Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is reportedly introducing a faster, higher-resolution Kindle Fire HD, which may have been confirmed by a series of graphic benchmark test results leaked online. Two different tablets appear in the test, codenamed Thor and Apollo, both running a quad-core, 2.15 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor.
If the benchmarks are accurate, they put the next-generation Kindle HD tablets ahead of the newest Nexus 7 from Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) in processing power. The stock Android tablet features a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU from Qualcomm. The processor clock speeds listed in the benchmarks correlates with an earlier report from BGR, which said the new Kindle Fire HD models would also contain 2 GB of RAM.
The Amazon Kindle tablet codenamed “Apollo” is listed with a screen resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, suggesting that the tablet will replace the 8.9 “Kindle Fire HD and increase its resolution by 33% for clearer video, images and text. “Thor” is the second tablet appearing in the benchmarks, as Amazon appears to favor mythological naming conventions to codename its devices.
“Thor” is listed with a 1920 x 1200 resolution, which is a 50% increase in screen resolution over the 7 “Kindle HD, matching the resolution of the second-generation Nexus 7 tablet released by Google in July.
Amazon announced the first generation Kindle Fire HD tablets on September 7, 2012. Electronics devices, like cars, often see updated models released annually and the benchmarks suggest that Amazon will announce new versions of the Kindle Fire HD to compete with Google’s Nexus 7 and the iPad and iPad Mini from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL).
The new Kindle Fire HD tablets will also have cameras, and the 7-inch version (Thor) will have a front-facing camera, while the 8.9-inch model (Apollo) will have cameras on the front and rear, according to the report from BGR.
Benchmark tests that leak online can sometimes be sources of unreleased information, but can also be wrong or misleading. The Amazon Kindle Fire HD tablets that appeared in the benchmark were shown running Android 4.2.2, however Amazon is expected to continue using a forked version of the operating system that does not allow access to the Google Play Store and allows users to access
Amazon updated its Silk web browser for Kindle devices on Monday, giving the app a new user interface and adding a “reading view” that simplifies text on web pages and removes advertisements, in addition to other changes.
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