Kindle Fire HD 7-inch tablet costs £159, has lock-screen ads
UK prices for Amazon's new toys have been revealed, with the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD costing a wallet-friendly £159.
British tablet fans can exhale at last -- Amazon is finally bringing its barnstorming Kindle Fire tablets to the UK, and at prices that will make your wallet do a big, leathery grin.
The Kindle Fire tablet that's been doing the rounds in the US for ages now is going to cost £129, and comes with a new 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM to speed up your touchscreen jollies.
If you want something a mite more powerful, then the Kindle Fire's freshly introduced 7-inch Kindle Fire HD may also be of interest. This 16GB tablet will cost £159, the same low price as its Android Jelly Bean-flavoured rival, the Google Nexus 7. A higher-capacity 32GB version is available too for £199.
Sadly, there's no sign that the also-announced larger 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD will be coming to the UK.
Lock screen adverts
There's a bit of bad news, however -- the Kindle Fire tablets will have adverts on the lock screen. Amazon says, "These special money-saving offers that customers will enjoy could include offers on Kindle accessories or on our digital catalogue of Kindle books, apps, games and MP3, plus many more."
Hmm. Not sure I like the idea of adverts on my tablet -- how do you feel? Sound off in the comments below.
The Kindle HD's headline feature is an impressively high screen resolution, with this tiny tablet pumping out 1,280x800 pixels of viewing pleasure. Once more, that's the same resolution as the Google Nexus 7.
Anyone looking for a flexible tablet to tinker with will likely prefer the Nexus 7, because it's powered by raw Android. The Kindle Fire HD's software, meanwhile, is based on Android, but is primarily useful for downloading books, movies and music from Amazon's various services.
But hey, perhaps that's all you really want from a tablet device. I'll be interested to see what kind of movie and TV selection Amazon can rustle up for the Fire HD's launch.
Cheaper Kindle
The bog-standard e-ink Kindle has had its price cut to £69, though there's more sad news for e-ink fans, as it doesn't look like Amazon is going to release its new front-lit 'Paperwhite' Kindle over here, at least not just yet.
The Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD are up for pre-order now (you can probably guess where from), with both tablets coming out on 25 October.
Will you be buying one? Tell me in the comments or on our Facebook wall.