Good news for those patiently awaiting availability of the next-generation 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire HDX tablet: it's now shipping in the UK.
The smaller model is now winging their way to pre-order customers, following the release of the new super-affordable £119 Kindle Fire HD on October 24.
The new 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX offers a 1920 x 1080p full HD display (323ppi) and deploys a powerful 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM to do all of the grunt work.
It costs £199 for the 16GB model, while 32GB and 64GB Wi-Fi models are also available. Add 4G, exclusively through Vodafone into the mix and the costs go up to £269, £299, and £329 respectively.
Going premium
However, what really pushes the Kindle Fire up from budget slate into the premium tablet arena is the price tag slapped on the 8.9-inch HDX, which brings a 339ppi display at 2560 x 1600 to the table.
That device, which will begin shipping on November 19, starts at £339 for 16GB with Wi-Fi (£100 more expensive than its predecessor), while the top of the range 64GB with 4G model is £479.
Those signing up for the 4G deals will get a pre-installed Vodafone SIM and the opportunity to sign up for 5GB a month for 3 months for a one off payment of £25.
After that they'll need to sign up for one of the network's 4G tariffs.
Mayday, how YOU doin'?
The launch of the new devices also brings the Mayday with Kindle service into play. It offers free customer support for all Kindle Fire owners through a video chat with an Amazon representative.
They can draw on your screen and explain how to use the Kindle Fire's features. You can see them, but they can't see you, lessening the awkwardness somewhat.
However, in the US commercials for the service, the representative is a sweet, somewhat flirtatious, rather attractive redhead named Amy. Note: Don't call Mayday just to flirt with "Amy." You'll get in trouble.
