Amazon unveils budget-friendly US$50 7-inch tablet

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon is dangling a US$50 (S$70) tablet computer in its latest attempt to lure consumers who don’t wish to splurge on more expensive tablet devices made by Apple and other rivals.

The 7-inch Fire tablet unveiled today (Sept 17) marks Amazon’s most aggressive attempt yet to undercut Apple, which has been the market leader since its first iPad went on sale five years ago. The least expensive 8-inch iPad Mini currently sells for US$270.

The Seattle company is counting on the new tablet’s low price to encourage more people to buy a device that will hook them on watching video, reading books, playing games and shopping on a computer that’s easy to carry wherever they go. In the process, Amazon is hoping consumers will buy more digital goods and merchandise from its store.

As with its previous low-priced tablets, the new Fire device will show ads on its screen saver; avoiding them will cost an additional US$15.

Amazon is hoping that the low price of the new tablet will be so appealing that people will stock up on the devices and have them scattered around the house. It plans to sell a six-pack of the 7-inch Fire tablets for the price of five.

Amazon is promising the discount tablet will have decent processing power, good colour saturation and seven hours of battery life. A more durable version designed for kids will come with a blue or pink bumper and a 2-year replacement warranty at a price-tag of $100.

Pre-orders for the tablet will begin today, with shipments expected in two weeks.

Amazon also unveiled updates to larger, more expensive tablets and its devices for streaming Internet video to television sets for the holiday shopping season.

The company’s holiday line-up includes a more durable 8-inch Fire HD tablet with a faster processing speed than last year’s model that will sell at prices beginning at US$150. An upgraded 10-inch Fire HD tablet will sell for US$230, or 42 percent less than the least expensive US$400 iPad with a comparable display size.

Amazon is adding a remote control with a voice-activated search option to its Fire stick for Internet video streaming. The streaming stick will sell for $50.

Amazon’s Fire TV box will now be able to stream ultra-HD videos with technology that is also supposed to deliver better picture quality to screens with standard HD too. It will sell for $100 and is scheduled to go on sale at the end of next month. AP