Rumor: Amazon Close To Launching Their Own Android Powered Smartphone
Not content with dominating only the tablet market, new rumors indicate that Amazon could be soon entering into the smartphone ring with their own pseudo Android device manufactured by Foxconn. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the phone will compete with both the iPhone and Android devices — much like the Kindle Fire. Yes, the underlying OS will be Android, but just like the Kindle Fire, all the Google apps we’ve come to know and love will be ripped from the OS, replacing it with Amazon’s Appstore and media services.
Can’t really knock ’em for it either. The smartphone market could always use a new contender, and I have to admit, it would be nice to recommend a heavily “dumbed down” Android device for the grandma’s and grandpa’s out there (I’m sick of being my family’s tech support guy). If Amazon can manage to go light, yet powerful, on the spec side, they could have an affordable smartphone for the masses, and another hit on their hands. Even still, it’s going to be hard to get the price down below what Google is currently offering in the $350 Galaxy Nexus.
And before you leave a comment on Amazon falling victim to Apple’s legal team, those “with knowledge on the matter” are saying the online retailer has already begun prepping a hefty set of patents they will use to deflect the biggest patent troll the world has come to know.