Smartphone War: iPhone 5 V Nokia W8 V Amazon

It’s the September smartphone showdown. And the stakes are high.

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First off there’s former mobile titan Nokia hooking up with Microsoft to hold a joint press conference on September 5, believed to be the launch of the first Windows 8 smartphone – exactly a week before the believed launch of the iPhone 5.

Apple’s next iPhone instalment tipped to be September 12 (although this is not official yet) will have all eyes on the smartphone market following its much-hyped unveiling.

But Amazon, too, could sneak in its first ever smartphone release one week ahead of Apple, believed to be launching a phone on September 6. Or Kindle Fire 2.

The e-tailer may steal some of Apple’s thunder, considering Cupertino is also set to launch its answer to the Kindle Fire, the 7″ iPad mini, weeks later in October.

The e-tailer turned hardware guru recently sent out invitations to members of the media for a product launch:

“Please join us for an Amazon Press Conference” – just six days days before the rumoured iPhone 5 launch.

Amazon declined to say anymore than that but some believe an Android OS smartphone is what will be unveiled on Sept 6, which would cost around $200.

Amazon’s 7″ Kindle Fire tab broke ranks last year with its low budget, decent specs formula and prompted a flurry of clones from other tab manufacturers.

Even Apple appears to be paying attention with the 7″ iPad mini set to hit within weeks.

Kindle Fire 2 is said to be of better build quality, 1200 x 800 screen, microUSB and HDMI ports.

Fingers crossed Amazon will start flogging the tab (and phone) Down Under, and the launch may also see an announcement about distributing Fire outside the US.

“My assumption is that it’s an update of the Kindle Fire tablet,” Sarah Rotman Epps, from analyst Forrester Research told WSJ, speaking of the mystery Amazon launch and is not fully certain on the smartphone release.

Either way, September is shaping up to be a tech-tastic month for new releases.