Amazon's working on a Kindle-branded tablet. Not another black-and-white e-reader, but an honest to goodness tablet like the iPad ... or maybe more like the Barnes & Noble Nook Color. And it's coming out later this year.
If only if we had some way to see what it'll be like!
We just might
MG Siegler of Techcrunch reports that "not only have I heard about the device, I've seen it and used it." He doesn't say exactly how this came about, and Amazon hasn't said anything about it so far. Nor do we have any confirmation that this was the genuine article that he played with, or that Amazon won't change anything between now and the release date if it was.
From what he's reported, though? It's half the size of the iPad, with a 7-inch screen, and it may have as little as 6 GB of flash memory. Plus, it lacks cameras and access to the Android Market or Google's apps.
On the upside
What it does have going for it is that it'll go on sale for only $250, half the cost of the iPad. And while it doesn't have access to Google's market or apps, it's heavily tied into the Amazon ecosystem. The Kindle bookstore's front and center, as are Amazon's music store and cloud music and video players. Amazon also has its own "Android Appstore" already, which it's been steadily building up this year (and stepping on a few toes on the way).
What will it look and feel like to use? Amazon may have given us a preview with its new and improved Kindle app for Android. It features the Cover Flow style interface that Siegler reported, plus a dramatic and classy new design. Siegler didn't report that it used a stylus based interface, though, which may put "Kindle Scribe" rumors to rest.
So who's going to buy this thing?
It's probably not going to replace the iPad for most people. "Appstore" or not, the Kindle tablet won't have access to the iPad's tens of thousands of classy tablet apps. And at half the size and a fraction of the iPad's processing power, it's just not going to be the same kind of app platform that the iPad is, at least not for awhile.
What it is going to do is become serious competition for Barnes & Noble's next generation Nook Color. It's also going to be heavily promoted on Amazon.com and to existing Kindle owners, and will probably sell very well. It's going to fill its own niche, as its own brand-name device ... a Kindle, and not simply a generic-brand iPad.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
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