Amazon has confirmed it's launching the Kindle Fire, a 7-inch touchscreen colour tablet and it will be priced at $199 (£150), hugely undercutting anything similar on the market. It means Amazon is sizing itself up to be a real rival to Apple's iPad, which costs more than double.
The Fire runs on Google's Android operating system and will come loaded with Amazon apps, including a new browser for web surfing.
It will also come with a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, which includes movie streaming.
Amazon also unveiled three non-colour screen eBook Kindle readers - all using the same e-ink screen technology found in the current Kindle. These machines are all designed to read text - even in sunshine.
There's the Kindle Touch, an update to the current Kindle, using touch-screen technology instead of physical buttons to turn pages. There are two versions and both are priced lower than the current Kindle. There's a WiFi-only version at $99 and a WiFi and 3G version at $149.
And there's an even cheaper non-touch Kindle which will sell for $79 in the US and £89 in the UK. This is basically the current Kindle without a keyboard. It's not only cut in size, but also battery life and storage.
It seems Amazon has decided to subsidise the hardware to grab a bigger slice of the market and make its money selling eBooks.
The Kindle Fire is set to go on sale in the US on November 15 and you can pre-order the Fire and the new Kindle readers here. It's not yet know when they will be released elsewhere, including the UK.
Update: The non-touchscreen Kindle is now up for pre-order in the UK at £89 with shipping on October 12.
Comments