A look at Amazon's filings with the FCC has revealed that the company could be launching an Amazon Kindle sometime in the near future to go alongside its Kindle Fire 2, which should be coming out this fall. If this is true, and the reports about multiple-sized Kindle Fire 2s are also to be believed, it seems that Amazon is gearing up for the inevitable mobile computing clash that will take place in the fall by hedging its bets across multiple markets.
Last week, Kindle Fire documents posted by the FCC were found to be filed by a company called Harpers, LLC. Website The Digital Reader traced the company address back to a storefront rented by CSC Entity Services. It also turns out that the president of Harpers, LLC, Stephen Facciolo, is the service leader for CSC. The Digital Reader concludes that the two are front companies Amazon has used to file with the FFC in hopes of staying under the radar.
The filings indicated a 10-inch screen.
This time, same story, except the device resembles a Kindle more than a Kindle Fire and was traced by The Digital Reader back to Hannaford, LLC (which led back to the same CSC address as the Kindle Fire FCC filing).
Apparently, this has been a tactic Amazon has used in the past numerous times, giving this FCC filing some creedence.
If Amazon is developing a Kindle in addition to its upcoming Kindle Fire 2s, then the company is clearly taking the tablet wars seriously. The Kindle Fire was an initial success, but now with the Google Nexus 7 and the inevitable Apple iPad Mini battling for budget consumers' attentions, Amazon's device has fallen under the radar. It will need a strong showing this fall to stay in the market it helped carve out.
The original Kindle Fire was aimed at consumers who wanted a cheaper, smaller tablet than the 10-inch iPad. This time around, rumors and comments indicate that Amazon should be releasing several models of the Kindle Fire 2, including 7-and-10-inch versions.
A Staples retail chief let it slip to Reuters that Amazon has been working on as many as five or six tablets.
NPD DisplaySearch analyst Peter Shim has even stated that there will be multiple Kindle Fire 2 versions, some with a camera or without, the choice between a 7-or-10-inch screen, and even 4G capabilities.
It is safe to say that Apple, Google, and even possibly Microsoft when it comes out with the Surface tablet are the big dogs of the tablet market. However, Amazon did a fine job of carving itself a niche with the Kindle Fire, and by offering more customizable tablets than its competitors, the company is hoping that it can do it again.
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