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Amazon's Big Santa Monica Announcement: New Kindles

That great big press party being held at the Santa Monica airport this morning by Amazon.com? Yes, it's a new set of Kindle devices. Amazon said its new Kindle Paperwhite 3G will cost $179, and ships October 1st. Among new features of the device: a sharper display, front lighting, and better contrast. The Kindle Fire HD is a tablet, and will cost $299, and includes a larger, 8.9 inch display plus stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus, and dual-antenna MIMO wireless. As part of all the new device announcements, Amazon also said it is dropping the price of its older Kindle to $69, which it is already selling on its web site. Amazon already started running a video ad last night for the new devices.