Amazon testing Kindle smartphone, production may begin later this year

Amazon is currently working with component manufacturers on developing a smartphone, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal. The company, known for its Android-based Kindle Fire tablet computer, anticipates the four to five inch smartphone to enter mass production either later this year or early next year. However, the company will face an increasingly […]

Andrew Sadauskas 12 July, 2012

Amazon is currently working with component manufacturers on developing a smartphone, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal.

The company, known for its Android-based Kindle Fire tablet computer, anticipates the four to five inch smartphone to enter mass production either later this year or early next year.

However, the company will face an increasingly crowded smartphone marketplace, with a new Apple iPhone, Windows Phone 8, a number of Android 4.1 JellyBean devices, the Firefox smartphone, BlackBerry 10 and Jolla MeeGo smartphones expected to be released in the same timeframe.

The news comes amid reports that Amazon is also preparing a lower cost version of its Kindle Fire tablet.