Amazon Kindle Fire Features, Specifications And Price

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The long rumoured Amazon tablet, also called the iPad 3 killer is finally here. The new Amazon Kindle Fire was launched during the Amazon Press Conference a few days ago. It has not just brought big surprises, but also has got some great features along with it.

Although the Kindle Fire is packed with great features, Amazon has certainly got its competitors nibbling by announcing the device for a market-friendly $199 price tag, which poses serious threat to Apple’s iPad.

Since the launch of the first Kindle, Amazon managed to sell a whopping 3 million tablets in 2010, and as speculations broke out indicating that it is planning to launch its next Kindle in 2011, the tablet became one of the most anticipated devices of the year.

The tablet comes with great features, which include streaming movies and TV shows and access to Amazon’s app store. The tablet boasts a 7-inch Gorilla Glass color display and is powered by Google’s Android OS with Wi-Fi connectivity – however, it does not feature a camera, microphone, or a 3G connection.

Amazon Kindle Fire Specifications

Here are the full technical specifications of the newly launched Amazon Kindle Fire:

Display	7-inch multi-touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors.
Size (in inches)	7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm).
Weight	14.6 ounces (413 grams).
On-device Storage	8GB internal. That’s enough for 80 apps, plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books.
Cloud Storage	Free cloud storage for all Amazon content
Battery Life	Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as web browsing and downloading content.
Wi-Fi Connectivity	Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standard with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks.
USB Port	USB 2.0 (micro-B connector)
Audio	3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers.
Content Formats Supported	Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8.

Kindle Fire Features

Although the Amazon Kindle Fire is priced for more than half of the cheapest Apple iPad, it is loaded with new features and increased processing speed. Here are some of the features, which will definitely make the device worth buying.

Size and Weight

Weighing just 14.6 ounces (413 grams), the Kindle Fire is the lightest tablet available on the tablet market. It approximately weighs 64% lesser than the iPad. On the other hand, it is
even lighter than the BlackBerry PlayBook which weighs 425 grams.

However, in terms of size, it is about half the size of the iPad, which matches closely with Barnes & Noble’s Nook Color tablet. The tablet is about 4.72 inches wide and 7.48 inches in height, a little larger than a 4×6 picture.

Amazon Silk Web Browser

The Kindle Fire is a content-focused tablet, and keeping that in mind, Amazon has come up with its own Web browser called the Amazon Silk. Silk is a cloud-accelerated Web browser that crunches all of a website’s elements with Amazon’s powerful Elastic Compute Cloud or “EC2” cloud service, which will provide faster loading of contents and websites.

The basic functionality of Silk is that it dynamically divides workload between the local Kindle Fire and the cloud-based EC2, taking into consideration factors like network conditions, page complexity and the location of any cached content.

According to Amazon, “If hundreds of files are required to build a web page across dozens of domains, Silk can request all of this content simultaneously with EC2, without overwhelming the mobile device processor or impacting battery life.”

Free Amazon Cloud Storage on Kindle Fire

The tablet comes with 8GB internal storage, of which 2GB is allocated to the OS and 6GB is usable. However, if you run of out of local space then no worries. Amazon offers you free cloud storage for all Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud. This allows you store Apps, books, movies, and music which will be available instantly to stream or download for free, at a touch of a finger.

At present, there isn’t any cap on the amount of content you can store. This means that the cloud storage will be unlimited and you can practically store any number of files on the cloud.

The Power of Apps

The Kindle Fire will merge all of Amazon services including Instant Video, Prime, Amazon Web services, and MP3 as well. Along with all these services, the Kindle will enable you to shop on Amazon. Although the Kindle Fire is loaded with Amazon Services, the tablet is still powered by Android. This is will enable the device to run all kinds of apps for playing games, socializing, stay up-date with breaking news, weather updates, and more.

The Amazon App Store for Android is integrated with the Amazon.com website and features premium Android apps which users can be download for free or at a discount. The best part is that you can preview or test drive the apps without having to buy them.

Here are some of the apps available for the Amazon Kindle Fire:

WhisperSync for Movies and TV Shows

Another important feature on the Kindle Fire e-reader is the WhisperSync which has the ability to synchronize your notes, bookmarks, last location read, and popular highlights. With the launch of the Kindle Fire, Amazon expanded the feature to support movies and TV shows. With this, you can stop a movie on your Kindle Fire, and then resume it on your Internet-connected HDTV or computer in the same spot. And all of this happens wirelessly.

Amazon Kindle Fire Availability and Price Details

The Amazon Kindle Fire is priced at very low price. Perhaps it is the best feature of the tablet. The Kindle Fire is available for just $199 without any contract plans. Users will be getting 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime, which is $79-a-year membership service that includes streaming video and free two-day shipping.

Alongside the Kindle Fire, Amazon also announced two more low priced Kindle e-readers:

The entry level Kindle – priced at just $79 – is the cheapest version of the e-reader. It comes with a standard 6 inch e-ink display and 2 GB internal storage. It will support Wi-Fi and a 5-way controller for navigation.

The other version is priced at $99 with a limited touch screen capability, known as the Kindle Touch. It will come with a 6 inch e-ink display and 4 GB internal storage. The same version is available in 3G – Kindle Touch 3G – for $149

Want to Pre-Order Your Kindle Fire? You can now pre-order an Amazon Kindle Fire at Amazon for $199. Amazon will start shipping the tablet from November 15, 2011. Please note that pre-orders are available in the US only. Click Here to Pre-Order it Now…