and Amazon customer service with Mayday Screen Sharing. Fire sets a new bar for what customers should expect from a low cost tablet.”

    New Fire HD Tablets

    Next up is the new line of Fire HD tablets, which Amazon has designed from the ground up with an 8” or 10.1” widescreen HD display, a thinner and lighter design, quad-core processor, stereo speakers, front- and rear-facing cameras, and microSD card support for up to 128GB.

    new-fire

    The tablets come with Amazon’s latest operating system, Fire OS 5 “Bellini”. This includes an updated user interface, deeper integration of Amazon services and literally hundreds of new and upgraded features and updates. One of these is On Deck, which automatically keeps your tablet current with popular Prime movies and TV shows as well as Amazon’s original programming. It uses available storage “opportunistically in a special shadow mode,” as Amazon puts it. When you download something, it makes room for your selected content, so you have to clear out space yourself.

    You can get a look at more of the features here.

    The Fire HD 8 with the 8″ display is $149.99. The HD 10 with the 10.1″ display is $229.99. They ship on September 30.

    New Fire Kids Edition

    The New Fire Kids Edition is also built from the ground up, and is now cheaper at $100. It comes with a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a “kid-proof case,” and a 2-year guarantee which lets you return it “if anything happens,” and they’ll replace it for free.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 10.58.58 AM

    It gives kids access to over 20,000 “age-appropriate” sites and YouTube videos curated by Amazon’s “experts,” and with FreeTime, they’ll be able to access over 10,000 books, videos, educational apps, and games, which is double the selection from last year.

    New Fire TV

    According to Amazon, the new Fire TV is 75% more powerful. It includes “best-in-class” Wi-Fi, support for Alexa (Amazon’s virtual assistant software), and supports 4K Ultra HD. The company says it offers the most 4K Ultra HD movies, and is half the price of any other 4K Ultra HD streaming media player.”

    Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 11.05.04 AM

    The device includes voice features powered by Alexa, which let you ask for music, information, weather, traffic, etc.

    It provides access to over 3,000 channels, apps, and games. It’s available for pre-order for $99.99 and ships October 5.

    There’s also a new Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote that also includes voice search and Alexa integration. That’s $49.99 and ships October 22.

    “The team has packed an incredible amount of technology and innovation into a tiny package,” said Bezos. “The new Fire TV includes 4K support, more processing power, Alexa integration, the largest selection, and exclusive features—for less than $100. The new Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote brings voice search and Alexa integration for less than $50. These are powerful devices at incredible prices.”

    Finally, there’s a new Fire TV Gaming Edition that combines Fire TV with a new game controller, a 32 GB microSD card, and includes two games: Shovel Knight and Disney’s Ducktales. The controller includes a headphone jack. This will run you $139.99.

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