Reports suggest that Amazon is set to refresh its entire tablet range with higher resolution alternatives and that they could be on sale by September.
Amazon’s range of Kindle Fire tablets may be some of the only tablets that are holding their own against the iPad in terms of sales and web use – but as both Apple and Google gear up to unveil new, refreshed tablets lines later this year, Amazon will need to follow suit if it is expected to stay in touch with its closest rivals.
According to BGR, the company is planning a full range refresh which will bring resolution levels currently only seen on the full-sized iPad and Google’s Nexus-10 slate to some of its models.
The report claims that Amazon intends to keep a three-model lineup: a Kindle Fire (7-inch screen); plus 7-inch and 8.9-inch variants of the Kindle Fire HD tablets.
The entry-level and until now standard-definition model will see its pixel density increased to a decidedly more HD 1280×800.
The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD will see its resolution upped to 1920×1200, while its larger, 8.9-inch brother will get a 2560×1600 pixel screen taking it past the current fourth generation Retina display iPad in terms of pixel numbers and pixel density .
As well as reworked displays, the new devices are expected to be lighter and have a more ‘chiselled’ appearance, a move away from the current trounded corner look.
Amazon’s Kindles are by no means the best tablets on the market and as Ars Technica points out, the forked version of Android that the devices use as an operating system is still wanting in terms of responsiveness and smoothness.
However, they remain very popular because of Amazon’s competitive pricing and the number of apps and multimedia content the company offers Kindle users. The increased resolution will not only help the tablets stay up to date in the eyes of US and European consumers but will also help them to win a greater market share in countries that use character-based languages, such as China, Japan and India.
At a 300 dots per inch resolution, text based on the Roman alphabet would look smooth, crisp and clear to even those with the keenest of eyesight. However, a greater pixel density is needed to achieve the same effect for text written in Mandarin or Hindi.
If the report is to be believed, and BGR’s Amazon sources have an excellent track record, then expect the new devices to debut in September for the same prices as the tablets they will be replacing.
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