Two new Amazon tablets were unveiled on Tuesday. The high-definition flat board computers have an on-screen live helpdesk feature the online company hopes will give it a leg up over devices from its rivals such as Google and Apple.
The tablets are the Kindle Fire HDX and feature what the company called a “Mayday Button” that instantly has a video chat connection with a representative in their tech-support division who can help the user operate his device or the rep can do the task for them remotely.
Amazon said their service for customers with the HDX was free and available 24 hours per day. The company hopes they can maintain a response time of no more than 15 seconds.
The largest Internet retailer in the world has a different approach to the market of tablets that does Apple. Amazon sells it Kindles at nearly cost then profits off its digital content that is sold such as music, videos or items such as physical books.
Since Amazon started in the tablet market in 2011 with its first Kindle Fire, the devices have become an effective vending machine for users to make purchases.
It is uncertain how the support feature that brings Amazon reps into the users’ living room will affect the cost of supporting that particular Kindle.
Amazon did not say the amount of support staff it had behind the service, but CEO Jeff Bezos said Amazon had thousands in training and would hire many more if they were needed.
The tablets come in two sizes – 7-inch and 8.9-inch screens, with 16GB to 64GB of storage. The small one starts at $299, while the bigger starts at $379.
