Amazon is bringing its Alexa voice assistant to the Fire HD line of tablets, and one of the first to receive the software will be a brand new version of the Fire HD 8 tablet.
The new tablet has more RAM and storage than its predecessor, plus a lower starting price.
You can pre-order the new Amazon Fire HD 8 for $90 and up, and the tablet should begin shipping September 21st.
Amazon Fire HD 8
The tablet features an 8 inch, 1920 x 1280 pixel IPS display, 1.5 GB of RAM, and a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. It has a microSD card slot for removable storage and Amazon says the Fire HD 8 should get up to 12 hours of battery life while watching videos, surfing the web, and listening to music.
For $90 you get a model with 16GB of storage and “special offers,” which means there will be ads on lock screen. You can also opt for a 32GB model for $120 or pay an extra $15 for a version without special offers.
Other features include stereo speakers, Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi, a 2MP rear camera, and a VGA (0.3MP) front-facing camera. The tablet has a micro USB 2.0 port and comes with a 5 watt power adapter.
Amazon offers the Fire HD 8 in black, blue, tangerine, and magenta colors.
While Amazon doesn’t say anything about which 1.3 GHz quad-core chip the new tablet uses, odds are that it’s a MediaTek MT8163 ARM Corte-xA3 processor with Mali-T720 graphics.
Alexa and Fire OS 5.4
Alexa allows you to search the web, play music, ask questions, and perform other actions using your voice. Of course, you can also buy things from Amazon using Alexa.
You can use Alexa by pressing and holding the home button for 2 seconds and then talking to your tablet.
While Alexa won’t be available for the Fire HD 8 tablet on day one, it’s coming soon via a Fire OS 5.4 software update which will roll out over the air. The update also brings new features from Amazon-owned comic book app ComiXology and Amazon-owned video game streaming service Twitch.
Fire OS 5.4 with Alexa is also coming soon to the $50 Fire tablet with a 7 inch screen and the $230 Fire HD 10 tablet (which launched last year).
