Android tablets

Mr. Bezos needs to work on his deniability skills.  On the subject of Android tablets, Consumer Reports got this from the Amazon CEO:

Asked today about the possibility of Amazon launching a multipurpose tablet device, the company’s president and CEO Jeff Bezos said to “stay tuned” on the company’s plans. In an interview at Consumer Reports’ offices, Bezos also signaled that any such device, should it come, is more likely to supplement than to supplant the Kindle, which he calls Amazon’s “purpose-built e-reading device.”

Bezos acknowledged the popularity of reading e-books (many of them sold by Amazon) on tablet computers such as the iPad. But he added that this popularity doesn’t spell the demise of the Kindle.

“We will always be very mindful that we will want a dedicated reading device,” he said. “In terms of any other product introductions, I shouldn’t answer.”

Amazon of course already has an ecosystem of eBooks, Music, Video and of course its own Android App Store, so the hardware really is the last piece at this point.  Both Analysts and yours truly think it really is only a matter of when.

(Cross-posted from 9to5Mac.com)

A keynote that kick-started  this year’s Google I/O 2011 developer conference has just finished. Before the curtains went down, a company engineer summarized a host of announcements and stressed how the Android ecosystem is growing as new devices are arriving to market with each passing day. He specifically mentioned one of the latest arrivals, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet which is essentially the same product as the Galaxy Tab only with a larger 10.1-inch display.

“It is not yet available to anyone”, the engineer said, adding “except one”. The crowd immediately erupted into applause, sensing an Oprah moment. He then announced that each and every person attending the keynote will get a free Galaxy Tab 10.1. Official stats Google fed to the press mention that some 5,500 people purchased conference ticket in just 59 minutes so they’re giving away at least 5,500 tablets. Quite a way to get rid off excess inventory, skeptics could say. If only Apple gave away gadgets to WWDC attendees…

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Google has optimized the Google Earth service for Android Honeycomb-driven tablets, tailoring the user experience and features to a larger canvas compared to that of smartphones. “It makes Earth look better than ever on your tablet”, Google said. “It’s like moving to IMAX”, product manager Peter Birch joked in a blog post.

Moving from a mobile phone to a tablet was like going from a regular movie theatre to IMAX. We took advantage of the larger screen size, including features like content pop-ups appearing within Earth view, so you can see more information without switching back and forth between pages.

Features include a handy action bar that provides quick access to commonly used functions including flying to a location and navigating to various places of interest. Visually, the web app will take advantage of 3D-accelerated chips powering the latest Android tablets like the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab…

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