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Year 2011 has been named by Steve Jobs as “The Year of iPad 2?. We heard him loud and clear earlier this year when the iPad 2 was formally announced.
However, Amazon has stepped up its fight against Apple’s tablet with a series of TV commercials that have aimed directly at the iPad. In addition, there are some new rumours and incidents that could be a sign of a new Amazon tablet.
Several companies have jumped on the Android bandwagon over the last year, but none have been able to really create a big dent on the iPad’s market share yet.
Besides its recent TV commercials, you could argue that some of Amazon’s recent moves could lead to a new tablet device. The Kindle e-book reader has done quite well for Amazon, but it’s not up to par with the iPad considering all the additional features such as games and applications in general.
But, if we take into consideration Amazon’s acquisition of Touchco in 2010, it can be a strong sign of Amazon seriously prepping a better multi-touch tablet design to compete with the iPad. In addition, the company last year was hiring for LCD design experts via its hardware design group Lab126.
But, it doesn’t end there. Over the last couple of weeks, several Lab126 job postings have appeared asking for folks with Android experience.
As of now, it’s hard to confirm if indeed Amazon will be surprising everyone with a new tablet device resembling the iPad. Amazon has been quite successful with its Kindle app for iOS devices. But, the company is not known for a strong applications framework/platform that could be used to build a tablet device that could take on the first generation iPad and the new iPad 2.
Stay tuned. We will follow very closely any new rumors regarding a potential Amazon Kindle tablet device. One thing is for sure, the iPad 2 has hit the market already and has built up strong momentum, which is trending towards building a large market share very quickly.
via Electronista
