Amazon to launch tablet "in second half of the year"

Colour tablet to lead to Kindle price cut, claims reports.

Amazon looks set to launch a tablet device later this year, according to industry sources.

The online retailer - which has enjoyed considerable success with its Kindle eBook readers - has placed an order for millions of touchscreens, according to a report on DigiTimes. The screens will reportedly use Fringe Field Switching (FFS) technology, which offers wide viewing angles and a broad colour gamut.

Amazon reportedly expects to ship up to 800,000 devices a month, according to the report.

Last month, CRN reported that Amazon appeared to be readying a colour version of the Kindle, based on Google's Android operating system. It's not clear whether this is the same device or a separate development altogether.

However, DigiTimes suggests that Amazon will position the tablet as a premium device, while making the Kindle even cheaper.

"Amazon internally plans to reduce Kindle's market price to attract consumer demand from the education and consumer market, while will push [sic] the tablet PC using its advantage in software and content resources to challenge the iPad 2," the report claims.

Amazon was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.

This article originally appeared at pcpro.co.uk