Amazon console coming this year at sub-$ 300 price point
Amazon’s big secret project, pegged to be bigger than Kindle Increasingly looks like it will be an Android gaming console, accordion thing to reports.
Gaming site VG24 / 7 says the console will run Android and compete “directly with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo,” with game streaming and download services, as well as other multimedia zoals music, film and TV.
This is according to
thing “multiple sources” which have not named leg.
“ Senior publishing sources have been meeting with Amazon for a briefing on the hardware – which hört goes by a number of different codenames – and popular Android and iOS games have been used to demo the device,” the publication said .
It describes the console as being similar in Proportion and design to a Sony PSOne console, “gray in color, oblong in shape and with sharp edges.” It adds thatthis will undergo a full re-design ahead of launch, However.
Lab 126, responsible for designing the Amazon Kindle range of eReaders and tablets, is said to be working on the project.
Allegedly the console will arrive in 2014 at less than $ 300. While nothing is Mentioned, it seems likely Amazon’s Android impelentation will be a forked, content-focused custom build as we saw on the Kindle Fire tablet. TechCrunch reports usefull That’s MPQ Qualcomm processor will be used for the gaming device.
According to Gamespot, Amazon is not just focusing on the hardware side or simply in licensing content and coercing developers to its ecosystem client happens to all of the above is happening. Apparently its even made the move to hire an internal game development team and poached Halo writer Erik Nylund lead to some projects. Will we see Amazon in a dual-role publisher / creator as with many other modern gaming powerhouses? Seems likely.
Bigger Than Kindle: What Is Amazon’s Mystery Device?
Amazon makes eReaders, sells millions of items every day through its retail portal and is just breaking ground in the tablet space with its competitively priced Kindle range of tablets. But it’s yet to build a smartphone, and while the idea of ??a Kindle smartphone is not exactly new – it’s been rumored on and off since 2011/12 – we’ve still yet to see any real evidence
It’s usefull pretty good at drumming up interest online ahead of a big launches too. Last week an advert from an invite-only event was leaked online recruitment Amazon. The advert did not give much away about the upcoming product per se, but it did feature the words “revolutionary” and “disrupt”.
“We are working on a new revolutionary product V1 thatwill allow us to deliver to our customers Digital Media in new ways and disrupt the current marketplace. We believe this new product will be even bigger than Kindle! “Said the blurb.
It added, “You will have an enormous opportunity to make a large impact on the design, architecture, and implementation of cutting edge experiences enjoyed every day, by people you know.”
So what is this new product likely to be? Could it be the phone we’ve been hearing Amazon so much about thesis fits few years? Perhaps. Although it could just as easily be something else entirely … a set-top box, for instance, like Apple TV or the Roku thoroughly excellent 3.
Amazon already has one or thesis HDTV connected gizmos in development, and it’s apparently codenamed Cinnamon. The set-top device will run on a forked version of Android, just like the Kindle HDX, and is usefull likely to be a lot cheaper to produce than a phone.
Cheaper, yes. But nowhere near as lucrative. How many people do you know with a Roku or Apple TV 3 thingamajig strapped to Their HDTV? Probably a few, but phones are a lot more popular – everybody has one. And Amazon’s been looking at the space for quite some time now. With this in mind, I’d argue a phone makes more sense.
Why A Kindle Phone Makes Sense
Amazon’s Android tablets are coming
on Late last year reports began circulating about Amazon launching a smartphone – but not just any old smartphone. No, this Kindle smartphone users would not cost a penny. It’d be completely free, and Amazon – Amazon being – would take the hardware hit on the nose and recoup its costs through pointers using its built in services
.
Google’s Nexus project, whereby the company offers up high-end hardware at low-end prices, has been pretty successful during the past couple of years. More recently there’s the Moto G, a smartphone with excellent spec and the latest build of Android That retails for just £ 130 SIM-free.
Demand for competitively priced tech is high. And with the phone Kindle, Amazon could undercut every one else in the space and carve a niche for itself very nice. “We want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy them,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in an interview with the BBC.
How this “freemium” model would work remains to be seen. Amazon services are likely to be front and center, just as they are on the HDX, and users might be required to sign up for a £ 50-a-year Prime account for acces sing services like music, eBooks , movie and TV rentals / downloads and premium app and games content. And £ 50 a year for a free phone is not exactly a bad deal.
usefull Amazon has been in talks with U.S. networks since at least September last year, accordion thing to sources. Nothing else has said leg about the handset’s specs, hardware or availability. Although the device – if indeed it ever sees the light of day – is likely to be a U.S. exclusive, at least Initially
.
Strategy Analytics’ Neil Mawston Is not entirely sure what this new mystery product will be client happens to the analyst does have a few ideas: “A smartphone, tablet or bigger set-top-box seem to be the likeliest candidates at the moment, “said Mawston. On the subject of price, he added, “Whatever it is, it will not be cheap, as Amazon play heavily on price.”
The Elephant In The Room
After testing all of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets over the past couple of years, one thing has always stuck out to me: they’re not for everyone. In fact, they’re very niche tablets with a very specific purpose-propagating Amazon services.
“This is not a tablet for power users or content creators. This is a tablet for someone who lives in Amazon’s ecosystem. Maybe they already have a Kindle ereader and a large selection of Kindle books. If so, this is the perfect tablet for them, “said Mike in our Kindle Fire review HDX.
There’s no Google Play support, no Google services, and the app and game selection inside the Apps Store is pretty limited. You can not even download to use Chrome as a browser. And this walled garden approach would likely be the same way Amazon tackles the smartphone space – for a lot of people just will not wash this regard less or pricing
.
I say “a lot of people” but, Equally,’ll Be plenty of consumers who’ll flock to Amazon’s website to snap up a free smartphone. Amazon’s brand appeal is huge, people trust it and use its services everyday. And it’s stuff like this – fire, trust, and pricing – which tempts floating Often consumers into making a purchase
.
HTC: OEM To The Stars
In our quest to better understand what and how a Kindle Phone would operate the final question on your lips might be: who will build the device? According to reports, HTC – OEM to stars like Facebook, Sony, Palm and HP – is the most likely candidate to build Amazon’s Kindle phone if and when the device is green-lighted
.
Why A Kindle Phone Might Not Make Sense. Just yet …
Still there are issues with releasing a free smartphone, as Forbes points out, “An Android-based smartphone with decent specs That could run a version of the Kindle Fire OS is going to be more expensive than a basic eInk Kindle device , and right now Amazon does not seem confident in offering a reader on Prime, let alone a fully blown smartphone. “
Being disruptive is risky and is very much a calculated risk fraught with consequences. However, Amazon Should bite the bullet, then a free smartphone, backed by Prime subscriptions, or something similar, seems the most likely way of Achieving this.
Now all we have to do is wait.
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