Amazon’s new Kindle lineup: cheap tablets, tablets for kids, and its best e-reader yet – The Verge

Amazon’s new Family Library feature lets you share purchases as a household

2014-09-17T21:17:51-04:00

Amazon just removed one of the biggest roadblocks for sharing things you've bought with someone else in your family - at least for some of the things you buy off Amazon. Alongside its new line of Kindle announcements, it's introducing a new feature called Family Library that lets people in the same household share books, audiobooks, Prime Instant videos, and any apps or games that were bought off Amazon's Appstore. Not included on that list are things like purchased music, movies, or TV shows.

Amazon already had a sharing feature with its Kindle loan program, but books could only be loaned out once, and for a limited time period. The new …

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Amazon has finally cracked the kid tablet code

2014-09-17T21:00:03-04:00

Amazon's cavalcade of tablet announcements this evening includes a surprisingly good offer to parents. It's the Fire HD Kids Edition. Essentially, the Kids Edition is a standard Kindle Fire HD tablet - at either the 6-inch or 7-inch size - with a pile of add-on features that are designed for kids and the havoc they tend to wreak. You pay a $50 premium over the standard version, which amounts to $149 for the 6-inch version and $189 for the 7-inch base model. But for that $50 you get a few special bonuses. The first is a one-year subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, the company's set of kid-friendly content that includes 5,000 games, vid …

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Amazon Kindle Fire HD 6 and Fire HD 7 aim to redefine cheap tablets

2014-09-17T21:00:03-04:00

Amazon is laying out a huge number of updates today, including a spec-bumped Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 tablet and an all-new e-reader that's frankly amazing. But the most important update might be the one that technology enthusiasts are the most likely to dismiss: the lowly Kindle Fire HD. Amazon is releasing two versions (or more than a dozen, if you count the color, size, and kid-friendly variants), and they aim to redefine how consumers think of cheap Android tablets.

The Fire HD comes in two sizes, a 6-inch screen and a 7-inch screen, and in five colors. The 6-inch version, which basically feels like it's competing more with the iPod touch th …

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Amazon’s entry-level Kindle finally has a touchscreen

2014-09-17T21:00:03-04:00

Yes, the Kindle Voyage is unquestionably the star of tonight's announcements from Amazon. But here's another thing that millions of people will likely be buying come October: a $79 Kindle with a touchscreen, faster performance, and more memory. (If you're wondering, that price is indeed "with offers.") Amazon's entry-level e-reader is seeing some nice upgrades this year, with an all-touch interface serving as the most obvious change. The company is officially bidding farewell to physical controls on Kindle. Sorry button fans; you can press those side bezels all you want, but nothing will happen. If you've ever picked up a Kindle Paperwhite, …

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The new Kindle Voyage e-reader is shockingly good

2014-09-17T21:00:03-04:00

It's hard not to fall immediately in love with Amazon's new top-of-the-line e-reader. It's called the Kindle Voyage and it ticks off virtually every single hardware complaint I've had about the Kindle Paperwhite. Available for preorder now and shipping in October, it's selling for $199 and will sit alongside the Paperwhite and a new low-end Kindle - which gives Amazon a full lineup of three touchscreen e-readers (a GSM 3G version will be available for $60 more).

The Voyage is thinner, lighter, and ever-so-slightly smaller than the Paperwhite, but the big deal is the screen. Amazon has increased the resolution so that it reaches 300 pixels p …

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Amazon upgrades the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 with more speed and better sound

2014-09-17T21:00:03-04:00

Last year, Amazon completely overhauled its Kindle Fire line of tablets with thinner, lighter designs, high-resolution displays, and high-end processors. This year it's sticking with a tried and true formula: the new Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, available for preorder today, looks exactly like its predecessor. But Amazon isn't completely resting on its laurels: the new model has an even faster processor, better Dolby sound, and a new version of Amazon's Fire OS. Its $379 price (Wi-Fi with Special Offers, LTE model is $479) is the same as last year too.

Amazon is making more of a productivity play with the HDX 8.9 this year. It's got an all-new keyb …

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