Amazon Introduces New Fire TV Stick With $39.99 Price Tag

Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday that it has introduced a new Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, priced for $39.99. It's now available for pre-order, and will start shipping to U.S. customers on Oct. 20. The latest version is up to 30% faster than the original, according to Amazon, and allows access to more than 7,000 channels, apps and Alexa skills. Later this year, a free software update will improve browsing. Amazon shares are nearly flat in premarket trading, but up almost 62% for the past year. The S&P 500 Index is up 14.8% for the last 12 months.