Amazon tablet could be in the works for a summer release

As one of the world’s largest online retailers, it was perhaps just a matter of time before Amazon saw the potential of tablets and decided to jump in on the fast expanding market.

In a recent post on gdgt by Engadget founder Peter Rojas, he claimed that Amazon is working on an Android tablet, one that will almost certainly be manufactured by Samsung. Unfortunately, Rojas does not expect the new tablet to sport the tablet-optimized Honeycomb due to Google’s recent measures to keep the Android source code more tight-lipped. Instead, Amazon may be using Android as the base OS for a heavily customized experience. The tablet would be built around special Amazon content, such as Amazon Music and Instant Video services. Some level of access to e-books and magazines, ala the Amazon Kindle, would likely be integrated as well.

Specifications for the supposed Amazon tablet are not known, but Rojas predicts the price of entry to be relatively cheap. According to his post, Amazon could be selling its tablet as soon as this summer between $200 and $400. The sub $400 price point could indicate a smaller tablet, possibly between 7- and 10-inches in screen size.

With any luck, we will hear an official announcement from Amazon regarding its potential tablet plans in the coming months. Hopefully the retailer’s well-received Kindle series is a sign of good things to come.

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