World’s most popular online retailer Amazon is preparing to launch two color tablets later this year to directly challenge Apple’s iPad, several sources independently confirmed to BYTE.

According to BYTE, Amazon will launch two tablets, viz. 7.1-inch Coyote and 10.1-inch Hollywood.

The 7.1-inch Coyote will reportedly come equipped with a dual-core NVIDIA Tegra2 processor, and will cost less than $250; while the 10.1-inch Hollywood tablet, which will come equipped with NVIDIA Tegra3 quadcore technology, will cost under $400.

It 10.1-inch tablet will feature glass-on-glass dual screen technology and run on Google’s Android 3.1 operating system.

The larger tablet will let users to switch between e-reading mode and a back-lit color touch display. Sources added that the potential device would also be optimized for video streaming.

The higher-end tablet was originally slated for early 2012.

Speaking on the topic, Tom Mainelli from IDC said, “I believe Amazon will come out with one or more tablets by the end of the year and Amazon is particularly well positioned to challenge Apple.”

At present, the global tablet market is under the dominance of Apple’s iPad. Several tech giant like Samsung and HP launched their own tablets, but no rival tablet could thus far give a tough blow to the iPad’s popularity.