New Amazon Fire HD 8 official with hands-free Alexa, upgraded front camera

Amazon’s got a trio of Android tablets in its lineup, and today it’s updating the model in the middle.

The new Amazon Fire HD 8 is now available for pre-order ahead of its October 4th release. One of the big upgrades with this new 2018 model is hands-free Alexa support, meaning you can just ask Alexa to play a song, launch an app, or adjust the temperature on your smart thermostat, so long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi. This feature works even when the screen is off.

Another notable upgrade of this new Fire HD 8 is its improved front-facing camera. The new model packs a 2MP front-facing camera for all of your video calling needs, up from the VGA front camera on the previous model.

Other specs of Amazon’s new Fire HD 8 include an 8-inch 1280×800 display, 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage, and a microSD card slot. There’s a 2MP rear camera included, too, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack a battery that Amazon says is good for up to 10 hours of usage on a single charge. The Fire HD 8 is available in black yellow, blue, and red color options.

Amazon today also introduced a new Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet. This model includes the same upgraded 2MP front-facing camera as the new Fire HD 8 and has many of the same other specs, too. There’s an 8-inch 1280×800 display, 1.3GHz octa-core processor, 32GB of storage, a microSD card slot, and a battery that lasts up to 10 hours. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack included, too.

Because it’s a Kids Edition tablet, the new Fire HD 8 Kids Edition also includes a kid-proof case and a two-year worry-free guarantee. This means that if your kid breaks this tablet within two years of your purchase, Amazon will replace it.

The Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is available in blue, pink, and yellow color options and is now available for pre-order ahead of its October 4th release.

Sources: Amazon Fire HD 8, Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition

source: androidandme