Amazon to roll out its appstore finally

As far back as May, Amazon was touted to be coming up with its own appstore. The rumor has most probably become a reality. If one goes to the app-email section of Amazon’s website via a cellphone, you can, in fact download the appstore.

The downside to the appstore is that paid apps are still charged in US dollars. If you are downloading apps in India, you would need an International credit card which will, quite obviously, cost you extra.

Also, if you are downloading the appstore on your phone, you should need to enable the non-market apps option.

While the Amazon tablet is yet to hit the market, Amazon, might be preparing for the next stage. The upcoming Amazon tablet also known as the ‘iPad Killer’ would be a hit only if Amazon matches up with Apple in every department. The major one of these is the app store.

Apple provides a customized appstore with every one of its devices – whether it is the iPhone, the iPod or the iPad. Apps are the major selling point if high-feature devices such as the iPad.

The Amazon 7-inch tablet is due in two months; so, Amazon must be working with full force on apps and services it plans to offer with its upcoming product.

Amazon is considered the only company that can come even remotely close to Apple. The reason behind this is that Amazon is similar to Apple in many respects. It has its own bookstore, large distribution channels and not to forget, its own app store.

The Amazon 10.1-inch tablet codenamed ‘Hollywood’ is touted to be equipped with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor along with the upcoming Android OS – the Ice Cream Sandwich OS.

The Hollywood tablet is expected to be priced around $399 (Rs. 18,000 approx. It would be most probably released in the first quarter of the next year.