Amazon announced their new line-up of Kindle e-readers and a tablet. The lineup now consists of 6 different models that will fit almost anyone’s budget. Starting at $79 for the new “Kindle”. This base model has the same size (6″) e-ink display. The new ones do not have a keyboard. I never really used the keyboard on my kindle 3 anyway. It makes the new one lighter and smaller. It has wifi only (No 3G option). This version is listed as “in-Stock” and you can order now.
The next models are the Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G. These are the same as the basic Kindle only they have a multi-touch E ink display and cost $99 for the wifi version and $149 for the 3G version. These will be available on November 21st, 2011.
They also still have the old models around and now call them the Kindle Keyboard. In both a Wifi and a 3G model. $99 and $139 respectively.
The one that is most interesting is the $199 Kindle Fire. Very much like the Nook color, this one has a color, backlit multi-touch screen and runs a very skinned version of Android. You will be able to download apps from the Amazon App Store. No word on if you can also use the Android Marketplace. You can pre-order your Kindle Fire now and it will be released on November 15th, 2011.
At around $200, the Kindle Fire could be the the tablet that those who were put off by the prices of other Android tablets would go for. They are $300 less then the cheapest iPad. Doesn’t sound like a bad deal to me. No word on if there will be a 3G version of the Fire.