Amazon Announces New Kindle Readers with $199 Kindle Fire Color
Amazon has announced new Kindle devices including a new Kindle Fire color.
New York: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, this morning in New York announced three new Kindle readers — all smaller, lighter, and less expensive than those previously available — two with touch tech and one with 3G connectivity.
All three Kindle readers announced the use of e-ink (black and white) for the reader. According to Amazon’s CEO Bezos, the models run down as follows, speaking today at the unveiling here in NYC.
The $79 Kindle reader is available now and weighs under 6 oz and runs quite a bit faster than other Kindle models, execs said today. Its readability is improved, and it is clearly readable in bright light, he said. GroovyReview team members will take a closer look at this soon. It is available now as the latest upgrade in Amazon’s current Kindle line.
Now here’s where things get interesting.
The $99 Kindle Touch is a new addition from Amazon. It’s Wi-Fi only, stores thousands of books locally and on the cloud (free cloud service for Amazon content). Amazon claims significantly longer battery life for this device, available for preorder via Amazon now and scheduled to ship Nov. 21. Its touchscreen doesn’t use the typical capacitive tech so common to touch devices. Rather, it uses sensors. The device supports Amazon’s X-Ray, allowing shoppers to explore via Shelfari and Wikipedia and other means topline details on books they’re interested in. Our team will be taking a deep look at these and all new features in these devices.
The $149 Kindle Touch 3G includes 3G support, which means it is contract-free, and you don’t have to worry about hotspots. That’s a relief. And it’s free. Amazon is footing the bill for this free 3G connection. Also available for preorder today, it ships November 21 and will be US only for now.
Bezos told reporters here that all three new Kindles will have instant access to the Kindle Store — or customers can use the devices to borrow books from the library. Interestingly, Amazon has taken a page out of Apple’s book — as expected, if you’ve ever bought anything from Amazon, use your regular username and password. This makes them obvious little shopping tablets, just as the Apple App Store used customer information from iTunes to make for easy signup and purchases.
Watch this space — we’ll list out specs and special deals shortly.
8 Comments
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shockersh
September 28, 2011 at 11:21 am
Wow…. that’s all I have to say. WOW….
Steve Krause
September 28, 2011 at 11:28 am
At $199, this not only competes with the iPad but also the Nintendo 3DS and Sony PSP….
These prices are going to be the game changer.
-Steve (groovyPost.com)
Gina Smith
September 28, 2011 at 11:38 am
It competes with pretty much everything!
Jordan Austin
September 28, 2011 at 11:58 am
People were flocking to the stores to get their hands on the HP TouchPad when it dropped to a price only a little under this Kindle Fire’s $199 price. I can’t imagine how this will do!
Jordan, groovyPost.com
Gina Smith
September 28, 2011 at 12:02 pm
That’s a great take on this. They saw 99 and 150 as magic price points to push a crappy tablet forth. This explains why they dropped price further than the original $250 planned for the Fire.
Jordan Austin
September 28, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Exactly, the TouchPad was underwhelming to consumers at its starting point. Once HP dropped its price down to the $99 and $149 price, people didn’t care about it being less powerful or a worse product than the other top tablets. However, Amazon’s Kindle Fire actually looks appealing from the start, with so many new features, then throw that unbeatable price of $199 and Amazon has a total winner on its hands.
Jordan, groovyPost
Steve Krause
September 28, 2011 at 12:13 pm
$199 vs. the starting point of $499 for the iPad – http://min.us/mgp-ipad2
This is much easier to get into a kids hands just in time for the holiday season.
-Steve, groovyPost.com
Brian Burgess
September 28, 2011 at 1:28 pm
Yeah $199 for a tablet…that is an impulse buy really. I need to pre-order though, be a shame if there is some ridiculous shortage.