Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HDX tablets: the full story – The Verge

Amazon’s Kindle HDX TV spots put focus on personalized Mayday tech support

2013-09-25T01:12:59-04:00

mayday

Alongside the announcement of the new Kindle Fire HDX tablets, Amazon has created three TV spots. Each of the spots focus on Mayday, the innovative tech support feature that allows users to quickly get an Amazon support representative to log into their tablet and fix things. You might think of the feature as a virtual "Genius Bar" for the Kindle Fire series, though of course Amazon doesn't quite position it in those terms. In an interview with The Verge, CEO Jeff Bezos pointed out that those creeped out by a representative could turn it off, but "you'd be disabling the greatest feature we've ever made!"

Indeed, Amazon seems to be aware that …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX: power, with a helping hand

2013-09-25T00:00:12-04:00

new kindle fire

The Kindle Fire tablets have always served primarily as portals to Amazon's massive trove of content. But this year, as the company introduces the new Kindle Fire HDX, Amazon tablets are on the precipice of becoming something much more powerful, and much more useful besides. Amazon's ready to compete on specs, on content, and on price - and it makes a compelling case in every respect.

The HDX is actually two tablets: a 7-inch model and an 8.9-inch version, just like the Kindle Fire HD before it. Both are still relatively inconspicuously designed, with virtually no flair - they're just black. Both models feel solid and well made when you're …

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Jeff Bezos wants to delight you

2013-09-25T00:00:11-04:00

Jeff Bezos has a big laugh. It's a shotgun; a booming sound that reverberates through a room. It can be a little scary, actually. It is not subtle, gentle, or otherwise restrained. But when he does laugh - which is often - it is a laugh trained squarely on the room. Not inward, but outward. A laugh that says: there's fun to be had, so join in.

To say that Bezos is one of America's most accomplished and prolific businessmen would be an understatement. In a little under two decades, he went from wide-eyed internet soothsayer and humble online bookseller to superstar - nay, titan - of a new industry. Several industries actually, and counting; …

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Amazon’s new $139 Kindle Fire HD is the cheap tablet to buy

2013-09-25T00:00:07-04:00

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

Amazon is rolling out the brand-newÂ Kindle FIre HDX with upgraded everything tonight, but last year's Kindle Fire HD isn't going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, the company announced that it is updating the tablet and cutting its price down to $139 â€" a very aggressive price point for a still-competitive tablet.

The new Kindle Fire HD features a 7-inch, 1280 x 800 pixel display, faster dual-core 1.5GHz processor, and dual stereo speakers. It won't give the new Nexus 7 much of a performance challenge (that's reserved for the new HDX models), but for nearly $100 less, it's certainly an enticing deal for anyone looking for a low-cost tablet. …

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Amazon launches Mayday, a virtual Genius Bar for the Kindle Fire HDX

2013-09-25T00:00:06-04:00

Amazon Mayday on the Kindle Fire

Amazon may be trotting out new versions of its Kindle Fire tablets and an updated software platform for them, but its also introducing a unique new feature that's arguably the most interesting part of the whole deal. Called Mayday, the feature is a built-in remote support and instant helpline for every Kindle Fire HDX. If it sounds like a virtual version of Apple's vaunted Genius Bar, that's because it kind of is.

Mayday is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is accessed by a dedicated button found right in the tablet's Quick Settings menu. A tap on that button connects the user with a live support representative in 15 seconds or …

Read the full story at The Verge.