Amazon's US arm has announced the new “Amazon Alexa Tablet” series, featuring Google Play support and built-in Alexa+. No Japanese launch date has been given. Meanwhile, the children's “Amazon Kids tablets” will also begin shipping in Japan.
The new Amazon Alexa Tablet series refreshes the tablets formerly sold under the Fire brand and has Alexa+ built in. The operating system is Android, with Google Play supported as standard, and the series will be offered in 3 models: 12 Pro, 11 and 8.
The 12 Pro features an aluminium unibody chassis measuring 6.5 mm thick, a 12-inch display, up to 16 GB of memory and Wi-Fi 6E support. A Nanomatte display version with reduced reflections is also available, along with dedicated accessories including the Pro Pen and Pro Keyboard.
The 11 has an 11-inch, 2.5K display, a 90 Hz refresh rate, 8 GB of memory and up to 15 hours of playback. The 8 has an 8.7-inch display and is designed to be lightweight and thin, with around 14 hours of video playback. All models offer a reading mode when the Kindle app is launched and claim up to 20 hours of battery life.
The kids' tablets are scheduled to begin shipping in Japan on 14 October. There are 2 models, for ages 3 and up and ages 6 and up, each supplied with a dedicated case and a 1-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. Japan-exclusive designs include a “PAW Patrol” cover and a “Chiikawa Edition.” Educational features include Google Family Link and the Amazon Parent Dashboard.