Amazon.com Inc. on Wednesday unveiled the Kindle Fire tablet at a price less than half Apple Inc.'s dominant iPad and with an extensive catalog of books and videos.

The Fire tablet--priced at $199 compared to the lowest-priced iPad at $499--has a 7-inch screen and can access Amazon's app store and stream movies and TV shows. While the device contains only 8 gigabytes of internalstorage, equal to the cheapest iPod nano, Amazon expects users to predominantly access their media through the Internet, takingadvantage of unlimited free storage on Amazon's network.

'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?'' Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said at the company's launch event in New York City. 'Yes, the answer is Amazon Kindle Fire.'

The Fire will include 30 days of free Amazon Prime service, which gives users unlimited two-day shipping on Amazon.com purchases and free access to a library of streaming videos that is set to top 11,000 titles this fall. In comparison, Netflix Inc. has more than 20,000 titles.

Amazon shares, up 29% in 2011, recently rose 3.4% to $231.87.

Even with its many features, questions remain about the Fire's technical limitations and lackluster selection of apps, especially compared to the iPad. The Fire doesn't have a camera or microphone, and it doesn't offer cellular connection, working only with Wi-Fi. In addition, the low amount of internalstorage limits what users are able to do if they don't have an Internet connection.

Nonetheless, 'being able to come to market with a $200 device and very impressive array of content sources makes it a much more viable competitor than we've had,' Caris & Co. analyst Scott Tilghman said.

Amazon also showed off a new line of Kindle electronic readers, with two new touchscreen Kindles priced at $99 for the Wi-Fi only version and $149 for 3G cellular connectivity. A non-touch Kindle will sell for $79. Kindles without ads are priced higher. Previously, the cheapest Kindle was a $114 ad-displaying version.

'This is unbelievable value,' Mr. Bezos said. 'I really want to stress this point: These are premium products at nonpremium prices.'

The Fire will be released Nov. 15, while the touch Kindles will ship Nov. 21. The non-touch Kindle already is available, and preordering for the others has started on the company's website.

'Amazon has an advantage that other tablet manufacturers don't in that millions of people already visit its site on a regular basis,' said Ken Sena, an analyst who covers Amazon for Evercore Partners. He added that those consumers will be regularly exposed to advertisements for the device.

'It certainly creates a competitor to the iPad,' Mr. Sena said. Apple shares recently rose 19 cents to $399.45.

The Kindles will be available at Amazon's traditionalretail partners, such as Best Buy Co. and RadioShack Corp. The devices will compete against Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook, an e-reader that starts at $139 and has a $249 version with a color screen. Barnes & Noble shares recently dropped 6.5% to $12.35.

Analysts speculate that Amazon won't be making much, if any, money from the Fire but instead will benefit from the sale of books, movies and other media through its digital store. The tablet will have access to more than 100,000 movies and TV shows; 17 million songs; 1 million books; and hundreds of newspapers and magazines.

'The fact is Amazon has a lot of movies to sell you and a lot of books to sell you, which is not necessarily the case on a lot of competing products that are more expensive,' Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said, adding that the company is basically selling a vending machine. 'Their business model is to sell you stuff after you buy this.'

SHARA TIBKEN

• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• extensive [ik´stensiv] a.广阔的；大量的 (初中英语单词)
• screen [skri:n] n.银幕 vt.遮蔽 (初中英语单词)
• stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
• device [di´vais] n.装置；器具；策略 (初中英语单词)
• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)
• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)
• comparison [kəm´pærisən] n.比较；对照；比喻 (初中英语单词)
• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ] a.工人的；劳动的 (初中英语单词)
• addition [ə´diʃən] n.加；加法；附加物 (初中英语单词)
• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)
• stress [stres] n.强调；压力 vt.强调 (初中英语单词)
• available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
• compete [kəm´pi:t] v.比赛，竞争，对抗 (初中英语单词)
• analysis [ə´næləsis] n.分解；分析(结果) (初中英语单词)
• kindle [´kindl] v.点燃；(使)激动 (高中英语单词)
• tablet [´tæblit] n.碑；牌；匾额 (高中英语单词)
• access [´ækses] n.接近；通路；进入 (高中英语单词)
• internal [in´tə:nl] a.内部的；国内的 (高中英语单词)
• storage [´stɔ:ridʒ] n.贮存；存储器 (高中英语单词)
• offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)
• launch [lɔ:ntʃ] vt.发动 n.发射；汽艇 (高中英语单词)
• technical [´teknikəl] a.技术的；专门性的 (高中英语单词)
• selection [si´lekʃən] n.选择；选拔；精选物 (高中英语单词)
• impressive [im´presiv] a.给人深刻印象的 (高中英语单词)
• competitor [kəm´petitə] n.竞争者；比赛者 (高中英语单词)
• previously [´pri:viəsli] ad.预先；以前 (高中英语单词)
• regularly [´regjuləli] ad.有规律地；经常地 (高中英语单词)
• necessarily [´nesisərili] ad.必定，必然地 (高中英语单词)
• dominant [´dɔminənt] a.统治的；占优势的 (英语四级单词)
• amazon [´æməzən] n.女战士 (英语四级单词)
• unlimited [ʌn´limitid] a.无限的；过渡的 (英语四级单词)
• version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译；说明；译本 (英语四级单词)
• premium [´pri:miəm] n.奖励；奖金；保险费 (英语四级单词)
• traditional [trə´diʃənəl] a.传统的，习惯的 (英语四级单词)
• retail [´ri:teil, ri´teil] n.&a.&v.零售(商品的) (英语四级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• microphone [´maikrəfəun] n.扩音器，话筒 (英语六级单词)
• speculate [´spekjuleit] vi.思索；推测；投机 (英语六级单词)