In the lead up to a September 6 press conference, details of Amazon’s refreshed Kindle line-up have started to leak. Most notably, there will be a variety of Kindle Fire 2 models with different screen sizes, and a new backlit e-ink Kindle.
Before we begin, don’t get too excited; neither of these devices will blow your mind, or put Apple in an untenable position. If we’ve learnt anything about Amazon, it’s that the company outs a revolutionary device or product, and then continually evolves the idea. The e-ink Kindle went through three generations, gradually refining its form factor, before Amazon finally released the touch and keyboardless versions last year. For Amazon, the main thing is ensuring a consistent experience for customers.
Judging by leaked images and rumors from the supply chain, there will be two or more Kindle Fire 2 variants: a 7-inch model (pictured above), and one or more larger models. The 7-incher will probably be very similar to the original Kindle Fire, but with upgraded internals so that it can go toe-to-toe with the other $199 tablet: The Google/Asus Nexus 7. There will likely be a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC inside the new Kindle Fire. Hopefully the new Kindle Fire will be slightly thinner and sport a 1280×800 display, rather than the lackluster 1024×600 display in the current model.
The larger models are where the rumor mill diverges: There is some evidence that we’ll see an 8-inch Kindle Fire, to compete with the upcoming 8-inch iPad Mini — and it also seems likely that there’ll be a 10-inch Kindle Fire. It is unlikely that the 10-inch model will be pitched directly at the iPad — it’ll probably be cheaper, but fatter and less attractive — but for consumers who just want to watch movies and TV shows, a big-screen Kindle Fire could certainly lure some potential customers away from Cupertino. Spec-wise, the 10-inch Fire will also be powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 — but beyond that, we know nothing. For content consumption it would be nice if the display was at least 1920×1080, rather than 1024 or 1366×768, but we’re only guessing at this point.
Software-wise, our own sources indicate that the new Kindle Fire will debut with updated software, and a tweaked UI that’s less cluttered and feels faster. There’s also a new version of the Amazon Android Marketplace coming down the pipe. According to Reuters, Amazon will ditch Google Maps on the Kindle Fire in favor of Nokia’s maps software. There’s no word on whether the new Kindle Fire will still be based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread or a newer version.
On the e-ink side of things, it looks like Amazon is readying to release a backlit version of the Kindle Touch with “Paperwhite” technology. It isn’t clear if Paperwhite refers to the backlight, or a whiter e-ink display (the current models are more beige or light gray). In either case, it sounds like the new Kindle Touch will be just like Barnes & Noble’s Nook with GlowLight, which has received generally positive reviews. There’s no getting around the fact that a backlight obviates the joy of e-ink being a non-emissive and non-eye-straining display, though.
There haven’t been Kindle Keyboard leaks, but it’s fairly safe to assume that there’ll be model with Paperwhite; but otherwise, the device will probably remain unchanged for a third year running.
In other news, Amazon announced yesterday that the Kindle Fire had “sold out” (i.e. it’s not producing any more because new ones are arriving on September 6), and that the chunky tablet secured 22% of US tablet sales over the last 9 months. This rather impressive stat works out at around 2 million tablets every 3 months. Apple, by comparison, sells around 5 million tablets every 3 months in the US — putting Amazon in a very comfortable second place, well ahead of Samsung). Amazon says that the Kindle Fire has been the number one best-selling product since it launched, and that the top 10 best-selling products are all Kindle-related. Viva la e-book.
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