Amazon Slashes Price, Adds Alexa to New Fire Tablet

Amazon.com (AMZN) today rolled out a cheaper version of its Fire tablet, called Fire HD 8, integrated with its voice-assisted Alexa technology. As previously rumored, this new Fire HD 8 tablet has more RAM (1.5 GB vs. the 1 GB found inside its predecessor), and is powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.3 GHz. The display is listed at 8-inches with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 and a ppi of 189. Unit sales of Amazon tablets have more than doubled since last fall, thanks to the low-cost Fire tablet, Amazon said Thursday.

Specifically, support for Alexa is not available quite yet, but will be made available via an upcoming software update. It starts shipping September 21.

The first thing we want to mention about the new Amazon Fire HD 8 is the fact it is the company’s first slate to roll out with Alexa. Like the rest of the Fire tablet line, the new Fire HD 8 won’t ship with Alexa from the start. Finally, Amazon is touting that the Fire HD 8 is almost twice as durable as the iPad Mini, so this may be good for users who lead a rough-and-tumble lifestyle. But he said that tablet sales “have more than doubled year on year”. The tablet will sell for just $89.99.

The retailer’s strategy of drastically undercutting the competition on price is largely responsible for the increase. And it’s less expensive than Samsung’s newest 7-inch Galaxy Tab 4, which launched at $150.

Amazon has also significantly cut the Fire tablet’s price. Paired up with Alexa will be Amazon’s FireOS similar to their other tablet offerings. These skills allow the assistant to interact with third party apps (i.e. order a pizza from Dominos or summon an Uber.). “We feel like that’s a great model for our business”. Thus, you’ll be able to use your voice and interact with the Fire HD 8 in many ways, asking it to play music, read audiobooks, open games, search the web, and more. Just as Siri is limited to Apple’s mobile, wearable, and smart home platforms, Alexa may very well be limited to Amazon’s own ecosystem. “There’s so much more to come, he said in an interview with Recode’s Walt Mossberg”.