Rumour: Amazon to launch updated 7-inch Kindle Fire and new 9-inch edition 'this summer'

According to a note from Pacific Crest analyst Chad Bartley, Amazon is preparing to launch an updated version of its 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet alongside an all-new 9-inch edition.

"We believe there is an upward bias, particularly from the new 7- and 9-inch models, which we expect to launch in mid-2012," Bartley wrote in a note to clients.

Last May, website Boy Genius Report reported that Amazon was working on two tablet models: the 7-inch "Coyote", which was eventually released as the Kindle Fire; and a 10-inch quad-core tablet codenamed "Hollywood".

A subsequent report by DigiTimes, however, suggested that Amazon had tweaked its tablet roadmap by adding an 8.9-inch slate to the mix, which was scheduled to hit store shelves before the aforementioned 10-inch tablet.

Amazon's updated 7-inch Kindle Fire and its larger 9-inch brother are rumoured to arrive this summer. Excited?