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Amazon: Kindle Fire HD Focuses On Services, Not Devices

By Joseph F. Kovar
September 06, 2012    6:03 PM ET

Page 2 of 3

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

With 16 GB of local storage, the 7-inch model is expected to ship on Sept. 14 with a price of $199, while the 8.9-inch model is expected to ship on Nov. 20 priced at $299.

Amazon's Bezos also unveiled a version of the Kindle Fire HD that includes 4G LTE wireless technology that he said will ship on Nov. 20. The base model includes 32 GB of storage and will list for $499.

The Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE model will be matched to a data plan that provides for 250 MB of data per month and 20 GB of cloud storage for a price of $49.99 per year.

Bezos compared the cost of the device to that of Apple's new iPad, noting that the first-year cost to own the new iPad, including purchasing the device and paying for data service, totaled $959, compared to only $549 for the new Kindle Fire HD 4G LTE.

"We've not just built the best tablet at that price," he said. "We've built the best tablet at any price."

The Kindle Fire HD and its 4G LTE cousin will be launched with a number of important applications customized to take advantage of the new mobile platform, including Facebook, Skype and a version of Microsoft Exchange Bezos called "world class."

Bezos also demonstrated several other services, including Whispersync for Voice, a new service that allows users to switch between audio and written versions of Kindle e-books without losing their place; X-Ray, which allows users to touch the name of a character in a book or an actor in a movie to automatically pull up details; and Kindle FreeTime, which lets parents set different time limits for different applications used by their children. With FreeTime, for instance, parents could allow unlimited time for reading but put a 30-minute limit for playing games, he said.

For students, Bezos demonstrated X-Ray for Textbooks, which allows textbook readers to touch the screen to highlight a term or concept and get access to a wide range of multimedia information, including YouTube videos, to better understand what is being read.

Bezos also introduced new versions of the Kindle eBook readers, including the Kindle Paperwhite, which features a patented light guide screen that distributes the light evenly across the display and reflects it down onto the screen for high contrast and easy readability in any light conditions.

NEXT: Amazon Looking For Revenue From Services, Not Devices



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