Individuals looking for ink supplies to print off documents directly from a tablet PC may be interested in a new entrant to the market made by online retailer Amazon.

The company – which already produces the Kindle line of ebook readers – has shown off its first media tablet handset, the Kindle Fire, which it is hoped will compete with the market-leading Apple iPad.

However, it promises to offer users a much more affordable way to utilise the mobile technology, as when it goes on sale in November, it will be priced at $199 (£126).

Founder and chief executive of Amazon Jeff Bezos stated: "Kindle Fire brings together all of the things we've been working on at Amazon for over 15 years into a single, fully-integrated service for customers."

He added it would offer a premium product at non-premium prices.

The Kindle Fire runs on the Android operating system, which several manufacturers offer printing apps for, including Kodak's Pic Flick and Canon's Easy-PhotoPrint.