AMAZON unveiled four new Kindle Fire tablet computers yesterday, including ones with larger color screens, as the online retailer steps up competition with Apple ahead of the holiday shopping season.

　　The larger Fires will have screens that measure 8.9 inches (22.6 centimeters) diagonally, compared with 9.7 inches for the iPad. The original Fire had 7-inch screens. The basic version of the larger Fire will sell for US$299, or US$100 less than the cheapest iPad.The basic, 7-inch Fire model will cost US$159, down from US$199 for the original model, which sold out last month. Amazon says it is 40 percent faster, comes with twice the memory and has a longer battery life than the old version. It will start shipping next Friday.

　　Amazon's bread-and-butter is not its Kindle gadgets but the movies, books and music that people consume through them. By contrast, Apple sees content sales as a sideline and wants to make a healthy profit on every device sold. For example, the cheapest iPad costs US$399 and the most recent models start at US$499.But Amazon signaled Thursday that it is going head-to-head with Apple when it unveiled its high-end Kindle Fire HD. It will have two Wi-Fi channels and two internal antennas for faster, smoother transfers. That will be crucial for high-definition movies and other large files, Bezos told reporters.

　　The Fire, however, won't have as extensive a selection of apps as the iPad. In addition, while the HD models will have a front-facing camera for video chats, the iPad has one on the rear as well for taking photos and video.

　　英语快讯：亚马逊宣布，它将从11月20日开始销售一款8.9英寸Kindle Fire平板电脑。这款平板电脑配置高清显示屏，能够在Wi-Fi或者4G网络上运行。Kindle Fire HD的显示屏分辨率为1920 x 1200，落后于苹果的所谓的“视网膜”显示屏。在8.9英寸显示屏方面，Kindle Fire HD的分辨率也低于iPad的显示屏。亚马逊还展示了一款“paperwhite”电子书阅读器。该产品的屏幕更清晰并且电池使用寿命更长。

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