When the Kindle Fire HD was first announced in 2012, it sneaked in at just under US$200. The just announced 6-inch version will cost half of that. Founder and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos claims that the Fire HD 6 is the most powerful tablet for under $100.
Naturally, the Fire HD 6 provides access to Amazon's huge content library. It also offers a number of Amazon-developed features such as X-Ray, which allows users to explore the structure of a book and FreeTime, which allows parents to lock their device down so that children can play with it safely.
With a new feature called Family Library links Amazon accounts so that content can be shared amongst family members. Apps, games, audiobooks, books and Prime Instant Video content can viewed by different people. The feature will work across different accounts on the same device, or across different devices, including Kindle e-readers, Fire tablets, Fire phone, and Amazon Fire TV.
Amazon has also brought its Advanced Streaming and Prediction (ASAP) technology to tablets for the first time. ASAP originally debuted on the Amazon Fire TV. It predicts which movies and TV episodes users want to watch and prepares them so they start instantly when users press play.
The Fire HD 6 runs Fire OS 4 Sangria, has a 252 ppi Gorilla Glass display and a resolution of 1280 x 800. It is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor that Amazon says has three times the graphics performance of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. Front and rear cameras allow users to take photos and capture videos in 1080p and the device features Dolby Digital Plus audio. Battery life is specced at 8 hours of mixed use.
The $99 Fire HD 6 and the new 7-inch, $139 Fire HD 7 are available for pre-order and will ship in early October.
Amazon has also announced a new premium eReader – the Kindle Voyage – and a modest update to the Kindle Fire HDX tablet.
Product page: Amazon Fire HD 6