In its endeavor to further expand its reach, the biggest online retail company Amazon. com is banking on a rival device – it has rolled out a new shopping application for the April-released Apple iPad tablet computer.

Amazon and Apple are rivals in the digital books and music arena – in fact, the Apple iPad has largely emerged as a direct challenger to Amazon’s ebook-market-leading Kindle e-reader. The key edge that the iPad has over the Kindle is that it features a color screen and also allows users to access the Internet.

According to the information forwarded by the Seattle-based Amazon, its iPad-specific shopping app will be quite akin to the apps created for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It will essentially allow the users of the device to search for products and keep a track of package deals.

Amazon said that its iPad shopping app can be downloaded from the online store of the Cupertino, California-based Apple.

Meanwhile, identifying threat from the iPad as well as other e-reader brands on the market, Amazon is also trying to bring its e-books on multiple devices so as to maintain its leading position in the digital book arena which, as per Credit Suisse AG projections, is on track for a six-fold growth to $2.2 billion by 2015.