Amazon is taking on the Android Marketplace with its own app store, which could launch later this month.
In January, Amazon opened a developer portal, started a developer blog, and created a Twitter account targeted toward app creators.
The official word from Amazon is that no launch date has been set but the app store is will open "later this year." However, a tweet from Millennial said that the store is "launching this month."
"There's a need for quality, independent distribution channels that allow developers to connect with even more consumers," Millennial Media's senior vice president of publisher services Jeff Tennery said in a blog post linked in the tweet. "The Amazon Appstore for Android is coming soon, and we think it's a great opportunity."
When the store launches, Amazon said it will be a new category on Amazon.com. Smartphone users will have the option to shop for apps on either their Android device or their computer.
Amazon will no doubt face direct competition from Google's own Android Market. Recent reports have said that there are already more than 200,000 apps in the store. That's double the figure that was reported at the end of October, though Google itself has yet to confirm this report.
Google this week removed 21 apps from the Android Marketplace after they were discovered to contain malware. Before they were discovered, they were downloaded more than 50,000 times.