It's not just apps making their way to the Kindle Fire -- some 400 magazines and newspapers will also be made available when the device goes on sale Tuesday, some through extensive free trials, Amazon announced on Friday.
Magazine publishers appear to be particularly bullish about the content consumption device, which they hope will bolster middling digital sales on the iPad and Nook Color. The Kindle Fire's $199 pricetag will help many publishers get the digital editions of their magazines into the hands of their core readers.
"The challenge is that we have a big segment of the mass market in middle America, who are not early adopters and are price sensitive," Liz Schimel, chief digital officer at Meredith noted in an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal. "This device breaks that barrier."
Conde Nast appears to be particularly confident about the platform. The publisher announced that 17 of its magazines, including Glamour, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Wired, would be available for free on the device for the first three months. Many titles from Hearst, Time Inc. and Meredith will be available on the Kindle Fire Newsstand from day one as well.