We've heard rumbles of an Android-powered Amazon tablet since around September of last year, but so far concrete details on the device have been somewhat hard to come by. That changes today, as MG Siegler over at TechCrunch posted a report shedding light on the slate after having spent around an hour messing around with it.
According to Siegler, the tablet will simply be dubbed Amazon Kindle and is expected to launch at the end of November for $250. This new Kindle is said to feature a 7-inch display and look very similar to the BlackBerry Playbook. Other hardware specs include what may be a single-core processor, no camera, Wi-Fi-only, and around 6GB of internal storage. The explanation for the low amount of memory is that the new Kindle will put a heavy focus on Amazon services like Cloud Player and Instant Video.
Moving onto the software side of things, Amazon's new Kindle is running a version of Android prior to 2.2, but the OS is described as "nothing like the Android that you're used to seeing." The home screen is said to feature a carousel of content with a dock below and a status bar above. There will be no Google apps (including the Android Market) preinstalled. This goes back to the heavy emphasis on Amazon's own services, meaning instead of a Music app users will get Amazon Cloud Player, instead of the Android Market they'll get the Amazon Appstore, etc.
It's also been rumored that Amazon is prepping a 10-inch, dual-core tablet to compliment its 7-inch model. Siegler reports that Amazon had initially planned to launch both devices at the same time, but recently the company decided to release only the 7-inch model initially. If it's a success, then Amazon will follow with the 10-inch device in Q1 next year.
Overall Amazon's new Android-powered Kindle tablet has the potential to be a pretty interesting little device. It sounds a lot like the Nook Color in that it's running a special version of Android and, although some may be put off by the new Kindle's specs or the fact that Google's apps won't be anywhere to be found, the slate and its $250 price tag could be pretty attractive for anyone that uses Amazon and its services with any regularity (which is a ton of people). What do you all think of Amazon's Android-powered Kindle now that details on the device have finally come out? Think it's something you would consider adding to your gadget arsenal?
Via TechCrunch
