Android apps and games from Facebook, Netflix, Pandora, Twitter, Zynga, Rovio, EA, Gameloft, PopCap, Rhapsody and The Weather Channel, among many others, will be available to buy in the Amazon Appstore.
The $199 touchscreen Android tablet, which is shaping up to be a potential hit this holiday season, will also give users free storage in the Amazon Cloud and Whispersync for books and movies. In total, consumers can choose from 18 million apps, games, movies, TV shows, songs, books and magazines.
The addition of popular apps and games will likely be a strong selling point for consumers and boost sales figures for the Kindle Fire. An early report in October said more than 250,000 Kindle Fires had been pre-ordered in five days after its unveiling (see gallery below). If true, that figure is likely much higher at this point. In comparison, Apple sold 300,000 iPads -- including pre-orders -- when it released the iPad in the U.S. in April 2010.
The Kindle will compete against several tablets such as Barnes & Noble's $249 Nook Tablet, which comes out this week.
Amazon also said additional Kindle Fire apps include Allrecipes, Bloomberg, Comics by comiXology, Cut the Rope, Doodle Fit, Doodle Jump, Fruit Ninja, Jenga, LinkedIn, Zillow, Airport Mania, Battleheart, Pulse, The Cat in the Hat, Quickoffice Pro, Jamie's 20-Minute Meals, IMDb Movies & TV, and Monkey Preschool Lunchbox.
"We started talking to app developers everywhere the day we introduced Kindle Fire, and the response has been overwhelming," says Dave Limp, VP Amazon Kindle, in a statement. This is only the beginning -- we're adding more apps and games every day across all categories."
On Tuesday, Kindle Fire will land in 16,000 U.S. retail locations such as Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Staples, Sam’s Club and RadioShack.