It's a no-brainer that Amazon will announce new Kindle Fires later this year. The company unveiled new tablets at around the same time the last two years, so we'd be shocked not to see an upgraded lineup at around the same time in 2013. A new report, however, claims to shed some light on the details of those upcoming Kindle Fire tablets.
The scoop comes from BGR, which has a solid track record with Kindle Fire leaks. The report says that Amazon will be releasing upgraded versions of the three tablets on the market right now: the standard Kindle Fire 7", the Kindle Fire HD 7", and the Kindle Fire HD 8.9".
Pixel party
It looks like Amazon is focusing on the device's displays for this next batch, packing in many more pixels than last year's crop did. Amazon will allegedly be upping the standard 7-inch model's resolution to 1280 x 800 (216 pixels per inch), up from the current version's 1024 x 600.
The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, meanwhile, will jump up to 1920 x 1200 (323 PPI). The current model sports 1280 x 800 resolution. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 will supposedly jump all the way to 2,560 x 1,600, giving it a ridiculous 339 PPI. That's much higher than the Retina iPad's 264 PPI and the Nexus 10's 299 PPI.
Other manufacturers will be releasing upgraded tablets later this year, but these rumored resolutions would make Amazon's new Kindle Fire HDs sharper than any commercial tablet you can buy right now.
More details
Amazon isn't stopping with displays, however. The new line of Kindle Fires is reportedly going to feature a redesigned shell, with edges that are more angular, and less sloped, than the current Fires. The tablets' volume and power buttons are also reported to move to the sloping area on the back, out of the way of accidental touches while using the device. BGR's sources describe this new placement as a big improvement.
The 2013 Kindle Fires are also reportedly shedding some weight, and will be "noticeably lighter" than the 2012 versions. Even with resolution going up and weight going down, though, Amazon is reportedly shooting for the same price points as the current models.
Sources expect the tablets to ship this (Northern Hemisphere) autumn, possibly in September. The report added, though, that the leaked versions might not be final production versions, and some or all of these details could change. Also remember that no matter how solid a source's track record is, this is all still completely unconfirmed. And it will remain so until Jeff Bezos steps onstage to give us the official word.
Source: BGR