Our sources say Amazon’s 2013 Kindle Fire model will utilize a 1.5GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4 4470 processor with PowerVR SGX544 graphics — the same chipset that currently powers both versions of the first-generation Kindle Fire HD. This is a nice bump from the old 1.2GHz OMAP4 4430 chipset in Amazon’s current Kindle Fire, and benchmark tests performed on a prototype yielded scores that were about two times better than the current model.
The new Kindle Fire will likely be the last Amazon device to utilize TI processors. According to a recent report from Taiwan-based Economic Daily, next year’s entry-level Kindle Fire tablet will be powered by a quad-core MediaTek 8135 chipset.
Back to this year’s model, we’re told the third-generation Kindle Fire will also stick with 1GB of RAM instead of getting a boost to 2GB alongside the new HD models, but it will be powered by Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean just like Amazon’s upcoming high-end tablets. As noted in our earlier exclusive report, the new entry-level Kindle Fire tablet will feature a high-definition display with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels.
