Fire it up!
Amazon has released the details of its highly anticipated tablet offering named the Fire, as well as a touch screen version of the Kindle and lower pricing on the non-touch Kindle. The Fire will have a seven-inch screen and will allow users to access Amazon’s app store. It will be available for purchase on Nov. 15 and will cost $199. Many analysts think this could be the first legitimate threat to Apple’s (AAPL) iPad, as its price is less than half of that charged for a new iPad.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said, “We asked ourselves, ‘Is there some way we can bring all of these things together [web, movies, apps, books and games] into a remarkable product offering customers would love?’ Yes, the answer is Amazon Kindle Fire.” The Fire will not feature a camera, microphone or cellular functionality, instead working only with Wi-Fi, which may push some shoppers to other offerings.
However, the content offered by Amazon is rich, with access to more than 100,000 movies and TV shows; 17 million songs; one million books and hundreds of newspapers and magazines. In addition to the Fire, Amazon also rolled out a touch screen version of the Kindle called the Kindle Touch which will be priced at $99 for a Wi-Fi only version and $149 for a model with 3G capability. A non-touch screen version of the Kindle was also launched with a price tag of $79, while the older version of the Kindle had sold for $79.
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