With talk back in September suggesting Amazon was working on a marketplace for Android, the Wall Street Journal claims the online retailer is currently in talks with developers over its implementation.

The paper says, while Amazon itself is yet to offer official comment, documents sent out to studios detailing the platform prove its existence – although any sort of release date, or even name, is currently unknown.

Android options

Last month, TechCrunch claimed Amazon was planning to take on Android Market by giving developers a chance to sell their wears on a new platform for a $99 fee.

Though the site claimed it would come with a fairly extensive set of rules – particular attention paid to price cuts on rival marketplaces being reflected on the app store – it was also suggested developers would be able to take royalties equal to 70 percent of the purchase price.

Both details also feature in the Wall Street Journal's supposed leak, with developers apparently receptive to the idea of a marketplace where their apps can gain greater visibility.

Multiplying marketplaces

Google's Android Market currently has no app screening system, meaning while apps can appear on the platform in quick time, there's also no sense of quality control – decent apps can get lost in the mire of also rans.

 

Amazon may not be the only alternative for long, however.

The report claims other US based retailers are considering making a move on Android, the open nature of the platform making it the only viable way to take on the App Store on iPhone and secure their respective businesses.

[source: The Wall Street Journal]