Amazon Unveils New Kindle Fire Specifically for Kids

Sep 18, 2014 04:00 PM EDT | Jordan Ecarma

Amazon has launched six new or upgraded devices as the company reinforces its hardware lineup in time for the holiday shopping season.

On Wednesday, the company unveiled the $199 Kindle Voyage e-reader and a $99 Kindle Fire HD tablet as well as a tablet designed for children and upgraded versions of the 7-inch and 8.9-inch Fire tablets, Reuters reported. The basic Kindle has also been updated with a touchscreen.

Expected to ship in October, the revamped and expanded Kindle lineup illustrates Amazon's push into hardware along with other services. The Seattle, Wash.-based company has already had a busy year, launching a television set-top box, an electronic wand that can be used to order groceries and a Fire smartphone.

The new Kindle Voyage, which is a seventh-generation device, is purportedly the slimmest e-reader Amazon has ever manufactured and is intended to imitate the feel of paper book even more closely.

"Our mission with Kindle is to make the device disappear, so you can lose yourself in the author's world," Bezos said in a statement. "Kindle Voyage is the next big step in this mission."

The updated basic Kindle with a touchscreen will cost $79, approximately a 15 percent markup on the current model. It has twice the storage and a processor that is 20 percent faster compared with its predecessor, according to Amazon.

Parents whose kids are constantly playing with their iPad or Kindle Fire might want to check out the Fire HD Kids Edition option, touted by Amazon as "the first tablet built from the ground up for kids."

The e-reader comes with a two-year warranty to be replaced if broken, "no questions asked," said an Amazon press release. A 6-inch version costs $149, while the 7-inch is $189. 

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