Amazon unveils new Kindle family

Amazon called the press to an event this morning in Santa Monica, Calif., and took the wraps off a new batch of Kindle devices. It unveiled the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Fire HD.

Airport hangar

The event took place in an airport hangar in Santa Monica, Calif.

Fire is a service

Kindle Fire is a service, Bezos says, making it very different from rival tablets.

E-book sales

Bezos shows off a chart illustrating how quickly e-books have surpassed physical book sales.

Paperwhite

Bezos introduces the Kindle Paperwhite, which uses light tech that represents four years of R&D. The light guide is a "fiber optic cable flattened out." The light is directed down, toward the display. That's the opposite of an LCD display and makes it easy to read outside.

Time to read

The "Time to Read" feature gives users a sense how long it will take them to finish a chapter and the entire book. It tracks reading speed and adjusts the times it estimates based on that.

Price for Paperwhite

The Kindle Paperwhite will cost $119. The 3G version will cost $179.

$69 Kindle

Bezos introduces a $69 model that's ad supported.

Direct Publishing

Bezos talks up Kindle Direct Publishing, which gives authors the ability to keep copyrights and reach audiences. "It's working," Bezos says.

Kindle Serials

Bezos announcing Kindle Serials. Buy once and receive all future installments of a book.

Kindle Fire HD

Bezos introduces the the Kindle Fire HD, an 8.9 inch device with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200. There's also a 7 inch version.

Fire HD specs

Bezos touts the Kindle Fire HD's specs, including MIMO (multiple input, multiple output). It's the first tablet with MIMO, which offers "ridiculous amounts of computation" and improves reception, Bezos says.

Whispersync

A new feature in Amazon's Whispersync function offers "biomodal reading." You can listen to an audio book on the way home from work, then pick up where you left off with the text book later. (Bezos later announces a Whispersync feature for games, too).

Another feature, immersion reading, lets users track audio reading with the text in the book.

E-mail support

Bezos says the Kindle Fire HD has the best integration with Microsoft Exchange of any tablet. That's a bonus for corporate users.

Kindle FreeTime

Bezos introduces Kindle FreeTime, a tool that sets screen time limits on the device for kids.

X-Ray

Bezos shows off X-Ray for movies, which pauses a movie and shows what actors are on in the screen.

Skylanders

Bezos blasts some characters in the game Skylanders on the Kindle Fire HD.

In-game ad

Bezos shows off an in-game offer for a physical product.

Fire HD: Hardware

Kindle Fire HD hardware

Fire HD: Features

Features of the the Kindle Fire HD

Fire HD price

The 7-inch device will cost $199. The 8.9-inch device will cost $299. Both versions are 16GB.

High-end Fire HD

One more thing... at $499, Amazon introduces the 8.9-inch Fire HD with 32GB and 4G LTE. The data plan is $50 a year for 250MB a month.