Kindle Fire 2 Specs: See What this HD Tablet is Capable Of
Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire 2 at the beginning of the month, and over the past few weeks tablet analysts have been putting the device through a work out and trying out the specs and features promoted by the company.
The device is the successor to the original Kindle Fire tablet and sports an 8.9-inch screen with 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution and 254 PPI. The Kindle Fire 2, also known as the Kindle Fire HD, is capable of in-plane switch and Amazon promises that it is 40 percent faster than the original thanks to its TI OMAP 4470 processor.
Amazon also stated that the device's MIMO antenna allows it to retrieve content at a rate 41 percent faster than the new Google Nexus 7 or iPad.
It also is the first tablet to feature Dolby Digital, which brings a dual speaker system as opposed to the singular speaker found on the iPad. The Kindle Fire HD battery is supposed to last longer , according to Amazon and the tablet starts with 16GB RAM.
Amazon will also launch a 7-inch version with the same specifications along with a 32GB 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD that will come with 4G LTE connectivity.
The 7-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD will ship on Sept. 14 and will sell for just $199, while the 8.9-inch model will not be available until Nov. 20 and will cost $299. The 32GB LTE model will cost $499 and will cost the owner $50 per year for service.
The company dropped the price down on the original Kindle Fire tablet to $69 thanks to a new ad-supported version.
Amazon could not help but boast of the Kindle Fire's accomplishments as the tablet now controls 22 percent of tablet sales in the U.S. and is the highest selling device on Amazon.com.
However, the company will have some serious competition on its hands if Apple decides to launch the rumored iPad Mini. Although Apple has not released any official details of the iPad Mini most are predicting the device's release in the coming months.