Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8 9 7 and Kindle Fire HD 7

image - tech.fortune.cnn.com

Jeff Bezos posted yet another “Dear Customers” letter to the front page of Amazon.com announcing the new Kindle Fire lineup – that’s great advertising right there. The lineup consists of three tablets – the 8.9″ Fire HDX, the 7″ Fire HDX and the 7″ Fire HD.

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″

The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″ is the most interesting of the pack, going after Nexus 10s and iPads alike. It packs a Snapdragon 800 chipset and a 2,560 x 1,600 screen with 339ppi density and 100% sRGB coverage.

It is 7.9mm thick and weighs 383g for the 4G version – the Fire HDX 8.9″ is available with 4G connectivity from AT&T and Verizon (both cost $480) and Wi-Fi only ($380). Those prices are for the tablet with “Special Offers” (a.k.a. ads), add $15 if you want to remove them.

Also, the storage starts at 16GB (non-expandable, and a tight 8.8GB user available), but there are bigger versions too – 32GB (25.6GB user available) and 64GB (54.3GB). Add $50 for each storage bump.

The back camera on the HDX 8.9″ is an 8MP / 1080p shooter with LED flash, F/2.2 lens and HDR mode. A 720p front-facing camera will serve video chat duties. On the connectivity side there’s optional 4G (this model also comes with a GPS receiver), dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with dual-antennas and a standard microUSB. There’s no Bluetooth connectivity.

The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″ Wi-Fi will ship on November 7, while the 4G versions will be quite late, shipping on December 10.

Kindle Fire HDX 7″

The smaller HDX tablet – the Kindle Fire HDX 7″ – has a 1,920 x 1,200 screen (323ppi), matching the new Nexus 7. The price for the 16GB, Special Offers, Wi-Fi only is $230 (same as the Nexus 7). The 4G version is $330 (the Nexus is $350), while storage bumps are cheaper – $40.


The Kindle Fire HDX 7″ has the same storage and options as its bigger sibling and the same powerful Snapdragon 800 chipset with four Krait 400 CPU cores at 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM and Adreno 330 GPU. There’s only a front-facing camera and the tablet is 9mm thick and weighs 311g for the 4G version.

The Fire HDX 7″ Wi-Fi ships October 18, while the 4G versions will head out on November 14.

Kindle Fire HD 7″

Finally, we get to the runt of the litter – the new Kindle Fire HD 7″. It’s only $140 for the 8GB version and the 16GB version is $170 (again, add $15 to remove Special Offers). That’s getting no-name tablet territory.

Note, however, that little has changed about this tablet other than the price – its 7″ screen has 1,280 x 800 resolution (216ppi) and it’s powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz processor and 1GB RAM. It’s actually a bit thicker at 10.6mm but a bit lighter at 345g. There’s only a Wi-Fi version.

Still, it’s great for the price and the Fire HD 7″ will be available first, shipping on October 2.

Covers and OS

Amazon also announced Origami Covers, which have flaps on the back that can be folded to serve as a kickstand with two stages (hi, Surface 2). The covers for the HDX 8.9″ tablet are $70 and can automatically launch the camera app when you open the flap that covers it. The 7″ covers are $45-$50 depending on model.

Amazon also updated the OS that its tablets run on – Fire OS 3.0 is nicknamed Mojito. It is based on Android Jelly Bean (exact version unconfirmed, and once again there’s no Play Store access) and adds cloud services, improves the UI and content management. (GSMArena)

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OS X 10 9 Mavericks review

TechRadar rating

4/5

For

• Tabs in Finder
• Useful new apps
• Enhanced performance
• Great multi-display improvements

Against

• Suboptimal tagging
• Some elements still pig-ugly
• Few moments of excitement
• Feels a bit unfinished

Apples newest OS is good news for power users

The tenth major revision of OS X, Mavericks, marks an attempt at a fresh start.
Oh yeah, and its available as a free download! Apple has decided it should treat the Mac community in the same way it has been treating iOS users and ship the update free via the Mac App Store.
Ratings in depth

Mavericks introduces new features that are aimed at professionals, updates major interface components, it overhauls the systems branding. Big cats are out, and California locations are in (Mavericks being a surfing hotspot).
The default desktop picture can be seen as a huge wave, washing away the overbearing textures most often attributed to Scott Forstall.

While Mavericks is designed to bring Apples desktop and mobile closer together, this isnt a radical iOS 7-style redesign. Its more a refinement of OS Xs existing design language that just happens to be simpler and cleaner.

Skeuomorphism is out, so youll see less fake wood and pretend leather (although it lives on in some applications, including the paper-themed Notes). Mavericks dials down the interface chrome so content can stand out, but its also suitable for the desktop in the way a stark, text-oriented iOS 7-style theme might not be.

New features

As with anything Apple-related these days, Mavericks wasnt an upgrade full of surprises. Instead, it was a case of getting our hands on features weve seen demoed earlier in the year, and for the most part these features are welcome - though not always.

Finder gains tabs, which are a genuine enhancement, and tags, which are less successful. Maps is, but you wont get the best out of it unless you have thoroughly embraced Apple for desktop and mobile.
Calendar has been improved with intelligent additions, but regrettably these havent been applied with perfect consistency. Safari, on the other hand, is unambiguously better in this release, and we hope it will stay that way.

Apple has also used Mavericks to give users more control over their own systems. Fullscreen is much better for multiple display setups and the App Nap function makes it easier than ever to see which applications are consuming power, so you can put them to sleep to preserve your battery life.
And there are also smaller enhancements which, while not exactly revolutionary, promise to make using your Mac a subtly simpler and more satisfying experience.

Installation is straightforward. The update is free to anyone running Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion, and shows up in brazen fashion at the top of the Mac App Store Updates tab so you really cant miss it.

Supported Macs

According to Apple, Macs back to 2007 are supported, as follows:

• iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminium, or Early 2009 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
• Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
• Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
• Xserve (Early 2009)

Any machines running the update must have 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of disk space. Our primary test machine was a Mac mini i5 with 16 GB of RAM, running a 23-inch Apple monitor and the 27-inch display of a connected iMac.

We downloaded and installed during the peak rush, shortly after the Apple Event that announced the immediate availability of Mavericks.

Even when demand was highest, the entire process was painless and took under an hour, although the progress bars were typically comical, with "less than a minute" meaning something very different in the world of Apple. That means that anyone who comes after the early can expect a trouble-free installation.
Although our update was problem-free, do back up your Mac first just in case. Weve read reports (albeit very few) of data loss - a risk with any flavour of OS upgrade, and one its always worth taking sensible precautions against.

 

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