Amazon Kindle Fire HDX–The First Real Amazon Tablet

The world's largest online retailer Amazon has refreshed its line-up of tablet computers with a new device Kindle Fire HDX, the range of Android-powered tablets ahead of the holiday season in a hope that it can cash in on the irresistible pull that tablets currently have on consumers.

On Wednesday September 25th, 2013, Amazon unveiled it’s new series Kindle Reader namely Kindle Fire HDX - blow past Apple and the Android rivals with flatter, faster tablets that are nonetheless priced insanely low. With this Amazon's ready to compete on specs, on content, and on price and it makes a compelling case in every respect.

What is Kindle Fire HDX:
The new HDX is actually two tablets: a 7-inch model and an 8.9-inch version. Both are still relatively inconspicuously designed, with virtually no flair — they're just black. Both models feel solid and well made when you’re holding them. Both offer access to Amazon's world of books, music and movies. The Kindle Fire HDX tablets come with 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processors and 2GB of RAM. Their Adreno 330 graphics will, Amazon says, offer four times the graphical performance of the existing Kindle Fire HD. Amazon also claims up to 11 hours of battery life when using the Kindle Fire HDX tablets.

The new Kindle Fire HDX is lighter by 23 per cent for the smaller model and 34 per cent for the full-sized one. The slimmer profile is made possible by a new, lighter magnesium alloy body, a touch screen with fewer layers than before and a frame that is about one-quarter narrower all around the edge of the screen.

The new HDX with a 7-inch screen, measured diagonally, is now lighter than the iPad Mini, at 10.7 ounces compared with 10.9 ounces. Google's new Nexus 7 is lighter than both, though, at 10.2 ounces. The HDX has a starting price of $229, a $100 less than the Mini.

Where The 8.9-inch HDX is also significantly lighter, at 13.2 ounces, than a full-size iPad, at 23 ounces. Of course, the smaller screen - 0.8 inches shorter on the diagonal - contributes to Amazon's under-sized achievement here. The larger HDX starts at $379, or $120 less than the iPad.

Both the models now come with a new featured button named as “Mayday”. Suppose you’re in some problem related to both either technical or non-technical, with that feature, if you just tap the Mayday button in your settings, and within 15 seconds an actual human will appear on your screen, with full control of your device. They can walk you through how to do something, or figure out what’s broken. And they don’t have to explain to you what the button looks like, they can just draw you diagrams or show you themselves. Right on your screen.

Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Mayday Customer Experience

Technical Specification:

• Kindle Fire HDX 7.0 inch
  • Display: 7” Screen Size
  • Dimension: 7.3 x 5 x 0.35 in (186 x 128 x 9 mm)
  • Resolution: 1920 x 1200 resolution display at 323 ppi
  • CPU: 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 Quad Core Processor
  • Memory: 2GB RAM
  • Storage: 16/32/64 GB
  • Graphics: Adreno 330 GPU
  • Network: Integrated dual-band, Dual antenna (MIMO and HT40)
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11n, 4G LTE connectivity (via AT&T or Verizon)
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth with A2DP Support
  • USB: micro USB 2.0
  • Audio:  Supports stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio for virtual 5.1 surround sound, Loudspeaker, 3.5mm Jack
  • Operating System: Amazon Fire OS 3.0 called Mojito
  • Camera: Front HD Webcam
  • Battery: Charging 6 hrs, Backup of 11hrs in all day usage
  • Features: An Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyro Sensor, Assisted GPS (available on 4G models only), Support for software encryption, Kerberos Intranet, Secure Wi-Fi connections, Native SCEP and VPN client integration, Wireless printing
  • Weight: 10.7 oz (303 g) for the Wi-Fi only version, 11 oz (311 g) for the 4G Flavor

• Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 inch
  • Display: 8.9” Screen Size
  • Dimension: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.31 in (231 x 158 x 7.8 mm)
  • Resolution: 2560 x 1600 resolution at 339 ppi.
  • CPU: 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 Quad-Core Processor
  • Memory: 2GB RAM
  • Storage: 16/32/64 GB
  • Graphics: Adreno 330 GPU
  • Network: Integrated dual-band, Dual antenna (MIMO and HT40)
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11n, 4G LTE connectivity (via AT&T or Verizon)
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth with A2DP Support
  • USB: micro USB 2.0
  • Audio:  Supports stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio for virtual 5.1 surround sound, Loudspeaker, 3.5mm Jack
  • Operating System: Amazon Fire OS 3.0 called Mojito
  • Camera:  8 MP camera at the back with LED flash, and wide aperture f/2.2 lens and electronic image stabilization, Front 720p HD Webcam
  • Battery: Charging 6 hrs, Backup of 11hrs in all day usage
  • Features: An Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Gyro Sensor, Assisted GPS (available on 4G models only), Support for software encryption, Kerberos Intranet, Secure Wi-Fi connections, Native SCEP and VPN client integration, Wireless printing
  • Weight: 13.2 oz (374 g) for the Wi-Fi only version, 13.5 oz (384 g) for the 4G Flavor

Advantages:

• Low Price: The price ranging from $139 for the Kindle Fire HD to $229 for the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX ($329 for the 4G version), to the top end of $379 for the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX ($479 if you want 4G).
• High Resolution Display: good high resolution screen for both the models.
• Lightweight design: The 8.9-inch weighs in at 375 grams, which is only 70 grams heavier than the iPad mini, and a good 300 grams lighter than the full-sized iPad.
• Superb sound: All the new tablets come with Dolby Digital Plus audio and virtual 5.1 multi-channel surround sound.
• Superb battery life: 11hrs around battery life for all day usage from a single charge.
• The Mayday button: An innovative new feature that gives users access to free tech support for any Kindle feature 24x7, 365 days a year.
• Enterprise support: The Kindle Fire HDX comes kitted with a raft of enterprise features, including data encryption, Kerberos authentication support, VPN support and more. This is a huge win for Amazon and rings the Kindle into the BYOD market.
• Android, but not Android: Amazon's decision to not go with a stock Android version, and instead develop a highly customized operating system based on Android. People like the Fire OS and find it a lot easier to use than a stock Android.
• Flexible and Huge Storage options: the storage space ranging from 8GB to 64GB depending on device selection.

Conclusion:

Maybe the competition in the market for an 8.9-inch or 7-inch tablet is on the peak and intensified, but the Kindle Fire HDX is a hard device to beat. It not only just because for the screen resolution or the high-end processor, available either: at $229 for the smaller model or $379 for the larger, but also the HDX is among the cheapest tablets on the market that we’d even consider recommending at those screen sizes. Even the LTE models, are also available at  just $329 and $479 respectively and available for Verizon and AT&T. 

If as per its standards and promises Amazon able to delivers  with its core apps, from email to the updated Silk browser, and can make the HDX into both the best vessel for Amazon content and something more besides, these two tablets are going to be hard to beat. And Mayday’s going to have a lot of customers this fall.