Buoyed by the success of the e-ink Kindle reader, Amazon have every reason to introduce a tablet that would offer users much more than the ability to read a book. Although the existing Kindle does have a browser of sorts—and the free worldwide internet is a big attraction—it cannot compete with the slickness or capability of the iPad. To me, it seems a no brainer. Amazon could become Apple’s biggest competitor and could use their exisiting user base (think of all those credit cards) to leapfrog HP, RIM and even Samsung.
Peter Rojas, founder of Engadget, certainly thinks so:
It’s something of an open secret that Amazon is working on an Android tablet and I am 99 percent certain they are having Samsung build one for them.
The above link takes you to a story on Engadget by Chris Ziegler published last September. In it he refers to the then rumoured Amazon app store: “It sounds like madness to us”. Now Amazon do have a functioning app store and all they need to complete the offering is a tablet. While we’ve been scrutinising the PlayBook, the Xoom and the Galaxy, Amazon have been creeping up on the inside track.