Amazon teams with Fox ahead of tablet launch

Amazon is beefing up its movie and television catalog ahead of the expected launch of a tablet computer on Wednesday.

The online retail giant announced on Monday it has reached a licensing agreement with News Corp.'s Fox to stream movies and TV shows from the Fox archive to Amazon Prime members.

Amazon Prime members pay $79 a year for free shipping and receive other benefits such as unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows.

Fox TV shows include "24," "The X-Files," "NYPD Blue" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" while the Fox movie library includes "The Longest Day," "All About Eve," "9 to 5," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and others.

"We now have deals with CBS, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Warner Bros, and adding Fox will bring the total to more than 11,000 movies and TV shows available for unlimited instant streaming," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

Amazon's partnership with Fox comes two days ahead of the expected release by the Seattle-based company of a tablet computer in a challenge to Apple's iPad.

Amazon is expected to tout the books, music, movies and TV shows available through its online store as a selling point for the device.