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Amazon expands gadget lineup, offers Fire tablet for kids

 
Amazon is debuting the Kindle Fire HD Kids’ Edition, a lower-cost Fire tablet that comes with a two-year, no-questions-asked warranty if it’s broken.
Amazon is debuting the Kindle Fire HD Kids’ Edition, a lower-cost Fire tablet that comes with a two-year, no-questions-asked warranty if it’s broken.
Published Sept. 18, 2014

NEW YORK — The newest version of Amazon's Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers, which launch next month, will come with the requisite incremental innovations that make the coming generation of the devices lighter and faster.

But perhaps the biggest change consumers will see as advance orders begin is the price. Amazon is introducing an ad-supported, 6-inch, high-definition Fire tablet for $99, an inch smaller and $80 cheaper than the lowest-cost Samsung Galaxy Tab 4.

"Our goal there is to pack as much processing power into as low a price as we can," said Dave Limp, the Amazon.com senior vice president who oversees the company's hardware business.

The new batch of devices — three new Fire tablets and three new Kindle e-readers — isn't just focused on low prices. Amazon is also adding a higher-priced Kindle e-reader, the Kindle Voyage, with a 300-pixels-per-inch screen that is the sharpest yet. The highest-price version of the Voyage, which comes with wireless connectivity, will sell for $269 without ads.

The company also updated the operating system that runs its Fire tablets, which includes the ASAP feature it has on its Fire TV devices. That feature anticipates videos that customers might want to watch and preloads them so they'll stream faster.

And Amazon debuted the Fire HD Kids Edition, a lower-cost Fire tablet that comes with a two-year warranty to replace the device if it's broken, no questions asked.

The new offerings include a faster Fire HDX 8.9, the priciest and most powerful tablet Amazon makes. The latest version, which starts with an ad-supported model at $379, includes a 339-pixels-per-inch screen plus something Amazon calls a "Dynamic Light Control" chip. It automatically adjusts the color of the display to make the digital pages of a book more closely resemble the way paper appears in different light.

The company also debuted the Fire Keyboard, a $59.99 Bluetooth keyboard that comes with a trackpad. The keyboard, at $54.99, connects magnetically to Amazon's updated Origami cover for storage.

Amazon says its lower-cost devices can beat the specifications of other low-cost tablets.

The Voyage, at 7.6 millimeters thick, is the thinnest e-reader yet. Amazon has etched the cover glass on the device so that it diffuses light, making it easier to read in bright daylight.