Amazon today announced three new Kindle Fire tablets, the $139 Kindle Fire HD, $229 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX, and $379 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX. The two higher-end models feature super-high-res screens and"Mayday," a tech support system where a live Amazon employee appears in a video window on your tablet.
All three new tablets run Amazon's newly christened "Fire OS 3.0," a fork of Android 4.2.2 that's compatible with third-party Android apps, but has a totally different set of built-in apps and a completely rebuilt UI layer for faster touch performance and smoother graphics.
The $229, 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX has top-of-the-line specs for a tablet at that price. It packs a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 1,920-by-1,200 IPS LCD display for quick response and sharp images. The $379, 8.9-inch model has the same processor and RAM, but a 2,560-by-1,600 screen. Both new models have a 1-megapixel front camera, but the 8.9-inch device also has an 8-megapixel rear camera with a custom, Amazon-written camera app.
Mayday is the new tablets' most flashy feature. By hitting a button on a pull-down menu, you can start a video chat with an Amazon support rep who has the ability to control your tablet. The support rep can draw on your screen and press virtual buttons, and is available to answer any Kindle Fire question - even suggesting hot apps to download or books to read. Amazon says it's aiming for no more than a 15-second wait time for anyone requesting Mayday assistance. Mayday will be free for all Kindle Fire HDX owners; see it in action in the video below.
There are a bunch of other new features in Fire OS 3.0. "X-Ray for Music" integrates lyrics into the Fire's music player. "X-Ray for Movies and TV" shows not only the actors on screen in a show or film, but the name of any songs that are playing and IMDb trivia data about what's on screen at the time. Amazon sped up the Silk browser, rewrote the email app, and added printer support, VPN support and other enterprise features as well.
The $139 model is last year's $199 Kindle Fire HD in a redesigned slimmer, angled case. It'll have most of the new software features, but not Mayday.
The base prices get you 16GB tablets with dual-band Wi-Fi. A $100 supplement to the HDX models buys AT&T or Verizon LTE connectivity, although you have to add your own AT&T or Verizon service plan. There will also be 32 and 64GB storage options at an additional price; the Fire tablets have no memory card slot.
The three tablets go on pre-sale tonight on Amazon.com. The Kindle Fire HD and 7-inch HDX models will be delivered in October; the 8.9-inch HDX model is coming in November.
For more, check out PCMag's hands on with the new Kindle Fires and the video below.