Amazon's new Kindle has a 'Mayday' button
The US online retailer said the Kindle Fire HDX tablets would include an improved display that it claims "goes beyond HD with exceptional pixel density". It also has a new processor that provides three times the processing power of the earlier versions.
The new tablet is offered in a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) version that competes with smaller devices like Apple's iPad mini, and an 8.9 inch model closer to the larger iPad and similar units.
"It's been just two years since we introduced the first Kindle Fire and the team is innovating at an unbelievable speed," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive.
Mayday the Kindle way
"We've worked hard to pack this much hardware, innovation and customer obsession into these prices," he added. The smaller tablet will sell from US$229. It can be pre-ordered now for shipping on 18 October.
Amazon cut the price of the current generation of Kindles to as low as US$139, from the launch price of US$199 last year. The larger Kindle Fire HDX starts at US$379, and it will start shipping on 7 November.
Amazon also introduced what it called a revolutionary technical support system to help people learn to use the Kindle.
"Simply tap the Mayday button in Quick Settings and an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX to co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself or doing it for you -- whatever works best," an Amazon statement said.
It aims to provide a response within 15 seconds or less. The free technical support will be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
'Fiery' operating system
Amazon has not released sales figures for the Kindle tablets, but analysts say it is among the biggest rivals to the market-leading iPads, with a US market share that may have been as high as 22% last year.
The Kindles use what Amazon calls its Fire OS operating system, which builds on Google's Android system with added cloud services, a content-first user interface, built-in media libraries, productivity apps and low-level platform enhancements to integrate Amazon's digital content and improve performance.
The new devices will have the Fire OS 3.0 "Mojito" system.
Bezos, speaking on CNN, acknowledged that the company does not make a profit from Kindle sales. "Our approach is premium products at non-premium prices. So, we sell the hardware at breakeven," he told CNN's "New Day."
"We don't try to make any money when we sell this hardware and we hope to make money when people use the devices not when they buy the devices. That's a very different approach from most companies, which are building quite a bit of profit into the sale of these devices," Bezos said.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
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