Amazon refreshes line of Kindle Fire HD tablets for the holidays

Amazon.com unveiled the latest version of its Kindle Fire HD tablets Wednesday morning, and they are lighter, faster and have higher-resolution displays than before. They also now have an X in their name.

The new 7-inch and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX tablets feature better screens than last year’s models. The 7-inch model now features a full 1080p HD display, and the 8.9-inch model’s screen has been beefed up to a 2,560-by-1,600 pixel resolution with a 339-pixel density.

Both tablets are also faster, thanks to their 2.2GHz quad-core processors. And the 8.9-inch model is 34% lighter than its predecessor.

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The Kindle Fire HDX tablets also feature a “Mayday Button,� designed to make it easy for users to learn and understand any feature on the gadgets. It should be a useful tool for first-time tablet owners.

Amazon said customers can order now online. The 7-inch model starts at $229 will begin shipping Oct. 18. The $329 4G LTE version will ship on Nov. 14. The $379 8.9-inch model will ship Nov. 7 and the $479 4G LTE version will ship Dec. 10. The retailer also announced that it will sell 4G LTE models compatible with AT&T and now Verizon.

Customers looking to save money can check out the Kindle Fire HD models. They don’t feature the high-resolution displays or powerful processors that the HDX models do, but they are available for less money and sooner.

Users can get the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet starting at $139; the 8.9-inch model starts at $269. The company said the tablets can also be ordered now. The 7-inch model will ship on Oct. 2 and the 8.9-inch model will ship Thursday.

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