Amazon to Offer Android Tablet As iPad Rival This Summer
As useful as the Kindle is, Amazon isn't content to let it go as is up against the iPad. Industry rumblings indicate Amazon will have its own tablet to take on the iPad as early as this summer.
Peter Rojas, the founder of GDGT.com, reports that Amazon is indeed working on an Android tablet -- which isn't really news given all the rumors to that effect. Rojas also reported, however, that Samsung is likely building the 7-inch tablet for them, something which becomes a bit humorous in the context of the recent Apple lawsuit against Samsung for copying iPhone and iPad designs.
But the most intriguing part of Rojas' report is his assertion that an Amazon tablet would truly be Apple's greatest competition, notwithstanding the flood of other Android tablets hitting the market.
Amazon's not-so-secret weapon is content. While the iPad hardware is great, it's the hundreds of thousands of apps and downloadable content that really makes it popular. Other manufacturers have struggled with Android tablet adoption because of a weaker tablet app library and few dedicated content services.
Amazon, on the other hand, has specialized in content delivery for quite some time, starting way back with downloadable music, turning itself into one of the largest e-book libraries in existence, adding on video download and rental options, opening up a game download portal and creating a cloud storage service for customers. An Amazon tablet would instantly have access to all of these services (minus the PC games) and would seriously rival iPad for its sheer amount of content. As an e-book reader alone, an Amazon tablet would certainly outpace the iPad and Apple e-book store.
It's no coincidence then, that Amazon has been working on its own Android app store. The last key to creating a true iPad rival will be both quality and quantity of tablet apps, something Android lacks still. If Amazon can attract enough useful and entertaining apps, it will easily become the most fully featured tablet by virtue of having an enormous amount of content available from one place. As an added bonus, millions of people already have an Amazon account, making it even more convenient to get an Amazon tablet.
As Rojas points out, as long as Amazon can produce a tablet with reasonably powerful hardware at a price below that of the iPad, it could be a game changer for Android tablets and the first real threat to Apple's tablet dominance.
As yet, Amazon has made no official announcements about an Android tablet, and there are no details about a specific price and release date.
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