Amazon today announced the all-new Fire HDX 8.9 , an upgrade to its current HDX tablet, adding a 2.5 GHz processor while sporting a lighter body and 802.11ac support for faster Wi-Fi connectivity.
The new Amazon Fire HDX is now equipped with a quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and enhanced display that offers 339 pixels per inch in sRGB color. It is also Amazon’s first tablet with Dolby Atmos for better sound quality, and an 8 MP rear camera that can shoot 1080p HD videos.
New to the Fire HDX is a “Dynamic Light Control” chip that senses ambient lighting to adjust the screen temperature to closely match paper in its reader app. In comparison to the iPad’s Sepia reading mode, the Fire HDX’s screen is much warmer, with the text slightly less crisp. Whether or not this is a positive feature will depend on your reading display preference – I personally found the automatic adaptive display quite neat (and battery efficient!)
Fire HDX’s 802.11ac support also means faster Wi-Fi at four times the peak bandwidth of the tablet’s predecessor. Battery life remains at 12 hours.
With its latest tablet, Amazon announced the newest version of Fire OS known as Sangria . The software update comes with a new Profile setting to let different users on the device customize their homescreen and brightness settings. When users switch between profiles, their current log-ins on third party apps like Facebook and Twitter, and the location of whatever content they last used (such as game levels, page in a book or movie progress) is automatically recalled.
Fire OS 4 Sangria, built on Android KitKat, now offers Family Library for family members to share Prime Instant Video content, apps, games and books without being locked in a particular OS. As long as household members are sharing content from their Kindle apps, it doesn’t matter which device they use. Amazon says it determines family members by using their home address and payment information.
Also new is a translation feature for FireFly, which lets you take pictures of foreign text for an English translation.
For business users, Fire HDX comes loaded with WPS Office. Documents edited in this mode get saved automatically to the Cloud for use on mobile devices or computers.
Third-generation Fire tablets will receive the software update for OS 4 Sangria over the air, with an update coming to the Fire phone early next year.
The tablet comes with optional accessories, such as the origami cover (also available for the newly-announced Kindle Voyage e-reader ) and the Fire Keyboard. The keyboard has a trackpad, and is optimized for Fire OS to begin searching when the user starts typing. The keyboard is 4.8mm thin, weighs 7 ounces and snaps in magnetically to the origami cover so all three components of the tablet pack together neatly for travel.
The new Fire HDX 8.9 tablet is starts at $379 for the Wi-Fi model and $479 for 4G , and will be available for pre-order tonight with an expected shipping date in October. The origami cover and keyboard are sold separately at $55 and $60, respectively.
➤ Amazon Fire HDX 8.9
Read next: Amazon announces the $199 Kindle Voyage, a premium e-reader with haptic page-turning
Going abroad? Skyroam rental vending machines launch in several US airports
I love to travel, but I hate the fact that when I go overseas, I’m often without the Internet for an extended period of time. Roaming is still pretty damn expensive.
But thankfully last year I got a Skyroam . This is a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, but one that works in over 100 countries. It allows you connect up to five devices simultaneously to the Internet for a flat fee of $8 every 24 hours.
The devices (which can be bought online, or through one of their brick-and-mortar partners) cost around $100, and are pretty good value if you travel frequently. But if you, like most people, only make one or two international trips per year, they’re probably not worth it.
But now you can get your hands on one without the massive upfront cost. Skyroam has opened vending machines in several US airports, allowing you to rent a device for as long as you need for just $9.95 per day.
Once you’ve returned from your trip, just mail back the device with the provided pre-paid envelope, and you’re golden.
The first vending machines are now available at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
Xbox One to offer TV streaming on SmartGlass, video playback via USB and DLNA network streaming
Just before its Gamescom presentation kicked off, Microsoft announced some hefty updates for its Xbox One video game console affecting some of the core apps, SmartGlass and live TV.
The upgrades, which will be distributed to users of its early access program later this month, include a new media player app. This will allow players to watch their own video and audio files through an attached USB device or through a connected home media server that supports DLNA.
Microsoft stressed that the preview version of the app will only support USB drives, with DLNA functionality coming “soon” afterward.
All Xbox One owners in the Preview program will also gain access to a new friends section, which Microsoft says it’s already been testing with a small group of users. The company promises that “at a glance,” you’ll be able to see what your chums are up to, the most popular games being played in your social circle and an all important Gamerscore leaderboard.
The update will bring in threaded messages too; for the first time, players will be able to scroll through their entire conversation history and review embedded media, such as recorded game clips.
Finally, Microsoft is bringing new functionality to the Snap Center, which players can bring up by double-tapping the Xbox button on their controller. With the new firmware, console owners can look at messages, friends, parties and achievements alongside whatever app or game they’re running.
On the TV side, Microsoft is updating its SmartGlass service so that Xbox One owners can stream TV to their preferred smartphone or tablet. “They can also pause, play and rewind as well as change channels, without interrupting gameplay on the Xbox One,” the company said. It will work across the SmartGlass apps for Windows, iOS and Android.
With the new update, TV fans will also be able to configure their console so it boots to live television automatically. Furthermore, a new mini guide will be available at the bottom of the screen for all markets where OneGuide is available, effectively mimicking a traditional satellite or cable TV box.
Microsoft says these updates will be rolled out to Xbox One consoles at different stages throughout the coming months. To emphasize, this isn’t one huge patch, but likely a series of smaller updates that will arrive throughout the fall.