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Amazon Prime Day kicks off with $49 Kindle, $79 Kindle Fire HD 7, $24 Fire TV Stick

As a part of Prime Day, an attempt to spur Black Friday-level sales from Prime subscribers, Amazon on Wednesday discounted a number of electronics, including several Kindle readers and Kindle Fire touchscreen tablets.

The basic Kindle for instance has been discounted from $79 to $49. There aren't any specials on the more advanced Paperwhite and Voyage models — which have features like front lighting and higher resolutions — but the company is also offering discounts on its Kindle Unlimited reading and audiobook service. A six-month subscription is 25 percent off, or $44.96, while a year is down 33 percent to $80.32, and two years are 40 percent off at $143.86.

The Fire OS-based Fire HD 7 tablet has been cut from $139 to $79 in its standard edition, and from $189 to $129 in the Kids Edition bundle. The latter includes a rugged case and a year's subscription to FreeTime Unlimited, which offers up child-friendly books, games, movies, TV shows, and educational apps.

The company is moreover offering $15 off its Chromecast, Roku, and Apple TV competitor, the Fire TV Stick, bringing the price down to $24. Temporary "lightning" deals are available on miscellaneous electronics, sometimes disappearing even quicker if demand surges.

Today's discounts are available to Prime subscribers only. Shoppers can, however, sign up for a 30-day trial of the service if they want to take advantage of Prime Day, and cancel before the trial period is over.