AMAZON HAS UNVEILED a full colour tablet which it is hoping can challenge the dominance of Apple’s iPad.

The much anticipated device is known as the Kindle Fire and was unveiled by company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in New York today.

BBC News reports that the company is hoping it can build on the loyalty of users of the popular Kindle e-book reader which until now has only been available in black and white and is designed primarily for reading books and magazines.

This latest device includes a seven inch screen display, with 1024 x 600 resolution and weighs about 413 grammes. It has a dual core processor with 8 gigabytes of internal storage.

It runs on a customised Google Android operating system. But the big pull might be that it retails for as low as $199 which is under €150.

The company has also launched a new Kindle model with a touch screen which is very close to the design of US book retailer Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader.

The Kindle Touch has a black-and-white “electronic ink” screen, just like current Kindle models, but will cost just $99 (€73).

However, its the Kindle Fire which will be the main talking point of today’s launch.

Here’s a demonstration of how the device works:

- additional reporting from AP