Rumors of a new version of Amazon’s Kindle Fire have been building for months now and it is anticipated that the company will release details of the new device within the next three weeks. AllThingsD has jumped on the rumor bandwagon and released details of what we can expect from the new Fire. Talking with “sources familiar with Amazon’s plans” and with developers who have been approach to ensure that their apps work on the new device, it seems that the biggest difference in the new Kindle will be the display. The current Kindle Fire has a 1024 x 600 display while the new device will sport a 1280 x 800 display similar to that found in the Google Nexus 7.
The change in display size has several repercussions. First, it changes the aspect ratio from 1.71 (a more tall and narrow ratio) to 1.60. The 1.60 aspect ratio seems to be the one preferred by manufacturers at the moment. The practical upshot of this is that apps designed or tweaked specifically for the Kindle Fire will need to ensure that they run correctly on the new display. Secondly the increase in resolution means that there is a 67% increase in the total number of pixels and a 29% increase in pixel density. These increases could have an effect on battery life but it is anticipated that Amazon will increase the battery size to compensate.
Other improvements expected in the new Kindle Fire include a built-in camera, a faster CPU and of course an updated version of Amazon’s custom version of Android. It is also rumored that the new iteration will be thinner and lighter than the original.
The real question is if these changes are enough for the new Kindle Fire to beat Google’s forth coming Nexus 7 tablet. Read our in-depth analysis of what Amazon needs to do to beat Google.
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