Say Hello To Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Family: $159 Upgraded Original, $199 7-inch and $299 8.9-inch HD

Amazon just introduced new Kindle Fire tablets, including a revamped old version that costs $159, and is both faster and has longer battery life, as well as two Kindle Fire HD models, one with an 8.9 inch display and one with a 7-inch display at a higher price point, but with Dolby Digital sound and high density displays.

The HD models have a TI OMAP 4470 processor, as well as improved Wi-Fi performance thanks to two antennas to cut down on signal interference. The resolution on the large HD Fire is 1920×1200, and there’s a laminated touch sensor on the screen to reduce glare and produce sharper, better contrast. The Wi-Fi on the Fire HD is supposed to be 41 percent faster than the iPad’s according to Amazone CEO Jeff Bezos, thanks to the new antena design.

An HD front-facing camera answers one of the larger complaints that’s been made regarding the first Kindle Fire, and should come in handy when using the new custom-built Skype application. Both HD variants also offer HDMI out and Bluetooth connectivity.

The Fire (SD, some are calling it) has double the RAM of the original, as well as a faster processor and longer battery life, and will retail for $159, which is quite a bit under the cost of its closest competitors.

The 7-inch Fire HD will cost $199 with 16GB of storage, and ships on Sept. 14. The 8.9-inch device with 16GB of onboard storage retails for $299, and ships Nov. 20.

Update: Both the 7-inch and 8.9-inch Fire HD also come in a 32GB version, for $249 and $369 respectively.

Kindle Fire HD Gallery