Amazon has revealed its Kindle Fire tablet computer with a price tag that could make it the strongest competitor to Apple's best-selling iPad.

Pricing its new device at $199, a price far lower than Wall Street had been expecting, the world's largest online retailer is hoping to ignite sales after its margins declined for the past eight business quarters.

Owners of the new device will have one-touch access to the 17 million songs, 100,000 movies and TV shows and millions of books and other products that Amazon sells daily on its website.

Al Jazeera's John Terrett reports from Washington.