During Amazon’s Kindle event earlier this year, the company announced multiple Kindle Fire HD devices. The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD has been available for a few months now, but the larger 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is finally available.
Amazon announced today that the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD is now shipping to customers who had pre-ordered the device. It’s a little earlier than expected as Amazon announced back in September that the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD would ship on November 20. It should be noted that the $299 Wi-Fi only device is the one that’s shipping today. The Kindle Fire HD 4G, which costs $499, will be shipping on the expected launch date of November 20.
“Kindle Fire HD has been Amazon’s best-selling product worldwide since launch, and that was before we even started shipping the best tablet we’ve ever built,” said Dave Limp, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “With the holiday season upon us, we’re excited to make our $299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9” available early—we think customers are going to love web browsing, email, gaming, watching TV shows, reading magazines, and more on the large, stunning HD screen, with fast Wi-Fi and exceptional audio.”
Those who were waiting for the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD won’t be disappointed. The device features a 1920×1200 resolution display powered by a TI OMAP 4470 processor. Games built with this processor in mind should look spectacular on its display. The battery life is also no slouch as it offers 10 hours of continuous play.
Consumers opting for the Kindle Fire HD 4G next week will get a decent deal as far as data plans go. Users will get 250MB a session of data, $10 Amazon Appstore for Android credit, and 20GB of CloudDrive space for a one-time payment of $50. Those who want more data will be able to upgrade to a 3GB or 5GB plan through their devices.
Those who prefer to go through retail channels will be able to pick up the bigger Kindle Fire HD from Best Buy tomorrow. The device will be available through other retailers like Staples and Radio Shack in the coming weeks.