Kindle Fire 2014

The Kindle Fire has been a big success stateside, though it sadly hasn't yet made it to the UK.

However, there is plenty of speculation and rumour about what the Kindle Fire 2 could bring to the party - and whether it will be available in the UK.

So we've rounded up all the suggested Kindle Fire 2 specs, release date and more and put together this little piece to share them all with you.
Kindle Fire 2 release date

The Kindle Fire 2 is set to land in spring 2012, according to DigiTimes, which reported that Quanta Computer has already been given the order to start producing the new device.

However, on March 8, Digitimes suggested that the second Kindle Fire wouldn't launch until the second half of 2012 - and that there would be more than one version of the tablet.

On March 26, rumours emerged that Taiwanese chassis manufacturer Catcher had received an order from Amazon for a new tablet.
The Kindle Fire 2 screen will be bigger

The Telegraph - and many others - predicts a Kindle Fire 2 vs new iPad summertime tablet fight-fest based entirely on a single post by the not-always-that-accurate DigiTimes, which says that the Kindle Fire 2 will have an 8.9-inch touch screen and will begin manufacturing in the first quarter of 2012.

That may well be true, but Digitimes also reports that the Kindle Fire 2 screen will be 9.7 inches, or maybe 10.1 inches. Perhaps the Kindle Fire 2 is made from potatoes and powered by clockwork elves.

Further rumours in early March 2012 suggested that the Amazon Kindle Fire 2 will land in both 8.9-inch and 10-inch flavours.

An analyst writing in February 2012 predicted a 9-inch Amazon Kindle Fire tablet, as well as a refreshed 7-inch model by the middle of 2012.

Chad Bartley of Pacific Crest has increased his Kindle Fire 2012 sales estimate from 12 million units to 14.9 miilion units, partly due to the expected new models.

"We are raising our 2012 sales forecasts to 14.9 million from 12.7 million," he wrote in a note to investors.

"But we believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new 7 and 9-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012."
The Kindle Fire 2 processor is a quad-core Tegra

That's what Boy Genius Report predicted back in May, anyway: Amazon was "planning on releasing at least two before the end of the year... the big boy? That's codenamed 'Hollywood' and will be based on the Nvidia Tegra 3 which will bring a screaming quad-core processor with a 500% performance increase".

That would come in handy, as some reviews have pointed out that the current Fire is a bit slow, but if it's coming there's no way you're getting it for $200. Amazon may be losing money on every Kindle Fire, but there's losing money and there's losing enormous amounts of money.
The Kindle Fire 2 is the real Kindle Fire

Speaking to Gdgt, a "source" claimed that the Kindle Fire 2 is the tablet Amazon really wanted to make, but couldn't get out in time for the pre-Christmas shopping period.
The Kindle Fire 2 operating system is Android, sort of

As with the first Fire, the Kindle Fire 2 should run Amazon's own fork of Android, which adds a nifty interface to Google's OS. Expect integration with the Amazon app store and services rather than Android market and Google books.

An early March source also claimed that Amazon has reduced its E Ink orders (the fancy screen technology found on Kindle e-readers).
The Kindle Fire 2 display won't be a hybrid




Amazon Kindle Fire 2 rumours are hotting up
A hybrid e-ink/LCD screen is one for our Kindle Fire 2 wish list, although we don't expect to see it on the next Kindle Fire.
The Kindle Fire 2 specifications might include some missing features

There are some obvious omissions from the current Kindle Fire - GPS, a microphone, cameras - but we're not sure the Kindle Fire 2 needs them: if it wants to be an iPad rival then yes, such things are important, but they're not necessarily deal-breakers for sofa surfing.
The Kindle Fire 2 name probably won't be Kindle Fire 2

If a launch is imminent, Amazon won't want to annoy existing Kindle Fire customers by suggesting their shiny new tablet is already obsolete. It'll be called something different, such as Kindle Burny. OK, probably not Burny.

techradar.com

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