Report: Amazon’s Kindle Fire lineup is getting an upgrade this fall

By Mike Flacy Published October 16, 2013

Check out our review of the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX tablet.

Detailed by BGR recently, Amazon will likely launch a new version of the Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD in the coming months. Very similar to the recent hardware refresh of Google’s Nexus 7, the new 7-inch Kindle Fire HD will offer a 1,920 x 1,200-pixel display, a definite boost from the 1280 x 800 resolution on the current model. Basically, the resolution boost will provide 1080p-quality video playback on the 7-inch tablet. In addition, the screen on the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD will be upgraded from 1920 x 1200 resolution to a 2560 x 1600-pixel display.

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Beyond the boost to display resolution, the internal computing power is also getting some improvements. Most notably, the RAM will be doubled to 2GB and a quad-core Snapdragon chip, currently clocking in at 2Ghz, will be used.

It’s possible that the front facing camera will be upgraded, however the 8.9-inch model is reported to receive an 8-megapixel rear camera. It’s unclear if the rear camera will also be included within the 7-inch model. Regarding storage, Amazon will likely ship three different models offering 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flash drive sizes. In addition to the internal hardware changes, the design of the tablet is getting an angular style.

The Kindle Fire will also get a refresh, potentially upgrading it to hardware comparable to the current Kindle Fire HD. Storage options on the new Kindle Fire will be half of the Kindle Fire HD models at 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. At this time, Amazon is targeting a launch as early as late September. It’s likely that the online retail giant will hold a press event to announce the new tablets and promote availability prior to the start of the holiday shopping season.

While Google has already announced and launched upgrades to the Nexus lineup of tablets, Apple is still silent on any potential upgrades to the iPad Mini or regular iPad tablet. It’s possible an upgrade to either tablet will be announced around the launch of iOS 7.

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