Amazon announces Kindle Fire HD in 7-inch, 8.9-inch, and LTE varieties

Today, Amazon announced the Kindle Fire HD, a big sequel to their affordable tablet. One is in the familiar 7-inch size, and another at 8.9 inches with an option for LTE and an awesome data plan. For $49.99/year you can get a data plan that offers 250 MB/month (which you'll blow through in 5 seconds if you're downloading at full tilt). The plan is coming from AT&T, though Amazon says the Kindle Fire HD will support all ten 4G bands. 20 GB of cloud storage come included, plus upgrades are available for 3 GB or 5 GB plans. Let's run through the device specs. 

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch - starts at $199, shipping September 14

• 16 GB / 32 GB storage
• 7-inch 1280 x 800 touchscreen at 216 PPI
• TI OMAP 4460 processor
• 802.11n 5 Ghz MIMO Wi-Fi antenna 
• 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• 11 hours battery life

Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch - starts at $299, $499 for LTE/32GB, shipping November 20

• 16 GB / 32 GB / 64 GB storage
• 8.9-inch 1920 x 1200 touchscreen at 254 PPI
• TI OMAP 4470 processor and Imagination SGX544 graphics engine
• 9.4 x 7.31 x 0.34 inches
• 802.11n 5 Ghz MIMO Wi-Fi antenna

Pre-order Amazon's new Kindle devices

• Pre-order new Kindle Fire
• Pre-order Kindle Fire HD 7-inch
• Pre-order Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch
• Pre-order Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch 4G LTE

The Kindle Fire HD has a new laminated touch sensor with no air gap - that means 25% less glare than before. There's a fancy Dolby stereo speaker in there with an exclusive audio engine for the Kindle Fire HD. Thre's two Wi-Fi antennae inside for awesome signal strength. Storage starts at 16 GB, which means no more dealing with a measly 8 GB. The 8.9-inch version will go all the way up to 64 GB models, while the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD caps out at 32 GB. 

One of the cool new software features is Whispersync Voice, which seamlessly transitions between audiobook and regular ol' text book when reading, all while saving your spot between formats. They're calling it "Immersion Reading". The X-Ray feature announced for the Paperwhite willalso  be available in the Kindle Fire HD for movies, so you can pull up actor information from IMDB while the show's playing. Of course the same book feature will be included as well. 

Whispersync has now spread to games so that achievements, unlocks and progress all carry over to new devices through cloud storage. There's a new e-mail app with support for Exchange, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, including contact and calendar sync. Skype will be preinstalled to take advantage of the HD-capable front-facing camera. 

Another cool feature is called FreeTime, which allows parents to set time and content limits for what their kids can do on the Kindle Fire HD. Full profiles are supported so parents can adjust permissions accordingly.  Smart. Although, Amazon is also eager to show how easily it is to buy physical products related to games through the Kindle Fire HD's tailored in-app offers as well.  Sneaky. 

Take a look at our liveblog to see how it all went down. Anyone interested in nabbing any of the above devices?

Pre-order the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch
Pre-order the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch / LTE