Amazon on Friday announced it is now shipping the new $229 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX to customers in the U.S.
The tablet was unveiled last month alongside the 8.9-inch model and the lower-end Kindle Fire HD. It runs Amazon's newly christened Fire OS 3.0 "Mojito," a fork of Android 4.2.2 that's compatible with third-party Android apps, but has a different set of built-in apps and a rebuilt user interface.
Amazon yesterday also opened pre-orders for the device in the U.K. and Canada, where it will begin shipping next month.
The 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX 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. One of the more interesting features is "Mayday," a tech support system where a live Amazon employee appears in a video window on your tablet.
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, answer any Kindle Fire questions, and even suggest 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. The feature is free for all Kindle Fire HDX owners.
"With a beautiful 323 ppi perfect-color HDX display, 3x the processing power, 2x the memory, 4x the graphics performance, and Fire OS 3.0, we think customers are going to love the new Kindle Fire HDX," Amazon Kindle Vice President Peter Larsen said in a statement. "We can't wait to get this tablet into our customers' hands."
The 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX earned four-out-of-five stars in PCMag's review, gaining points for its sharp screen, fast processor, and ease of use. On the flipside, however, we found that the device has a short battery life and the "interface is very geared to buying things from Amazon." For more, see PCMag's Hands On With the New Kindle Fires.