Kindle Fire Coming To UK In January?

Amazon will bring its low-cost Kindle Fire tablet to the UK in January, according to reports.

A source has told Know Your Mobile that it will arrive shortly after Christmas, but would not divulge any details about an exact date or pricing, although it is expected that the UK price will be as competitive as the American one.

First Real Competitor to iPad

The Kindle Fire launched in the US on 15 November, but Amazon has not made any official announcements regarding a UK launch.

Amazon’s first tablet costs just $199 (£126) despite being rumoured to cost $210 (£133) to produce but the low price has led to high demand for the tablet, which secured 2.5 million pre-orders prior to its launch.

It boasts a 1,024 x 600 multi-touch display, a fast web browser called Silk, and easy access to content such as video, music and applications. It is powered by a Texas Instruments OMAP4 processor, packs 8GB of storage and has a battery life of up to eight hours reading or seven and a half hours while watching video.

The tablet runs a modified version of Google’s Android operating system and users will be encouraged to acquire content from the Amazon appstore.

The Kindle Fire is on track to sell four million units over the Christmas period, living up to the expectation that it could be the first real competitor to the market-leading Apple iPad, with one analyst predicting that it could secure as much as 50 percent of the Android tablet market in 2012.

This has led to speculation that Amazon could be ready to launch a smartphone as the company looks to expand its wireless portfolio.