For 15 years, Amazon's Fire tablet was the cheap screen many families handed to their kids, but that era is ending. Amazon on Thursday launched three Alexa Tablets to replace the entire Fire line, Gizmodo reported.

The biggest change is apps. Fire tablets ran Amazon's own version of Android without access to Google's apps, while the new tablets run full Android with the Google Play Store, so YouTube, Gmail, Maps and other apps work, Ars Technica reported. Amazon shut down its own app store last year.

The price is the other big change, since the Fire lineup started at just $59.99, Gizmodo noted. The new Alexa Tablet 8 starts at $229.99, the Alexa Tablet 11 at $329.99, and the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro at $499.99. All three have aluminum bodies and faster processors than the tablets they replace.

Amazon devices chief Panos Panay, who previously led Microsoft's Surface line, pitched the 12 Pro as a serious productivity machine. It has a 12-inch screen and works with an optional keyboard for $149.99 and a pen for $89.99, and a matte version of the screen cuts down on glare. "We've shipped millions of tablets at Amazon over the years. We've shipped nothing like this," Panay told Gizmodo.

Alexa+, Amazon's AI assistant, is built into the home screen. It can read what is on the screen to help with tasks, such as pulling game dates into a calendar, but that screen reading is opt-in and an icon shows when it is turned on, Gizmodo reported.

A Kindle mode silences alerts and cuts blue light for reading, and Mashable reported the tablets are on preorder now and ship October 14.

Current Fire tablet owners are not being cut off, though. Amazon says it will stop making Fire tablets, including kids models, but will support them for at least four years after the last one ships, ThinkComputers reported.

What we know: The Alexa Tablets ship October 14 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
What we don't: How Alexa+ holds up in daily use, and how fast the chips are.