PREVIEW: Amazon tablet expected next week

By Andy Goldberg Sep 24, 2011, 22:12 GMT

San Francisco - Amazon invited journalists Friday to attend a special event next week at which the web retailer is expected to unveil a tablet computer that has been widely identified as the most serious challenger yet to Apple's iPad.

The company did not give details about the press event, which will take place Wednesday in New York. But the timing of the press conference fits perfectly with recent speculation that the new device would become available in October.

And now it appears that a credible candidate has at last been spotted. The tablet is expected to sport a 7-inch (17.8 cm) screen as opposed the iPad's 10-inch (25 cm) viewing area.

The device, which is reported to run on a customized version of Google's Android software, will reportedly be tightly integrated with the company's online offerings, from merchandise of every description, to its unrivalled library of electronic books, its video on demand features and its cloud-based music service.

Amazon already has a great track record with its Kindle e-reader and its tablet will officially be just another version in the Kindle line. But since the company can use its online marketing heft to reach out to millions of customers and thereby count on unprecedented pre-order numbers, it should be able to offer the Kindle tablet at a sharp discount to the 500 dollars that Apple charges for its cheapest iPad.

According to the influential website TechCrunch, the Kindle tablet will be offered at a price of just 250 dollars and sport a proprietary user interface that holds all the user's content in an on-screen carousel, and does away with all physical buttons in favour of a control menu that pops up with one tap on the screen.

'I've seen it and used it. And I'm happy to report that it's going to be a big deal. Huge, potentially,' said Tech Crunch's MG Seigler, who is known as a strong Apple fan.

Amazon already has a strong Kindle fan-base who are likely to jump at the chance to own a more fully featured device, especially if Amazon bundles it with goodies like free shipping on purchases. That's just one of the reasons why analysts at Forrester Research think that the company will sell between 3 to 5 million of the devices within three months of launch, putting it straight into the sales bracket of the iPad which sold 3.2 million units last quarter.

'Thus far, Apple has faced many would-be competitors, but none have gained significant market share,' wrote analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. 'Not only does Amazon have the potential to gain share quickly but its willingness to sell hardware at a loss, as it did with the Kindle, makes Amazon a nasty competitor.'