Amazon Launches Kid-friendly Kindle Fire Tablet

FireTablet_FamilyAmazon has unveiled its latest wave of Kindle Fire mobile devices, as it rolls out Fire OS 4 (aka Sangria) – including its first tablet aimed specifically at a younger audience.

The Kindle Fire HD Kids Edition is being pitched as “a real tablet, not a toy,” according to VP of Amazon Devices Peter Larsen. Available in two sizes – 6” for $149 (£91) or 7” for $189 – the Kids Edition comes with a two-year no questions asked guarantee that promises to replace tablets regardless of how it was broken, and a free one-year subscription to Amazons FreeTime Unlimited service for apps, books, TV and movies – though vitally, stores and in-app payments are blocked on the device.

There are also parental controls that can be used to not only dictate what the child can access but also their screen time based on content type – meaning that games can be locked after a set period while reading is always available.

Amazon also announced its lowest priced tablet to date with the Fire HD tablets – available with a 6” or 7” display for $99 or $139 respectively – which Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos called “the most powerful tablet under $100”. At the other end of the spectrum, theres the Fire HDX 8.9, priced at $379, which is probably most notable for bringing the Firefly technology – which can recognise over 100m objects, as well as video and music content, then send the user directly to the relevant product listing on Amazons store – onto a tablet for the first time.