Amazon introduces new Kindle HD tablets

Online retail giant Amazon introduced a new suite of its Kindle devices, from 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet computer to e-reader Kindle Paperwhite with front-lit display. Amazon unveiled larger Kindle Fire tablets, challenging Apple Inc's dominant iPad with lower prices and a trove of digital content that Amazon hopes will win it a bigger share of the booming tablet market. The debut of Kindle Fire HD is seen as Amazon's new strategy to step up competition against Apple, which is expected to introduce a smaller iPad, possibly called 'iPad Mini'.

The premium Kindle Fire HD has a 1920-by-1200 resolution screen, lagging Apple's so-called 'retina' display. At 8.9 inches, it is also slightly smaller than the iPad's screen.

Kindle Fire HD has dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus, making it the first to have such a feature on the tablet market.

It also has a feature called WhisperSync Voice, allowing users to sync between an audio book and the text version of the book.

The 16-gigabyte Kindle Fire HD costs $299 and will ship in November. The device will also come with a 4G model that has 32 gigabytes of storage and costs $499.

According to Amazon, Kindle Fire HD is much more affordable than Apple's latest model of iPad. It offers a data plan of $50 per year for 250 megabytes of data per month and 20 gigabytes of cloud storage. The one-year cost is $549 for Kindle Fire HD, while that for Apple's new iPad is $959, Amazon stated.

Amazon, which began as an Internet bookstore, will begin shipping on November 20 an 8.9-inch version with a high-definition screen, that works off either Wi-Fi or fourth-generation wireless broadband, known as 4G. The costliest version, at $599 for 64 gigabytes of storage, undercuts the top-of-the-line $829 iPad.

Kindle Paperwhite is a black-and-white e-reader with a front-lit display. The redesigned screen allows users to read easier in the dark and offers more contrast as well as brightness. Kindle Paperwhite will start from $119, while the model with a built-in 3G connection sells for $179.

The Paperwhite technology enables the new Kindle to have as much as eight weeks of battery life, making the device highly power-efficient. The device can also calculate users' reading speed and give estimates how long it will take the user to finish a given chapter or the whole book.

Amazon also introduced a new Kindle Fire tablet, featuring a 7-inch display, faster processor and longer battery life.

The competition between Apple and Amazon on the tablet market has kept intensifying. Amazon first introduced Kindle Fire last September, trying to grab the low-end tablet market.