Kindle Fire HD & Basic Ads Fired for $15 More, Paper White Kindle Readers $20

In an effort to make the latest Kindle Fire tablets the best price for the size and power Amazon included ads on the homescreen and lock screens bringing the price of the basic Kindle Fire down $159.99 and the Kindle Fire HD down to $199.99.

At the Amazon event in Santa Monica, last Wednesday, it was not clear how the non-subsidized pricing worked, some PR people deferred and said theat they would clarify the situation later. Then it was reported that Jeff Bezos stated that all models would have advertising. If you want you can see a blow by blow of the event in the video below.  He did not say anything about advertising.  The one person, I asked about pricing without advertising, told me to check the news release or with the public relations staff.

After much confusion,  Amazon announced that it will offer ad-removal for $15.00 on the Kindle Fire series

The home page of Amazon.com is populated with an introductory ad personal letter from Jeff Bezos introducing the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G, Kindle Fire HD 8.9" and Kind Fire HD.   Kindle Paperwhite 3G, Kindle Paperwhite  and Kindle.

Two new selling points are  free 3G data access with the Kindle Paper White 3G while the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G you can buy a small data package  250MB a month for 12 months with a one-time payment of $49.99 , enough to download books and pickup email.

Amazon.com is taking preorders for all the new models with the new Kindle Fire shipping on September 14.

The eReader Paper White models all have the option of "without special offers" for $20 more. We're wondering why it will only cost $15 to remove color ads. It may be a competitive pricing issue. The eInk models may be more highly subsidized.

The new Kindle Fire tablets have some added software features that will help movie viewing and parents.

In the past Kindle readers and the Kindle Fire sold-out around the holidays. Californians should note that starting September 15, Amazon will start collecting sales tax for those living in the golden state.

We were at the Kindle Fire presentation event, which we will write about later, since our editor was locked out the event and treated like chattel even though she had RSVPed. She resorted to taking a video of the security manager after spending hours in traffic and denied access.