Amazons first trick was selling a tablet so cheap, it was hard not to buy it, despite the shortcomings. Amazons next trick was to build a second, larger tablet, to show it could compete if not necessarily win in the big leagues. Amazons third trick — revealed Wednesday — is to blow past Apple and the Android rivals with flatter, faster tablets that are nonetheless priced insanely low. Weve long known CEO Jeff Bezos was content to sell devices at cost — but we didnt know his company would actually go out and pay for such nice tablets. Here comes Kindle Fire HDX.
Wilson Rothman / NBC NewsThe Origami cover, available in various colors and materials for both the 7-inch and 8.9-inch models.”We make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices,” Bezos told NBC News Monday during an in-person product briefing where he showed off the two new tablets.
Major upgrades from last years models, the 7-inch and 8.9-inch HDX models have the highest-resolution screens currently on the market, and the fastest chips ever put in tablets. But specs arent the only step up here: new features let you send video to a smart TV or game console, enter low-power mode while reading books, download subscription movies for offline viewing — and even call for help from a live human technician if you run into trouble.
MORE: Amazons Kindle Fire HDX tablets pose real threat to iPad dominance – NBC News.com.