Faced with the incredible juggernaut of Apple’s iPad, Amazon may have no choice but to gang-tackle Cupertino with an “entire family” of Android-based Kindle tablets.
The tablets may use 3qi displays from Pixel Qi’s, originally designed for the One Laptop Per Child Foundation. The displays were meant for rugged outdoor use, according to a report citing a “trustworthy” source. Additionally, the tablets could use the latest version of the Android software and built by an “embedded systems company.”
The report follows an interview with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in which he said consumers should “stay tuned” on news about a “multipurpose tablet” from the Kindle-maker. Late last year, MKM Partners’ analyst Tim Boyd said Amazon was planning a ‘KindlePad.’
Talk of expanding the Kindle from a basic reader to a more tablet-like device also follows the launch of the Amazon App Store and dropping the price of the Kindle.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
6 responses to “Amazon To Send A ‘Family’ of Kindle Tablets To Take On iPad”
 A ‘family’ of tablets eh? ‘Cause fragmentation is exactly what Android needs more of.Â
 This will most likely spell the end for the Kindle family of products.  There are maybe 2 or 3 true advantages to the Kindle: e-ink, long battery life, free 3g wireless.  They completely lack in user interaction and interface.  The device is NOT easy to use (accidental key presses are common for example.) Â
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By switching to a tablet format you can bet that they’ll stop offering free 3g, the e-ink will be replaced with a real screen, and the battery life will be down to hours not days. Â They’ll be erasing ALL of their advantages in a single death blow to their own product.
Great way to stop people reading your books, give them games, the web and email instead.