Amazon today announced a trio of new Kindle Fire tablets, its take on the Android OS integrated with Amazon services.
The trio includes the $139 Kindle Fire HD (available Oct. 2,) the same 7-inch tablet with a slightly upgraded processor and lower price, the $229 Kindle Fire HDX (available Oct. 18,) with a quad-core processor and optional 4G connectivity, and the $379 high-end Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 (available Nov. 7). All three ship with Amazon's new Fire OS 3.0, a fork of Android 4.2.2.
A notable feature in the HDX models is "Mayday," a live customer support service that can walk you through any issues or questions. Amazon is aiming to have all Mayday calls answered within 15 seconds, a pretty high bar for customer support response time.
The Kindle Fire HDX's competition comes not only from other Android tablets like the Nexus 7, but from Apple and its iPad mini. Both tablets are under 8 inches, and both are geared towards consuming media. If you're looking for a tablet this holiday season, the $229 Kindle Fire HDX seems to be the better choice than the aging iPad mini for $329. It's worth noting new iPad models are expected around October, the same timeframe as the new Kindle Fire tablets. But for now, here's a side-by-side comparison of the two competing tablets.
| Name | Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7" | Apple iPad mini |
 |  | |
| Editor Rating | ||
| Lowest Price | %displayPrice% %seller% $229.00 MSRP | %displayPrice% %seller% $329.00 MSRP |
| Dimensions | 7.3 x 5 x 0.35 (HWD) inches | 7.87 x 5.3 x 0.28 inches |
| Weight | 10.7 oz | 10.88 oz |
| Operating System | Google Android 4.2.2 | Apple iOS |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Quad-Core | Apple A5 Dual-Core |
| Processor Speed | 2.2 GHz | 1 GHz |
| Screen Size | 7 inches | 7.9 inches |
| Screen Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels | 1024 x 768 pixels |
| Screen Pixels Per Inch | 323 ppi | 163 ppi |
| RAM | 2 GB | 512 MB |
| Wi-Fi (802.11x) Compatibility | 2.4GHZ/5GHz | 2.4GHZ/5GHz |
| Battery Life | 7 hours 37 minutes | |
| Read the Review | Read the Review |
On paper, the HDX trounces the iPad mini in almost every department. The iPad mini is running a 1GHz, dual-core A5 processor, the same one in the two-year-old iPad 2. The Kindle Fire HDX is running Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 800, a quad-core processor running at 2.2GHz. The HDX also has 2GB of RAM compared to the iPad mini's 512MB.
The Kindle Fire HDX has a 1,920-by-1,200, 7-inch display with 323 ppi, which allows for 1080p video playback. On the iPad mini and its 1,024-by-768, 7.9-inch display, video playback reaches 720p. If you're looking for HD games and movies, the Kindle Fire HDX would be more up your alley. The iPad mini and Kindle Fire HDX feature a 720p front-facing camera, though the iPad Mini also has a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera.
Of course, all the power in the world won't save you if you have no way to use it. While the HDX may have some tablet-optimized games and apps available, the iPad mini's software and hardware ecosystem is where it really shines. Amazon's Android-based marketplace is no different from Google's Play Store as far as tablet-optimized apps are concerned. But there are hundreds of thousands of iPad apps to choose from, making it more suitable for people looking to use their tablet for something other than watching movies or reading books—which Apple's iPad mini also does, thanks to the iTunes Store. Apple's accessory market is also flooded with options, giving your iPad mini the option to be your productivity station as well as your media hub.
Each tablet has its advantages, but the amount of enjoyment you'll get from either tablet may boil down to how much you've invest in each ecosystem.
For more, check out PCMag's hands on with the new Kindle Fires and the video below, as well as our spec comparisons between the 8.9-inch HDX and the iPad, and the new 7-inch Kindle and the Nexus 7.
via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFf9hbjGIVkCRdqXGvLV-KBJJt0fQ&url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424847,00.asp
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