The Kindle Fire HD is the second generation of Amazon’s Kindle Fire line of color touchscreen tablet computers. It was announced on September 6, 2012 and is available in two form factors, 7 inch and 8.9 inch.
The Fire HD 7-inch is priced at $199 (for 16GB, $249 for 32GB) and the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ is priced at $269 and $299 for 16 and 32 GB, respectively and the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE is priced at $399 and $499 for 32 and 64 GB, respectively.
These prices include “special offers”, which show ads on the lock screen and screen saver. These can be removed by paying $15 either at the time of purchase or at a later date.
Specifications of the Kindle Fire tablets:
| Item | Kindle Fire (2nd Gen) | Kindle Fire HD 7″ | Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ Wi-Fi | Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ WAN | Kindle Fire (1st Gen) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screen size | 7-inch screen | 7-inch screen | 8.9-inch screen | 8.9-inch screen | 7-inch screen |
| Screen resolution | 1024px x 600px | 1280px x 800px (supports 720p “HD” resolution) | 1920px x 1200px (supports 1080p “HD” resolution) | 1920px x 1200px (supports 1080p “HD” resolution) | 1024px x 600px |
| Status bar (top) | 27px | 35px | 40px | 40px | 27px |
| Soft keys bar (when toolbar is visible) | 60px | 78px | 90px | 90px | 60px |
| Fullscreen handle (when toolbar is collapsed) | 51px x 29px | 67px x 38px | 67px x 38px | 67px x 38px | 51px x 29px |
| Abstracted LCD density | “mdpi” | “hdpi” | “hdpi” | “hdpi” | “mdpi” |
| RAM | 1024 MB | 1024 MB | 1024 MB | 1024 MB | 512 MB |
| CPU | Dual Core TI OMAP4 (4430) HS, 1.2 GHz | Dual Core TI OMAP4 (4460) HS, 1.2 GHz | Dual Core TI OMAP4 (4470) HS, 1.5 GHz | Dual Core TI OMAP4 (4470) HS, 1.5 GHz | Dual Core TI OMAP4 (4430) HS, 1.0 GHz |
| GPU | Imagination PowerVR | Imagination PowerVR | Imagination PowerVR | Imagination PowerVR | Imagination PowerVR |
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n | 802.11 a/b/g/n | 802.11 a/b/g/n | 802.11 a/b/g/n | 802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | Not available | BT 3.0 + EDR (HID and A2DP profiles only) | BT 3.0 + EDR (HID and A2DP profiles only) | BT 3.0 + EDR (HID and A2DP profiles only) | Not available |
| Location services | WiFi-based | WiFi-based | WiFi-based | WiFi-based, GPS and aGPS | Not available |
| Device software | Based on Android 4.0.3, API level 15 | Based on Android 4.0.3, API level 15 | Based on Android 4.0.3, API level 15 | Based on Android 4.0.3, API level 15 | Based on Android 2.3.3, API level 10 |
Heap size (default)android:largeHeap="false" |
48 MB | 48 MB | 64 MB | 64 MB | 64 MB |
Heap size (large)android:largeHeap="true" |
256 MB | 256 MB | 256 MB | 256 MB | 64 MB (android:largeHeap is ignored) |
| Front-facing camera | Not available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| Microphone | Not available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not available |
| Multi-touch | 2-point | 10-point | 10-point | 10-point | 2-point |
| android.os.Build.MANUFACTURER | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon | Amazon |
| android.os.Build.MODEL | KFOT | KFTT | KFJWI | KFJWA | Kindle Fire |
In general, apps optimized for a tablet experience will work on Kindle Fire tablets. To improve compatibility with the Kindle tablets, we recommend you use APIs that are backwards compatible with the Android 4.0.3 platform (Ice Cream Sandwich API 15) for the Kindle Fire (2nd Generation), Kindle Fire HD 7″, and Kindle Fire HD 8.9″; and with the Android 2.3.3 platform (Gingerbread API 10) for Kindle Fire (1st Generation).
