Ars Technica brought up a fantastic idea for a Kindle-branded tablet from Amazon featuring Google Android — why not have it use a dual-mode display to make it suitable for reading and multimedia computing? It’s purely speculative at this point, but I completely agree that it would be fantastic for a Kindle Android tablet to use a dual-mode screen from Pixel Qi. Here’s a clip from Ars:
The Amazon tablet speculation has attracted criticism from some naysayers who don’t think that Amazon would settle for building a device with tablet-like battery life and crappy outdoor screen visibility. You can’t call it a Kindle if it’s only going to last for eight hours, right? I think the solution to that problem is simple: use a dual-mode display like the kind engineered by Pixel Qi.
The hypothetical Amazon tablet tablet could have a “Kindle” mode where the display gives you high-resolution sunlight-readable grayscale rendering. You could easily use it as either a tablet or an e-book reader. It’s still not going to deliver Kindle-length battery life, but it would be a pretty good compromise. I would want to buy a $250 Amazon tablet, and (if the enthusiasm for the Nook Color article means anything) there is a posse of like-minded readers who would too.
While no official announcement has been made, most pundits believe that an Amazon Android tablet is inevitable. The company is lining up services that would be perfect for its own tablet. The Amazon Android Appstore, Cloud Drive, and Cloud Player are nice on their own, but would be fantastic with tighter OS integration.
Last week I was pretty confident that Amazon would offer its own Android hardware by the end of the year. With the company’s recent moves, I’d actually be shocked if it didn’t happen. I’m also (not so) secretly hoping that this dream tablet would be available to Amazon Prime subscribers for free or with a steep discount. Prime subscribers are some of Amazon’s most frequent purchasers. Giving them another way to purchase goods seems like a good (and evil) idea.
Anyway, kindly let me know if you’d be interested in an Amazon Android Kindle with a dual-mode screen that allows for great book reading and multimedia.
