Amazon say ‘stay tuned’ for upcoming iPad tablet rival

Apple have yet to face any serious competition in the tablet market, but they may be facing a problem soon, when Amazon release their new competing product.

Amazon have had great success in the e-reader market, with their latest Kindle becoming the biggest selling product ever, for the online store giant. The competitive price point and diverse online book store have helped Amazon to drive record volumes of sales in the last year.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos was interviewed and has advised customers to ‘stay tuned' on what Amazon will release. With their history of success in this field, we would imagine Apple might be raising a cautious eyebrow. When Bezos was asked about details of the upcoming product he said “I shouldn't answer'. Indicating that the time is not yet right for specifications and price points.

Of course, this information always leaks and while it isn't confirmed, it appears that Samsung have been behind the development and design with Amazon mainly offering feedback on what they want. Rumors indicate Android will be the OS of choice which would make sense considering Amazon's application support, such as Amazon MP3 and Amazon AppStore, a naming convention that has caused Apple to take legal action.

Amazon need to take steps to not look foolish however, as when they were marketing the Kindle, they took a lot of time to attack the Apple iPad for the reflective, glossy screen, which makes reading books in daylight rather difficult. With Amazon's focus on books, and their intense marketing of Kindle screen technology, it would be an unusual move for them to totally contradict their previous advertisements with a move into the glossy screen LCD market.

Barnes and Noble are also gaining some sales with the Color Nook ereader, and Amazon are clearly keen to expand on their range of products and open up more sales via their online store system.

KitGuru says: Can anyone really make an impact against Apple in the tablet sector, outside of e-readers?

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