By Sarah Petit:
Earlier this week, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was asked point blank if his company has plans to release a tablet.
His response?
“Stay tuned. We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device. In terms of any other product introductions, I shouldn’t answer.”
And stay tuned we shall.
But Bezos’ coy response aside, a lot of mounting evidence does point to an Amazon tablet in the pipeline. As we’ve stated before, the mere fact that Amazon already has a popular storefront for music, movies, and apps gives it a leg up on all non-iPhone competition. Moreover, a report from a few weeks ago said that Amazon had already placed orders for a significant number of LCD displays for use in an upcoming tablet scheduled for release in the second half of 2011.
Rumor also has it that when Amazon releases its new tablet, it will simultaneously lower the price on the Kindle, effectively turning its tablet into a Kindle Pro of sorts.
So what kind of tablet/s does Amazon have in store for us?
Well, yet another rumor this week suggests that Amazon has an “entire family” of Android devices on target for a holiday 2011 launch.
And though the Kindle is solely a reading device – and a popular one at that – Amazon is extremely aware of the threat posed by the iPad. It stands to reason that Amazon is fearful that devices like the iPad might eat significantly into Kindle sales. To wit, Amazon has released a few funny commercial spots that take the iPad and its arguably subpar reading experience to task.
via Consumer Reports
Sat, May 14, 2011
News, Rumors