Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9-Inch Starts Shipping Today

Fans of the Amazon Kindle HD tablet line have reason to celebrate. The online retailer today announced that it has begun to ship the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch. The Android powered device sells for $299 and will arrive at Best Buy locations by Friday.

Amazon also plans to sell the 8.9-inch tablet at Staples and Radio Shack stores at a later time.

The Kindle Fire HD is shipping early, a rare feat for any piece of electronics these days.

While the device is shipping early it is already backordered on the Amazon website with shipping dates estimated at December 3.  Your best chance as scoring one of the device in November will be to head out to Best Buy on Friday.

According to Kindle VP Dave Limp in an Amazon press release, the company decided to release the Amazon Kindle HD 8.9-inch device early in an attempt to get a jump on holiday sales.

While the Wi-Fi version of the device is now available the 4G version is still expected to ship on November 20 for $499.

The new version of the Kindle undercuts Apple’s own iPad mini pricing by $30 which may give Amazon the holiday shopping edge, although it’s too early to see how customers will react to the new device.

So what exactly does $299 buy? The Amazon Kindle Fire HD providers a Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 processor which operates an  8.9-inch tablet sports a 1,920-by-1,200 resolution display with dual antenna and dual-band Wi-Fi.

The Amazon Kindle Fire HD also offers Dual Dolby Digital Plus stereo speakers and ships with a battery capable of 10 hours operating time. Throw in a front-facing HD camera and you end up with a nice $299 package.

Amazon has also thrown in Kindle FreeTime, a kid-friendly option that allows parents to set daily screen limits.

Will you be picking up the Amazon Kindle Fire?

[Image via Gear Live]