Since its release last year, the Kindle Fire seems to be doing well, but its modest popularity is a far cry from what some people were expecting. The iPad remains dominant in the market, and Google’s official Android devices are getting a lot of good press. It’s about time for a refresh, and it looks like somebody has spilled the beans.
Amazon is to introduce up to five or six tablet SKUs, or stock-keeping units, according Demos Parneros, president of U.S. Retail for Staples Inc[…], which sells the Fire. The tablets will be different sizes, including a 10-inch model, Parneros said. Amazon spokespeople declined to comment on the company’s plans.
While that isn’t straight from the horse’s mouth, this seems fairly legit. While five or six versions may seem like a lot, it probably just involves the amount of storage each one has. One could easily picture a 7-inch Kindle in 8, 16, and 32 gig capacities and a 10-inch Kindle in 16, 32, and 64 gig capacities. Bam, six SKUs right there. If you add in the possibility of cellular radios, it could become even easier to picture.
The biggest question about the next generation of Amazon’s tablet is the operating system. Will Amazon continue down the rabbit hole of their branch of Anroid 2.x or will they switch over to a branch of Android 4.x? If it’s the former, it had better be completely retooled from the ground up. If it’s the latter, let’s hope it’s more polished than the previous attempt at forking Google’s mobile OS. Guesses? Take a moment and sound off in the comment section below this post.
Source: Reuters
