Amazon Kindle Fire 2, HD Specs, Release Date: New Whispercast, E-Book Settlement Gives Boost vs iPad Mini, Google Nexus 7, 10, Nook HD

Amazon may be getting a leg up against rivals with its new Whispercast.

According to Slashgear, Amazon has launched Whispercast for Kindle, a "new mass-deployment and management system for ebooks - and soon apps - on Kindles and Kindle apps for schools and businesses, intended to allow Kindle titles to be bought and shared out among students and employees, as well as remotely control device passwords, wireless settings, and what titles can be purchased."

"Today, we are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to their users" Dave Limp, Kindle VP, said of the new system. "Organizations can also design bring-your-own-device programs at school or work using personally-owned Kindles, Kindle Fires, and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for receiving content."

Amazon said Whispercast for Kindle will soon be able to handle distributing and managing Kindle Fire applications. It will work with Kindle hardware  Amazon offers and free apps provided for iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. It will be a free service. [MORE INFO HERE]

Amazon has also lowered prices on electronic book purchases as part of settlements between some major e-book publishers and the government.

According to WPTV, in September a federal judge approved the U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, which were accused of conspiring in a price-fixing scheme.

"We think these settlements are a big win for our customers and look forward to lowering prices on more Kindle books in the future," the Amazon Kindle Team said in the email sent to customers.

Amazon.com Inc. told its Kindle customers over the weekend that they will be contacted when the credit is applied to their account if the court approves the settlement in February. Customers don't need to do anything to receive the credit, WPTV reported.

Amazon's new tablets range from the Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire to the Kindle Fire HD.

The new Kindle Fire HD tablets recently got FCC approval to sell the 4G tablets. Many can pre-order their tablets, which Amazon plans to ship on Nov. 20.The new HD 8.9-inch tablets come with Dolby Audio, Dual-Band-Antenna Wi-Fi, and comes in 16GB or 32GB. There is also a 4G LTE Wireless tablet that comes in 32GB or 64GB. Both come with a 1920x1200 HD display with "polarizing filter and anti-glare technology for rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle." It also comes with a 1.5Ghz dual-core processor with Imagination PowerVR 3D Graphics core.

Amazon competes with Apple's iPad Mini, Barnes & Noble's Nook HD, and Google's Nexus 7 and rumored Nexus 10 tablet.

According to Nasdaq, Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, said that Google is teaming up with Samsung to build a 10-inch version of the Nexus 7 tablet. The device is expected to ship before the end of 2012.

The new Nexus 10 tablet will feature a 10.1-inch display and the resolution is to reach 2,560x1,600 versus the iPad's resolution of 2,048x1,536. Shim also believes that the tablet will feature a 299ppi vs 264ppi for the iPad 3.

"It's going to be a high-end device," Shim told CNET, adding that Google will also produce a $99 tablet in December.

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