Taking on Apple?
Rumours about an Amazon Android tablet has been around for a while. The latest one comes from Gizmodo and Engadget founder Peter Rojas, whose speculation is given added weight by his pedigree, who reckons Samsung is probably working on this tablet and it might arrive by end of summer this year.
In a detailed blog speculating the possibilities, Peter argues that Amazon might want to heavily customize Android, in order to sell more content like movies, books, and music. This might be the case, "given Google's recent moves to tighten how OEMs can use Honeycomb," he said.
Rojas also noted that Amazon could price it at £250, the same magic price point YouGov suggested two days back. A retail price of $199 would be better still, he added. The recent launch of the Amazon Android App store and its cloud-based music locker are all signaling Amazon's interests toward a tablet play.
Apart from the speculation, Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps recently mentioned that "Amazon could create a compelling Android or Linux-based tablet" and strongly argued that it might be a viable competitor to the Apple iPad. In fact, she suggested that it could also offer "easy access to Amazon's storefront and unique Amazon features like one-click purchasing, Amazon Prime service, and its recommendations engine."
