Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch now shipping

Prices start at $229 with 'special offers,' $244 without

Amazon's next-generation Kindle Fire HDX has launches today, and the 7-inch tablet is available right now from Amazon.com. The new Kindle Fire packs a speedy Snapdragon 800 processor and a 1920x1200-resolution display into a 9mm body weighing 303g, making it highly competitive in terms of specs. And the tablet's pricing is equally so, starting at $229 for 16GB "with special offers" — which means ads on your lock screen. If you want to go ad-free you'll pay $244 for 16GB. Adding $100 to that price gets you either the Verizon or AT&T LTE-capable models; add another $40 for 32GB of storage, or $80 for 64GB.

The tablet is running Amazon's latest Android-based FireOS 3.0 "Mojito" OS, which our own Jerry Hildenbrand found to be fast and responsive in his recent hands-on feature. Obviously this means you'll be tied into Amazon's content ecosystem, as opposed to Google Play — though presumably that's why you're looking at an Amazon tablet to begin with.

For more on the Kindle Fire HDX, check out our hands-on preview. If you're looking to pick one up, you'll find a link down below. Next stop for the 7-inch HDX is the UK on Nov. 13, then Canada on Nov. 26.

VIA