Kindle Fire set for UK launch in tablet battle with Nexus 7

Currys and PC World have said they expect Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet to arrive in UK in the autumn and compete head to head with Google's Nexus 7 device as the tablet market becomes ever more competitive.

The two Dixons Retail group members made the claim during their annual top Christmas gifts event on Wednesday in London.

The firm's gave no indication of price, though, but, speaking to V3, a Curry's spokesperson indicated that the retailers expect the device to be available by the third quarter of this year.

"We're thinking Amazon will release the tablet sometime this autumn," the spokesperson told V3. "We're thinking it'll launch and be a big seller this Christmas."

The Amazon-made tablet is currently only available in the US retailing for $199. However, the device was at the event on Wednesday suggesting the firm is already preparing to take stock of the product.

Amazon itself is yet to confirm whether the tablet will launch in the UK and at the time of publishing had not responded to V3's request for comment.

If accurate the news means that the Kindle Fire will compete with the Asus-made Google Nexus 7 tablet.

The Nexus 7 is set to be released later in the year with prices starting at £159. The tablet will be the first to run on Google's latest version of its Android platform, Jelly Bean, and on paper offers significantly better specs than the Kindle Fire - featuring a quad-core processor that easily outstrips the Fire's 1GHz dual-core component.

For a more in-depth look at the Nexus 7 check out V3's opening hands-on review.