The report anticipates that Amazon is going to introduce and begin shipping the device well before the holiday season in order to infiltrate the market. Amazon is expected to ship about 700,000-800,000 units per month with a goal of selling four million units before the end of the year.

The timing of launch is to meet the peak sales period prior to Thanksgiving in the US and the year-end holidays in the US and Europe, the sources pointed out.

Amazon adopts processors developed by Texas Instruments, with Taiwan-based Wintek to supply touch panels, ILI Technology to supply LCD driver ICs and Quanta Computer responsible for assembly, the sources indicated.

The report heavily emphasizes Amazon’s integrated streaming movie services and it’s recently introduced Cloud Player which will possibly make an appearance in the tablet as well. Many companies, including HP are attempting to lead the market with their tablets and their own cloud service offerings. HP is expected to introduce it’s TouchPad tablet and possibly a Cloud service similar to Apple which will allow syncing across devices.

Amazon is among those looking to knock down the iPad as the leading tablet device in the market. It is unclear when Amazon is looking to introduce it’s tablet, however, August / September time frame is very likely.

If Amazon introduced a tablet, would you buy? Do you currently use Amazon’s Cloud Player? Do you think this could pose a threat to the iPad?

{via MacRumors}

Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC 2011) is set for June, and as well as announcements for iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion, we’re expecting the company to launch its cloud-based music streaming service dubbed iCloud. Further evidence to suggest that this service is looming comes from Amazon today, who has now ceased sales of Apple’s MobileMe service. Usually Apple launches next gen iPhone during WWDC however, it is widely believed that this year we might see iPhone 5 launch in September.

iCloud is expected to be a part of MobileMe, which currently offers a cloud service for email, contacts, calendars, and online storage. Apple stopped selling MobileMe in its retail stores back in February and removed the product from its online search forms, sparking rumors that the service would be revamped and new features – such as iCloud – would be available when it relaunches. It also stopped users from signing up online, instead offering them a 60 day free trial, which could be to keep customers sweet while Apple makes the changes.

iCloud is expected to offer subscribers with a cloud-based ‘music locker’ that will allow them to store their music collection online and stream it from internet-connected devices, such as the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This means we can have instant access to every single track in our music libraries without taking up a single megabyte of storage on our iOS devices.

Amazon and Google have both launched online music services of their own in the run up to Apple’s iCloud launch, however, we’re expecting iCloud to be a little different. Apple is rumored to be in talks with the major record labels, which suggests its cloud service will give users the opportunity to stream and purchase music they don’t already own. Whereas Amazon’s Cloud Player and Google’s Music Beta only provide you with the ability to upload your own music and listen to the collection you already own.

Google is holding its annual I/O event later on today, but the company has already released information on the products it is set to announce. One of which is called ‘Music Beta by Google’ — a service that provides users with online, cloud-based storage for up to 20,000 songs — and looks set to rival Apple’s upcoming iCloud.

Google doesn’t yet have deals in place with any of the major record labels, so the ability to purchase and download music through the service is currently non-existent, however, you can use the service store their your own music for access from internet-connected devices, such as tablets and smart phones. The idea is that you store media content in the cloud and stream it to your device when you want it, rather than storing it on your device and taking up precious storage space.

Google’s launch of this service comes shortly after Amazon announced a music storage service of its own. While both companies have launched their services way in advance of Apple’s iCloud launch, will either of them have any advantage?

Well, no — certainly not with iOS users anyway. Firstly, neither Google’s nor Amazon’s services will be designed specifically with iOS in mind. Whereas it goes without saying that Apple’s service (when it finally launches) will be perfected for the iOS platform. Sure, Amazon’s Cloud Player now supports iOS devices, but it’s not a perfect user experience. We’re yet to see how Google’s services works, but it’s sure to be designed to work perfectly with Android powered devices — not those running iOS.

Secondly, neither Cloud Player or Music Beta by Google currently have any arrangements with the major music labels. You can only use these services to access music you already own — that you’ve uploaded yourself. We already know that Apple is currently in talks with record labels, so we know that with iCloud we’ll at least be able to access music that we don’t already own. Whether that will be with a subscription-based streaming service, or just through individual track purchases, we’re yet to find out.

While Amazon and Google may currently be when it comes to cloud-based music services, I don’t think either service will tempt iOS users away from Apple’s iCloud.

iCloud is expected to launch at WWDC 2011 conference in June.