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Originally Posted by JeremyR
That said, I would be shocked if Amazon didn't come out with some sort of android tablet in the next year...maybe with that Pixel Qi stuff, that looks impressive in the screenshots anyway.
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Originally Posted by TomF
It was also reported widely among the tech blogs and websites earlier this year that Amazon was looking for Android developers and there was strong speculation that Amazon was considering an Android tablet. And, as mentioned, there are strong rumors that Amazon will be opening their own Android app store.
This doesn't mean that this is where the Kindle is heading...I think a lot of people are being are being Kindle-centric and aren't seeing the big picture.
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Yes, I am also inclined to believe that Amazon will be coming out with a tablet at some point. I certainly hope they don't take the route B&N has and brand the tablet as a variant of the Kindle but instead just feature a Kindle app on it.
Choices are good, and some of us actually don't feel the need for a tablet and will be happy with a smaller, cheaper, dedicated reading device. I may be a member of the Millennial generation, but I'm a half-hearted Luddite in revolt.
I don't have a smartphone or particularly want one. I don't want a tablet when I already have a laptop. When I'm traveling on a plane, I want to read, first and foremost, and maybe listen to music. A tablet would be filled with too many distractions and I would rather not be led into temptation!
All that to say I hope Bezos maintains his purported commitment to the reading experience alongside the inevitable "bottom line." Don't abandon the potential of innovations in reflective display, energy-efficient readers and pursue the tablet trend alone. What will become of reading when it is simply an "app"? The new age of barbarism will be upon us...
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Originally Posted by TomF
It was widely reported here in San Diego that Amazon was here earlier this year for several days and was in discussions with Qualcomm. Shortly after it was announced that Qualcomm was investing $2 billion in a manufacturing plant in China. Coincidence? Possibly. I expect the plant to be up and running next year. I retired from Qualcomm several years ago.
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Originally Posted by zzzxtreme
first they have to build the plant to manufacture the displays. that alone will take years.
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From what I've read, Qualcomm can already manufacture the screens in a plant shared with another company. Meanwhile, the dedicated Taiwan plant is supposed to begin operating late 2011 with real volume production starting 2012. That's why I've suggested a "hopeful-realistic" Kindle Mirasol possibility for roughly a year from now.
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Originally Posted by cuteseal
Amazon currently leads the market in e-ink reading devices, and should play to their strengths. When the colour e-ink technology becomes commercially viable, then that should be their next step.
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I certainly hope it is!