Much like a fat man galumphing desperately after a runaway McNugget, Techeye has been struggling to catch up recently. And sweating profusely.

September is always a busy month, you see, as gadget makers reveal new toys and build hype to drive crucial fourth-quarter sales. Indeed, there has been so much new tech this month that we haven’t been able to cover all the major reveals, leaving us feeling more inadequate than a eunuch tasked with repopulating a post-apocalyptic world full of libidinous women.

Kindle Fire HD Courtesy of Amazon

For its part, the Kindle Fire HD is being released in both 7-inch and 8.9-inch variants. Amazon is pitting the latter model almost directly against the 9.7-inch iPad, although nobody would call it an even match – more like David and iGoliath.

At $499, the Kindle Fire HD has 32GB of storage and a dual-core 1.5GHz processor (up from 1GHz in the original Fire) powering an HD display. The device runs a heavily modified version of Android 4.0 and boasts wireless and 4G LTE connectivity.

The comparable model of the iPad retails for $729, albeit with a better display and more power. Long story short, consumers looking for high-end performance (and ready to pay for it) will stick with the iPad; price-conscious consumers may find Amazon’s product more attractive.

Meanwhile, at $199, the seven-inch Fire HD – with 16GB of storage and a 1.2GHz processor – is squared off against Google’s similarly sized Nexus 7. The word on the street is that Google’s is the better piece of hardware, but Amazon has the edge in terms of service.

Both Fire HD models will ship in November.

Kindle Paperwhite Courtesy of Amazon

To wit, that’s the Nook Simple Touch from Barnes & Noble. Despite sounding like a dodgy pop song from 1984, the Simple Touch successfully combines front lighting with a touch screen. And, much to Amazon’s chagrin, consumers bought it.

The Paperwhite introduces front-lighting technology to a Kindle product, and it’s obvious that Amazon has put a lot of work into it. The glow is certainly bright enough to read by, but it’s not hard on the eyes. Moreover, Amazon claims that you’ll still get around eight weeks of battery time on the device, even with the front lighting on all the time (keeping the wireless or 3G active will tax the battery more though).

Other updates include a 212-pixel per inch display (up 62 percent on the last-gen Kindle), improved contrast and a slimmer design that, for better or worse, does away with physical buttons on the device’s face. The software has also gotten a bit of polish, adding features like “Time to Read,” which keeps track of reading speed and estimates how long it will take you to finish a chapter or book.

The Paperwhite will be available at the start of October. It runs $119 for the Wi-Fi version and $179 for the 3G version; add $20 to each price if you don’t want “special deals” ads.

Ever ruined a perfectly good post-apocalyptic repopulation fantasy by adding a eunuch? Let us know: techeye.wbj@gmail.com