Amazon Kindle Fire tablet to cost only $199, regular Kindle drops to $79

Bloomberg
Citing interviews with Amazon executives, Bloomberg reports that the new Amazon tablet, the Kindle Fire, will sell for only $199. That’s less than the $299 and $250 rumored prices, and an even starker contrast to the iPad, which starts at $499. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said during the announcement that the regular e-ink Kindle will drop to just $79, and a touchscreen Kindle will cost $20 more. The aggressive pricing makes it more likely these devices will spread widely, giving e-books and tablet news products a bigger audience. “The digital divide between haves and have-nots just potentially got a lot smaller,” declares Tim Carmody at Wired. || Related: 5 key questions for journalists and publishers about the Kindle Fire