Amazon has announced Australia as one of 170 countries to receive the company’s latest Kindle Fire HD tablets and one of 200 countries to receive the Amazon Appstore for Android.
The company is offering its Android-based Kindle Fire HD tablet in both an 8.9-inch version and a 7-inch version, with both versions now available for pre-order before shipping on June 13.
Each version is, in turn, available in 16 or 32 GB of storage, with US pricing ranging from $US214 for a 7-inch tablet with 16 GB storage to $US314 for 32GB of storage on an 8.9-inch tablet.
News of the launch comes after Australian consumers missed out on previous versions of the Kindle Fire tablet.
“Kindle Fire HD is the number-one best-selling item in the world for Amazon since its launch, and we’re thrilled to make it available to even more customers around the globe today,” says Amazon Kindle vice president Dave Limp.
“Not only does Kindle Fire feature advanced hardware, it’s also a service. When combined with our content ecosystem, great email and browsing and top-rated customer service, we hope people around the world will agree that Kindle Fire HD is the best tablet for an incredible price.”
Alongside the release of the Kindle Fire HD, Amazon issued a press statement announcing Australians would also be able to download Android apps for the first time from the Amazon Appstore.
However, in order to download Android apps onto non-Amazon tablets, consumers will have to manually allow ‘side-loading’ and download the app store from Amazon, as it will not appear in Google Play.
“We are thrilled to be expanding the reach of our global app distribution to nearly 200 countries. We think our customers will love the app selection we have to offer and also find features such as Free App of the Day and personalised recommendations very helpful as they discover and explore new apps and games,” says Amazon vice president of apps and games, Mike George.
“By further expanding the distribution of apps to millions of customers around the world, we are continuing to make it easy for customers to enjoy their Amazon apps on Kindle Fire and any Android device.”
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Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
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