Amazon held an event on Thursday, Sept. 6, in Santa Monica, California, unveiling its new Kindle Fire HD. The tablet will be available in a 7-inch version for $199 and an 8.9-inch model for $299. During the event, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explained that his company wants to make money when customers use its products, rather than when they buy them. In other words, Amazon needs to sell content to consumers who purchase the Kindle Fire HD.

What Bezos did not mention, however, is that the new models place ads for Amazon offerings and other ads on their lockscreens, and also promote related products whenever users browse through their content libraries. Basically, every time you use your Kindle Fire HD Amazon will kindly inform you about other things you might want to buy.

With the Kindle e-readers, Amazon has offered "Special Offers" versions for a while, for a lower price, which meant users could choose to pay a little less for the device in exchange for viewing Amazon's ads. With the new Kindle Fires things are quite different: the advertising is standard. Meanwhile, the fact that Amazon did not address this during the unveiling led to a lot of confusion and controversy.

After a flurry of confusion, Amazon said on Friday, Sept. 7, that its new tablets will have a "no opt-out" policy for the forced ads. The statement stirred a wave of controversy and negative feedback, apparently prompting Amazon to change its mind. By Saturday, the retail giant made pulled a 180-degree reversal from the "no opt-out" policy.

"I wanted to let you know that with Kindle Fire HD there will be a special offers opt-out option or $15," rectified Amazon. "We know from our Kindle reader line that customers love our special offers and very few people choose to opt out. We're happy to offer customers the choice."

It is well-known that the sponsorships allow Amazon to keep the Kindle prices low, but it was the lack of choice that stirred negative reactions. It's one thing to choose to pay less in exchange for "Special Offers," but having forced ads without the option to get rid of them takes it to a whole new level.

By changing its mind and policy, Amazon removed a big red flag marring its new line of tablets. The devices will start shipping next week, just two days before Apple is expected to unveil its next-generation iPhone and possibly an iPad Mini on Sept. 12.