Amazon launches Kindle Fire tablet

Amazon takes on Apple with US launch of 7-inch tablet costing £127

Amazon has made it’s much-anticipated move into the tablet computer market with a touchscreen Android-based colour tablet device called the Kindle Fire.

The Fire will be available in the US for £127, making it less than half the price of the cheapest iPad which costs $499. However, Amazon has not yet revealed when the device will be available globally.

It has a dual-core processor, has a 7-inch screen and weighs 414 grams. IT runs a customised version of Android, and uses a new web browser, “Amazon Silk”, which Amazon says uses its cloud service to provide accelerated browsing.

The Fire presents a significant threat to the iPad both due to its far lower price, and because Amazon has access to a range of products and online services to rival Apple’s.

Amazon can offer 100,000 films and TV shows, 17 million songs and 1 million books from its existing services, and also already has a huge number of registered users.