In Washington, online retail giant Amazon plans to unveil a tablet computer before October in a bid to carve out a slice of a growing market dominated by Apple's iPad, the Wall Street Journal and the AFP reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper, citing 'people familiar with the matter', also said Amazon plans to release two updated versions of its Kindle electronic reader in the third quarter of the year.

The Journal said the tablet from the Seattle-based Amazon will have a roughly 22.8cm screen and will be powered by Google's Android operating system.

AFP said it will not have a camera, but will allow users to watch videos, read electronic books and listen to digital music they purchase or rent from Amazon.

The newspaper said Amazon is outsourcing production to an Asian manufacturer and would not design the tablet itself.

Amazon said one of the updated Kindles will be a touchscreen device while the other will not have a touchscreen.