Apple’s overall score of 836 was buoyed by particular strengths in four of the five categories: performance, ease of operation, styling & design, and features. In contrast, Amazon’s tablets – which scored 829 out of 1,000 – did particularly well in the cost category. 1,857 tablet owners were questioned in February 2013 as part of the research.

Interestingly, while Apple sold a whopping 19.5m iPads in its most recent financial period, J.D. Power’s research indicates that those who already own a tablet are less likely to add to or replace their slate collection any time soon. In 2012′s study, 37-percent of owners said they intended to buy a new tablet within the space of the coming year; in 2013′s survey, that number has dropped to 27-percent.

Overall satisfaction, however, is higher when the tablet is a communal device. In fact, those who are sole users of tablets ranked satisfaction 28 points lower than those who share one slate between four or more people; J.D. Power suggests that could have significant impact on subsequent purchases, with group satisfaction leading to brand-loyalty.

As for other tablet manufacturers, Samsung, ASUS, and Acer all get name-checked, though their scores each fell below the study average of 828. Samsung, which makes the Nexus 10 for Google in addition to its own Galaxy Tab line-up, scored 822, while ASUS, which makes the Google Nexus 7 among other models, scored 818. Acer dropped further behind, with a total of 784.

No mention of OS was made in the survey, though separate research published last week by Strategy Analytics indicates that Windows-based models saw a surge in attention after the more touch-tailored Windows 8 was released. Nonetheless, the tablet marketplace is predominantly dominated by iOS and Android.

[via AppleInsider]

Before you can install Xbox Smartglass onto your Kindle Fire, you have to make sure that your device is at least running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Smartglass brings the second-screen option to your Kindle Fire, allowing you to control your music and video through your tablet, type using your tablet’s keyboard, view second-screen options for movies/TV shows you’re watching, and interact with extra content provided by certain games. You are also able to track achievements, customize your avatar, browse the internet, and much more.

An example of the usefulness of Smartglass would be if you’re watching a movie. On your tablet, you can pause,play, fast forward your movie and more. But not only that, on the side panel, there will also be a description box providing you with relevant information regarding the media playing on your Xbox 360, including episode summaries, the TV show storyline, and much more.

With certain games, like Skyrim, your Kindle Fire will serve as a companion that will help you as you navigate throughout the game’s fantasy maps. You can use your Kindle Fire as a map to make sure you’re never lost in the game’s massive world. You can download Xbox SmartGlass for your Kindle Fire from Amazon’s App Store. The functionality of the app should be the same as the app for Android.

The filing states that base stations will provide the power and data for the displays. It says that these displays will last “for substantially longer periods and may not need to be recharged.” The base stations will also receive user input, whether it’d be from voice commands or user gestures, and will send the correct actions to the display corresponding to the input (i.e. turn pages, return to the home screen, etc).

Amazon states that while the display may be able to operate “without requiring an independent power source (e.g. rechargeable battery)”, having a rechargeable battery in the device can offer many benefits. Amazon also states that the display will be beneficial to college campuses. It stated a scenario where base stations are located all throughout the college campus, providing wireless power and data networks to students. Students would be able to access data anywhere on campus, and it would open many doors for things like electronic textbooks. The new display may be able to relieve students from their heavy, physical textbooks.

Amazon isn’t sure how it will charge users for accessing data with the display, but it’s thinking about implementing an access or usage fee. Whatever the case may be, we probably won’t be seeing these displays for a while. Perhaps this is why Amazon hired ex-Windows Phone GM Charlie Kindel? Amazon has a lot of potential new products and services coming out in the future, perhaps even an Amazon Smartphone.

[via GeekWire]

AT&T will hold only the 32GB version of the tablet. Off contract, you can pick up a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 from AT&T for $399, the same price as it is on Amazon. However, if you sign a new two-year contract with AT&T, you can get $150 off the tablet, and purchase it only for $249. The latter would be an amazing deal considering most of us stick to our tablets for years.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 boasts some decent specs. The device has an 8.9-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution display with a pixel density of 254ppi. It has a 1.5GHz OMAP4470 processor, 1GB of RAM, a front-facing camera, custom Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers, and up to 10 hours of battery life. You will also have access to Amazon’s huge selection of entertainment, as well as Amazon’s exclusive features, such as X-Ray for movies/textbooks, Whispersync for voice/games, and immersion reading.

If you’re already an existing AT&T customer, you can pair up the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 with AT&T’s Mobile Share plans starting at only $10 a month. That way you can share the data on your plan throughout multiple devices. If you don’t have an existing AT&T plan, you can sign up for one for as low as $15 a month. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is a great tablet for regular consumers, and it has an easy-to-use interface. You can check out our review for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to see if it’s the right tablet or you.

[via Android Community]

If you’re going to pick through a comment from a representative of a company creating gadgets, you may as well go all the way. What we’re seeing today is a very, very short comment from Amazon that’s committed to keeping a higher price point regardless of suggestions to the contrary – but what can we read into here?

“It’s not happening–we are already at the lowest price points possible for that hardware.” – Amazon Spokesperson

What if the company, on the other hand, continued to push the software edge along with the advertising element already present in several of their tablets? If Amazon was able to put enough bloatware into the Kindle – a future edition of the hardware, that is – could they make it free? Mobile carriers around the world make phones “free” all the time with connections to yearly contracts with monthly data costs.

When will it be time for the Amazon Kindle Fire – or whatever they call it by the time this happens – to be free to consumers? We’re not entirely convinced that time will ever come, especially considering the outcry that happens every time a Kindle is announced with non-removable ads. That’s a no-no!

Have a peek at the timeline below to see other recent moves Amazon has been making to make the Kindle universe a friendly place to work and play in, and let us know if you’re waiting for a cheaper model in the future!

According to TechCrunch, the sub-$100 tablet will come with a Texas Instruments processor and will feature a 1280×600 resolution display, so it looks like it won’t have anything too revolutionary, but we shouldn’t be expecting anything ground-breaking anyway, except for maybe the price, but as far as components are concerned, expect a bottom-of-the-barrel type of device.

Of course, you can grab a regular Kindle Fire for just $159, so a $99 Kindle Fire tablet seems pretty realistic. None of the major companies have outed a $99 tablet yet, so Amazon being first to the punch could be great news for the company. However, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not the tablet will sell at a loss.

Then again, $99 Android tablets already exist, but they’re mostly from generic brands, and they feature components and specs that aren’t too desirable to most people anyway. However, if Amazon could pull off a decent tablet at $99, it could be the start of something greater for prospective tablet buyers, and with the company’s large and lucrative ecosystem, taking a loss on tablet sales wouldn’t be a big deal.

UPDATE: We received word directly from Amazon that there are no plans for such a tablet: “It’s not happening — we are already at the lowest price points possible for that hardware.”

[via TechCrunch]

Previously, the 8.9-inch version of the Kindle Fire HD was priced at $299, while the 4G version costed $499, which means that the WiFi-only model received a $30 price drop, while the 4G LTE model received a healthy $100 drop, making it even more tempting to jump with both feet in and grab the tablet at a good price.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 features a nice 1920×1200-resolution display, which provides 254 ppi of pixel density. The tablet comes with a Texas Instruments OMAP4470 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz with 1GB of RAM. The WiFi-only version comes in 16GB and 32GB flavors, while the 4G model comes in 32GB and 64GB variants.

The Kindle Fire series of tablets are great companions if you’re particularly close with Amazon’s ecosystem. Prime members get a lot of exclusive features with the Kindle Fire software, including the ability to rent ebooks for free using Amazon’s lending library, something that normal Prime members can’t take advantage of.

Amazon Student Members with an active Prime account (free six-month or $39/year plan) are only eligible for the deal. However, the company is letting students who aren’t Prime members sign up today to take advantage of the deal. In order to become an Amazon Student member, simply sign up using your .edu email address.

The offer is good towards either the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 WiFi-only model or the 4G LTE variant. The $50 discount means you’ll spend as little as $249 on a new 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD, which is the same price as the 7-inch 32GB model of the Fire HD. We have to say that’s a pretty good-looking deal for a great budget tablet.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 comes in four different flavors in all. The WiFi-only model comes in 16GB and 32GB sizes, while the 4G LTE version comes in either 32GB or 64GB flavors, all priced at $249, $319, $449, and $549, respectively, after applying the $50 discount. Read our full review of the device to learn more.

In fact, Kindle is an Amazon success story all round, not just the more direct iPad-rivaling models. In addition to the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire, the Kindle Paperwhite and regular Kindle ereaders together hold the top four positions in the Amazon worldwide sales charts.

That hardware has seen digital content demand jump too. Amazon says it saw its biggest day for digital downloads ever on December 25, as over 23m movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, apps, and games, were downloaded on Christmas day. That’s not solely to Kindle devices, of course, since Amazon also offers the Appstore for general Android devices, and streaming media to other platforms.

Kindle Fire HD sales were already buoyant. Amazon had announced back in October that the tablet was the best-selling product across all the countries it operates in.

The deal includes $20 off a Kindle Fire (now $139), $25 off a 7-inch Kindle Fire HD (now $174), and $50 off an 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD (now $249). Essentially, that same deal that we saw on Monday is back, as well as a little bit of savings for the other two Kindle Fire tablets. The Kindle Fire series is already a good deal, so these extra savings are pretty astounding.

It seems like Amazon is on an inventory-clearing spree this holiday season, and it seems since Monday’s deal didn’t quite do the trick, today’s deal looks to be a second effort to clear Kindle Fire stock. And while today’s deal is only targeted for mothers, it’s a great way to get kids in on the Kindle Fire fun.

The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is Amazon’s newest addition to the Kindle Fire family. It sports an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display with a huge resolution of 1920×1200. On the inside, there’s a Texas Instruments OMAP4470 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz accompanied by 1GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB of storage. We highly suggest checking out our full review of the device to learn more about it.

[via Gizmodo]

We’ve had a peek at the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 very recently in our full review, this showing off how you’re not just getting an ereader with this package, you’re getting a full tablet. But not just a full tablet, mind you, an Amazon window into their full content library – don’t expect an Android tablet here, it only runs the software under the hood. This device has a full-color display as well, nothing like the Barnes & Noble offering. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 has been discounted by $50, this making the price closer to $250 USD in its least expensive iteration.

The Nook Simple Touch on the other hand is an ereader in every sense of the word. Here you’ve got an eink display and a size that’s much tinier than the comparatively massive Kindle Fire HD 8.9. This machine has “16 levels of gray” and is made for reading text-based-books from start to finish. The hardware here is 6.5 x 5 x 0.47 inches and weighs in at a tiny 7.48 ounces, and the discount is permanent, it seems: $79 USD total, down from the $99 it was previously.

Have a peek at our lovely 2012 holiday gift guide for tablets as well to make sure you’re up to date on all of the best-of-2012 action for the holidays. It might be time to decide between the ereader and the full tablet experience here at the dawn of 2013 – perhaps time for a switch?

To take advantage of the deal, you’ll have to be quick, since it only lasts for today and “quantities are limited.” All you have to do is head to the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 product page on Amazon, add it to your cart, and type in FIREHD89 at checkout. From there, the deal will take affect and you’ll save yourself $50 in an instant.

Amazon announced the deal on their Twitter feed, noting that it’s a “special, one-day deal” on the new 8.9-inch tablet. And while you have all day to ponder over the deal, the company notes that you should hurry, since supply is limited. Even if they had an abundant supply of these tablets, we wouldn’t be surprised if they all sold out sometime today.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is the company’s latest tablet to add to their Kindle Fire lineup. It has an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display with an impressive resolution of 1920×1200. On the inside, there’s an OMAP4470 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz from Texas Instruments and 1GB of RAM. It also has a front-facing 1.3MP camera for video chatting.

However, if you’re still thinking about ordering one off of Amazon instead of driving to your local GameStop, the brick-and-mortar store will give you a $25 Amazon gift card if you buy a Kindle Fire tablet from them, which would essentially bring the price of the non-HD 7-inch Kindle Fire down to just a measly $135.

The deal will only last until January 31, so be sure not to putz around if you’re thinking about grabbing a Kindle Fire tablet anytime soon. If you already happen to have an original Kindle Fire and aren’t getting much use out of it, GameStop will also buy it from you and give you in-store credit for up to $100. You might be able to get a bit more cash out of it on Craigslist or eBay, but this is a great way if you need cash quickly.

GameStop has been growing its business for selling non-gaming devices for a while now. Last year, they started a pilot program to sell tablets in 200 stores, and expanded the program to over 1,600 locations later in May 2012. Back in March, GameStop also began selling refurbished iOS devices.

That means no extortionate bills when you discover your beloved child has been stabbing the “buy extra gold!” button with their chubby, sausage-like fingers for the past hour. The “Unlimited” package also means there’s no restriction on how many times they watch individual episodes or movies.

Amazon has partnered with Common Sense Media for show, book, and app ratings, making sure that not only does no inappropriate content make it through into FreeTime, but that what the child does see is likely to be interesting for their particular age group. Parents can also add their own picks manually for inclusion, and place individual limits on how much video, app, and reading time is allowed, as well as whether browsing is blocked.

FreeTime content is accessed from a separate interface, and the system supports multiple profiles for each child which keeps their own position in books, TV shows, and movies; they’ll need a password to escape the app to the regular interface.  There’s also topic-based search.

Amazon FreeTime Unlimited is priced at $4.99 per child or $9.99 per family, per month; Prime subscribers get a discount, taking it down to $2.99 per child or $6.99 per family. It’ll be supported on the Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ with a software update “in the coming weeks” and a month’s free trial to get you started.

Content Delivery System

It’s a mistake to compare the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 to any other tablet on the market not inside the Kindle Fire family unless you’re a software developer, a hacker, or you’re just about to jump into the digital content arena and have never before purchased yourself a digital video. With the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, the iPad 4th generation (the one with the Lightning port that’s in the store now), and the Google Nexus 10, you’ve got extremely high definition displays, and it’s there you should start if you’re demanding to see the best hardware package.

But here’s the thing: there’s a massive amount of Android tablets on the market today, each of them able to access the whole of the Google Play store. There’s several iPad models in the line’s history, and a set of rather similar Kindle Fire models tablets out there able to access the Amazon content system – but Amazon’s system doesn’t stop at the Kindle Fire. The only system that stops at the hardware (and vice versa) is the iPad.

What the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does is place the Amazon content system directly at the center of a machine that’s been checked and approved by Amazon itself. With that, it’s been limited to the Amazon content system so that you can be assured an experience that Amazon approves of – Apple does that same thing with the iPad. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is indeed a fabulous place to access your Amazon content.

The connectivity on this device is wi-fi but a 4G LTE bit of AT&T mobile data is available from Amazon if you pick up the edition with that ability. The offer behind that LTE is interesting at $50 a year, but with a limit of 250MB of data a month – this means you’ll be able to use this device for email using that data, and if you start watching streaming content or downloading media, you’ll go over in no time at all. Watch the overage costs rack up and that smile will turn upside down real quick.

Hardware

The display is extremely nice, bringing on a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels over 8.9 inches, that being 254ppi. That’s less than the iPad 4 and less than the Nexus 10, but up at this resolution we’re not able to tell the difference without getting up real, real close – closer than we’d get on any normal day, that’s for sure.

Colors are reproduced extremely accurately and with the darks on this machine being as deep as they are, we’ve been using this machine as a content machine via the miniHDMI as a top pick. Downloading an HD video from Amazon’s collection and playing it on the device or through the microHDMI port to an HDTV makes for a massively impressive experience – amongst the best on the market if not straight up the best there is with a wire.

The speakers on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 are Dolby powered and stereo – bringing on two channels for real. The speakers on this device are loud enough that you’ll not want to be a room away from a sleeping baby when them turned all the way up – you’ll wake that baby up. It’s unfortunate that they’re facing backwards as most of the tablet universe still has them aiming, but holding the tablet with two hands has the sound bouncing off your palms – that’s good enough for most.

Battery life on this device is rather good, especially since you’re only working with wi-fi connectivity at this time. LTE might make you bust down a bit quicker when it comes around, but for now you’ve got a couple of days at least with daily usage as a game-player and TV show downloader/watcher. Chatting on Skype (which is, mind you, generally OK but certainly not the nicest Skype experience on the market by a long shot due to less-than-perfect video quality) will drain your battery quickest.

There’s also a rather nice case/cover that you’ll probably want to pick up from Amazon if/when you purchase the Kindle Fire HD 8.9. It’s made by Amazon and looks like what you’re seeing above, complete with a magnetic “smart” off/on function (as the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 does indeed have that sensor) and has a rubbery bumper that allows it to stand up like you’re seeing here too.

Performance

With the processor mentioned above you’ve got a suitable environment in which you can play most if not all of the most high-powered games on the market. What you’ll see in the video below is Asphalt 7, a racing game, opened and tested in a real basic way just so you can see how quick everything renders out and responds – just as nice as the nicest devices on the market today.

We’ve heard of some people having small problems with the user interface and non-immediate opening of apps and switching between screens, but any such problems were negligible from our perspective. This is a high-quality device and Amazon has created a user interface over the top of Android that should do the original creators proud.

You’ve got a processor from Texas Instruments that’s one of the rarest on the market today, the OMAP4470 dual-core used only on the Nook HD family, Samsung Galaxy Premier, the BlackBerry Dev Alpha B, and a variety of oddities. This processor works perfectly well for this device, comparing in performance with the other dual-core processor on them market in a very general sense to the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor we’ve seen on a large number of smartphones this year including the Galaxy S III and HTC One series.

The processing power here does not bring us as ultra-swift a system as we’re seeing on the Nexus 10 or the iPad 4th gen – but the difference is invisible if you’re not using both one next to the other or doing extensive processor tests in a lab. Once you’ve got it in the lab, on the other hand, you’ll find the device ranking up on systems such as AnTuTu benchmark system with a score of 7247 – nowhere near the quad-core competition.

Store Access

If you’re not planning on purchasing videos from Amazon, you don’t want to use Amazon’s system for music, you’ve got no intention of purchasing any ebooks from Amazon, and you don’t want to use Amazon’s App Store, this is not the tablet for you. This unit is first and foremost a window into the Amazon library of digital content, and you’re going to have to pay for it.

The Amazon store exists at all corners in this device, and the different kinds of media you’re consuming here sit right up front and center. The first display you see on this device once you’ve started it up is a giant set of icons in a side-scrolling gallery that says quite clearly “you’re about to start” rather than “welcome to your Amazon tablet.” If there’s a scale from tablet interfaces that goes from standard computer to window, it starts at Android, moves up to the iPad, and ends at the Amazon Kindle Fire – this is not a device you’re going to use like your notebook or your desktop, it’s a consumption window.

X-Ray

There’s a brand overlay that exists between two different bits of in-content excellence that come with this device working with content from Amazon called X-Ray. This system works in videos as a direct connection to IMDB, showing the actors that are working in essentially any given scene and with books showing keywords and connections to them throughout the story you’re reading – find all the Ali Babas in the story and link in to them with ease.

This system works with a lovely collection of ebooks and videos coming from Amazon – not every single piece of content coming from Amazon, but certainly enough to warrant calling it a great selling point for this tablet. We’re always wondering who the heck that guy is getting his face cut off by the monster in the horror film scene we’re watching – now we know!

Kindle FreeTime

The folks at Amazon have come up with an extremely simple home screen replacement app that brings forth an environment for your kids. This environment is created by you, the parent, and is so simple that you can’t mess it up. You open up Kindle FreeTime and select the profile you want, deciding there what settings you want your child to work with and what apps/media they’re going to be able to see, and bang, you’re done.

From there the person in that profile – child or not – needs a password to exit again. That’s so simple that we wish Amazon would release FreeTime for the Google Play app store – please? Pretty please? For now you’ll need a Kindle Fire to use Kindle FreeTime – and for some parents that might be a deal-maker.

Wrap-up

If you’re deeply invested in the Amazon universe for content, this device is the best content delivery system you’re going to be able to buy today. It’s the biggest tablet Amazon makes at the moment and gives you access to all of your Amazon-held content in high definition, top to bottom. It’s not an Android tablet (as far as the Google Play store is concerned), it’s not an iPad, and it’s not a Windows device. It’s a unique tablet that’s deeply engrained in the Android environment.

The price of this device in its wi-fi configuration – that being the one we’re looking at here in this review – is $299 USD, and for that price there’s no competition unless you want a smaller display and a different content environment. For Amazon users, there’s nothing else – unless of course you consider the smaller version: see our Kindle Fire HD 7 full review as well.

As before, the WhisperSync service will mean that apps bought on one device can be downloaded and used on other devices logged into the same Amazon Appstore account. There’s also 1-Click payment support and a Free App of the Day.

Developers, meanwhile, will be able to use Amazon’s GameCircle system, with leaderboards and social gaming support, as well as in-app purchasing. There’s also a subscriptions option for digital magazines and newspapers.

Amazon put the Kindle Fire up for preorder in Japan for the first time back in October, as well as the Kindle Fire HD and the Kindle Paperwhite. It also added a fair sized chunk of Japanese-language content: 50,000 Japanese-language ebooks, plus over 15,000 manga titles.

This teardown shows the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 torn down with surprising ease, with just the tiniest amount of adhesive holding some key components in to this build. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 works with a K3PF/E700M GKG82497 processor from Samsung as well as KLMAG2GE4A-A001 flash from Samsung, both of them being some of the more expensive components for Kindle in the end. The display goes by the name ltl089cl02-001 and comes from Samsung as well – what do you know!

The digitizer and the LCD are fused together as per the norm these days, making it all but impossible to fix one without breaking the other, but the rest of the device gets a pretty good grade on the repairability charts. The battery is shown to be a 6000MAH (in two parts) 22.2wh, also quite standard in the tablet industry today. One of the biggest reasons this device is simple to deconstruct is Amazon’s decision to have the bulk of the device attached to the back panel, rather than having the back panel sit just as a cover.

The front end, then, holds essentially the digitizer and the display, and that’s it. Simple stuff! Have a peek at our timeline below of Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 posts to see more information on this device, and let us know if you plan on picking one up soon!

[via Powerbook Medic]

HP’s PC chief took some time out of his day to talk some smack about Microsoft Surface, while Google started sending out emails that said some Nexus 4 orders have been placed on backorder for three weeks. We learned today that 4G LTE networks are surprisingly easy to bring down, and Dell’s earnings for Q3 are showing a pretty big decline year-over-year. Usage of Microsoft’s SkyDrive has doubled in six months (and there are new features on the way), while a new survey is telling us that consumer demand for Windows 8 is a little on the low side.

We learned that the Steve Jobs biopic will be comprised of a collection of pre-keynote footage, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk talked about the future of space exploration. Steve Ballmer had some harsh words for the likes of Android and Apple today, while we learned that thieves made off with a shipment of 3,600 iPad minis. The HTC Deluxe was leaked today, leading us believe that it’s the international version of the HTC DROID DNA, and a new augmented reality game called Google Ingress was officially revealed.

Microsoft will be holding Windows Store app labs in 30 different cities to help Windows 8 developers make apps for the new OS, Xbox Live celebrated its 10th birthday. Spotify confirmed that its web app beta is rolling out to select number of users today, and Bethesda shared a bunch of new screenshots from its upcoming Dragonborn DLC. Finally tonight, Don Reisinger asks why the music industry seems to dislike fairness, while we go hands-on with the new Samsung Galaxy Camera – it’s a cool little device, so you’re not going to want to miss that one! That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Two capacity versions of the Kindle HD 8.9″ WiFi are offered – 16GB and 32GB – and it’s possible to choose a subsidized model with Amazon’s Special Offers or, for $15 more, opt out of the advertising. The 4G model comes in 32GB and 64GB versions, again with a choice of having Special Offers or not.

The 4G HD 8.9″ also offers a $49.99 annual data plan, offering 250MB of AT&T data per month for a one-off payment (and only valid for the first year of ownership). Monthly plans for 3GB or 5GB of data are also available, and can be signed up for on the tablet itself.

However, if you haven’t had a preorder in, you may be waiting some time to actually get your new slate. Amazon warns that orders placed today aren’t expected to ship until the week of December 3. You may be able to find one sooner in Best Buy, however, where the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ will go on sale from Friday this week, or in Staples or Radio Shack “in the coming weeks.”

More on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 in our hands-on.

In tests up against the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, Dr. Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate found that Apple’s competitors provided sharper displays, making it clear that they, “both have considerably sharper displays with 216 Pixels Per Inch, and they both delivered considerably sharper text.” Also tested where color gamuts, with the iPad mini coming up with a 62 percent.

Both the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD have 86 percent color gamut while the iPad 3rd gen and the iPhone 5 have 100 percent color gamut. The iPad mini reflected 53 percent more ambient light than the Nexus 7 in these tests and 41 percent more light than the Kindle Fire HD. Color management processing, on the other hand, was found to be far above average on the iPad mini, this bringing high picture quality and accurate color reproduction across the board.

The iPad mini’s display resolution was up for discussion as far as cost goes – with DisplayMate noting that a retina display, 326-pixel per inch pixel density, would have cost a prohibitive amount given current yields in the industry. Apple’s traditional use of 1,024 by 768 pixel and 2,048 by 1,536 pixel resolutions meant that 163ppi was required with the iPad mini if it wanted to keep with the screen size and work with all legacy apps.

Of course that’s the real key for Apple – have a peek at our column Smart device specs are over, long live the ecosystem to see why it might not matter that the iPad mini has less sharpness in the end.

According to the researchers, Samsung jumped from 6.5-percent market share in Q3 last year, to 18.4-percent in Q3 this year. It also saw a 115-percent increase from Q2 2012, and overall takes second place in IDC’s global leaderboard.

Amazon, too, took a bite out of Apple’s dominance, with the Kindle Fire HD line-up propelling it to third place and just under a tenth of the market. ASUS was helped to fourth place, Google’s Nexus 7 working its budget magic, while Lenovo snatched fifth place.

According to IDC’s number counters, it’s Samsung’s range of size options that helped it find so many buyers in 2012. “Samsung took advantage of an opportunity in the second quarter,” program manager Ryan Reith suggests. “The company offers a wide range of tablet offerings across multiple screen sizes and colors, and that clearly resonated with more buyers this quarter.”

The fact that the iPad mini extends the company’s tablet footprint into new screen sizes both works for and against Apple’s sales, IDC argues. The long-standing rumors of a smaller model may have dissuaded buyers of the existing, 9.7-inch version, it’s believed, though there’s the potential for a good quarter ahead now that the 7.9-incher is on sale.

However, pricing could still leave room for Android tablet OEMs to slip through. “[The] mini’s relatively high $329 starting price leaves plenty of room for Android vendors to build upon the success they achieved in the third quarter” research director Tom Mainelli highlights. Google in particular reacted aggressively to the iPad mini, ditching its 8GB Nexus 7 and replacing it with a 16GB $199 model.

On Apple’s website, the iPad mini is listed as having a built-in speaker, which is a tad ambiguous. When the device was unveiled, no word was given either way on whether it contained single or stereo speakers. Further muddling up the speculation pool was Amazon’s advertisement comparing its Kindle Fire HD with the iPad mini, which it listed as having a “mono speaker.”

Trying to solve this once and for all, a reader over at 9to5Mac named Alex sent Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Marketing an email stating, “I understand the tech specs about iPad Mini online should cover everything, but the tech specs online neither confirm or deny the rumors of iPad Mini’s speakers being stereo. Is it possible to get confirmation from the man himself as to whether these are mono or stereo?” Schiller replied in the affirmative, forever settling the great iPad mini speaker mystery.

Shortly after this email was published, Amazon pulled the Kindle Fire HD vs. iPad mini comparison chart from its homepage. However, at the moment, when you search for “iPad mini” on Google, Amazon’s comparison page still shows up listing the Apple device as having a “single speaker.” The copy above the comparison chart still touts the Kindle Fire HD as having superior audio partly due to its stereo speakers.

[via 9to5Mac]

The Kindle Fire HD also has a set of stereo speakers, while the iPad mini makes do with mono, and MiMo WiFi for faster connections, Amazon writes. The retailer also points out that the new, smaller iPad can’t watch HD movies and TV shows, though of course that’s a limitation solely of the Apple tablet’s integrated display: it can also be used to stream at up to 1080p via AirPlay Video, or with an HDMI adapter for directly hooking up to a TV.

It’s not the first time in recent days that Amazon has singled out Apple’s new tablet. The company made similar comparisons in its financial results, published on Thursday last week. “Our approach is to work hard to charge less” CEO Jeff Bezos argued. “Sell devices near breakeven and you can pack a lot of sophisticated hardware into a very low price point.”

Still, the retailer has Apple’s own example to go on. The company directly contrasted the iPad mini with Google’s Nexus 7 during its launch event last week, calling out the smaller display and larger bezels of the Android slate.

Preorders of the iPad mini began on Friday last week, with deliveries – and in-store sales – of the WiFi variant set to begin this coming Friday. Shipments of the WiFi + Cellular model will begin later in November.

In Japan, the Kindle Paperwhite is priced at 8,480 yen, while the WiFi + 3G version of the illuminated ereader goes for 12,980. It uses NTT DoCoMo 3G, which is all prepaid so there’s no bill for downloading ebooks on the move (bar the cost of the title itself, of course). Both will begin shipping from November 19.

As for Amazon’s tablets, they’re a little more expensive in general. The Kindle Fire is priced at 12,800 yen with its 7-inch touchscreen, while the Kindle Fire HD is available from 15,800 yen for the 16GB model; the 32GB version is also available.

Both tablets are up for preorder today – as is the Kindle Paperwhite – and the Fire duo will ship from December 19. Amazon will also offer them in-store at Japanese retailers K’s Holdings, Bic Camera, Joshin Denki, and Kitamura.

With the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon notes that they retain the crown for bestselling 7-inch tablet, that term once again not specified exactly. In this case though, selling the most of a 7-inch tablet wouldn’t be out of the question for Amazon, as the Kindle Fire line has been doing extremely well over the past year. This press update notes that they plan on continuing this trend with enhancements to the Kindle Fire HD already in consumers’ hands.

Today Amazon says they’ll be pushing a new free update to the Kindle Fire HD, software that will be coming to your device over-the-air. This means it’ll show up on your tablet as a notification and you’ll only have to press “yes” to get it on the device and loaded. This update includes Kindle FreeTime, a feature made specifically for kids.

This Kindle FreeTime allows parents to select the content that a kid can see and lock the tablet with a password. This update should keep the Kindle Fire HD Amazon’s “best-selling product since launch” up until the 8.9-inch tablet is launched. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 will be shipping on November 20th and will be starting in at $299 USD. Get ready for that one with a lovely read of our first Kindle Fire HD review right now!

comScore notes that around 1 in 10 tablet owners read digital periodicals on their devices every day as of August 2012. 37.1% of tablet owners read a newspaper on their device at least once a month, while 11.5% read a newspapers roughly every day. 11% is definitely a small figure, but we may see that number creep up in the next few years.

According to comScore, a whopping 43.9% of Kindle Fire users read magazines on their device. The iPad came in at 40.3%, and 13.4% for NOOK Tablet users. The newspaper category was a much closer race, though. The Kindle Fire came in at 39.2%, the iPad with 38.3%, and the NOOK Tablet with 31.8%.

To clarify, this isn’t about which tablet gets the most magazine/newspaper readers (and thus being the most popular tablet in this category), but rather what the most popular type of periodical is on which tablets. The survey was conducted during a three-month period ending in August 2012 consisted of 6,000 tablet owners across the US.

For businesses, Amazon is keen to highlight Kindle’s compatibility with digital documents, even if they’re not ebooks purchased from its own store. PDFs and other content can be pushed out, to employees and to customers, and the system will work with company-owned Kindles or Kindles/Kindle apps running on users’ own hardware.

“Today, we are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to their users” Dave Limp, Kindle VP, said of the new system. “Organizations can also design bring-your-own-device programs at school or work using personally-owned Kindles, Kindle Fires, and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for receiving content.”

The system works with both the dedicated Kindle hardware Amazon offers and the free apps provided for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. Individual users can be assigned to groups – whether that’s classes or grade levels for schools, or teams within businesses – and content limited to certain groups.

Whispercast for Kindle is a free service; there’s more information here

“We sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break-even on the hardware” the chief executive said. “We want to make money when people use our devices, not when people buy our devices.”

The strategy has allowed Amazon to continue to increase pressure on its ereader rivals, with price cuts by Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others all usually being parried by trimming of Kindle pricing too. More recently, Amazon has introduced its “Special Offers” system, in which the price of the ereader itself is discounted in return for showing advertising on the lockscreen and homescreen.

According to Bezos, Amazon’s approach has paid off in media sales. “What we find is that when people buy a Kindle they read four times as much as they did before they bought the Kindle” he explained. Nor, perhaps more surprisingly, do they necessarily switch entirely to digital. ”They don’t stop buying paper books” Bezos revealed, “Kindle owners read four times as much, but they continue to buy both types of books.”

Amazon put the new Kindle Paperwhite up for preorder in select European countries today, having seen the illuminated ereader sell out in the US. It will be accompanied by an expansion of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library system, which allows Amazon Prime subscribers to borrow ebooks as part of their subsidized shipping package.

The version of the tablet that has been available so far is the Wi-Fi only edition. With the FCC approving the device it should mean that many users who pre-ordered the 4G version of the tablet can expect their tablet soon. Amazon will also be launching two more tablets next month with 8.9-inch screens. One of those tablets will be Wi-Fi only, and the other will have Wi-Fi and 4G technology integrated.

We reviewed the Kindle Fire HD Wi-Fi version back when it launched and found it to be an excellent tablet. A lot of people were holding out to get a version with integrated 4G so they could access the Internet to purchase books and other items on the go. Amazon was backwards from tradition with the 4G version of this tablet. Typically, FCC approvals are given and then the tablets are announced.

Amazon obviously felt secure enough in the fact that the FCC would approve the tablet with the addition of a 4G radio, considering it had already approved the Wi-Fi version, to go official with the 4G tablet. People who enjoy downloading large audio book files or other material will appreciate the 4G connectivity.

[via CNET]

Barnes & Noble’s first big surprise was the hardware package it had put together. Both new NOOK tablets are lighter than the competition, comfortable to hold, and well priced; the NOOK HD may look heavy on the bezel, but it makes it easier to grip like a paperback book, while the NOOK HD+ is half the price of the new iPad but still manages to feel roughly as solid as Apple’s slate.

The screen quality is what really catches your attention, though, with both the 1440 x 900 of the HD and the 1920 x 1280 of the HD+ looking not only crisp and sharp, but having great viewing angles and – thanks to the optically-laminated glass – graphics that seem to float just beneath your fingertip. If the Nexus 7 feels like it has made some quality compromises to hit Google’s price target, B&N has somehow managed to achieve its own competitive pricing without your fingers feeling it.

As for the software, that’s the second strong punch. It’s reskinned Android, something Google and the Android faithful might object to, but which makes sense for a media tablet like the NOOK and the sort of audience that B&N is aiming for. Sensibly it’s not bells & whistles for the sake of UI differentiation, but instead a number of modifications some of which Google could do worse than to borrow for core Android.

So, there’s multi-user profiles, because B&N’s customers didn’t want to buy a new NOOK for everyone in the house, but still wanted to allow everyone to use the tablet pretty much as they see fit. You obviously get access to the retailer’s curated app, movie, TV show, and ebook stores, but you can also lock them down – just as you can the browser, email, or any other apps – so that you can leave the HD and HD+ in the hands of your offspring without worrying about them accessing something they shouldn’t be seeing, or indeed charging dozens of downloads to your card. But, there’s also cross-profile sharing of purchased content, so that mom and dad can each read Fifty Shades of Grey without having to buy their own copy.

Although Amazon’s sales success – and the likely success of the NOOK HD and HD+ – may seem unusual at first glance, they’re arguably just evidence that few other Android tablet manufacturers have quite grasped what Apple did so well with the iPad. Like the iPod worked as a conduit for music sales, and the iPhone opened up the mobile app market, so the iPad put multimedia and software purchases in your face. Selling people a single piece of hardware is a way to make money once, but regularly selling them content to enjoy on it is a revenue stream that keeps on giving.

Even Google’s Nexus 7, blessed with a competitive price, seemed to be getting the message on the value of content. Rather than apps like the browser and Gmail, the Google Play media downloads were put front-and-center by default on the Nexus 7′s homescreen: big widgets leading into movie, music, and ebook downloads.

Google and ASUS may not quite be treating the 7-inch tablet as a loss-leader, but they’re under no illusion about where the ongoing revenue stream comes from. Even the bundled free credit of $25 toward Play purchases was only added to accounts which register a credit card, Google’s way of encouraging paid downloads rather than free app grabs.

Barnes & Noble’s initial success will depend largely on how well stocked it can make its electronic stores. If users can’t find the content they want, they’ll look elsewhere. However, it also needs to adequately leverage its physical stores, still a differentiator from rivals like Amazon. Ironically, given B&N is best known for selling books, that didn’t work so well with ebooks, but the company could do more with DVDs and Blu-ray if it can play up the UltraViolet angle.

Buy a physical copy of a movie with the UltraViolet logo (or, indeed, whip one off the shelf of your collection at home) and you can instantly unlock a digital version through the NOOK Video store. So far UltraViolet has failed to gain any noticeable traction, but a tightly-integrated brick & mortar retailer/digital device duo could tip that in Barnes & Noble’s favor.

The NOOK HD and HD+ still have a battle ahead of them. The iPad has captured mindshare among those who don’t really care about the technology side, and for whom “iPad” and “tablet” are fast becoming interchangeable, while Amazon has a wealth of digital content for the Kindle Fire HD. Competitive pricing and eye-catching hardware is a good place to start, however, and the NOOK HD and HD+ already do enough to eclipse much of the Android tablet line-up for the mass market.

We found out today that Apple’s new Lightning adapters come with an authentication chip built in, and that New York City is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of Apple thefts. Apple’s Phil Schiller said that the scuffs and scratches some users are experiencing with their iPhone 5s are normal, and a teardown of the iPhone 5′s A6 processor provided some fresh insight into what’s going on under the hood. There’s a new way for you to bypass the 3-4 week wait for an iPhone 5 to be delivered to your home, and Instagram was updated with support for iOS 6 while Google delivered its own iOS update for Google Voice.

The Samsung Galaxy Note II will be launching in the UK on October 1, and speaking of Samsung, we heard whispers that the company is planning to launch a Tizen-based Galaxy smartphone. New reports are saying that the Kindle Fire HD is in for some serious competition from the Google Nexus 7, and Microsoft’s Kinect could potentially help save lives in a new map making gadget. Intel’s CEO claims that Windows 8 is being released with a number of bugs left unfixed, and Tesla has slashed its profit forecast after its new Model S hit some bumps in production.

Google Maps apparently won’t be coming to iOS 6 until Apple offers an invitation, and the Jaguar F-TYPE suffered a very sexy leak today. Box has issued an update for its iOS app and it’s offering some free stuff to all iOS users, while some labor experts are warning that there could be more Foxconn riots in the future. Sony announced today that a number of October retail releases will be on PSN from launch day, and is even offering PS Plus subscribers a 10% discount on the purchase price of most of them. Finally tonight, Gameloft has released a new trailer for Modern Combat 4, and we have to say that we were pretty impressed.

That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up! Enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

They state that ad impressions for the new Kindle Fire HD is already taking over 11% of all Kindle devices, meaning the adoption rate and sales are obviously doing quite well compared to the other Kindles. Considering the original has been available for more than a year shows the HD has some serious room to grow, and dominate.

However, according to TheNextWeb Chitika then compares the Kindle Fire HD (or the original for that matter) to ASUS and Google’s popular Nexus 7 and the hill is looking pretty steep. With Chitika calculating the Android Jelly Bean powered tablet accounts for a 68.5% of the web share when compared to the Kindle Fire and the new Kindle Fire HD. That’s a different story indeed!

Obviously there’s a few things to consider here though. For one the Nexus 7 has been available for the better part of the summer and a few months now, while the Fire HD just launched a few weeks ago. Another thing could be the simple fact that more Kindle users are reading books and watching Amazon Prime content, while Nexus 7 users are browsing the web — so that could slightly skew the numbers. Either way both tablets appear to be doing quite well but only time will tell how the HD does overall. Be sure to take a peek at our Kindle Fire HD review, as well as our Nexus 7 review.

[via Chitika]

Today reports are claiming that an even bigger retail giant, Wal-Mart Inc will no longer support or sell any of Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets or eReaders. This is a huge blow considering earlier this year Target removed them from their shelves too.

This marks the second major chain to stop offering Amazon’s products, and you have to wonder why. Are they feeling threatened that Amazon offers so many of the same things they do online, and don’t want to help the competition? This is what good old Wally-World had to say late last night in a memo to store management nationwide:

We have recently made the business decision to not carry Amazon tablets and eReaders beyond our existing inventory and purchase commitments,” “This includes all Amazon Kindle models current and recently announced.”

Obviously Walmart is one of the largest chains across America, but according to Reuters while they lead the charge in sales, their online sales are quite poor and are getting beat out by many — including Amazon. A Walmart spokeswoman said they’ll continue to sell “a broad assortment” of eReaders and tablets in the future. We can’t help but wonder if this is just to cut the helping hand they’ve been giving the competition, or if Walmart is looking to get into hardware themselves. Best Buy has Dynex and Insignia, could Walmart be preparing something of their own too?

[via Reuters]

Meet the Kindle Fire HD. This time around everything’s been completely improved. It’s faster, more powerful, lighter, thinner, and even looks a bit better too. The styling has seen a massive change from the original, and the curved edges and aluminum band around back gives it some character. No longer is this just a black squared rectangle that wishes it ran Android.

Hardware

As we mentioned above everything has been improved with the Fire HD. That old and dare I say ugly design of the original has been replaced with a unique, custom, and elegant design that surely will have a few happy. While it could still use some improvements (like a smaller bezel) it certainly is prettier than its older brother.

The Kindle Fire HD measures in at 193 x 137 x 10.3mm in size. Which is about 1.1mm thinner than the original but a little wider and taller. So while it doesn’t offer a huge change in size, the curved edges and smooth corners makes it feel and look much thinner. The designs starting to grow on me although I’ll never get used to those buttons. It’s also slightly lighter than the original while getting a bump in all specs under the hood, but only by a hair. Take a peek at our unboxing and first impressions below.

As you can see from the video everything is quite elegant this time around. The flooding of matte black is nicely changed with the aluminum band around back, and the stereo speaker grills — while odd in design — give it even more character and a unique look we’ve not seen yet from most tablet manufactures. Overall the design is quite calm and looks to by flying under the radar with nothing loud about it. Sleek, dark, and powerful.

As far as internal specs Amazon has stepped it up considerably but still isn’t up to par with recent devices like the Nexus 7. We get a brilliant and vivid 7-inch display (more on that below) with a 1280 x 800 HD resolution. The Fire HD is powered by a Texas Instruments 4470 dual-core processor, it has been stepped up to 1GB of RAM, and of course has 16GB of storage all for $199. A few notable features is the Kindle Fire HD is the first tablet with dual-band MIMO WiFi support (for better, faster connectivity) and it also features Dolby Digital stereo speakers.

If we didn’t make it clear enough in our video above, while we love the design and slim edges, the fact that the power and volume buttons are so hard to find/push was a cause for concern. We were constantly searching for the power button and it will surely take some getting use to. There’s nothing on the left side, around to the top you’ll have a single microphone for video chatting, then the right side houses the buttons just mentioned. You’ll also get micro-USB and micro-HDMI down on the bottom for charging, syncing, and streaming all that Amazon HD content to a bigger screen.

Display and Speakers

As we mentioned above the display has been rather impressive. Amazon made a big deal about their technology and coating to prevent glare for those movie watching or outdoor readers but we’ve hardly noticed a difference. Screen glare remains a problem, but might be less of a problem with the Kindle Fire HD.

As far as actual screen quality however, it is stunningly gorgeous, bright, and crisp. The 1280 x 800 resolution HD display is an IPS panel. This means we have accurate and not overly saturated colors, vivid and crisp text, and excellent viewing angles. Now that we have a higher resolution all that HD content from Amazon can finally be put to use — at a premium. Movies will cost a little extra, plus their size will take up extra space, and the same goes for games and apps. However that is worth the tradeoff because it’s rather fun to look at.

The Stereo speakers are also pretty stellar. The Fire HD is the first tablet with Dolby Digital Plus technology integrated into the tablet. While sound quality wasn’t of the highest we’ve heard, it certainly was loud and crisp and certainly can be heard from a distance. Most tablets don’t have this type of audio quality so we’ll give both of them a thumbs up for that.

Software

Android… Fire… Ice… What do we have here? The Amazon Kindle Fire is running on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but you’d never know from looking at it. Aside from the pulldown notification bar Google’s old Andy is no where to be seen. They’ve got their own Amazon App Store, their own Maps (powered by Nokia) and their own slew of video players and reader solutions. This is nothing new and exactly like the previous Kindle — just a little faster. Their Fire UI has completely put out the blazes of Android.

The user interface in general will either appeal to most, or be bothersome. The content-rich in your face design never fades, and Amazon’s constant nag (recommendation) of other movies, apps, books, videos, or other purchases is as present as ever. Instead of explaining the Fire UI to everyone, since you’ve probably seen it before, enjoy our extended hands-on video review for a better idea of software looks and performance.

As you can see, the interface is largely the same and basically unchanged. However, it’s extremely smooth. Not quite buttery smooth, but a huge increase and certainly smoother than before. While we did experience the occasional hiccup or browser lag, in general performance has remained swift even after hours of usage.

The “customers also bought,” “More products” and “similarly viewed” content is all in your face. We’ve talked a lot about the ads or commercial space, and well, because it’s everywhere. Amazon has stated there will be an opt-out, but we’ll talk more on that another time.

Everything from reading, enjoying a movie, or checking out the latest set of apps has all remained unchanged. Why tweak the reading experience when it’s so excellent. What Amazon has done however is improved it with small additions. We now have X-Ray as shown in the video above. X-Ray gives users an in-depth look at the book their engulfed in, details on every character, and where in the book (or movie) they are mentioned. With videos you’ll be treated with the same awesome X-Ray feature and it’s also integrated with IMDB. From there you can pause the movie you’ve just rented and look up everything you’d ever like to know about that cute girl in the scene. See other movies she’s been in — and of course they’ll obviously recommend more films for you to purchase.

Overall we’ve been rather satisfied with the largely unchanged yet faster software and user experience. Productivity is certainly not on the forefront here as this tablet is all about content consumption and purchases. The awesome and easy-to-use multitasking features of Android, especially 4.0 ICS have been completely removed. There’s a few small multitasking options like music in the dropbown bar but for the most part any sort of multitasking is slow, cumbersome, and a chore.

At the end of the day the software is pretty solid. For those that want a streamlined user interface with everything you need (and might need) directly provided front and center with suggestions and large HD content this is surely for you. For the Android enthusiast this is a long ways from anything Android. Oh and if you don’t like all those ads and suggestions you can opt out for about $15.

Battery Life

As far as battery life is concerned you shouldn’t have much of an issue here. For the occasional users that gets up and reads the occasional webpage, checks a few movie times and sports scores and more this tablet can clearly last a solid 3-4 days of medium usage. When it comes to more intensive things the Fire HD was on par with most recent tablets.

With the Fire HD running a continuous video loop we managed just over 9 hours of usage. Amazon quotes it for 11 but you probably won’t quite be getting that unless you have the brightness pretty low and do light tasks. The Nexus 7 lasted a tiny bit longer with rundown tests, but sadly we weren’t able to fire up the usual Android apps to test most of those things we like to test.

It’s safe to say you can read for hours, enjoy videos for an entire road trip, or casually use this device on the couch all without worrying about a charger too much.

Competition

As far as the competition is concerned, no one can hit this price point except for Google. Most tablets in this size range, even with lower specs, aren’t able to come near the $199 price point Amazon introduced — and now reintroduced while beating out the Nexus 7. With the iPad Mini looming but still not announced we can’t compare that — yet. As far as the Android ecosystem goes the Nexus 7 gives this a pretty good run for its money.

When we reviewed the Google Nexus 7 we said it was the best 7-inch tablet money could buy, if not the best Android tablet in general. Now just 3 months later we have this nipping at its heels. Overall however the Nexus 7 performs better in all tests. The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean speed with the Chrome Browser always won by at least a few seconds. Intensive games seem to handle things better, and the Nexus 7 has the full Google Play Store. In the end though it isn’t about which is better for your $200 crisp dollar bills. It’s about what you need. For those looking for that all around tablet experience the Nexus 7 reigns supremacy simply for the fact that it’s pure unaltered Android. For those looking for an awesome consumption device that doesn’t need the bells and whistles that Google provides — the Kindle Fire HD is a finely tuned content consumption machine.

Wrap-Up

Just like we mentioned above, the Kindle Fire HD is a mighty fine device. Amazon’s increased the speed and performance throughout, improved the display (obviously) and added even more awesome features. If you don’t mind the slightly subsidized feeling, or pay for the opt-out, you’ll surely be in for an enjoyable experience. In the end we can’t help but feel like this tablet is just as much for shopping and browsing Amazon.com than it is for searching the web and enjoying movies.

In terms of Amazon’s complete ecosystem of games, apps, videos, movies, books, music and more this is the perfect tablet. Deep down however for those looking to do more with their tablet like what we see with the iPad and the Nexus 7 — the Kindle Fire still has a little ways to go. If Amazon will ever take it there is a different story.

The HTC One X was spotted in a leaked photo earlier today, and it would appear that many of the world’s online retailers are having some trouble keeping Wii U pre-orders in stock. Google Plus has grown to 400 million users total, with 100 million of those people using the social networking service actively. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer thinks that Windows 8 may prove to be as big as Windowws 95 (and talks very briefly about the “sweet spot” for Surface pricing), while we’re hoping that Microsoft’s Windows 8 event on October 25 will give us some more solid details on the price of Surface.

The Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet was the subject of a teardown earlier today, showing us just what exactly is under the hood. Speaking of the Kindle Fire, today Nokia confirmed that it has licensed its Location Platform to Amazon for use in the Fire line up, meaning that Amazon will be giving Google Maps the boot. JetBlue says it will soon be offering free Wi-Fi during its flights, and HP CEO Meg Whitman has looked to Apple for inspiration when it comes to redesigning the PCs and laptops it offers. Dragon Age III: Inquisition was officially announced today too, something we’re sure will get the anti-BioWare crowd all riled up.

The Angry Birds spin-off Bad Piggies was given its first gameplay video today (no it isn’t the same as Angry Birds), and today we got word that the Samsung Galaxy S IV may be launching as early as March 2013 – less than a year after the S III hit shelves. The Nokia Lumia 820 has been outfitted with a new bumper shell, and in one of the day’s more interesting stories, archaeologists may have uncovered a fort that was critical to Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. Canon revealed a number of new cameras today, but perhaps the most important reveal was of the Canon EOS 6D. Not to be outdone, Olympus had a couple of reveals as well, announcing the new Stylus XZ-2 iHS and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 60MM F2.8 “Nature Macro Lens.”

Finally tonight, we invite you to check out new review of the Sony Reader PRS-T2. That does it for Monday’s Evening Wrap-Up, so go out and enjoy the rest of your night!

Nokia spokesperson Dr. Sebastian Kurme confirmed the rumors to the The Next Web, saying in a statement that Amazon’s decision is “further proof point that our competence in this space is a key differentiator also for other leading players in the industry to offer great location consumer experiences.” Though Google Maps is the more popular mapping and navigation service, the Nokia Location Platform has won a fair number very pleased fans, and it’s already used in services like Yahoo! Maps and Bing Maps.

Amazon has already rolled out a Maps API to allow developers to integrate location data into their Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD apps, and now we know that Amazon will be using Nokia’s Location Platform as the backbone of its mapping service. It wasn’t too long ago that we heard Amazon will be making Bing the default search engine of the Kindle Fire line up, further distancing itself from Google. Naturally, the Kindle Fire family comes equipped with Amazon’s online storefront rather than the Google Play Store, which we see running on most other Android-based devices.

Of course, Nokia’s Location Platform is also used in Nokia Drive, which has featured prominently on Windows Phone devices. With Windows Phone 8 just around the corner and Amazon’s new Kindle Fire line getting some major attention, it looks Nokia has an excellent opportunity to position itself as a key player in the mapping space, so the further development of its Location Platform is definitely something to watch. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information.

This Kindle Fire HD 7 machine works with Elpida B8164B3PF-1D-F 8 Gb (1 GB) DDR2 RAM for your high-power needs and does indeed bring Bluetooth 4.0 and an PF radio as well- tune in! It’s discovered in this teardown that the display is made by LG and that the LCD and front glass panel are fused together. This means that replacing one means replacing the other – not an easy thing to deal with even if you’re a regular repairer.

The good news for repairers out there is that the back panel is relatively easy to remove, the battery isn’t held with adhesive, and the simplicity of the entire machine means you’ll be able to take it apart with ease. Most of the screws inside the machine are the same and only a bit of copper tape over the processor was difficult for the iFixit team to work with. The headphone jack is separate from the rest of the motherboard, this allowing easy replacement, and the screws only range between Philips #00 screws and a single T5 Torx screw.

Have a peek at our hands-on and featured posts from the past week in the timeline below, and stay tuned for our full review of the Kindle Fire HD 7 soon. Don’t scrimp on the questions, also – let us know what else you want to know!

There’s also support for embedding a map into an app, with the user’s current position located, and the choice of regular and satellite views. Amazon also supports in-app location-based services via the android.location API.

Although the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD will run most regular Android apps, Amazon is looking to coax developers across to its own rival services as well as its hardware. The company promises an “easy transition” for those currently reliant on Google Maps, though so far developers will have to apply for access to the Amazon Maps API beta.

Though based on Android, the Kindle Fire has been heavily reworked and reskinned to suit Amazon’s purposes. The company eschews Google’s Play download store for apps, music, video, ebooks, and other content, and instead relies on its own Kindle content. Even Google search has been rejected, replaced with Microsoft’s Bing.

Amazon execs continue to deny a smartphone is in the works, but CEO Jeff Bezos has said that more new hardware can be expected.

[via Dave Winer]

Amazon was met with anger from prospective buyers once it said that would be no opt out option, and now the company has changed course completely. According to CNET, Kindle Fire users will be able to opt out of the Special Offers program by paying a $15 fee. That fee is a bit lower than we’ve seen in the past, but don’t expect consumers to be happy with the fact that they have to pay to remove ads from a tablet – it’s one thing when ads are displayed on an eReader, but when ads are shown on a more expensive tablet, to many that’s an entirely different beast.

After paying the $15 fee, the ads from the lock screen and the home page will be removed. Some will likely be perturbed with having to pay a fee regardless of how much that fee actually is, while others are breathing a sigh of relief at this news. After all, since it’s understood that Amazon keeps its prices low by showing ads on its products, some never had a problem with paying an opt out fee in the first place. A number of potential Kindle Fire HD purchasers are probably just happy that they’ll have the option to opt out of Amazon’s special offers.

Still, there are some who are questioning why they need to see ads when the Kindle Fire HD’s biggest competitors – the Nexus 7 and the iPad – don’t force users to view ads anywhere. It’s true that these special offers could potentially save users some cash, but with one of the Kindle Fire HD models costing $499, it leaves a number of Kindle fans wondering why ads are necessary. Amazon says in its statement that “customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out,” so perhaps these offers do have value to some customers. What do you think of Amazon’s latest move – are ads on the Kindle Fire HD line unnecessary, or do you not mind the idea of having them shown?

There’s also the new rumor that claims the iPhone 5 will have LTE capabilities in multiple regions around the world. Some crucial Samsung components may be missing from the first batch of iPhone 5s, and today a backplate for the oft-rumored iPad Mini surfaced in new images. Amazon has released a new update for its Silk browser, and in it, the company makes Bing the default search engine for the browser. Verizon has said that it will have a BlackBerry 10 device on offer as soon as the new OS launches, and today a set of specs for the rumored HTC One X+ were spotted on Twitter.

The HTC One X+ wasn’t the only HTC device to suffer a leak today, as we also got some new information about the Accord. European carriers have said that the Lumia 920 will go one sale in November, and later on in the day we heard that it will arrive at AT&T on November 2. Dijit NextGuide has landed on the iPad and we go hands-on, while Fox is saying that it will begin releasing digital copies of its movies before releasing them on Blu-ray and DVD. Everything Everywhere is gearing up for a 4G LTE launch event on September 11, and Amazon has dispelled rumors that it is planning to enter the smartphone market. Madden NFL 13 has sold more than 1.5 million copies in its first week, and last but not least, Google’s latest doodle celebrates the anniversary of the first Star Trek episode.

That does it for the news, but we also have a few original posts for you to check out. Don Reisinger tells you why you don’t need to buy a new TV now, and we talk to the creator Everest Bands to see how his Kickstarter campaign is going. Don’t forget to enter our latest giveaway either – SlashGear’s Beach Buggy Blitz Tegra 3 Tablet Giveaway is now open, and trust us when we say that you don’t want to miss out on this. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, so go out and enjoy the weekend!