A picture of Amazon’s next-generation Kindle Fire tablet may have been leaked just days before its official launch.
Obtained by The Verge, the image purportedly shows the new 7-inch iteration of the Fire, although a 10-inch version of the popular tablet may also hit the market at some point in the near future.
“We’ve seen one additional image of the new model, which we have been asked not to publish; it shows a streamlined user interface with less ‘chrome.’ It’s unclear whether this refined UI will make it to the production model, explained Chris Ziegler of The Verge.
“While the original Fire was widely known to be based on the same OMAP4 reference design as RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook, the new model appears to be a custom design – or at least a reference design that we’re not familiar with.”
As TG Daily previously reported, Amazon is widely expected to debut a new lineup of Kindle Fire tablets during its upcoming September 6 press conference in Santa Monica, California. However, recent reports indicate that the Seattle-based corporation may postpone the roll-out of its 10-inch Kindle Fire in favor of devices that are smaller than Apple’s dominant iPad.
Indeed, according to AllThingsD, the larger Fire is “definitely not a done deal,” as “it’s not clear if Amazon is ready to roll one out quite yet.”
“There might, though, be a slightly larger version, perhaps around eight inches or slightly more,” said Tricia Duryee of AllThingsD. ”While not getting a 10-inch version might disappoint some, with Apple’s latest iPad expected to be a smaller version, sources said that competing head on with the old one is a possibility but might not come in this iteration.”
In the meantime, Amazon has anounced that it no longer has any more Kindle Fires to sell as the online retailer prepares to refresh its tablet lineup.
“This has been a big year for digital products on Amazon—all of the top 10 sellers on Amazon.com since Kindle Fire launched just less than a year ago are digital products,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos confirmed in an official statement issued this morning.
“Kindle Fire is sold out, but we have an exciting roadmap ahead—we will continue to offer our customers the best hardware, the best prices, the best customer service, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best content ecosystem.”
