Amazon is planning to launch its own Android tablet computer sometime before October, the The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
Amazon's tablet will have a roughly nine-inch screen, but it won't feature any cameras, according to the The Wall Street Journal, which noted that Amazon will work with an unnamed Asian manufacturer on the tablet.
In May, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told Consumer Reports to "stay tuned" when asked about the possibility of an Amazon tablet.
“We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device,” Bezos told Consumer Reports at the time. “In terms of any other product introductions, I shouldn’t answer.”
Amazon already sells the Kindle, a dedicated e-reader that the company plans to update with two new versions in the third quarter of 2011. One version will utilize a touch screen, while the other will be more similar to the current Kindle product, according to The Wall Street Journal.
By building a tablet to compete with the iPad, Amazon will further position itself as a rival of Apple. In July, Apple failed to secure an injunction against Amazon for the use of the term "app store." A U.S. District Court Judge in California ruled that the term was descriptive, and denied the injunction request, freeing Amazon to continue using the term for its online app marketplace.
