Amazon updates Fire tablets & TV products, introduces $50 tablet & $100 4K Fire TV

Amazon on Thursday announced seven new hardware products from its Fire lineup of tablets and streaming TV accessories, including an entry-level tablet that costs just $49.99, and a new $99.99 Fire TV with support for 4K video content.

With its newly updated tablets, Amazon continues to focus on the low end of the market, as headlined by the new $50 Fire tablet. Amazon is also offering discounts on buying the Fire in bulk, with a six-pack of the devices available for $250.

The 7-inch Fire tablet includes a quad-core processor and front- and rear-facing cameras. It comes with 8 gigabytes of storage, but is expandable to up to 128 gigabytes with a micro SD card.

The entry-level Fire is available for preorder now, and it will be released on Sept. 30.

The Fire HD 8.

The $50 Fire is joined by new Fire HD tablets priced at $149.99 for an 8-inch model, and $229.99 for a 10.1-inch size. Both feature a quad-core processor and Dolby Atmos stereo speakers.

The Fire HD 10.

The 8-inch version comes in 8- or 16-gigabyte varieties with color options of black, magenta, blue, or tangerine. The 10.1-inch Fire HD has capacities of 16 or 32 gigabytes, and is available in black or white.

Amazon Fire Kids Edition.

The Fire Kids Edition has also been given a price cut to $99.99. It features an all-new Fire tablet, a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a kid-proof case, and a 2-year guarantee that the device will be replaced if it's broken in any way.

Finally, Amazon's Fire OS has been updated to version 5, dubbed "Bellini." It features a new home screen that simplifies content discovery, a new Amazon Underground app store with free titles, and new "Word Runner" capabilities that aid reading by showing words faster or slower based on their difficulty.

Amazon Fire TV.

As for the Fire TV, Amazon's set-top box has been updated with support for 4K Ultra HD content, thanks to hardware that is 75 percent more powerful than last year's model. Priced at $99.99, Amazon says it's half the cost of any other 4K streaming media player. Apple's forthcoming $149.99 Apple TV will not stream 4K content.

Fire TV has also brought Alexa, the brain behind its Echo device, to the television. Users can ask for music, information, weather, traffic, and more.

Fire TV stick with Voice Remote.

The Fire TV Stick also gains access to Alexa thanks to a new Voice Remote bundled with the hardware. The new Fire TV Stick includes twice the memory of a Google Chromecast, and is priced at $49.99. The device can also be purchased with a standard remote for $39.99.

Fire TV Gaming Edition.

Amazon has also launched a new Gaming Edition of its set-top box, which includes the all-new Fire TV, a dedicated gaming controller, a 32-gigabyte microSD card, and two popular games, "Shovel Knight" and "Disney's Ducktales." The bundle is priced at $139.99, a discount from the full price of $187.95.

The new Amazon Fire TV will start shipping on Oct. 5, while the Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote will ship on Oct. 22.