Amazon announced six new tablets and e-readers on Wednesday, the latest sign that the Web retailer is trying to reach consumers through devices where it can sell more books, movies and TV shows.
The tech giant said it is introducing two new e-readers, two new updates to the Kindle Fire tablet line, a kid-focused version of the Kindle Fire and a new tablet for power-users. All are available for pre-order starting Wednesday; Amazon said the devices should make their way to consumers sometime in October.
Amazon showed little interest in the device market for years, focusing almost entirely on the Kindle e-reader which it first introduced in 2007 as a vehicle to sell e-books. But since launching the Kindle Fire tablet in 2011, Amazon has moved aggressively to compete with firms such as Apple, Samsung, Google and Microsoft in the tablet market and to complement its ambitious, multimillion-dollar expansion in the media world.
Amazon, whose chief executive Jeffrey Bezos also owns The Washington Post, remains bullish on e-readers, even though some analysts predict the market may have peaked already in 2012.
The latest addition to the line is the Kindle Voyage, a six-inch e-reader with a lighted e-ink screen and pressure-sensitive sensors that let you squeeze to advance or go back a page. Amazon is also releasing a lower-end, basic e-reader without a light, starting at $79, which offers twice as much storage as Amazon’s previous entry-level Kindle. The company also unveiled a new six-inch Fire tablet, which starts at $99, and comes in five colors. A 7-inch version of the tablet starts at $139. Both boast clear sound, fast processors and crisp displays that are very rare to see at that price.
Despite its obsession with low prices, Amazon also released a new high-end tablet, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 , which starts at $379. The device, a competitor to Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s premium Galaxy tablets, has advanced processors, a clearer screen and speakers with Dolby designed surround sound. The new HDX is also designed to work with a new Fire keyboard from Amazon, sold separately for about $60, so that users can use the tablet more effectively for spreadsheets and other work documents.
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