A possible Amazon tablet, whose release later this year could be the first major challenge to the category's dominance by Apple's iPad, is coming into focus with additional reports on the web. The rumors point to a 7-inch, multi-touch device that could help reshape Amazon's website and other parts of its huge retail ecosystem.
At least one technology site reports seeing a test device, running Android 2.2 with an Amazon-customized interface. The tablet will be oriented to Amazon's own Android Appstore, which launched in May, rather than to Google's Android Marketplace, to which many other Android devices point.
Site Redesign
Rumors also indicate that the tablet will be priced at $250, a direct challenge to the iPad's starting price of $499, and that the product will launch in November. A 10-inch version, with a more powerful processor, could follow in early 2012.
Amazon is expected to use its marketing strength and distribution channels to support the tablet, possibly including free subscriptions to Amazon Prime, which gives the subscriber access to the company's video streaming service, as well as free shipping on products.
According to a report in Monday's Wall Street Journal, Amazon is in the process of testing a redesign of its site, in order to optimize its use on a tablet -- either Apple's, its own, or someone else's. Currently, customers can access the site through a browser or a tablet-specific app, and the redesign would affect those using a browser.
Sally Fouts, a spokeswoman for Amazon, told the Journal that the new design was being made available to some customers, but she couldn't "speculate on when the new design will be live for everyone." She said testing for the new design only began in the last week.
The new design emphasizes digital products, rather than physical ones. Some observers have noted that, as smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices have shifted the center of gravity for computing, Amazon's site design, packed full of information, has not kept pace.
The expectation is that, if the new design is fully launched, it will happen before the holiday season is under way, so as to avoid disrupting customer expectations.
Loss Leader?
As Amazon gears up its tablet effort, a wave of other $200 to $300 tablets are also populating the marketplace. Lenovo's new IdeaPad Tablet A1 starts at $199, Samsung's original Galaxy Tab is now $279, and Barnes & Noble's 7-inch Nook Color e-book reader-tablet is $249.
Amazon is expected to be the big gorilla in lower-priced tablets. The giant retailer is already doing well with its Kindle e-book reader, which can be seen as a close cousin to tablets.
Many industry observers expect Amazon to release one or more low-cost tablet models by the end of 2011, possibly at a loss so that it can make money on providing content -- as it has done with the Kindle. According to Forrester Research, an Amazon tablet could sell 3 million to 5 million units in the fourth quarter, which would catapult it into being the key competitor to the iPad.
Other rumors are that Amazon will ship more than a million tablets by the end of this month, and that there will be two models -- one with a dual-core Tegra processor, and the other with a quad-core T30 Kal-El.
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