X

Amazon Kindle Fire 2 unveiled on 6 September, invite hints

A follow-up to the Kindle Fire could be shown off in mere weeks.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
2 min read

We may not have long to wait before Amazon reveals its follow-up to the popular Kindle Fire, with the online book flogger sending out mysterious invites to an event on 6 September, our US colleagues at CNET News report.

The date would match earlier rumours that a sequel to the Fire tablet -- which is agonisingly restricted to the US -- will be inbound within months.

Previous reports tipped the Kindle Fire 2 to have a thinner, lighter body and play host to a camera as well, something that's sorely lacking from the current model.

Developers are reportedly also being told to prep their apps for a beefed up 1,280x800-pixel resolution, which would match the pixel count of the recent Google Nexus 7 tablet.

Another possibility is that the Kindle Fire 2 could come in a cheaper ad-supported version, with a few well-placed advertisements spotted around your ebooks and video resulting in a lower up-front cost.

While Amazon's next tablet would be the centre of attention, the company could also take the opportunity to show off some new E-Ink Kindles. You know, the monochrome wotsits we actually have here in the UK.

I'm hoping for a slimmer Kindle Touch, as the current version is a little chunkier than its non-touchscreen brethren, while a version that has a built-in reading light is also rumoured.

Now is the time for Amazon to bring its dirt-cheap, Android-based Fire tablet to the UK. Well, actually, it should have arrived months ago to compete with the Nexus 7, but there you go. 

Amazon rival Barnes and Noble meanwhile has recently said it would be bringing its own Nook gadgets to the UK. Jolly good.

Do you think Amazon should release its tablets over here? What technology would you like to see in the next Fire? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.