Amazon’s newest tablet, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, starts shipping today. At $299 (for the WiFi version), you get a 8.9″ 1920×1200 display (with 254ppi), TI OMAP4470 dual-core processor, dual stereo Dolby Digital Plus audio speakers, a front facing camera for video chatting, and easy access to all of Amazon’s content.

If a WiFi-only model doesn’t fulfill your needs, then you may want to consider the 4G LTE equipped 8.9. It starts at $499, but more importantly, gives you the opportunity to purchase a $49 year-long data package. Amazon partnered with AT&T to offer this one-of-a-kind data deal. The 4G LTE model ships next week.

Amazon Links:  Fire HD 8.9 w/ WiFi ($299) | Fire HD 8.9 w/ 4G LTE ($499)

Ever since the original Kindle Fire was released last year there has been some controversy about whether or not to consider Amazon’s tablets to be Android tablets. While Amazon has always admitted that the products run a forked version of Android and Android apps, the Android community was quick to distance themselves from the product despite its record sales. While Amazon likes to talk about Fire apps and doesn’t talk about the version of Android running underneath the Fire interface in any of their official documentation, I believe the Kindle Fire should be considered an Android tablet.

The brand new Kindle Fire HD 7″ and the 2nd generation Kindle Fire are now available. Announced last week at an event in Los Angeles, Amazon initially only opened up pre-orders for these two devices with a launch date of September 14. Since it’s now September 14, the switch appears to have been flipped, with pre-orders becoming a thing of the past. If you don’t feel like waiting for the Fire HD 8.9″ or Paperwhite, then hit up the links below and get to ordering.

At $199 for the 7″ HD model, you are looking at one of the better deals in all of tech. Amazon’s UI may take some getting used to if you are coming from a traditional Android device, but that screen, new WiFi tech, Whispersync, and Amazon ecosystem are tough to deny.

Link:  Kindle Fire HD 7″ WiFi (16GB for $199, 32GB for $249) - Available September 14

Link:  Kindle Fire 2 WiFi (8GB for $159) – Available September 14

Since yesterday’s Amazon event wasn’t streamed live, most of you participated in our live blog (which Ron did an amazing job during). If you missed that or simply want to go back and catch every single detail that Jeff Bezos belted out about the new Kindle Fire HD models, the Paperwhite, and all of their new software enhancements, then Amazon has gone ahead and uploaded the entire thing to YouTube for you to watch. 

As more hands-on time is being spent with the newest Android-powered Kindle Fire tablets from Amazon, we’re learning much more about how Amazon is able to sell the hardware for so cheap. The newest piece of info we’ve learned, whether you think is good or bad, is that all three of the new Kindle Fires (Fire, HD7, HD8.9) will be ad-supported. Much like on the older e-reader from last year, Amazon will display “special offers” on the lockscreen of the device while it is not in use. 

After today’s announcements I got to spend a little time playing with the new 7 inch Kindle Fire HD. Amazon has upped their game by releasing an updating Kindle Fire, and more importantly, two Kindle Fire HDs. Read on for my first impressions of the Kindle Fire HD.

If you were impressed by today’s Kindle announcements, then it’s time to place your order. Most are available starting September 14, with the Kindle Fire HD models coming a bit later on November 20. Why not pre-order, though?

Kindle Fire Family

Link:  Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE (32GB for $499, 64GB for $599) – Available November 20

Link:  Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ WiFi (16GB for $299, 32GB for $369) - Available November 20

Link:  Kindle Fire HD 7″ WiFi (16GB for $199, 32GB for $249) - Available September 14

Link:  Kindle Fire 2 WiFi (8GB for $159) – Available September 14

Kindle Paperwhite

Link:  Paperwhite 3G ($179) – Available October 1

Link:  Paperwhite WiFi ($119) – Available October 1

Amazon finally posted all of the press images of the new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD, so we wanted to share. This will give you the cleanest looks of these new devices that you have seen yet. You can see the hefty bezel for easy handling, the HD camera front and center, and the slightly tweaked form factors between the three.