News - Amazon is developing a smartphone

[HEXUS]

Foxconn will be the manufacturer.

Read more.

[cheesemp]

Great - just what we need - more of amazon's android that isn't android. If you are going to pull stunts like this Amazon at least keep the API consistent with android proper (you can always have a custom one alongside the standard).

[Tpyo]

'Google just spent $12.5 million on Motorola Mobility... '

Crikey that was cheap.

[saltyzip]

I don't like this at all, and can't see it being a success either. However it will sure be a good spec phone and sold at cost price, so those with little knowledge and reddies might just jump on the smartphone wagon by acquiring one of these.

My biggest concern... will Samsung follow suit.... all phone manufacturers must be worried with what Google are going to do with Motorola and have to differentiate themselves so they can stand out from the crowd.

[crossy]

I don't like this at all, and can't see it being a success either. However it will sure be a good spec phone and sold at cost price, so those with little knowledge and reddies might just jump on the smartphone wagon by acquiring one of these.

I think it'll sell well in the US - over here in Europe I'm not so sure. And as for the Far East, apart from perhaps China I can't see it. I'm going to argue that the US isn't so brand aware as we are.

My biggest concern... will Samsung follow suit.... all phone manufacturers must be worried with what Google are going to do with Motorola and have to differentiate themselves so they can stand out from the crowd.

I'm sure that the situation with MoMo is worrying the other Android partners. That said, I'm equally sure that Google has had a quiet word with them about how MoMo won't necessarily be a special case wrt OS access etc. Let's be honest, I'm sure that Google head honcho's realise that annoying Samsung - their biggest platform supplier - is not a wise move.

Will we see a Samsung-butchered version of Android in the same way that Amazon have? Definitely not, since it's plan with a lot of potential drawbacks for precious little gain. Amazon got away with it on Kindle Fire because the KF was CHEAP, but that sales USP won't necessarily work with phones - because there's already a lot of budget phones with full Android on them - e.g. Galaxy Mini 2 etc. Wide compatibility is a much easier "sell".

[Lucio]

I'd love to see this combined with transparent OLED technology, so you can have a normal, bright smartphone screen overlaying a Kindle e-Ink screen, allowing you to have a two in one device to preserve battery power

[Hicks12]

Yeah silly Amazon, they shouldnt be trying so hard to turn Android into something it isnt... its meant to be an open platform, by all means integrate things like amazon accounts into the OS (well something like samsung/htc/lg etc do with facebook/twitter) then preinstall android apps for the marketplace/mp3/kindle, job done! Hopefully they dont do a fire move! Theres no room in this market for that.

[wasabi]

A pure e-ink phone would be cool, but I doubt that is their plan. Suspect it'll be just a Fire Mini at about £90 to £100.

[snikez18]

This will interesting

[snikez18]

this will be interesting