According to V3, online retail giant Amazon appears all set to launch its own ‘app store’ for selling Android applications this month; thereby indicating that Google's Android Marketplace will soon have a competitor.

Revealing that Amazon will confirm the integrity of the Android apps before selling them, Aaron Rubenson, category leader for the Amazon Appstore, told V3.co.uk: “Our goal is to ensure customers have a good experience with the apps they buy from us - and to protect customers from malware and other harmful situations.”

The company further elaborated in a developer FAQ that it will test the apps that the developers submit prior to making them available in its app store. The testing will help Amazon ensure that each app works in accordance with the product description outlined by the company, and that it “does not impair the functionality of the mobile device or put customer data at risk once installed.”

The Apple-style app approval process that Amazon plans to implement will essentially certify the apps before they are made available for sale. As such, the move will give the Amazon Appstore users one notable advantage over the default Android Marketplace; which, incidentally, was recently hit by a major malware attack.

In addition, the Amazon Appstore also aims at improving customer experience and banning pornography, intellectual copyright infringement and any form of illegal activity.