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Amazon’s Other 2 New Kindle Fire Tablets Clear the FCC – 4G Model Confirmed for Canada

A couple days ago I was caught flat footed. I predicted we’d see a new the Paperwhite Kindles as well as a new Kindle Fire. Instead we saw 3 new Kindle Fires (including a replacement for the original) as well as the paperwhite Kindles.

My face was red on Thursday because i disbelieved the 4G rumor and the multiple Kindle fire rumor, but in my defense I didn’t have any evidence to support the rumors. The thing is, 2 of those new Kindle Fire tablets had not yet cleared the FCC.

The paperwork only showed up Thursday afternoon, which means the story going around about the 4G model not having FCC approval is clearly not true.

Like the last several Amazon devices (here, here, here), these 2 filings only probably belong to Amazon. The paperwork has all the interesting details concealed (internal and external photos) and leads back to the same front company (CSC) as before (but 2 new addresses), so I’m guessing that they belong to Amazon.

At this point the FCC paperwork is really not much more than a footnote, but I’m making the note so I remember to go back and look at the guts once the concealed docs are released. Of course, that won’t happen until March and by then someone will have bought and stripped the tablets for all to see.

One of the filings is for a tablet with Wifi and Blueooth, while the other appears to belong to the 4g LTE model (it has a whole mess of frequencies it was tested for, including LTE) and that model also has an IC ID, meaning it has been passed by the Canadian version of the FCC. Hopefully that means we’ll see this device go north sometime soon.

And in other news, the new Kindle Fire tablets are once again eschewing Google.  They’re set up to use Bing as the default search engine, not Google Search, and that suggests an ongoing power struggle between Amazon and Google.

FCC ID (ZHS-1013)

FCC ID (CO2-2105)

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Comments


carmen webster buxton September 8, 2012 um 11:25 am

Maybe the FCC knows you’re watching and they’re hiding things from you? -)

Nate Hoffelder September 8, 2012 um 11:33 am

LOL

No, but I do wonder if Amazon delayed filing for the 4G device just to make sure the FCC paperwork wasn’t noticed until afterword.


Andrys September 8, 2012 um 3:05 pm

Nate, I’ll bet that last thought of yours is correct. I also believe they would have had unofficial word from FCC before putting themselves out there like that.

You are an upfront guy. Enjoyed talking w/ you on the bus and before they let us all rush in 🙂 to get good seats after waiting so long. While I -was- pretty sure they’d announce a dataplan due to their 3G history and while I wrote that the ad video image of one looked like a 8.9″ device, I was still surprised they actually DID it. For once DigiTimes was right.

That 8.9″ HD head shot image that you could see his hands working and then saw projected onto the hall screen was amazing. I tweeted the following when someone asked if it’s a must-have (nothing is, but this is a pretty-nice-to have) , and I was impressed by the image not only on that large screen from his KFire but also as caught by the camera, which shows how tight that image is. http://bit.ly/kfirehd89image

I will put up a gallery of pics from start to finish as far as what the event was like. Will send you a photo or two of you to get permission to include a pic of you’re ok with it.

They hold everything so close to the vest, but in a way you can see why. What’s the fun of no surprises and also no way to back out of something that isn’t quite ready.

Love your researching ways.

Nate Hoffelder September 8, 2012 um 3:24 pm

I was surprised they did it (I hadn’t even heard the Digitimes rumor), but I’m glad that at least you were wrong about it being cheap. LOL It’s not, really.

I’m not sure how companies interact with the FCC but I don’t think they asked the FCC to not post the paperwork. My guess is that Amazon simply held on to it until Thursday and then filed it. The thing is, all the tests were done back in July, and that’s not unusual either. I’ve seen tests dated 6 or even 8 months before the FCC paperwork shows up.

And it was good to meet you to.

Andrys September 8, 2012 um 3:38 pm

I said the dataplan would be cheap. So is the amount of data, but that’s expected. Good enough to do quick email out of the house where WiFi might not be available, but I pointed out in the writeup that this won’t do even half a standard-definition movie. But for text? Very nice.

$50/yr compared for 250MB /month to iPad’s yearly cost of $230 for the same tiny amount of data is, I think, cheap. The 8.9″ model at $500 with all that it offers, including 4G/LTE + faster WiFi, downloading and streaming? Yes, I think that’s cheaper by quite a bit.
http://bit.ly/dataplan-compare

Apple’s is 10″ but it’s $130 more than $500 for the 16 Gig model if you buy 3G capability, so that’s $630 to start for the iPad with just 16 GB but the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ starts at 32 GB ! for $500.

Nate Hoffelder September 8, 2012 um 3:43 pm

I thought Apple’s plan was $20 for a GB? That makes it 3GB for $60 vs Amazon’s 3GB for $50. The difference isn’t that large.

But the financial bite is smaller, yes. If that 250MB would roll over then I’d definitely consider it the best deal.


Andrys September 8, 2012 um 5:07 pm

They’re calculating based on what it would cost to get 250MB/mo.

For quick email while away from WiFi sites (happens much more often that one would think and I’m not crazy for free public wifi systems for security reasons) or trying to finish a chapter w/o wifi access, that 250MB /mo. for $50/yr really can’t be beat for 'cheap' ! It’s there… for about $4 month. Don’t need to buy more.

However, they have more plans coming out in the weeks ahead, they said.

That 250MB won’t be rolling over but I don’t see how it’s not a good deal. You pay $50/year and get to use 3G for quick emailing as needed w/o a high monthly cost. That’s very key for most people I know.

I don’t like tethering as it takes a lot of my smartphone battery.


Alexander Inglis September 9, 2012 um 9:44 am

Can you elaborate on evidence Amazon is planning to come to Canada with digital products other than e-books?

Amazon does not currently offer: mp3 downloads; Android appstore; ebook blogs; most newspapers, magazines sold in the US; video streaming; Amazon Prime; Kindle 3G services except store and wiki access over 3G (web surfing is wifi only even on a 3G device); "Special Offers" hardware with ads; ebooks and Kindles at amazon.ca in CDN dollars (users must purchase from the US site in US dollars and ship across the border).

To turn around and offer the Kindle Fire in Canada it would have to make drastic changes to its business model. You’d think there would be a bit more evidence than that LTE works (a function of the AT&T-Rogers roaming deal).

Nate Hoffelder September 9, 2012 um 10:01 am

You raise a lot of non-issues.

  • The Android Appstore could be expanded to include Canada at the flick of a switch (much like the European expansion), so its absence is largely meaningless.
  • Few of those newspapers, magazines, blog subscriptions are available via the apps so it seems likely that Amazon is ever going to expand availability – anywhere.
  • Amazon Prime is a country-specific deal that doesn’t even include all the European countries where the Kindle Fire HD will soon be available.
  • The 3G service has even been cut back in the US, so it seems unlikely that it would be stopping Amazon from selling the KFHD in Canada.
  • The special offers likely also won’t work in where the KFHD is sold in Europe and yet it’s still launching there.

All I know is that the tag appears to have Canadian certification. I could have misread it, but if not then my interpretation stands.


Andrys September 9, 2012 um 6:37 pm

Re Bing vs Google for search on KFs, maybe interestingly they are citing Google Search for the Paperwhite.

My guess is that since Android is Google’s and it has control over when a company might have access to its updates, Amazon may be holding up any default Google search for something in return.

Ravi September 10, 2012 um 2:47 am

I think it is simpler than that.

Both Google and Microsoft are willing to (and have) paid to be the default search on smartphones and tablets. However, Amazon was likely to find Google’s terms (which require including Google Play, IIRC) too onerous, so they took Microsoft’s offer.


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Kindle Fire HD 4G Clears the FCC (For Real This Time) | The Digital Reader August 23, 2016 um 1:43 pm

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