To date, Android tablet sales have hardly made a splash. The Motorola Xoom only shipped 440,000 units in its first three months. Samsung’s seven-inch Galaxy Tab fared better, hitting the one million mark before it had been on the market for two months. Other Android tablets have taken to slashing their prices just to make a tiny grab at the tablet market.

Until now, because Amazon’s Kindle Fire could be the first truly successful Android tablet. Looking a lot like RIM’s Playbook, the Kindle Fire is a seven-inch colour touch-screen tablet that has the potential to be a true iPad alternative.

Running on the Android OS, the Kindle Fire is roughly 11.5mm thick and does not include a camera. It’s also wifi only and only has an 8GB memory.

The Kindle Fire’s home screen looks like a bookshelf, with access to recently accessed content and apps (books, films and music) and another shelf to pin favourites or frequently used items.

At the top of the screen is search and menu access to Newsstand (for magazines), books, music, movies, apps and docs.

The Kindle Fire’s main selling point is its $199 price tag (no EU pricing available yet). Amazon has acknowledged the potential of the tablet market and has come up with a product which looks premium, but is available at a non-premium price.

The technology enthusiast has his own blog at www.itnewsblog.com.